I hold a PhD in Byzantine Art and Architectural History from the École Pratique des Hautes Études (EPHE) - Paris Sciences & Lettres (PSL). During the academic year 2022-2023, I was a postdoctoral researcher at GABAM-ANAMED, the Centre for Byzantine Studies and the Research Centre for Anatolian Civilisations at Koç University, Istanbul. I then continued my research as a research assistant in the Department of Christian Archaeology and Byzantine Art History at Philipps University in Marburg, Germany. I am currently a postdoctoral researcher funded by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation (2024-2026).
Additionally, I’m a researcher affiliated to UMR 8167 Orient & Méditerranée - Monde byzantin, a member of the Comité français des études byzantines (CEFB), and an associate researcher at the Institut français des études anatoliennes in Istanbul (IFEA).
My PhD dissertation focused on the liminal spaces and their decoration in monastic churches of the Middle and Late Byzantine periods. My current research, which combines architectural history, art history, anthropology and cognitive science, explores the experience of space in the medieval period, in the Balkans and in the eastern Mediterranean.
Je suis titulaire d'un doctorat en histoire de l'art et de l'architecture du monde byzantine et post-byzantin de l'École Pratique des Hautes Études (EPHE) - Paris Sciences & Lettres (PSL). Au cours de l'année académique 2022-2023, j'ai été chercheuse postdoctorante à GABAM-ANAMED, le Centre d'études byzantines et le Centre de recherche sur les civilisations anatoliennes de l'Université Koç, à Istanbul. Par la suite, j’ai poursuivi mes travaux en tant qu'assistante de recherche au département d'archéologie chrétienne et d'histoire de l'art byzantin de l'Université Philipps à Marburg, en Allemagne. Je suis actuellement chercheuse postdoctorante de la fondation Alexander von Humboldt (2024-2026).
Je suis également chercheuse affiliée à l'UMR 8167 Orient & Méditerranée - Monde byzantin, membre du Comité français des études byzantines (CEFB), et chercheuse associée de l'Institut français des études anatoliennes d'Istanbul (IFEA).
Ma thèse de doctorat portait sur les lieux liminaires et leurs décors dans les églises monastiques de l'époque byzantine moyenne et tardive. Mes recherches actuelles, qui combinent histoire de l'architecture, histoire de l'art, anthropologie et sciences cognitives, explorent l'expérience de l'espace à l'époque médiévale, dans les Balkans et en Méditerranée orientale.
Supervisors: Ioanna Rapti
Additionally, I’m a researcher affiliated to UMR 8167 Orient & Méditerranée - Monde byzantin, a member of the Comité français des études byzantines (CEFB), and an associate researcher at the Institut français des études anatoliennes in Istanbul (IFEA).
My PhD dissertation focused on the liminal spaces and their decoration in monastic churches of the Middle and Late Byzantine periods. My current research, which combines architectural history, art history, anthropology and cognitive science, explores the experience of space in the medieval period, in the Balkans and in the eastern Mediterranean.
Je suis titulaire d'un doctorat en histoire de l'art et de l'architecture du monde byzantine et post-byzantin de l'École Pratique des Hautes Études (EPHE) - Paris Sciences & Lettres (PSL). Au cours de l'année académique 2022-2023, j'ai été chercheuse postdoctorante à GABAM-ANAMED, le Centre d'études byzantines et le Centre de recherche sur les civilisations anatoliennes de l'Université Koç, à Istanbul. Par la suite, j’ai poursuivi mes travaux en tant qu'assistante de recherche au département d'archéologie chrétienne et d'histoire de l'art byzantin de l'Université Philipps à Marburg, en Allemagne. Je suis actuellement chercheuse postdoctorante de la fondation Alexander von Humboldt (2024-2026).
Je suis également chercheuse affiliée à l'UMR 8167 Orient & Méditerranée - Monde byzantin, membre du Comité français des études byzantines (CEFB), et chercheuse associée de l'Institut français des études anatoliennes d'Istanbul (IFEA).
Ma thèse de doctorat portait sur les lieux liminaires et leurs décors dans les églises monastiques de l'époque byzantine moyenne et tardive. Mes recherches actuelles, qui combinent histoire de l'architecture, histoire de l'art, anthropologie et sciences cognitives, explorent l'expérience de l'espace à l'époque médiévale, dans les Balkans et en Méditerranée orientale.
