1.
Basilica of Sant'Ambrogio
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The Basilica of SantAmbrogio is a church in Milan, northern Italy. One of the most ancient churches in Milan, it was built by St. Ambrose in 379–386, the first name of the church was in fact Basilica Martyrum. When St. Ambrose arrived in Milan, the churches were in conflict with each other over the conflict between Arianism and the Nicene Creed as well as numerous local issues. He was firmly in support of the Nicene side of the conflict and he did this through both preaching and construction. He built three or four churches surrounding the city, Basilica Apostolorum, Basilica Virginum, and Basilica Martyrum, a fourth church, Basilica Salvatoris is attributed to him as well, but may not actually be from the 4th century. These churches were dedicated with anti-Arian language and as symbols of the wealth, initially, the basilica was outside the city of Milan, but over the following centuries, the city grew up around it. It became a center of life and a community of canons developed in the church. In 789, a monastery was established within the basilica grounds, the canons, however, retained their own community and identity instead of fading away. Two, separate, distinct religious communities shared the basilica, in the 11th century, the canons adopted orders and became Canons Regular. There were now two separate monastic orders following different rules living in the basilica, the canons were in the northern building, the cloister of the canons, while the monks were in the two southern buildings. The two towers symbolize the division in the basilica, the 9th century Torre dei Monaci tower was used by the monks to call the faithful to the monks mass. The monks supported themselves, partly, from the offerings given after mass, however, the canons did not have a bell tower and were not allowed to ring bells until they finished their own tower in the 12th Century. The monastery and church became a landholder in northern Italy. On 4 August 1528 it was the so-called Peace of St. Ambrose, in 1492 the Benedictines commissioned Donato Bramante, structural architect of St. Peters Basilica, to renovate the new rectory. In August 1943 the Allied bombings heavily damaged the basilica, in particular the apse, as a result of this a new building, painted in pink, was constructed to house the Abbotts offices and the museum. The church is built in brickwork of different origins and colors, with parts of stone. The current Romanesque church was begun around 1080, the nave dates to about 1128 and the rib vaults of the nave are from about 1140. The altar occupies about the place as in the time of St. Ambrose
2.
Church architecture
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Church architecture refers to the architecture of buildings of Christian churches. These large, often ornate and architecturally prestigious buildings were dominant features of the towns, however, far more numerous were the parish churches in Christendom, the focus of Christian devotion in every town and village. In the 20th century, the use of new materials, such as steel, the history of church architecture divides itself into periods, and into countries or regions and by religious affiliation. The simplest church building comprises a single meeting space, built of locally available material, such churches are generally rectangular, but in African countries where circular dwellings are the norm, vernacular churches may be circular as well. A simple church may be built of mud brick, wattle and daub and it may be roofed with thatch, shingles, corrugated iron or banana leaves. However, church congregations, from the 4th century onwards, have sought to construct buildings that were both permanent and aesthetically pleasing. This had led to a tradition in which congregations and local leaders have invested time, money and personal prestige into the building, within any parish, the local church is often the oldest building, and is larger than any pre-19th-century structure except perhaps a barn. The church is built of the most durable material available. To the two-room structure is often added aisles, a tower, chapels, in the first three centuries of the Early Christian Church, the practice of Christianity was illegal and few churches were constructed. In the beginning Christians worshipped along with Jews in synagogues and in private houses, after the separation of Jews and Christians the latter continued to worship in peoples houses, known as house churches. These were often the homes of the members of the faith. Saint Paul, in his first letter to the Corinthians writes, aquila and Prisca, together with the church in their house, greet you warmly in the Lord. Some domestic buildings were adapted to function as churches, one of the earliest of adapted residences is at Dura Europos church, built shortly after 200 AD, where two rooms were made into one, by removing a wall, and a dais was set up. To the right of the entrance a small room was made into a baptistry, some church buildings were specifically built as church assemblies, such as that opposite the emperor Diocletians palace in Nicomedia. The books of the Holy Scriptures were found, and they were committed to the flames, the utensils and furniture of the church were abandoned to pillage, all was rapine, confusion, tumult. That church, situated on rising ground, was within view of the palace, and Diocletian and Galerius stood, as if on a watchtower, disputing long whether it ought to be set on fire. The sentiment of Diocletian prevailed, who dreaded lest, so great a fire being once kindled, some part of the city might he burnt, for there were many and large buildings that surrounded the church. Then the Pretorian Guards came in battle array, with axes and other iron instruments, from the first to the early fourth centuries most Christian communities worshipped in private homes, often secretly
3.
