1.
Crosses in heraldry
–
The cross is a basic design used from pre-historic times. Its use was expanded in the form of the Roman instrument of torture later known as the Christian cross from the 1st century AD with the development of Christianity. The cross was displayed on banners and flags from the medieval period, Heraldry emerged in western Europe at the start of the 13th century out of earlier traditions. Some pre-Christian usages appear in heraldry, such as the Fylfot, in 1188, Kings Henry II of England and Philip II of France agreed to launch the Third Crusade together, and that Henry would use a white cross and Philip a red cross. The red-on-white cross came to be used by the Knights Templar, and the one by the Knights Hospitaller. On one hand, and Savoy, the war flag of the Holy Roman Empire and Switzerland, in addition, the Glover Roll has semy of crosses crosslet as a tincture in several coats of arms. The desire to distinguish ones coat of arms from others led to a period of innovation in producing variants of the basic Christian cross by the early 14th century. The great number of variants of crosses, and the history of such variants results in confusing. The black-on-white cross worn by the Teutonic Knights was granted by Innocent III in 1205, the coat of arms representing the grand master is shown with a golden cross fleury or cross potent superimposed on the black cross, with the imperial eagle as a central inescutcheon. The golden cross fleury overlaid on the cross becomes widely used in the 15th century. While this legendary account cannot be traced back further than the modern period there is some evidence that the design does indeed date to the mid 13th century. The Danish design was adopted for the flags of Norway and Sweden, the following table lists only variants in the basic shape of the cross. Heraldic crosses may in addition vary in their flection, or their tincture, a plain heraldic cross is a Greek cross, with four arms of equal length which meet in the fesse-point of the shield. Flags with crosses are recorded from the later Middle Ages, e. g, several national flags are based on late medieval war flags, including the white-on-red crosses of the flag of Denmark and the flag of Switzerland. The elongated Nordic cross originates in the 18th century due to the shape of maritime flags. The Red Cross flag originates in 1906 as a version of the flag of Switzerland. William Wood Seymour, The Cross in Heraldry, The Cross in Tradition, History, and Art
2.
Globus cruciger
–
The cross represents Christs dominion over the orb of the world, literally held in the hand of an earthly ruler. In the iconography of Western art, when Christ himself holds the globe, he is called Salvator Mundi, holding the world in ones hand, or more ominously, under ones foot, has been used as a symbol since antiquity. To citizens of the Roman Empire, the round globe held by Jupiter represented the world, or the universe. The orbis terrarum was central to the iconography of the Tetrarchy, constantine I claimed to have had a vision of a cross above the sun, with the words In this sign, you shall conquer, at the Battle of Milvian Bridge in 312. His soldiers painted crosses upon their shields, and then defeated their foe, with the growth of Christianity in the 5th century, the orb was topped with a cross, symbolising the Christian Gods dominion over the world. The emperor held the world in his hand, to show that he ruled it on Gods behalf, to non-Christians already familiar with the pagan globe, the surmounting of a cross sent a message about the triumph of Christianity. Although the globe symbolized the entire Earth, its use spread among many Christian rulers who reigned over parts of the earth. The globus cruciger was associated with rulers and celestial beings alike. It first appeared on coins in the early 5th century and remained throughout the Middle Ages in coins, iconography. It may still be seen in the arms of the surviving European monarchies. Even in the era in England, the Sovereigns Orb symbolises both the state and Church of England under the protection and domain of the royal crown. The Ball and the Cross Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch Monde Earth symbol Leslie Brubaker, Dictionary of the Middle Ages, vol 5,564, ISBN 0-684-18161-4 Picture of the 10th century Orb, Scepter and Crown insignia of the Holy Roman Empire
3.
