PILGRIMAGE AS A SOCIAL AND COMMUNICATION INSTITUTION IN THE CONTEXT OF CONTEMPORARY SOCIAL PROCESSES (ON EXAMPLES OF UKRAINIAN AND GERMAN CITIES)

The author described authentic sacred objects on the example of pilgrimage routes in Lower Bavaria and Transcarpathia, and offered a virtual pilgrimage to German and Ukrainian sacred sites. The researcher recreated the sacred routes in Lower Bavaria on the example of the city of Passau and the village of Sammarei, Transcarpathia, to attract attention to cataloging pilgrimage sites, preserving authenticity, restoration, and creating virtual sites with recreated tourist routes for people with disabilities and young people who often prefer online travel to physically going there and visiting. Digital catalogs, interactive maps, development of digital catalogs, virtual booklets with QR codes, online presentations, and online lectures can become a powerful virtual tool for preserving sacred monuments and the memory of them in the public space. The pilgrimage to Lower Bavaria made it possible to borrow the structure and organization of pilgrimage in Ukraine, as the institutionalization of pilgrimage at the regional level is quite relevant, especially with the rapid development of digital technologies in the modern media space.