Ludovic Bender (PhD, Fribourg University, Switzerland) is a medievalist and Byzantinist specialising in the culture of monks and hermits. He is the author of various articles and books on the architecture and the landscapes of religious communities in both the East and the West. He has participated in numerous projects in Turkey and the Balkans. In Greece, his work has focused mainly on the Peloponnese, where he studied and surveyed extensively the cave-chapels of the region. As an operation manager and researcher at InSitu Archéologie (Sion, Switzerland), he is currently in charge of several excavation sites, monument restoration and study projects. His current research focuses on the so-called Valère Castle, a fortified church and settlement founded by the canons of the cathedral chapter of Sion, and on the Abbey of St-Maurice d’Agaune.