Sanctuary
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A sanctuary, in its original meaning, is a sacred place, such as a shrine. By the use of such places as a haven, by extension the term has come to be used for any place of safety. This secondary use can be categorized into human sanctuary, a place for humans, such as a political sanctuary. The meaning was extended to places of holiness or safety, a religious sanctuary may be a sacred place, or a consecrated area of a church or temple around its tabernacle or altar. Examples are St. Peters Basilica in Rome and St. Albans Cathedral in England, the place, and therefore the church built there, was considered to have been sanctified by what happened there. In modern times, the Catholic Church has continued this practice by placing in the altar of each church, when it is consecrated for use, the relics box is removed when the church is taken out of use as a church. In the Eastern Orthodox Church, the antimension on the altar serves a similar function and it is a cloth icon of Christs body taken down from the cross, and typically has the relics of a saint sewn into it. In addition, it is signed by the bishop, and represents his authorization. In many Western traditions altar rails sometimes mark the edge of the sanctuary or chancel, in many churches the architectural term chancel covers the same area as the sanctuary, and either term may be used. In some Protestant churches, the term denotes the entire worship area while the term chancel is used to refer to the area around the altar-table. In other Oriental Orthodox traditions, a curtain is used. In most modern synagogues, the room for prayer is known as the sanctuary, to contrast it with smaller rooms dedicated to various other services. When referring to prosecution of crimes, sanctuary can mean one of the following, Church sanctuary A sacred place, such as a church, in which fugitives formerly were immune to arrest. While the practice of churches offering sanctuary is still observed in the modern era, political sanctuary Immunity to arrest afforded by a sovereign authority. People seeking political sanctuary typically do so by asking a sovereign authority for asylum, many ancient peoples recognized a religious right of asylum, protecting criminals from legal action and from exile to some extent. This principle was adopted by the early Christian church, and various rules developed for what the person had to do to qualify for protection and just how much protection it was. By Norman times, there had come to be two kinds of sanctuary, All churches had the kind, but only the churches the king licensed had the broader version. The medieval system of asylum was finally abolished entirely in England by James I in 1623, a prime example is Queen Elizabeth Woodville, consort of Edward IV of England
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Altar
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An altar is any structure upon which offerings such as sacrifices are made for religious purposes, and by extension the Holy table of post-reformation Anglican churches. Altars are usually found at shrines, and they can be located in temples, churches, today they are used particularly in Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism, Shinto, Taoism, as well as in Neopaganism and Ceremonial Magic. Judaism used such a structure until the destruction of the Second Temple, many historical faiths also made use of them, including Greek and Norse religion. Altars in the Hebrew Bible were typically made of earth or unwrought stone, altars were generally erected in conspicuous places. The first altar recorded in the Hebrew Bible is that erected by Noah, altars were erected by Abraham, by Isaac, by Jacob, and by Moses. In Catholic and Orthodox Christian theology, the Eucharist is a re-presentation, hence, the table upon which the Eucharist is consecrated is called an altar. The altar plays a role in the celebration of the Eucharist, which takes place at the altar on which the bread. The altar is often on a higher elevation than the rest of the church, in Reformed and Anabaptist churches, a table, often called a Communion table, serves an analogous function. In some colloquial usage, the altar is used to denote the altar rail also. The main altar was also referred to as the high altar, in the earliest days of the Church, the Eucharist appears to have been celebrated on portable altars set up for the purpose. Some historians hold that, during the persecutions, the Eucharist was celebrated among the tombs in the Catacombs of Rome, other historians dispute this, but it is thought to be the origin of the tradition of placing relics beneath the altar. Although in the days of the Jerusalem Temple the High Priest indeed faced east when sacrificing on Yom Kippur, the ministers, celebrated the Eucharist facing east, towards the entrance. Some hold that for the part of the celebration the congregation faced the same way. After the sixth century the contrary orientation prevailed, with the entrance to the west and the altar at the east end. Then the ministers and congregation all faced east during the whole celebration, most rubrics, even in books of the seventeenth century and later, such as the Pontificale Romanum, continued to envisage the altar as free-standing. The rite of the Dedication of the Church continued to presume that the officiating Bishop could circle the altar during the consecration of the church and its altar. Despite this, with the increase in the size and importance of the reredos, most altars were built against the wall or barely separated from it. This diversity was recognized in the rubrics of the Roman Missal from the 1604 typical edition of Pope Clement VIII to the 1962 edition of Pope John XXIII, Si altare sit ad orientem, versus populum
5.
Basilica
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The Latin word basilica has three distinct applications in modern English. The word was used to describe an ancient Roman public building where courts were held, as well as serving other official. To a large extent these were the halls of ancient Roman life. The basilica was centrally located in every Roman town, usually adjacent to the main forum, later, the term came to refer specifically to a large and important Roman Catholic church that has been given special ceremonial rights by the Pope. Roman Catholic basilicas are Catholic pilgrimage sites, receiving tens of millions of visitors per year. In December 2009 the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City set a new record with 6.1 million pilgrims during Friday and Saturday for the anniversary of Our Lady of Guadalupe. The Roman basilica was a public building where business or legal matters could be transacted. The first basilicas had no function at all. The central aisle tended to be wide and was higher than the flanking aisles, the oldest known basilica, the Basilica Porcia, was built in Rome in 184 BC by Cato the Elder during the time he was Censor. Other early examples include the basilica at Pompeii, probably the most splendid Roman basilica is the one begun for traditional purposes during the reign of the pagan emperor Maxentius and finished by Constantine I after 313 AD. In the 3rd century AD, the elite appeared less frequently in the forums. They now tended to dominate their cities from opulent palaces and country villas, rather than retreats from public life, however, these residences were the forum made private. Seated in the tribune of his basilica, the man would meet his dependent clientes early every morning. A private basilica excavated at Bulla Regia, in the House of the Hunt and its reception or audience hall is a long rectangular nave-like space, flanked by dependent rooms that mostly also open into one another, ending in a semi-circular apse, with matching transept spaces. Clustered columns emphasised the crossing of the two axes, the remains of a large subterranean Neopythagorean basilica dating from the 1st century AD were found near the Porta Maggiore in Rome in 1915. The ground-plan of Christian basilicas in the 4th century was similar to that of this Neopythagorean basilica, the usable model at hand, when Constantine wanted to memorialise his imperial piety, was the familiar conventional architecture of the basilicas. In, and often also in front of, the apse was a platform, where the altar was placed. Constantine built a basilica of this type in his complex at Trier, later very easily adopted for use as a church
6.
