Pedro Javier Cruz-Sánchez (Salamanca, 1969) holds a degree in History, specialising in Archaeology, and a PhD in History from the University of Valladolid. I am currently a researcher at the Universidade de Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro (UTAD) and a member of the Centro de Estudos Transdisciplinares para o Desenvolvimento (CETRAD) of the same university, as well as working as a freelance professional.

My research focuses on the study of different aspects of Popular Religiosity, sacred landscapes, intangible heritage, popular architecture, historical transhumance and material and visual culture. I have written seven books, coordinated three more and written more than 80 scientific papers on different topics related to anthropology and ethnography such as the crosses and crucifixes of Salamanca, the subject of my doctoral thesis, the mills of the SW of Salamanca, the pastoral culture, the historical roads of the province of Segovia or the historical heritage in the Montes de Valsaín (Segovia). I have given numerous lectures and conferences, some of them at Spanish universities and the CSIC, and I have coordinated half a dozen seminars and courses, as well as lecturing at the universities of Salamanca, Valladolid and Burgos.

I am currently coordinating the Laboratory of Sacred Cultural Landscapes of Castilla y León, under the Ethnographic Museum of Castilla y León in Zamora and I have worked on the drafting of the inventory of the intangible heritage of the provinces of Ávila, Palencia, Segovia, Soria, Salamanca and Valladolid, within the Institute of European Studies of the University of Valladolid. I am also scientific coordinator of several international conferences on sacred cultural landscapes and popular religiosity. I have also directed, among others, the inventory projects of the hermitages of the provinces of Ávila, Salamanca, Valladolid and Zamora and the Sacred Stones of León, Salamanca and Zamora financed by the Junta de Castilla y León and organized several exhibitions on the anthropology of the sacred landscapes of the Iberian Peninsula.

Main Publications:
CRUZ-SÁNCHEZ, Pedro Javier : “Creencias sobre la pared. Epistemología y problemática del emblema de la cruz en el ámbito urbano tradicional”, Rodrigues Santana, O. y Rodrigues, H. (coords.) Escritas e Vozes Silenciosas. Perspetivas de Análise: 319-340. Asociação Portuguesa da História do Vinho e da Vinha (APHVIN/GEHVID). Porto, 2017.

CRUZ-SÁNCHEZ, Pedro Javier : “As sacra saxa no contexto das paisagens culturais sagradas de Leâo e Castela. Apontamentos a partir da Antropología”, Sabucale. Revisto do Museu do Sabugal, 10: 55-77. Sabugal, 2019.

CRUZ-SÁNCHEZ, Pedro Javier: “La apropiación simbólica de los espacios agrarios a partir de tres tipos de cruceros rayanos”, Revista Memória Rural, 3: 328-339. Museu da Memória Rural. Carrazeda de Ansiâes, 2020.

CRUZ-SÁNCHEZ, Pedro Javier, SÁNCHEZ VALDELVIRA, Beatriz, TORRES, Jorge y SANTANA, O. (coords.): Los paisajes sagrados a escena. Visiones plurales. Junta de Castilla y León. Valladolid, 2021.

CRUZ-SÁNCHEZ, Pedro Javier y SÁNCHEZ VALDELVIRA, Beatriz: Itinerario por la arquitectura histórica y tradicional del occidente salmantino. Junta de Castilla y León. Valladolid, 2020.

Main Projects:

CRUZ-SÁNCHEZ, Pedro Javier (2018): Estudio sobre la arquitectura histórico-tradicional de las subcomarcas de Las Arribes –La Ribera y El Abadengo- situado en el noroeste de la provincia de Salamanca. Junta de Castilla y León.

CRUZ-SÁNCHEZ, Pedro Javier (2020): Estudio y puesta en valor de las piedras sagradas de León, Salamanca y Zamora. Junta de Castilla y León.

CRUZ-SÁNCHEZ, Pedro Javier (2020): Catálogo-inventario de los bienes inmuebles de interés etnográfico de la provincia de Salamanca. Diputación de Salamanca.

CRUZ-SÁNCHEZ, Pedro Javier y ENCINAS MANCHADO, M. (2021): Estudio antropológico de los conjuraderos en la provincia de Soria. Junta de Castilla y León.

CRUZ-SÁNCHEZ, Pedro Javier y ENCINAS MANCHADO, M. (2021): Estudio antropológico de las luminarias y rituales de fuego en la provincia de Soria. Diputación de Soria. Soria.