Christ Pantocrator
–
In Christian iconography, Christ Pantocrator refers to a specific depiction of Christ. Pantocrator or Pantokrator is, used in context, a translation of one of many names of God in Judaism. When the Hebrew Bible was translated into Greek as the Septuagint, in the New Testament, Pantokrator is used once by Paul. Aside from that one occurrence, John of Patmos is the only New Testament author to use the word Pantokrator, the most common translation of Pantocrator is Almighty or All-powerful. In this understanding, Pantokrator is a word formed from the Greek words πᾶς, pas, i. e. all and κράτος, kratos, i. e. strength, might. This is often understood in terms of power, i. e. ability to do anything. Another, more literal translation is Ruler of All or, less literally, in this understanding, Pantokrator is a compound word formed from the Greek for all and the verb meaning To accomplish something or to sustain something. This translation speaks more to Gods actual power, i. e, the Pantokrator, largely an Eastern Orthodox or Eastern Catholic theological conception, is less common by that name in Western Catholicism and largely unknown to most Protestants. In the West the equivalent image in art is known as Christ in Majesty, Christ Pantocrator has come to suggest Christ as a mild but stern, all-powerful judge of humanity. The icon of Christ Pantokrator is one of the most widely used images of Orthodox Christianity. Some scholars consider the Pantocrator a Christian adaptation of images of Zeus, the development of the earliest stages of the icon from Roman Imperial imagery is easier to trace. The image of Christ Pantocrator was one of the first images of Christ developed in the Early Christian Church, in the half-length image, Christ holds the New Testament in his left hand and makes the gesture of teaching or of blessing with his right. The gessoed panel, finely painted using a wax medium on a panel, had been coarsely overpainted around the face. It was only when the overpainting was cleaned in 1962 that the ancient image was revealed to be a high quality icon. The left hand holds a book with a richly decorated cover featuring the Cross. An icon where Christ has a book is called Christ the Teacher. Christ is bearded, his brown hair centrally parted, and his head is surrounded by a halo, the icon is usually shown against a gold background comparable to the gilded grounds of mosaic depictions of the Christian emperors. Often, the name of Christ is written on each side of the halo, as IC, christs fingers are depicted in a pose that represents the letters IC, X and C, thereby making the Christogram ICXC
4.
Halo (religious iconography)
–
A halo is a ring of light that surrounds a person in art. They have been used in the iconography of many religions to indicate holy or sacred figures, halos may be shown as almost any colour or combination of colours, but are most often depicted as golden, yellow or white when representing light or red when representing flames. Homer describes a light around the heads of heroes in battle. 450-30 BC, in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Colossus of Rhodes was a statue of the sun-god Helios and had his usual radiate crown. Hellenistic rulers are shown wearing radiate crowns that seem clearly to imitate this effect. The rulers of the Kushan Empire were perhaps the earliest to give themselves haloes on their coins, in Chinese and Japanese Buddhist art the halo has also been used since the earliest periods in depicting the image of Amitabha Buddha and others. Thin lines of gold often radiate outwards or inwards from the rim of the halo, elaborate haloes and especially aureoles also appear in Hindu sculpture, where they tend to develop into architectural frames in which the original idea can be hard to recognise. Theravada Buddhism and Jainism did not use the halo for many centuries, in Asian art, the nimbus is often imagined as consisting not just of light, but of flames. This type seems to first appear in Chinese bronzes of which the earliest surviving examples date from before 450 and this type is also very rarely found, and on a smaller scale, in medieval Christian art. Sometimes a thin line of flames rise up from the edges of a halo in Buddhist examples. In Tibetan paintings the flames are shown as blown by a wind. Halos are found in Islamic art from various places and periods, especially in Persian miniatures and Moghul, flaming halos derived from Buddhist art surround angels, and similar ones are often seen around Muhammad and other sacred human figures. The halo represents an aura or glow of sanctity which was conventionally drawn encircling the head, though Roman paintings have largely disappeared, save some fresco decorations, the haloed figure remains fresh in Roman mosaics. In a 2nd-century AD Roman floor mosaic preserved at Bardo, Tunisia, significantly, the triton and nereid who accompany the sea-god are not haloed. In a late 2nd century AD floor mosaic from Thysdrus, El Djem, another haloed Apollo in mosaic, from Hadrumentum, is in the museum at Sousse. The conventions of representation, head tilted, lips slightly parted, large-eyed. The halo was incorporated into Early Christian art sometime in the 4th century with the earliest iconic images of Christ, initially the only figure shown with one. At least in later Orthodox images, each bar of cross is composed of three lines, symbolising the dogmas of the Trinity, the oneness of God and the two natures of Christ
5.