Baldachin
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A baldachin, or baldaquin, is a canopy of state typically placed over an altar or throne. A cloth of honour is a simpler cloth hanging vertically behind the throne, Baldachin was originally a luxurious type of cloth from Baghdad, from which name the word is derived, in English as baudekin and other spellings. Matthew Paris records that Henry III of England wore a robe de preciosissimo baldekino at a ceremony at Westminster Abbey in 1247, the word for the cloth became the word for the ceremonial canopies made from the cloth. In the Middle Ages, a canopy of state, cloth of honour, or cloth of state was hung above the seat of a personage of sufficient standing. The seat under such a canopy of state would normally be raised on a dais, the cloth above a seat generally continued vertically down to the ground behind the seat. Emperors and kings, reigning dukes and bishops were accorded this honour, in a 15th-century manuscript illumination the sovereign Grand Master of the Knights Hospitaller in Rhodes sits in state to receive a presentation copy of the authors book. His seat is raised on a dais and backed with a richly embroidered dosser. Under his feet is a cushion, such as protected the feet of the King of France when he presided at a lit de justice, the King of France was also covered by a mobile canopy during his Coronation, held up on poles by several Peers of France. The Virgin Mary in particular, is often shown sitting under a cloth of honour in medieval. The cloth was simply a luxurious textile, often imported and with rich patterns, as in brocades. French kings are shown with blue cloths patterned with the gold fleur-de-lys. The coats-of-arms embroidered or woven into the tapestry are of England, sometimes, as in the presentation miniature Jean Wauquelin presenting his Chroniques de Hainaut to Philip the Good by Rogier van der Weyden, the cloth continues over the seat, and then to the floor. The canopy of estate may still be seen in most formal throne rooms, louis XIV developed the rituals of receptions in his state bedchamber, the petit lever to which only a handful of his court élite might expect to be invited. The other monarchs of Europe soon imitated his practice, even his staunchest enemy, William III of England, had his grooms of the bedchamber and its tester is quickly recognizable as a baldachin, serving its time-honoured function, the bedding might easily be replaced by a gilded throne. The queens of France spent a deal of time in their chambre. By the time Marie Antoinette escaped the mob from this bedroom, such state beds, the canopy imitated cloth in bronze, as did many subsequent imitations. This famous and spectacular feature is called the Baldacchino, though strictly it is a ciborium. Berninis design for the Baldachin incorporated giant solomonic columns inspired by columns that ringed the altar of the Old St. Peters and these columns were originally donated by Constantine, and a false tradition asserts they are the columns from the Temple of Jerusalem
7.
Liturgy
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Liturgy is the customary public worship performed by a religious group, according to its beliefs, customs and traditions. As a religious phenomenon, liturgy is a response to and participation in. Ritualization may be associated with events such as birth, coming of age, marriage. It thus forms the basis for establishing a relationship with a divine agency, methods of dress, preparation of food, application of cosmetics or other hygienic practices are all considered liturgical activities. Technically speaking, liturgy is a subset of ritual, when ritual is undertaken to participate in a divine act or assist a divine action, it is liturgy. If the ritual does not have this purpose it is not liturgy, a daily activity such as the Muslim salah and Jewish synagogue services would be ritual but not liturgy. If the Temple were re-established, the ritual undertaken by the Judaic priesthood within the Temple would be liturgy, for a simple definition, liturgy is basically the pattern/way of worship the worshippers, worship. So you could use orthodox liturgy which would have different aspects to the Eucharistic liturgy or the catholic liturgy. The word liturgy, derived from the term in ancient Greek, leitourgia. In origin it signified the often expensive offerings wealthy Greeks made in service to the people, and thus to the polis, through the leitourgia, the rich carried a financial burden and were correspondingly rewarded with honours and prestige. The leitourgia were assigned by the polis, the State and Roman Empire, the performance of such supported the patrons standing among the elite and the popular at large. The holder of a Hellenic leitourgia was not taxed a specific sum, but was entrusted with a particular ritual, however groups of rich citizens were assigned to pay for expenses such as civic amenities and even payment of warships. Eventually, under the Roman Empire, such obligations, known as munera, devolved into a competitive, Buddhist liturgy is a formalized service of veneration and worship performed within a Buddhist Sangha community in nearly every traditional denomination and sect in the Buddhist world. It is often done once or more times a day and can vary among the Theravada, Mahayana, the liturgy mainly consists of chanting or reciting a sutra or passages from a sutras, a mantra, and several gathas. Depending on what practice the practitioner wishes to undertake, it can be done at a temple or at home, the liturgy is almost always performed in front of an object or objects of veneration and accompanied by offerings of light, incense, water and food. Jewish liturgy are the prayer recitations that form part of the observance of Rabbinic Judaism and these prayers, often with instructions and commentary, are found in the siddur, the traditional Jewish prayer book. In general, Jewish men are obligated to pray three times a day within specific time ranges, while, according to the Talmud, women are only required to pray once daily, as they are generally exempted from obligations that are time dependent. Additional prayers, Musaf are recited by Orthodox and Conservative congregations on Shabbat, major Jewish holidays, a fifth prayer service, Neila, is recited only on Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement
8.
