The 6th Session of the 2024 Medieval Studies Seminar will be held online via Zoom on October 23, 2024, at 4:00 p.m.
This session will feature a presentation by Rolando Volzone and will be dedicated to the theme “Paisagens documentais, paisagens documentadas. Um excurso rumo à reconstrução das espacialidades monásticas medievais”.
Since the Middle Ages, religious communities have shaped European environmental, cultural, and socioeconomic values. Their influence, particularly in the interior of Portugal, is a testament to their historical significance and the responsible production and consumption of primary resources, reflected in the sustainable use of water resources, conservation of biodiversity, and construction.
The process of religious orders’ extinction caused a significant disruption in their ecosystems. This mechanism led to the emptying of monastic equipment and the abandonment and destruction of the surrounding land, making the reconstruction of the medieval landscape difficult.
The analysis of scattered historical records and the production of new documentation, created using digital techniques, could contribute to the definition of medieval monastic spatialities: documentary and documented landscapes of Alentejo and Alto Minho.
Biographical Note
Architect, researcher integrated at the Institute of Medieval Studies (NOVA-FCSH) and researcher associated with DINÂMIA’CET-IscteDINÂMIA’CET-Iscte, focusing on religious heritage in southern Europe, through interdisciplinary studies, combining Medieval, Modern and Contemporary History, Landscape Architecture, Architecture, Computer Science and Public Policy. Since 2022, he has been an Assistant Professor and lecturer in master’s and PhD programs in Portugal and Italy. He has been the coordinator of the international conference “Arquitecturas da Alma”, since 2017. In 2020, he was part of the national project “CONVEMOS” and the European project “F-ATLAS” led by the Università degli Studi di Firenze. He is currently the principal investigator of the transHERITAGE project. He is a member of ICOMOS Portugal and has been integrated into two international scientific committees, PRERICO and CIPA Heritage Documentation, as well as a member of the Scientific Council of the Future for Religious Heritage (FRH) network. More recently, it integrated two COST actions (“MARGISTAR” and “Underground4Value”). He is the author of several publications, has edited international books, and has been a reviewer of indexed scientific articles. Furthermore, he participated in numerous national and international conferences.