Christianity
–
Christianity is a Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ, who serves as the focal point for the religion. It is the worlds largest religion, with over 2.4 billion followers, or 33% of the global population, Christians believe that Jesus is the Son of God and the savior of humanity whose coming as the Messiah was prophesied in the Old Testament. Christian theology is summarized in creeds such as the Apostles Creed and his incarnation, earthly ministry, crucifixion, and resurrection are often referred to as the gospel, meaning good news. The term gospel also refers to accounts of Jesuss life and teaching, four of which—Matthew, Mark, Luke. Christianity is an Abrahamic religion that began as a Second Temple Judaic sect in the mid-1st century, following the Age of Discovery, Christianity spread to the Americas, Australasia, sub-Saharan Africa, and the rest of the world through missionary work and colonization. Christianity has played a prominent role in the shaping of Western civilization, throughout its history, Christianity has weathered schisms and theological disputes that have resulted in many distinct churches and denominations. Worldwide, the three largest branches of Christianity are the Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, and the denominations of Protestantism. There are many important differences of interpretation and opinion of the Bible, concise doctrinal statements or confessions of religious beliefs are known as creeds. They began as baptismal formulae and were expanded during the Christological controversies of the 4th and 5th centuries to become statements of faith. Many evangelical Protestants reject creeds as definitive statements of faith, even agreeing with some or all of the substance of the creeds. The Baptists have been non-creedal in that they have not sought to establish binding authoritative confessions of faith on one another. Also rejecting creeds are groups with roots in the Restoration Movement, such as the Christian Church, the Evangelical Christian Church in Canada, the Apostles Creed is the most widely accepted statement of the articles of Christian faith. It is also used by Presbyterians, Methodists, and Congregationalists and this particular creed was developed between the 2nd and 9th centuries. Its central doctrines are those of the Trinity and God the Creator, each of the doctrines found in this creed can be traced to statements current in the apostolic period. The creed was used as a summary of Christian doctrine for baptismal candidates in the churches of Rome. Most Christians accept the use of creeds, and subscribe to at least one of the mentioned above. The central tenet of Christianity is the belief in Jesus as the Son of God, Christians believe that Jesus, as the Messiah, was anointed by God as savior of humanity, and hold that Jesus coming was the fulfillment of messianic prophecies of the Old Testament. The Christian concept of the Messiah differs significantly from the contemporary Jewish concept, Jesus, having become fully human, suffered the pains and temptations of a mortal man, but did not sin
6.