Supervisors: Ioanna Rapti
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PhD Thesis by Mareva U
Liminal Places and their Decoration in Byzantine Monastic Churches (10th-15th century): Function, Meaning and Experience of Doorways and Passageways
Essential to any building, doorways, i.e. the areas located between two distinct spaces, are both a separation and a transition. They mark the structural divisions necessary for the articulation and internal hierarchy of space in church buildings. Based on a representative selection of monastic churches located within the territory of the Byzantine Empire and its surroundings, dated from the 10th to the 15th century, this dissertation analyzes the function and the meaning of passageways and their decoration through a holistic and multidisciplinary approach. Punctuating the paths taken by officiants and the audience towards the church and within it, the doors and their surroundings are important settings for sculptures, mosaics or paintings. The images and graphic signs displayed on and around them convey a variety of messages and contribute to our understanding of the significance of thresholds in Byzantium. The use of doorways and the assignments given to them are many and various. They participate in the staging of liturgical services and in the establishment of a social order within the monastic space. Thus, they are the place of multiple experiences. The crossing of a doorway is part of a gradual itinerary leading the assembly towards communion with God. It produces a spatial, temporal and spiritual experience in addition to a multisensory and cognitive impact. This study of liminal places of Byzantine churches proposes an alternative reading of the architectural and iconographic heritage and attempts to shed new light on monastic life and spirituality, as well as its religious and social practices. It challenges the exclusive vertical perception of the Byzantine religious space and reconsiders the prevailing norms of understanding and appreciation of doorways, such as the notions of main or secondary entrances and the hermetic barrier between the sacred and the profane.
Papers by Mareva U
Paper in Open access: https://books.openedition.org/psorbonne/110956
Books by Mareva U
Conference Presentations by Mareva U
Based on textual sources and on the architectural space of a selection of monasteries built between the 9th and 15th centuries in the territory of the Byzantine Empire and its neighbors, this paper proposes to evaluate the connections between the experiences at thresholds and the liminal nature of monasticism. To do so, it analyzes the topography of the monasteries and the liminal aspect of the spatial arrangements and practices, focusing on the enclosure wall and its gateways.
Talks by Mareva U
Liminal Places and their Decoration in Byzantine Monastic Churches (10th-15th century): Function, Meaning and Experience of Doorways and Passageways
Essential to any building, doorways, i.e. the areas located between two distinct spaces, are both a separation and a transition. They mark the structural divisions necessary for the articulation and internal hierarchy of space in church buildings. Based on a representative selection of monastic churches located within the territory of the Byzantine Empire and its surroundings, dated from the 10th to the 15th century, this dissertation analyzes the function and the meaning of passageways and their decoration through a holistic and multidisciplinary approach. Punctuating the paths taken by officiants and the audience towards the church and within it, the doors and their surroundings are important settings for sculptures, mosaics or paintings. The images and graphic signs displayed on and around them convey a variety of messages and contribute to our understanding of the significance of thresholds in Byzantium. The use of doorways and the assignments given to them are many and various. They participate in the staging of liturgical services and in the establishment of a social order within the monastic space. Thus, they are the place of multiple experiences. The crossing of a doorway is part of a gradual itinerary leading the assembly towards communion with God. It produces a spatial, temporal and spiritual experience in addition to a multisensory and cognitive impact. This study of liminal places of Byzantine churches proposes an alternative reading of the architectural and iconographic heritage and attempts to shed new light on monastic life and spirituality, as well as its religious and social practices. It challenges the exclusive vertical perception of the Byzantine religious space and reconsiders the prevailing norms of understanding and appreciation of doorways, such as the notions of main or secondary entrances and the hermetic barrier between the sacred and the profane.
Paper in Open access: https://books.openedition.org/psorbonne/110956
Based on textual sources and on the architectural space of a selection of monasteries built between the 9th and 15th centuries in the territory of the Byzantine Empire and its neighbors, this paper proposes to evaluate the connections between the experiences at thresholds and the liminal nature of monasticism. To do so, it analyzes the topography of the monasteries and the liminal aspect of the spatial arrangements and practices, focusing on the enclosure wall and its gateways.