Project description
Mediterranean fortified churches between the 7th and 9th centuries
Fortified churches emerged across the Mediterranean and the Levant from the 7th to the 9th century. However, it remains unclear whether these structures served as safe spaces and gathering places for communities, as well as centres for a culture facing threats. Supported by the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions programme, the REFUGE project will reinterpret late antique fortified churches, focusing on the Amathus Acropolis Basilica. It will reassess unpublished excavation data and analyse the local landscape using historical landscape characterisation. The project will reconstruct the social history and economic networks of the Amathus Acropolis Basilica community and explore cultural interactions through the study of amphorae and tableware. Findings will be published in accessible multimedia resources.
Objective
REFUGE – Religious Enclosures in Fortified Urban and Rural Geographies of the Eastern Mediterranean aims to provide a new interpretation of Late Antique fortified churches. The project will explore whether these structures can be seen as safe spaces and gathering loci for communities, as well as centres for a culture under threat. With the support of the Host Institution, the University of Cyprus, and the Secondment Institution, the CNRS – UMR 8167 “Orient et Méditerranée”, alongside a long-standing partnership with the École française d’Athènes, the Principal Investigator will assess and define the roles of fortified churches in the Mediterranean and the Levant during the 7th to 9th centuries. A key case study for REFUGE is the Amathus Acropolis Basilica (AAB). The project will reassess and analyse the results of its unpublished excavations, examining the surrounding agricultural and rural landscape through new Historical Landscape Characterization (HLC) analyses and archaeological surveys in an adjacent unurbanised area. This will help collect data to map the site’s social history. REFUGE is one of the first projects to apply HLC in Cyprus. By reconstructing the social history of the AAB community, the project aims to trace its economic networks and understand its role within broader regional dynamics across the Mediterranean and the Levant. It will also investigate interactions and mutual contributions among various cultures and groups, including the analysis of specific samples of amphorae and tableware from the site, materials that remain largely unexplored. REFUGE employs an integrated, cross-disciplinary approach, combining archival research, architectural analysis, excavation data, material culture studies, and topographical reconstruction. The findings from this project will contribute to scholarly publications and be made accessible to the public through free multimedia resources, featuring multilingual voice narration to ensure broad accessibility.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
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CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
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Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
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Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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HORIZON.1.2 - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA)
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Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
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Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
HORIZON-TMA-MSCA-PF-EF - HORIZON TMA MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
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Call for proposal
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(opens in new window) HORIZON-MSCA-2025-PF
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1678 Nicosia
Cyprus
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