Crucifix
–
A crucifix is an image of Jesus on the cross, as distinct from a bare cross. The representation of Jesus himself on the cross is referred to in English as the corpus, the crucifix is a principal symbol for many groups of Christians, and one of the most common forms of the Crucifixion in the arts. The symbol is less common in churches of other Protestant denominations, the crucifix emphasizes Jesus sacrifice — his death by crucifixion, which Christians believe brought about the redemption of mankind. Most crucifixes portray Jesus on a Latin cross, rather than any other shape, Western crucifixes usually have a three-dimensional corpus, but in Eastern Orthodoxy Jesus body is normally painted on the cross, or in low relief. Strictly speaking, to be a crucifix, the cross must be three-dimensional, an entire painting of the Crucifixion of Jesus including a landscape background and other figures is not a crucifix either. Large crucifixes high across the axis of a church are known by the Old English term rood. By the late Middle Ages these were a feature of Western churches. The standard, four-pointed Latin crucifix consists of an upright post or stipes, there may also be a short projecting nameplate, showing the letters INRI. The corpus of Eastern crucifixes is normally a two-dimensional or low relief icon that shows Jesus as already dead, his face peaceful, more sculptural small crucifixes in metal relief are also used in Orthodoxy, including as pectoral crosses and blessing crosses. Western crucifixes may show Christ dead or alive, the presence of the wound in his ribs traditionally indicating that he is dead. In either case his face very often shows his suffering, in Orthodoxy he has normally been shown as dead since around the end of the period of Byzantine Iconoclasm. Eastern crucifixes have Jesus two feet nailed side by side, rather than crossed one above the other, as Western crucifixes have shown them since around the 13th century. The crown of thorns is also absent in Eastern crucifixes, since the emphasis is not on Christs suffering. The S-shaped position of Jesus body on the cross is a Byzantine innovation of the late 10th century, probably more from Byzantine influence, it spread elsewhere in the West, especially to Italy, by the Romanesque period, though it was more usual in painting than sculpted crucifixes. Its in Italy that the emphasis was put on Jesus suffering and realistic details, during the 13th century the suffering Italian model triumphed over the traditional Byzantine one anywhere in Europe also due to the works of artists such as Giunta Pisano and Cimabue. Since the Renaissance the S-shape is generally less pronounced. He may be robed as a prophet, crowned as a king, on some crucifixes a skull and crossbones are shown below the corpus, referring to Golgotha, the site at which Jesus was crucified, which the Gospels say means in Hebrew the place of the skull. Very large crucifixes have been built, the largest being the Cross in the Woods in Michigan, prayer in front of a crucifix, which is seen as a sacramental, is often part of devotion for Christians, especially those worshipping in a church, and also privately
7.
Cemetery
–
A cemetery or graveyard is a place where the remains of dead people are buried or otherwise interred. The word cemetery implies that the land is designated as a burial ground. The term graveyard is used interchangeably with cemetery, but primarily referred to a burial ground within a churchyard. The intact or cremated remains of people may be interred in a grave, commonly referred to as burial, or in a tomb, an above-ground grave, in Western cultures, funeral ceremonies are often observed in cemeteries. These ceremonies or rites of passage according to cultural practices. Modern cemeteries often include crematoria, and some previously used for both, continue as crematoria as a principal use long after the interment areas have been filled. The Oxford English Dictionary defines a cemetery as a burial-ground generally, a large public park or ground laid out expressly for the interment of the dead, and not being the ‘yard’ of any church. Prehistoric cemeteries are referred to by the term grave field. From about the 7th century, European burial was under the control of the Church, practices varied, but in continental Europe, bodies were usually buried in a mass grave until they had decomposed. The bones were exhumed and stored in ossuaries, either along the arcaded bounding walls of the cemetery, or within the church under floor slabs. In Europe this was accompanied with a depiction of their coat of arms. Most others were buried in graveyards again divided by social status, mourners who could afford the work of a stonemason had a headstone engraved with a name, dates of birth and death and sometimes other biographical data, and set up over the place of burial. Usually, the writing and symbols carved on the headstone. Some families hired a blacksmith and had large crosses made from various metals put on the place of burial, in many European states, burial in graveyards was eventually outlawed altogether through government legislation. Instead of graveyards, completely new places of burial were established away from populated areas and outside of old towns. Many new cemeteries became municipally owned or were run by their own corporations, in some cases, skeletons were exhumed from graveyards and moved into ossuaries or catacombs. A large action of this occurred in 18th century Paris when human remains were transferred from graveyards all over the city to the Catacombs of Paris. The bones of an estimated 6 million people are to be found there, an early example of a landscape-style cemetery is Père Lachaise in Paris
8.
