What is Shared Sacred Sites?
Shared Sacred Sites is a collaborative project investigating the sharing of spaces, sites, and symbolism by multiple religious communities that demonstrates the practical choreographies and social possibilities of cooperation between potentially antagonistic communities. The study of such sharing provides key insights into characteristics and features crucial to the cultivation of tolerance and understanding. Using multiple tools such as mapping, storytelling, exhibitions, fieldwork, bibliographies, and a media database, this project seeks to build a global commons for research and teaching on shared sacred sites.
The Storymap sites focus on shared sacred spaces where one or more of our team members have done extended research. Each Storymap locates the site in its geographical and historical context, explores the spatial dimensions and the common spiritual practices, details key figures and objects associated with the site, and provides additional resources for further study.
Former Jewish-Muslim cave, Sefrou, Morocco © Manoël Pénicaud
Site Features
Use the links below or navigate the menu bar above to explore our projects, databases, and networks.
The global map (under construction) demonstrates the ubiquity of shared sacred sites around the world. Each pin on the map represents a site shared by multiple religious communities, sometimes cooperatively and other times in contestation. Storymap sites are also linked and marked on the map.
The bibliography brings into one place a vast collection of research on shared sacred sites from interdisciplinary researchers in our scholarly network and beyond.
The news database is updated regularly with reports from global media about shared sacred sites.
Links to exhibitions of visual and material culture connected to the sites researched by the scholars in our network
The directory of scholars provides profiles of dozens of scholars in the network, their areas of interest, research sites, and links to their publications