The present volume brings together a series of historical and archaeological studies and researches carried out in recent years unter the theme "Urban Space". These contributions were presented at an International Workshop, which took place in Regensburg on 13th - 14th February 2020. The metropolis of Aquileia is analysed in two papers focusing on the demographics of the periurban space and on waste management as a proxy for understanding the urban dynamics. Moving East, light is shed on the renewed liveliness of some late antique cities of Asia Minor (in the West and South Coasts) and of Caucasus. Also, the role of religious institutions, which are responsible for the transformation of the cityscape, are examined through some case studies (synagogues at Priene, Sardis, Andriake; monastic foundations in Cilicia and Isauria). Finally, the analysis of religious architecture as a mark of the transformation of urban space in the Near East (Palmyra) perfectly shows the conception of a new late antique urban aesthetic.

Arabella Cortese und Giulia Fioratto waren von 2017 bis 2020 Mitglieder des DFG-Graduiertenkollegs "Metropolität in der Vormoderne" an der Universität Regensburg und haben beide über stadtgeschichtliche Themen promoviert.