Abstract

In contemporary European cities different historical memories are layered upon one an¬other: materially in architecture, immaterially in urban religious imaginaries, and socially through the coexistence of multiple religious mobilizations. In this article, I analyze three different ways in which religions act in urban space, referring to a study case: the city of Turin, north Italy. Traditional religious institutions, i.e. Christian ones, negotiate spatial regimes through «place keeping» strategies. Diaspora and migrant religions adopt dif¬ferent, «place making» strategies, while new religious movements are «place seekers», in line with their features of flows, fluidity and journeying. I elaborate on these categories offering different examples of religious places and buildings.