Mediterranean Cities as Cultural Crossroads. An Introduction

This book focuses on the ethnically composite, heterogeneous, mixed nature of the Mediterranean cities and their cultural heritage between the late middle ages and early modern times. How did it affect the cohabitation among different people and cultures on the urban scene? How did it mold the shape and image of cities that were crossroads of encounters, but also the arena of conflict and exclusion? The 13 case studies collected in this volume address these issues by exploring the traces left by centuries of interethnic porosity on the tangible and intangible heritage of cities such as Acre and Cyprus, Genoa and Venice, Rome and Istanbul, Cordoba and Tarragona.