The Mediterranean has been a theatre of both sharing and contesting sacred space between Christianity and Islam. While some shrines appear to feature syncretic devotions, other places see the symbolic conversion of the sacred space. Especially in contested territories between Christianity and Islam, religious power dynamics often cause mosques and churches to transcend their function as mere buildings. The transformations of Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa Mosque at the time of the Crusades, of Córdoba’s Umayyad Mosque following the Reconquista, and of Istanbul’s Aya Sophia, are famous examples that resonate until today. However, while popular narratives of the conversion of these edifices dominate modern scholarship, the archaeological evidence is often less straight forward. Focusing on aspects of their own research and examples from the Levant and Al-Andalus, this panel will discuss the extent to which these narratives ought to be nuanced, and how both medieval and modern communities have interacted with these sacred spaces.
Speakers:
Dr Carmen González Gutiérrez (Universidad de Córdoba)
Dr Hagit Nol (Université libre de Bruxelles)
Dr Alejandro García-Sanjuán (Universidad de Huelva)
Chair:
Dr Jan Vandeburie (University of Leicester)