Prof. Dr. Rafael Blanco-Guzmán
September 2023 - November 2023
Research Project: Cordova and the peri-urban monasteries (5th–8th century)
The scholarly interest in Late Antiquity has experienced significant growth in the past two decades, focusing primarily on former walled sectors of Roman origin and certain rural sites such as villas or monasteries. However, the productive aspects of these sites, particularly their agricultural and irrigation practices, and specifically their appearance in the urban outskirts, have received limited attention. Cordova, a prominent city in the Iberian Peninsula during this era, was encircled by what some authors have referred to as a 'belt of basilicas.' Nevertheless, a more accurate classification for these sites would be peri-urban monasteries with productive irrigation spaces. Textual and archaeological evidence indicates the presence of a religious sector comprising a church and a significant productive sector encompassing irrigated land enclosed by walls.
The project's aims include defining peri-urban monasteries, synthesizing Cordova's peri-urban reality from the Roman to the 5th century, studying textual and archaeological evidence to specify this belt of peri-urban monasteries from 5th to 8th century, and conducting a comparative analysis between Cordova and other important cities in the West and East. This study will involve examining the irrigation practices of monasteries and their possible connection to later Islamic munyat-s.
Profile
Prof. Dr. Rafael Blanco-Guzmán is a graduate in Art History and holds a Ph.D. in Archaeology and Heritage from the University of Córdoba. Since 2017, he has been a professor in the Art History Department at the same university and currently serves as the coordinator of the Art History degree program. Over the past two decades, he has authored numerous scientific papers and presented various conferences in diverse national and international forums, spanning from Morocco to the United Kingdom, with a special focus on Medieval Islamic urbanism and architecture. In the last ten years, he has organized scientific congresses of national and international scope, such as "Grandes capitales del mundo medieval: pasado y presente" or "Paisajes del poder. Córdoba y las fincas omeyas (ss. VIII-XI)," co-directed with Julio Navarro (CSIC). Moreover, he has undertaken research stays at renowned national and international academic institutions, including Université Paris-IV Sorbonne, Escuela de Estudios Árabes (CSIC, Granada), Newcastle University, and The University of Edinburgh. Additionally, he has actively participated in and led archaeological interventions and research projects centered on Córdoba, often spanning from the Roman period to the medieval era, collaborating with national and local institutions. Between 2018 and 2021, he directed the archaeological study of the Umayyad minaret of San Juan de los Caballeros (Córdoba).
CV
Selected Publications
Blanco-Guzmán, Rafael (2023), “A Skin to Live in: Geometric Parietal Paintings in the Residential Architecture of al-Andalus”, Arts 12, 51.
Blanco-Guzmán, Rafael (2022), “El desarrollo urbano de Córdoba tras la fitna”, in: Desiderio Vaquerizo / Javier Rosón, eds., Arqueología de Madinat Qurtuba: Reflexiones, novedades, historia, Córdoba: Diputación de Córdoba/Casa Árabe, 385 - 390.
Blanco-Guzmán, Rafael (2021a), “Le développement urbain de la Cordoue islamique (VIII-XIIIe siècles)”, Hespéris-Tamuda 56.2, 237-276.
Blanco-Guzmán, Rafael (2021b), “La muerte a las puertas. Los espacios funerarios en la Córdoba islámica tras la caída del Califato Omeya (siglos XI-XIII)”, in: Ana Ruiz, ed., La muerte en Córdoba: creencias, ritos y cementerios, Córdoba: Real Academia de Córdoba, 117 - 151.
Blanco-Guzmán, Rafael (2020), “La conexión entre Sociedad y Patrimonio Histórico: la Torre–Alminar de San Juan de los Caballeros (Córdoba)”, in: Ana Ruiz / Silvia Medina / Leonor Pérez, eds., Educación y divulgación del patrimonio arqueológico. La socialización del pasado como reto de futuro, 193-220.
Blanco-Guzmán, Rafael (2019), “La sombra omeya. Córdoba y los almohades en la segunda mitad del siglo VI/XII”, Al-Qanṭara 40.1, 43-71.
Blanco-Guzmán, Rafael (2014), “Una ciudad en transición: el inicio de la Córdoba islámica”, in: Desiderio Vaquerizo, ed., Ciudad y territorio: transformaciones materiales e ideológicas entre época clásica y el Altomedioevo, Córdoba: Universidad de Córdoba, 185-200.
Blanco-Guzmán, Rafael (2014), “La Córdoba tardoislámica y su arquitectura doméstica”, in: Flocel Sabaté / Jesús Brufal, eds., La Ciutat Medieval i Arqueologia. VI Curs International d’Arqueologia Medieval, Lleida: Pagès, 381-397.
Blanco-Guzmán, Rafael (2009), “Madinat Qurtuba tras la Fitna. Una aproximación a través de la historiografía”, Spal 17, 41-51
