Sharing Sacred Spaces in the Mediterranean

The presence of shared or mixed sanctuaries -- sacred places where several religious groups perform devotional practices, often within the same space and at the same time -- is a well-established phenomenon in the multicultural, multiconfessional world of the Eastern Mediterranean. While devotional practices are usually viewed as mechanisms for reinforcing religious boundaries, shared shrines sustain intercommunal and interreligious contact among groups. Heterodox, marginal, and largely ignored by central authorities, these practices persist despite aggressive, homogenizing nationalist movements. This volume challenges much of the received wisdom concerning the three major monotheistic religions and the "clash of civilizations." Contributors explore local traditions from North Africa to the Balkans via the Near Eastern shores, demonstrating that despite official representations to the contrary, the religions of the Mediterranean are deeply intertwined.

Dionigi Albera is Senior Researcher at the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique and Director of the Institut d'Ethnologie Mditerranenne, Europenne et Comparative (MMSH, University of Aix-en-Provence). Maria Couroucli is Senior Researcher at the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (Laboratoire d'Ethnologie et Sociologie Comparative, Universit Paris Ouest Nanterre-la-Dfense) and Director of Greek and Balkan Studies at the Ecole Franaise d'Athnes (Greece).