PUBLICATION SPOTLIGHT: N. Bakirtzis and M. Veikou, “Liminal Experiences of Byzantine Fortifications”, in Liminal Spaces and Spatial Practices in Byzantium, eds. B. K. Bayrı and M. Veikou, Routledge, 2
Published in December 2025, APAC Labs director Nikolas Bakirtzis co-authored a chapter in a newly edited scholarly volume that examines the concept of liminal spaces across the Byzantine world. The chapter seeks to highlight the material, symbolic, and spiritual properties of fortifications as transitory spaces that mediated movement, identity, and experience within Byzantine society. Through an interdisciplinary approach, Bakirtzis and his co-author Myrto Veikou of University of Patras analyze how walls, towers, and gates functioned not only as defensive structures but also as culturally meaningful environments that shaped everyday life and perception.
Drawing on a wide range of sources, including surviving architectural remains, dedicatory inscriptions, decorative motifs, reused architectural fragments (spolia), literary descriptions, and visual depictions, the authors explore the symbolic, aesthetic, and hierotopical dimensions of Byzantine fortifications. Their study demonstrates how these structures operated simultaneously as physical barriers and as powerful cultural markers embedded within the urban landscape. Special attention is given to the prominent city walls of Thessaloniki, Patras, and Constantinople, three urban centers that played crucial roles in the political, economic, and cultural development of the Byzantine Empire.
Within urban contexts, fortifications not only defined and organized space while offering protection and control, but also actively contributed to the rhythms of daily life. These structures functioned as sites where military, liturgical, economic, and social activities intersected. By examining fortifications through the lens of liminality, the chapter reveals how these spaces mediated boundaries between inside and outside, sacred and secular, and security and vulnerability. In doing so, the authors offer new perspectives on Byzantine material culture and on the lived experiences of individuals who encountered, used, and moved through these complex urban thresholds.
