Sacred Spaces & Urban Networks, 11th Annual Symposium of the Research Center for Anatolian Civilizations, Koç University, December 9, 2016
Throughout history, the relationship between sacred spaces and the development of urban settlements has been a familiar phenomenon for almost all Anatolian civilizations. This symposium investigates various forms of “sacred” spaces and their spatial and sociocultural dynamics with the urban landscape in Anatolia from the eleventh century onward. Sites such as monasteries, dervish lodges, funerary buildings or sacred landscapes are of particular importance since they act as centers of gravity in the urban context. Of further significance is the mobility of people that populate these spaces and circulation of the artifacts perceived as sacred.
The 11th annual symposium of ANAMED aims to remove some of the disciplinary boundaries by bringing together archeologists, historians, art historians, historians of architecture and landscape in order to examine the material in more detail from a broader and different perspective. It also endeavors to understand other spaces deemed “sacred” that have attracted less scholarly attention and their relationship to the city.
The symposium is open to public and English -Turkish simultaneous translation will be provided.