  We consider the possibility that the basic space of physics is not spacetime,
but configuration space. We illustrate this on the example with a system of
gravitationally interacting point particles. It turns out that such system can
be described by the minimal length action in a multidimensional configuration
space C with a block diagonal metric. Allowing for more general metrics and
curvatures of C, we step beyond the ordinary general relativity in spacetime.
The latter theory is then an approximation to the general relativity in C.
Other sorts of configuration spaces can also be considered, for instance those
associated with extended objects, such as strings and branes. This enables a
deeper understanding of the geometric principle behind string theory, and an
insight on the occurrence of Yang-Mills and gravitational fields at the
`fundamental level'.