Ciborium (container)
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A ciborium is a vessel, normally in metal. The word is used for a large canopy over the altar. The ancient Greek word referred to the cup-shaped seed vessel of the Egyptian water-lily nelumbium speciosum and came to describe a drinking cup made from that seed casing and these vessels were particularly common in ancient Egypt and the Greek East. The word ciborium was also used in classical Latin to describe such cups and it resembles the shape of a chalice but its bowl is more round than conical, and takes its name from its cover, surmounted by a cross or other sacred design. In the Early Christian Church, Holy Communion was not kept in churches for fear of sacrilege or desecration, later, the first ciboria were kept at homes to be handy for the Last Rites where needed. In churches, a ciborium is kept in a tabernacle or aumbry. In some cases, it may be veiled to indicate the presence of the consecrated hosts and it is typically made, or at least plated, in a precious metal. Other containers for the host include the paten or a basin used at the time of consecration and distribution at the service of Holy Eucharist. A pyx is a small, circular container into which a few consecrated hosts can be placed, pyxes are typically used to bring communion to the sick or shut-in. The dictionary definition of ciborium at Wiktionary
9.
Chalice
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A chalice is a goblet or footed cup intended to hold a drink. In general religious terms, it is intended for drinking during a ceremony, chalices are often made of precious metal, and they are sometimes richly enamelled and jewelled. The gold goblet was symbolic for family and tradition, the ancient Roman calix was a drinking vessel consisting of a bowl fixed atop a stand, and was in common use at banquets. Chalices have been used since the early church, because of Jesus command to his disciples to Do this in remembrance of me. And Pauls account of the Eucharistic rite in 1 Corinthians 11, 24-25, naturally, the vessels used in this important act of worship were highly decorated and treated with great respect. A number of examples of chalices have a large bowl. Over time, the size of the bowl diminished and the base became larger for better stability, over time, official church regulations dictated the construction, blessing, and treatment of chalices. Some religious traditions still require that the chalice, at least on the inside of the cup, in Western Christianity, chalices will often have a pommel or node where the stem meets the cup to make the elevation easier. In Roman Catholicism, chalices tend to be tulip-shaped, and the cups are quite narrow, Roman Catholic priests will often receive chalices from members of their families when first ordained. In Eastern Christianity, chalices will often have icons enameled or engraved on them, in Orthodoxy and Eastern Catholicism, all communicants receive both the Body of Christ and the Blood of Christ. To accomplish this, a portion of the Lamb is placed in the chalice, for this reason, eastern chalices tend to have larger, rounded cups. In the Russian Orthodox Church, the faithful will kiss the foot of the chalice after receiving Holy Communion. In other traditions, they kiss the cup. Although Orthodox monks are not permitted to hold personal possessions, the permit a hieromonk to keep a chalice. In the early and medieval church, when a deacon was ordained, early written accounts of the ordination of deaconesses also reflect this practice. In the West the deacon carries the chalice to the altar at the offertory, in the East, the priest carries the chalice and the deacon carries the paten. Only wine, water and a portion of the Host are permitted to be placed in the chalice, the chalice is considered to be one of the most sacred vessels in Christian liturgical worship, and it is often blessed before use. Among the Eastern Churches there are varying practices regarding blessing, in some traditions the very act of celebrating the Sacred Mysteries is the only blessing necessary, in others, there is a special rite of blessing
10.
Eucharist
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The Eucharist /ˈjuːkərɪst/ is a Christian rite that is considered a sacrament in most churches. Through the Eucharistic celebration Christians remember Christs sacrifice of himself on the cross, the elements of the Eucharist, bread and wine, are consecrated on an altar and consumed thereafter. Communicants may speak of receiving the Eucharist, as well as celebrating the Eucharist, Christians generally recognize a special presence of Christ in this rite, though they differ about exactly how, where, and when Christ is present. While all agree there is no perceptible change in the elements, Catholics believe that they actually become the body. Some Protestants view the Eucharist as an ordinance in which the ceremony is not as a specific channel of divine grace. Do this in remembrance of me, the term Eucharist is that by which the rite is referred by the Didache, Ignatius of Antioch and Justin Martyr. Today, the Eucharist is the still used by Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Catholics, Anglicans, Presbyterians. Other Protestant denominations rarely use this term, preferring either Communion, one remains hungry, another gets drunk. Communion or Holy Communion are used by some groups originating in the Protestant Reformation to mean the entire Eucharistic rite. The term Communion is derived from Latin communio, which translates Greek κοινωνία in 1 Corinthians 10,16, the bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ. The phrase appears five times in the New Testament in contexts which, according to some and it is the term used by the Plymouth Brethren. The Blessed Sacrament and the Blessed Sacrament of the Altar are common terms used by Catholics, Lutherans and some Anglicans for the consecrated elements, Sacrament of the Altar is in common use also among Lutherans. In The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints the term The Sacrament is used of the rite. Among the many terms used in the Catholic Church are Holy Mass, the Memorial of the Passion, Death and Resurrection of the Lord, the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. The term Mass is probably derived from the fact that the Roman rite celebrates the Eucharist with unleavened bread and this explains why the Eastern Catholic Liturgies are never referred to as the Mass. Eastern rite Liturgies are celebrated with leavened bread, although the prevailing theory is that it is derived from the Latin word missa, a word used in the concluding formula of Mass in Latin, Ite, missa est. The reverse is more likely. The word dismissal probably came about because the Mass signaled the time for the Catechumens to leave, thus, the term Misa came to imply a mission, because at the end of the Mass the congregation are sent out to serve Christ
11.
