Understanding the historic landscape of European cathedral cities
European cathedral cities are characterised by the presence of a medieval cathedral within a settlement comprising of civic, religious, and domestic buildings. They can be small settlements as well as capital cities, but they all present similar patterns in their historic landscape created by a common history and culture. Inspired by UNESCO 2011 declaration on the Historic Urban Landscape, URBS will focus on how people perceive, experience and value the historic landscape of cathedral cities. The first aim is to develop a set of narratives and mapping that addresses the experience of cathedral cities from several perspectives, applying historic landscape methodologies together with qualitative research methods to four case studies: Girona (Spain), City of London (UK), Palermo (Italy) and Poitiers (France). The second aim is to demonstrate how cathedral cities in Europe, despite having their individual character, have similarities in their topography and historical layers.
What is the historic urban landscape? It’s what you see around you when you are living or walking in a city. It is made of old and new buildings, of streets often following the same path for centuries, of green areas, of water and of sensorial stimuli, such as sound, smell and touch. People and their actions are part of the landscape as well as collective and individual memories connected to places and people of the past. The landscape is made of many layers, these could be material, such as stone walls, or intangible, such as the trails of your walks around town. Cathedral cities are urban settlements of antique or medieval origins, which have a cathedral and a bishop. Medieval bishops were not only religious people, but they were also powerful lords within the city. Between the 11th to the 15th century the landscape of cathedral cities was distinctively shaped by the interaction of religious and secular powers and by the social and economic activities of the inhabitants. Cathedral cities are found all over Europe, usually they form the historical centre of modern cities. In some the medieval buildings are well preserved, but other cities were redeveloped with new buildings over the centuries, and some were almost radically rebuilt in more recent times. Sometimes part of the city defensive walls and gates are still visible today, such as in Girona. Project URBS will examine the landscape of four European cathedral cities: Girona (Spain), City of London (United Kingdom), Palermo (Italy) and Poitiers (France). These cities are distant from each other, and their landscapes appear quite different. However, the study seeks to find out and demonstrate whether there are similarities in their historic landscapes. How do people see and experience the cathedral city today? The most important part of the research is understanding how people ‘read’ the form of the medieval city in the present city. This will be done by asking questions about their experiences of the urban landscape and to sketch their own imaginary maps describing such experiences. Conserving the city. Understanding how people perceive and value the historic urban environment helps in making decisions for the protection and regeneration of these historic centers.