Headstone
–
A headstone, tombstone, or gravestone is a stele or marker, usually stone, that is placed over a grave. They are traditional for burials in the Christian, Jewish and Muslim religions, in many parts of Europe insetting a photograph of the deceased in a frame is very common. The stele, as it is called in a context, is one of the oldest forms of funerary art. Originally, a tombstone was the lid of a stone coffin, or the coffin itself. Now all three terms are used for markers placed at the head of the grave. Some graves in the 18th century also contained footstones to demarcate the end of the grave. This sometimes developed into full kerb sets that marked the perimeter of the grave. Footstones were rarely annotated with more than the initials and year of death. Many cemeteries and churchyards have removed those extra stones to ease grass cutting by machine mower, note that in some UK cemeteries the principal, and indeed only, marker is placed at the foot of the grave. Owing to soil movement and Downhill creep on gentle slopes, older headstones and footstones can often be tilted at an angle. Over time, this movement can result in the stones being sited several metres away from their original location, graves, and any related memorials are a focus for mourning and remembrance. The names of relatives are often added to a gravestone over the years, since gravestones and a plot in a cemetery or churchyard cost money, they are also a symbol of wealth or prominence in a community. Some gravestones were even commissioned and erected to their own memory by people who were living, as a testament to their wealth. In a Christian context, the wealthy often erected elaborate memorials within churches rather than having simply external gravestones. Crematoria frequently offer similar alternatives to families who do not have a grave to mark, carved or cast commemorative plaques inside the crematorium for example may serve this purpose. A cemetery may follow national codes of practice or independently prescribe the size and use of certain materials, some may limit the placing of a wooden memorial to six months after burial, after which a more permanent memorial must be placed. Others may require stones of a shape or position to facilitate grass-cutting. Headstones of granite, marble and other kinds of stone are usually created, installed, restoration is a specialized job for a monumental mason
9.
Stele
–
A stele is a stone or wooden slab, generally taller than it is wide, erected in ancient Western culture as a monument. Grave steles were often used for funerary or commemorative purposes, Stelae as slabs of stone would also be used as ancient Greek and Roman government notices or as boundary markers to mark borders or property lines. The surface of the stele usually has text, ornamentation, or both, the ornamentation may be inscribed, carved in relief, or painted. Traditional Western gravestones may technically be considered the equivalent of ancient stelae. The most famous example of an inscribed stela leading to increased understanding is the Rosetta Stone, an informative stele of Tiglath-Pileser III is preserved in the British Museum. Two steles built into the walls of a church are major documents relating to the Etruscan language, unfinished standing stones, set up without inscriptions from Libya in North Africa to Scotland were monuments of pre-literate Megalithic cultures in the Late Stone Age. The Pictish stones of Scotland, often carved, date from between the 6th and 9th centuries. An obelisk is a kind of stele. The Insular high crosses of Ireland and Britain are specialized steles, totem poles of North and South America that are made out of stone may also be considered a specialized type of stele. Gravestones, typically with inscribed name and often with inscribed epitaph, are among the most common types of stele seen in Western culture. Most recently, in the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe in Berlin, the memorial is meant to be read not only as the field, but also as an erasure of data that refer to memory of the Holocaust. Steles have been the medium of stone inscription in China since the Tang dynasty. Chinese steles are generally rectangular stone tablets upon which Chinese characters are carved intaglio with a funerary, commemorative and they can commemorate talented writers and officials, inscribe poems, portraits, or maps, and frequently contain the calligraphy of famous historical figures. During the Han dynasty, tomb inscriptions containing biographical information on deceased people began to be written on stone tablets rather than wooden ones, erecting steles at tombs or temples eventually became a widespread social and religious phenomenon. Emperors found it necessary to promulgate laws, regulating the use of funerary steles by the population, Steles are found at nearly every significant mountain and historical site in China. The First Emperor made five tours of his domain in the 3rd century BC and had Li Si make seven stone inscriptions commemorating and praising his work, of which fragments of two survive. One of the most famous mountain steles is the 13 m high stele at Mount Tai with the calligraphy of Emperor Xuanzong of Tang commemorating his imperial sacrifices there in 725. A number of stone monuments have preserved the origin and history of Chinas minority religious communities
10.
