Renata Salvarani

Renata Salvarani is a Professor of History of Christianity at the European University of Rome. She serves as the director of the Center for Heritage and Territory Studies and coordinates the Summer School in History and Archaeology in collaboration with the Pontifical Institute of Notre Dame of Jerusalem. Her distinctive teaching approach takes place largely on-site at archaeological sites, monumental complexes, and museums, providing students with direct engagement with historical spaces.

Her academic expertise spans multiple interconnected domains:

• History of Christianity and religions in the medieval Mediterranean
• Urban development and sacred spaces in medieval contexts
• Cultural heritage valorization through historical research
• Interfaith relations between monotheistic traditions
• Jerusalem and Rome as religious centers during the Middle Ages

Professor Salvarani's research examines the intersection of religious practice, urban development, and cultural memory, with particular attention to liturgical spaces, pilgrimage routes, and the transfer of religious ideas across the Mediterranean. Her work bridges historical scholarship with practical applications for cultural heritage management, demonstrating how historical research can inform contemporary preservation efforts.

Her substantial scholarly output includes over one hundred and twenty publications, with major monographs such as The Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. Rites, Texts, Stories (Vatican City 2012), The Fortune of the Holy Sepulchre in the Middle Ages. Space, Liturgy, Architecture (Milan 2008), and The Body, the Liturgy, and the City. Shaping and Transforming Public Urban Spaces in Medieval Christianity (Venice 2019), which reveal consistent thematic concerns across her career.

She actively contributes to the academic community as a member of the scientific committee of the Vatican Apostolic Penitentiary and the International Association for the History of Religions. As a professional journalist, she regularly contributes to the magazine Medioevo and maintains the blog Medieval Christianity, demonstrating her commitment to public scholarship and making historical knowledge accessible beyond academic circles.