Sacramental bread
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Sacramental bread, sometimes called altar bread, Communion bread, the Lamb or simply the host, is the bread which is used in the Christian ritual of the Eucharist. The word hostia is Latin for sacrificial animal, the sacrifice of Jesus according to Christian theology puts an end to the need for animal sacrifice as had been practiced in the Jerusalem Temple and all blood sacrifice once-for-all. The word was retained to describe the bread of Eucharist as a representation of the Christs sacrifice. The Orthodox Church and Eastern-rite Roman Catholic churches use leavened bread for the Eucharist, thus, the sacramental bread symbolizes the Resurrected Christ. The hostia or sacramental bread, known as prosphorá or a πρόσφορον may be out of only four ingredients, fine wheat flour, pure water, yeast. Sometimes holy water will be sprinkled into the dough or on the kneading trough at the beginning of the process. The baking may only be performed by a believing Orthodox Christian in good standing—having preferably been recently to Confession, before baking, each loaf is formed by placing two disks of dough, one on top of the other, and stamping it with a special liturgical seal. The prosphora should be fresh and not stale or moldy when presented at the altar for use in the Divine Liturgy, often several prosphora will be baked and offered by the faithful, and the priest chooses the best one for the Lamb that will be consecrated. The remaining loaves are blessed and offered back to the congregation after the end of the Divine Liturgy, a Hostia is a portion of bread used for Holy Communion in many Christian churches. In Western Christianity the host is often a thin, round unleavened wafer, the word host is derived from the Latin hostia, which means sacrificial victim. The term can be used to describe the bread both before and after consecration, though it is correct to use it after consecration—altar bread being preferred before consecration. Western theology teaches that at the Words of Institution the bread is changed or altered into the Body of Christ, hosts are often made by nuns as a means of supporting their religious communities. In the Latin Rite, unleavened bread is used as in the Jewish Passover or Feast of Unleavened Bread, the Byzantine Rite Eastern Catholic Churches use leavened bread for Prosphora. The Armenian Catholic Church, the Syro-Malabar Church and the Maronite Church have adopted the use of unleavened bread, some traditions proscribe the use of spiced, flavored or sweetened hosts, while others allow it. However, both Eastern and Western traditions insist that the bread must be made from wheat, the Code of Canon Law, Canon 924 requires that the hosts be made from wheat flour and water only and recently made so that there is no danger of spoiling. The General Instruction of the Roman Missal §321 recommends that the eucharistic bread, be made in such a way that the priest at Mass with a congregation is able in practice to break it into parts for distribution to at least some of the faithful. In the varying Protestant denominations, there is a variety of practices concerning the sacramental bread used. Some, such as the Christian Congregation use leavened loaves of bread, others, such as Lutherans, continue to use unleavened wafers like the Roman Catholics, reformed Christians use rolls which are broken and distributed to symbolize their belief that Christ is not physically present in the bread
12.
Church tabernacle
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A tabernacle is a fixed, locked box in which, in some Christian churches, the Eucharist is reserved. A less obvious container for the purpose, set into a wall, is called an aumbry. Within Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy and in some congregations of Anglicanism and Lutheranism and it is normally made of metal, stone or wood, is lockable and secured to its altar or adjacent wall to prevent the consecrated elements within from being removed without authorization. By way of metaphor, Catholics and Orthodox alike also refer to the Blessed Virgin Mary as the Tabernacle in their devotions,6 Year XXIII – June 2005. The preferred containers, the original tabernacles, then had the form of a dove within a tower, gian Lorenzo Bernini’s 29-metre-high Baroque baldacchino over the main altar in today’s Saint Peter’s Basilica is at present the best-known such structure. Later, simpler vessels replaced to some extent the dove and the tower, by the thirteenth century, the Eucharist was most often kept in a highly embellished cabinet inserted into the wall to the right or left of the altar. The Altar lamp indicated the Presence of Christ and this was a means of following the decree of the 1215 Fourth Lateran Council requiring that the reserved sacrament be kept in a locked receptacle. In the late century, special stone constructions for the Eucharistic bread began to be built. They were in use until the mid-nineteenth century, as the presence of the sanctuary lamp in the adjacent picture shows, some have been returned to their traditional use. Belgian churches with such sacrament towers include St Catherines in Zuurbemde, St Martins in Kortrijk, St Peters and St Jamess in Leuven, St Jamess in Bruges and St Leonards in Zoutleeuw. In the early century, Bishop Matteo Giberti ordered that, in his diocese of Verona, in Italy. The custom spread through northern Italy, Saint Charles Borromeo, who became Archbishop of Milan, Italy in 1560, had the Sacrament moved from the sacristy to an altar of his cathedral. However, in 1614 Pope Paul V imposed on the churches of his diocese of Rome the rule of putting the tabernacle on some altar. Whether on the altar of the church or in a special chapel. The Catholic Church holds the doctrine of transubstantiation, i. e. that Christ is truly present, Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity and this presence perdures after the consecration, so that even after Mass is concluded, the Eucharistic elements are still Christs Body and Blood. A tabernacle serves as a place in which to store the Blessed Sacrament for carrying to the sick who cannot participate in Mass. The altar, it was decided, should be truly the centre to which the attention of the congregation of the faithful naturally turns. Before Vatican II, Mass was often celebrated directly in front of the tabernacle, the same Instruction lays down that,314
13.