Christian culture
–
Christian culture is a term primarily used in academia to describe the cultural practices common to Christianity. Christian culture has influenced and assimilated much from the Greco-Roman Byzantine, Western culture, Middle Eastern, Slavic, Caucasian, until the Age of Enlightenment, Christian culture guided the course of philosophy, literature, art, music and science. Christian disciplines of the arts have subsequently developed into Christian philosophy, Christian art, Christian music. Many clerics throughout history have made significant contributions to science and Jesuits in particular have made significant contributions to the development of science. The cultural influence of Christianity includes social welfare, founding hospitals, economics, politics, architecture, literature and family life. Christianity it also had a impact on all other aspects of life, marriage and family, education, the humanities and sciences, the political and social order, the economy. Eastern Christians contributed to the Arab Islamic Civilization during the Ummayad and they also excelled in philosophy, science, theology and medicine. Christians have made a myriad contributions in a broad and diverse range of fields, including the sciences, arts, politics, literatures, another frequent application of the term is to distinguish political groups in areas of mixed religious backgrounds. Cathedrals in particular, as well as abbey churches and basilicas, have certain complex structural forms that are found less often in parish churches. Such a cathedral or great church is one of the finest buildings within its region and is a focus of local pride. Many cathedrals and basilicas, and a number of churches are among the worlds most renowned works of architecture. The earliest large churches date from Late Antiquity, as Christianity and the construction of churches and cathedrals spread throughout the world, their manner of building was dependent upon local materials and local techniques. Overlaid on each of the styles are the regional characteristics. Some of these characteristics are so typical of a country or region that they appear, regardless of style. Christian art is sacred art which uses themes and imagery from Christianity, images of Jesus and narrative scenes from the Life of Christ are the most common subjects, and scenes from the Old Testament play a part in the art of most denominations. Images of the Virgin Mary and saints are much rarer in Protestant art than that of Roman Catholicism, Christianity makes far wider use of images than related religions, in which figurative representations are forbidden, such as Islam and Judaism. However, there is also a history of aniconism in Christianity from various periods. An illuminated manuscript is a manuscript in which the text is supplemented by the addition of decoration, the earliest surviving substantive illuminated manuscripts are from the period AD400 to 600, primarily produced in Ireland, Constantinople and Italy
11.
Zugspitze
–
The Zugspitze, at 2,962 m above sea level, is the highest peak of the Wetterstein Mountains as well as the highest mountain in Germany. It lies south of the town of Garmisch-Partenkirchen, and the border between Germany and Austria runs over its western summit, south of the mountain is the Zugspitzplatt, a high karst plateau with numerous caves. On the flanks of the Zugspitze are three glaciers, including the two largest in Germany, the Northern Schneeferner with an area of 30.7 hectares, the third is the Southern Schneeferner which covers 8.4 hectares. The Zugspitze was first climbed on 27 August 1820 by Josef Naus, his assistant, Maier. One of the best known ridge routes in the Eastern Alps runs along the knife-edged Jubilee Ridge to the summit, linking the Zugspitze, the Hochblassen, for mountaineers there is plenty of nearby accommodation. On the western summit of the Zugspitze itself is the Münchner Haus, three cable cars run to the top of the Zugspitze. A rack railway, the Bavarian Zugspitze Railway, runs inside the northern flank of the mountain and ends on the Zugspitzplatt, the rack railway and the Eibsee Cable Car, the third cableway, transport an average of 500,000 people to the summit each year. In winter, nine ski lifts cover the ski area on the Zugspitzplatt, the weather station, opened in 1900, and the research station in the