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bath as a place to luxuriate in ‘peace and retreat’. The rituals
of purification taking place in Roman or Turkish baths envi-
sion differentiated special sequences, while the ritualization of
dining in the framework of a celebratory banquet prescribes a
specific seating and table arrangement. Even in the traditional
home, the living room as a symbolic space was for a long time
taboo in relation to everyday activities, its ‘cold splendour’
reserved for special holidays.
On the scale of the city, customary rituals are enacted
by preference on those public plazas which architecture has
imbued atmospherically with a sense of history. Other rites
are performed on special celebratory squares, and incorporate
the entire town during pageants. During special religious cer-
emonies as well, the performance of liturgical rites exits the
sacred context to enter the public urban space. During proces-
sions whose points of departure and arrival are cult sites, an
example being the Spanish semana santa, religious ritual lays
claim to the urban realm as an expanded sacral sphere. Only
the monumental > scale, in particular when it transmits a feel-
ing of great > size, forms spaces that span distances while
providing a sense of distinction and exclusivity. Axial layouts
give movement a directional orientation, and a frame suitable
for parades and military deployments or marches (> axis). A
ritual strolling devoted to seeing and being seen, on the other
hand, takes place daily on the boulevards, promenades and
esplanades, primarily in southern countries, for example in
the form of the passeggiata that is enacted every evening in
Italian towns. At spas, promenades are often contained archi-
tecturally by sweeping colonnades.
In ritual situations, all of the participants feel themselves
called upon to adopt a specific attitude. If, however, one re-
sists the demand – expressed by the totality formed by archi-
tecture, ritual action, and the requirements of ceremony – to
adopt an appropriate mind-set, then the entire situation may
be perceived as an imposition.