Aedicula
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In ancient Roman religion, an aedicula is a small shrine. The word aedicula is the diminutive of the Latin aedes, a temple building, many aediculae were household shrines that held small altars or statues of the Lares and Penates. The Lares were Roman deities protecting the house and the household gods. The Penates were originally gods of the storeroom, later becoming household gods guarding the entire house. Other aediculae were small shrines within larger temples, usually set on a base, surmounted by a pediment, in Roman architecture the aedicula has this representative function in the society. They are installed in buildings like the Triumphal arch, City gate. The Celsus Library in Ephesus is a good example, a tabernacle frame on a wall serves similar hieratic functions as a free-standing, three-dimensional architectural baldaquin or a ciborium over an altar. In Late Gothic settings, altarpieces and devotional images were customarily crowned with gables and canopies supported by clustered-column piers, painted ædicules frame figures from sacred history in initial letters of illuminated manuscripts. Aedicular door surrounds that are treated, with pilasters or columns flanking the doorway. Similar small shrines, called naiskoi, are found in Greek religion, aediculae exist today in Roman cemeteries as a part of funeral architecture. Presently the most famous aedicule is situated inside the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in city of Jerusalem, contemporary American architect Charles Moore uses the concept of aediculae in his work to create spaces within spaces and to evoke the spiritual significance of the home. Pilaster Portico Adkins, Lesley & Adkins, Roy A
14.
Missorium of Theodosius I
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The Missorium of Theodosius I is a large ceremonial silver dish preserved in the Real Academia de la Historia, in Madrid, Spain. It was probably made in Constantinople for the anniversary in 388 of the reign of the Emperor Theodosius I. It is one of the best surviving examples of Late Antique Imperial imagery and it is the largest and most elaborate, and the most famous, of the 19 surviving vessels believed to represent largitio or a ceremonial gift given by the emperor to a civil or military official. The official receives the document with hands covered by his chlamys and this iconography is related to that known as the Traditio legis, which was transferred from Late Antique Imperial art to Christian art, eventually developing into the iconic Christ in Majesty. Theodosius is shown far larger than the figures, as is common in the hieratic Late Antique style. The three emperors have haloes which is usual at this period, although all were Christians, there are no specific Christian elements in the iconography, and the lower zone contains specifically pagan imagery, as some Late Antique Christian art continued to do. Their clothing is early Byzantine dress consistent with other Imperial portraits of the period, the two co-emperors have decorated tablions at their knees, or possibly Epigonations. These would have highly decorated with embroidery and probably jewels. The official receiving the document wears clothes decorated with stripes and patches which would have been a kind of uniform for his office, the three Imperial figures have tightly curled hairstyles, and wear diadems of pearls. Their cloaks are fastened with large circular jewelled fibulae, comparable to that worn by Justinian in the mosaic at Ravenna. The architectural surround has often compared to a peristyle at Diocletians Palace in Split, Croatia. This opens from the residence to a courtyard that has been regarded as a setting for ceremonial audiences such as the one shown on the dish. Their offerings are held in hand-cloths, just as the official uses his clothes to receive his gift, the putti fly above a reclining figure of Tellus or Terra, the Roman goddess of Mother Earth. Tellus is shown in a pose that continues Hellenistic style, rather than the frontal iconic Late Antique style of the figures in the upper zone. It is in good condition apart from the affected by this. The height of the relief varies, and is highest in the face of Theodosius and other highlights of the composition. The recipient may well be the official represented on the dish, the term now tends to be avoided by scholars, as rather imprecise, but has become traditional in the case of the dish in Madrid. This is made of silver and has traces of gilding on the inscriptions
15.