Schneefernerhaus are mainly used to conduct climate research. The Zugspitze belongs to the Wetterstein range of the Northern Limestone Alps, the border between Germany and Austria goes right over the mountain. There used to be a border checkpoint at the summit but, since Germany, the exact height of the Zugspitze was a matter of debate for quite a while. Given figures ranged from 2, 690–2,970 metres, the lounge at the new café is named 2962 for this reason. At 2,962 metres the Zugspitze is the highest mountain of the Zugspitze massif and this height is referenced to the Amsterdam Gauge and is given by the Bavarian State Office for Survey and Geoinformation. The same height is recorded against the Trieste Gauge used in Austria, originally the Zugspitze had three peaks, the east, middle and west summits. The only one that has remained in its form is the east summit. The middle summit fell victim to one of the cable car summit stations in 1930, in 1938 the west summit was blown up to create a building site for a planned flight control room for the Wehrmacht. Originally the height of the west summit was given as 2,964 m, the Zugspitze rises eleven kilometres southwest of Garmisch-Partenkirchen and just under six kilometres east of Ehrwald. The border between Germany and Austria runs over the west summit, thus the Zugspitze massif belongs to the German state of Bavaria, the municipalities responsible for it are Grainau and Ehrwald. To the south the Gaistal valley and its river, the Leutascher Ache, to the north at the foot of the Zugspitze is the lake of Eibsee
12.
Mount Royal
–
Mount Royal is a large volcanic-related hill or small mountain in the city of Montreal, immediately west of downtown Montreal, Quebec, the city to which it gave its name. The hill is part of the Monteregian Hills situated between the Laurentians and the Appalachian Mountains and it gave its Latin name, Mons Regius, to the Monteregian chain. The hill consists of three peaks, Colline de la Croix at 233 m, Colline dOutremont at 211 m, some tourist guidebooks, such as the Michelin Guide to Montreal, state that Mount Royal is an extinct volcano. The mountain is the extension of a vastly eroded ancient volcanic complex. The main rock type is a composed of pyroxene, olivine. During and after the stage of intrusion, the gabbros and surrounding rocks were intruded by a series of volcanic dikes. Subsequently, the softer sedimentary rock was eroded, leaving behind the resistant igneous rock that forms the mountain. The mineral montroyalite, discovered in Montreal, is named after the mountain that provided the definition sample, the first European to scale the mountain was Jacques Cartier, guided there in 1535 by the people of the village of Hochelega. He named it in honour of his patron, Francis I of France and he wrote in his journal, And among these fields is situated and seated the said town of Hochelaga, near to and adjoining a mountain. We named this mountain, Mount Royal, on one theory, the name of the Island of Montreal derives from mont Réal, as it was spelled in Middle French. And yet, Cartiers 1535 diary entry refers to le mont Royal, the name was first applied to the island and was unofficially applied to the city, formerly Ville-Marie, by the 18th century. In 1643, De Maisonneuve made a pilgrimage to the top, in 1876, land owner and farmer James Swail began residential subdivisions on the western slope of Mount Murray, in what is now the Cote-des-Neiges district. In 1906, a housing development was started in the area, called Northmount Heights. Much of this area has been expropriated by the Université de Montréal, in 1914–1918, a railway tunnel was dug under the mountain by the Canadian Northern Railway, a predecessor of the Canadian National. It is currently used by the AMTs Montreal/Deux-Montagnes commuter rail line, the area was briefly considered as the site for Expo 67, before the exposition grounds were ultimately built on islands in the St. Lawrence River. For the 1976 Summer Olympics, the park hosted the individual road race cycling event. Today, the mountain is crowned by a 31.4 m -high illuminated cross, installed in 1924 by the Société Saint-Jean-Baptiste and it was converted to fibre-optic light in 1992, and then to LEDs in 2009. The cross is lit in white, but can now be changed to any colour
.png)
.svg){kind=small}
_blu.svg){kind=small}
