Mapping Shared Sacred Sites

Despite the existence of numerous shared sites of religious observance across the world, they remain largely unknown.

Shared sacred sites are “holy” for members of multiple religious groups (which may also be ethnically or nationally distinct) and serve not only as places where people come together to respect the site in various ways, but also as sites where they are forced, by their coexistence, to mediate and negotiate their diversity and differences. This ethos of sharing has been customary throughout the world and throughout history. This project proposes to restore accounts of cohabitation, hospitality, and tolerance to the historical record, taking their place alongside the better known examples of communal strife and interreligious antagonism.

Visit the project website

Principal Investigators:

Anna Bigelow (Stanford University) 

Dionigi Albera (CNRS- Aix-Marseille University, France) 

Karen Barkey (Bard College) 

Manoël Pénicaud (CNRS-Aix/Marseille University, France) 

Other Collaborators:

jem Jebbia (Stanford University) 

Shannon Gifford (Stanford University)