Chronography of 354
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The Chronography of 354, also known as the Calendar of 354, was a 4th-century illuminated manuscript, which was produced in 354 AD for a wealthy Roman Christian named Valentinus. It is the earliest dated codex to have full page illustrations, none of the original has survived. The term Calendar of Filocalus is sometimes used to describe the collection, and sometimes just the sixth part. Other versions of the names are occasionally used, the text and illustrations are available online. Amongst other historically significant information, the contains the earliest reference to the celebration of Christmas as a holiday or feast. The original volume has not survived, but it is thought that it existed in Carolingian times. A number of copies were made at time, with and without illustrations. The most complete and faithful copies of the illustrations are the pen drawings in a 17th-century manuscript from the Barberini collection. This was carefully copied, under the supervision of the great antiquary Nicholas-Claude Fabri de Peiresc, from a Carolingian copy, a Codex Luxemburgensis, the Roman originals were probably fully painted miniatures. Various partial copies or adaptations survive from the Carolingian renaissance and Renaissance periods, botticelli adapted a figure of the city of Treberis who grasps a bound barbarian by the hair for his painting, traditionally called Pallas and the Centaur. The Vatican Barberini manuscript, made in 1620 for Peiresc, who had the Carolingian Codex Luxemburgensis on long-term loan, is clearly the most faithful, after Peirescs death in 1637 the manuscript disappeared. However some folios had already been lost from the Codex Luxemburgensis before Peiresc received it, the suggestion of Carl Nordenfalk that the Codex Luxemburgensis copied by Peiresc was actually the Roman original has not been accepted. For a full list of manuscripts with copies after the originals, furius Dionysius Filocalus was the leading scribe or calligrapher of the period, and possibly also executed the original miniatures. His name is on the dedication page and he was also a Christian, living in a moment that lay on the cusp between a pagan and a Christian Roman Empire. The Chronography, like all Roman calendars, is as much an almanac as a calendar, it includes various texts and lists, among other information, it contains the earliest reference to Christmas and the dates of Roman Games, with their number of chariot-races. Copies of the drawings appear in a Carolingian text that portrays Mercury. Late Antique and Early Christian Book Illumination, on Roman Time, The Codex-Calendar of 354 and the Rhythms of Urban Life in Late Antiquity. Berkeley, University of California Press,1991, weitzmann, Kurt, ed. Age of spirituality, late antique and early Christian art, third to seventh century, no. org, Chronography of 354
16.
Late antiquity
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Late antiquity is a periodization used by historians to describe the time of transition from classical antiquity to the Middle Ages in mainland Europe, the Mediterranean world, and the Near East. The development of the periodization has generally been accredited to historian Peter Brown, precise boundaries for the period are a continuing matter of debate, but Brown proposes a period between the 3rd and 8th centuries AD. Generally, it can be thought of as from the end of the Roman Empires Crisis of the Third Century to, in the East, the early Islamic period, following the Muslim conquests in the mid–7th century. In the West the end was earlier, with the start of the Early Medieval period typically placed in the 6th century, beginning with Constantine the Great, Christianity was made legal in the Empire, and a new capital was founded at Constantinople. The resultant cultural fusion of Greco-Roman, Germanic and Christian traditions formed the foundations of the subsequent culture of Europe, the term Spätantike, literally late antiquity, has been used by German-speaking historians since its popularization by Alois Riegl in the early 20th century. Concurrently, some migrating Germanic tribes such as the Ostrogoths and Visigoths saw themselves as perpetuating the Roman tradition, Constantine confirmed the legalization of the religion through the so-called Edict of Milan in 313, jointly issued with his rival in the East, Licinius. Monasticism was not the only new Christian movement to appear in Late Antiquity, notable in this regard is the topic of the Fifty Bibles of Constantine. Within the recently legitimized Christian community of the 4th century, a division could be distinctly seen between the laity and an increasingly celibate male leadership. Celibate and detached, the clergy became an elite equal in prestige to urban notables. The Late Antique period also saw a transformation of the political and social basis of life in. The later Roman Empire was in a sense a network of cities, archaeology now supplements literary sources to document the transformation followed by collapse of cities in the Mediterranean basin. Burials within the urban precincts mark another stage in dissolution of traditional urbanistic discipline, overpowered by the attraction of saintly shrines, in Roman Britain, the typical 4th- and 5th-century layer of black earth within cities seems to be a result of increased gardening in formerly urban spaces. A similar though less marked decline in population occurred later in Constantinople. In Europe there was also a decline in urban populations. As a whole, the period of antiquity was accompanied by an overall population decline in almost all Europe. Long-distance markets disappeared, and there was a reversion to a degree of local production and consumption, rather than webs of commerce. The degree and extent of discontinuity in the cities of the Greek East is a moot subject among historians. In the western Mediterranean, the new cities known to be founded in Europe between the 5th and 8th centuries were the four or five Visigothic victory cities
17.
