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Resume
The paper examines and summarizes the views of different authors involved in the sphere of religious tourism. The religious tourism attraction is viewed as the basis for formation of a tourism pr oduct and destination. The study covers 111 monasteries, considered as a tourism attraction. The information is generated from databases of the Ministry of Tourism. By using a cluster analysis an attempt was made to classify the surveyed monasteries. Diffe rent variables describing the monasteries were selected to conduct the cluster analysis. The variables were as follows: the status of the monasteries, the opportunities for a year round or seasonal access, availability of tour guides, access for persons wi th disabilities, paid or free access and location in urban or natural environments. After the cluster analysis and testing of the stability of the resulting clusters it was found that the monasteries in Bulgaria came into two clusters. The main differences in the clusters are related to the status of the monasteries and the opportunities for year round visits to the monasteries.