GEOTAGS AS A DATA SOURCE FOR RESEARCH ON MASS VISITS TO HOLY SPRINGS AND WELLS (THE CASE OF THE LENINGRAD REGION)

Abstract

This work is the first to study a set of geotags around 45 springs and wells of the Leningrad region classified as holyin order to find out the attendance at these holy sites. Data were collected on the Russian social networking service VKontakte using ascript searching for users and photos by geolocation of a spring with a coverage radius of 100 meters. The period under study is fromJanuary 2013 to May 2022. During this time, 17,606 tourist photos were uploaded around the springs, which is considered as anindicator of tourist activity. According to the territorial concentration of geotags, three concentration areas of mass visits to holy springswere identified, which account for 91% of the geotags. The 7 most geotagged holy springs account for 69.2% of all photographs. Highattendance at these springs is promoted by: their being famous; convenient location; visiting accessibility; the presence of chapels,fonts, and baths; location in a complex with a temple, monastery, or church; historical tradition. A combination of several factorssignificantly increases the popularity of the spring and the number of geotags. Geotagging of holy springs during the 2 years of thepandemic was almost 3 times higher than that in 7 preceding years. The study traces a further post-pandemic increased interest in them. During the period of the self-isolation regime, there also increased the number of Internet search queries about natural holy springs andwells. Statistical analysis of posts in thematic communities in VKontakte conducted with the Khitalama tool indicates a social demandfor information about holy springs. These data, along with the geotagging analysis, serve as a promising source of information onbehavioral geography.