Sanctuaries between Borders and Networks:

This paper explores the sanctuaries of the Kopais region as spaces situated between connectivity and delimitation within the Boeotian landscape. Focusing on the sanctuaries of Onchestos, Athena Itonia, Athena Alalkomenia, and the Ptoion, it argues that these cult places functioned both as nodal points within a regional religious network and as landmarks marking spheres of territorial influence among Boeotian communities. Positioned along major communication routes and in liminal landscapes, these sanctuaries fostered ritual mobility, inter-community interaction, and the
construction of a shared Boeotian identity from the Archaic to the Hellenistic period. At the same time, their strategic locations made them central to processes of territorial negotiation and political control around the Kopais basin.