Sharing nostalgia in Istanbul ; : Christian and Muslim Pilgrims to St George's Sanctuary

Abstract

International audience ; This paper deals with conditions for tolerance at holy places, with special attention to issues related to central and peripheral sites. The contemporary general framework is the rise of religious fundamentalism, the growing political importance of the religious domain, sometimes the invasion of religion into the social life of countries bordering the Mediterranean - all relatively recent phenomena of the post-colonial era. The present configuration is marked by the ultimate separation of ethno-religious communities within most circum-Mediterranean nation states: during the 19th and 20th centuries, Christians, Jews and Muslims have strived to achieve religious homogeneity within political territories, putting an end to a long history of cohabitation.