Isabel Maria Sanchez Ramos

The project aims at understanding the transformations, the urban planning and structure of Ancient Roman cities in the Mediterranean world between Rome and the Middle Ages. The urban landscape inherited from the classical world and its transformation will be taken as a starting point to understand which elements changed and which persisted in Late Antique Roman cities. In this new reality under construction, Christianity was the most determining and influential element in transforming urban societies.
The spread of early Christianity throughout the territories of the future Europe was essentially based on the establishment of bishoprics, materialized in the construction of large episcopal groups. As bishoprics were the new centres of power, it is key to learn about them to understand the development of medieval cities in Europe and the western Mediterranean.
The ultimate and overall aim of the research is to generate new scientific knowledge of the historical cities complexity and make progress in the research of public architecture that corresponds to religious and civil complexes. The main novelty of her work is the multidisciplinary study and approach of Late Antique cities.
Among the Late Antique Episcopal groups documented by archaeologists in present-day Western Europe, the focus will be placed on Egitania (Idanha-a-Velha, Portugal). The objective of the research is two-fold: on a micro-regional level, to develop a coherent and comprehensive
archaeological reading that enables a better interpretation of the historical sequence; on the macro level, to better understand the development of ecclesiastical complexes in the western Mediterranean (i.e. Italy, France, North Africa and Spain) during Late Antiquity. Such complexes are understood as the main urban reference around which the medieval city developed with the cathedral as its core.