Holy of Holies
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The Holy of Holies is a term in the Hebrew Bible which refers to the inner sanctuary of the Tabernacle where God dwelt. The area is defined by the four pillars, the pillars held up the veil of the covering under which the Ark of the Covenant was held off the floor by its two staves. 300 years later, it was the Temple in Jerusalem where the Ark of the Covenant was kept during the First Temple, the area could be entered only by the High Priest on Yom Kippur after sanctifying himself. The Ark is said to have contained the Ten Commandments, which were given by God to Moses on Mount Sinai and it is currently thought to be located under the Dome of the Rock. The construction Holy of Holies is a translation of a Hebrew idiom which is intended to express a superlative. Examples of similar constructions are servant of servants, Sabbath of sabbaths, God of gods, Vanity of vanities, Song of songs, king of kings, in the Authorized King James Version, Holy of Holies is always translated as Most Holy Place. This is in keeping with the intention of the Hebrew idiom to express the utmost degree of holiness, the King James Version of the Bible has been in existence for over four hundred years. For most of time, it was a primary reference in much of the English speaking world for information about Judaism. Thus, the name Most Holy Place was used to refer to the Holy of Holies in many English documents, the Bible reports that in the wilderness, on the day that the tabernacle was first raised up, the cloud of the Lord covered the tabernacle. According to the Hebrew Bible, the Holy of Holies contained the Ark of the Covenant with representation of Cherubim, upon completion of the dedication of the Tabernacle, the Voice of God spoke to Moses from between the Cherubim. The Holy of Holies, the most sacred site in Judaism, is the sanctuary within the Tabernacle and Temple in Jerusalem when Solomons Temple. The Holy of Holies was located in the westernmost end of the Temple building, being a perfect cube,20 cubits by 20 cubits by 20 cubits. The inside was in darkness and contained the Ark of the Covenant, gilded inside and out. According to Hebrews 9,4 in the New Testament, Aarons rod, the Ark was covered with a lid made of pure gold, known as the mercy seat for the Divine Presence. Josephus records that Pompey profaned the Temple by insisting on entering the Holy of Holies in 63 BCE, the animal was sacrificed on the Brazen Altar and the blood was carried into the most holy place. The golden censers were found in the Most Holy Place. According to the Hebrew Bible, in order that God may dwell among the Israelites, the Magdala stone is thought to be a representation of the Holy of Holies carved before the destruction of the Temple in the year 70. The exact location of the Kodesh Hakodashim is a subject of dispute, traditional Judaism regards the Holy of Holies as the place where the presence of God dwells
18.
Temple in Jerusalem
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These successive temples stood at this location and functioned as a site of ancient Israelite and later Jewish worship. The Hebrew name given in the Hebrew Bible for the complex is either Beit YHWH, Beit HaElohim House of God, or simply Beiti my house. The term hekhal hall or main building is often translated temple in older English Bibles, in rabbinical literature the temple is Beit HaMikdash, The Sanctified House, and only the Temple in Jerusalem is referred to by this name. The Hebrew Bible says that the First Temple was built in 957 BCE by King Solomon and this temple was sacked a few decades later by Shoshenq I, Pharaoh of Egypt. The First Temple was totally destroyed by the Babylonians in 586 BCE, according to the Book of Ezra, construction of the Second Temple was authorized by Cyrus the Great and began in 538 BCE, after the fall of the Babylonian Empire the year before. It was completed 23 years later, on the day of Adar, in the sixth year of the reign of Darius the Great. However, with a reading of the Book of Ezra and the Book of Nehemiah, there were four edicts to build the Second Temple. Cyrus in 536 BCE, which is recorded in the first chapter of Ezra, next, Darius I of Persia in 519 BCE, which is recorded in the sixth chapter of Ezra. Third, Artaxerxes I of Persia in 457 BCE, which was the year of his reign. Finally, by Artaxerxes again in 444 BCE in the chapter of Nehemiah. Moreover, the narrowly avoided being destroyed again in 332 BCE when the Jews refused to acknowledge the deification of Alexander the Great of Macedonia. Alexander was allegedly turned from his anger at the last minute by astute diplomacy, further, after the death of Alexander on 13 June 323 BCE, and the dismembering of his empire, the Ptolemies came to rule over Judea and the Temple. Under the Ptolemies, the Jews were given many civil liberties, however, when the Ptolemaic army was defeated at Panium by Antiochus III of the Seleucids in 198 BCE, this policy changed. Antiochus wanted to Hellenize the Jews, attempting to introduce the Greek pantheon into the temple. Moreover, a rebellion ensued and was crushed, but no further action by Antiochus was taken. However, his policies never took effect in Judea, since he was assassinated the year after his ascension, Antiochus IV Epiphanes succeeded his older brother to the Seleucid throne and immediately adopted his fathers previous policy of universal Hellenisation. The Jews rebelled again and Antiochus, in a rage, retaliated in force, considering the previous episodes of discontent, the Jews became incensed when the religious observances of Sabbath and circumcision were officially outlawed. When Antiochus erected a statue of Zeus in their temple and Hellenic priests began sacrificing pigs, when a Greek official ordered a Jewish priest to perform a Hellenic sacrifice, the priest killed him
19.
Parochet
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The parochet is the curtain that covers the Aron Kodesh containing the Sifrei Torah in a synagogue. The parochet symbolizes the curtain that covered the Ark of the Covenant and he brought the ark into the Tabernacle and placed the screening dividing curtain so that it formed a protective covering before the Ark. In most synagogues, the parochet which is used all round is replaced during the High Holy Days with a white one. The term parochet is used in the Bible to describe the curtain that separated the Kodesh Hakodashim from the hall called Hekhal of the Temple in Jerusalem. Its use in synagogues is a reference to the centrality of the Temple to Jewish worship, nahon Museum of Italian Jewish Art in Jerusalem, Israel, houses the oldest surviving parochet, dating to 1572
20.
Shrine
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A shrine is a holy or sacred place, which is dedicated to a specific deity, ancestor, hero, martyr, saint, daemon, or similar figure of awe and respect, at which they are venerated or worshipped. Shrines often contain idols, relics, or other objects associated with the figure being venerated. A shrine at which offerings are made is called an altar. Shrines can be found in various settings, such as churches, temples, cemeteries, or in the home, a shrine may become a focus of a cult image. Many shrines are located buildings and in the temples designed specifically for worship, such as a church in Christianity. A shrine here is usually the centre of attention in the building, in such cases, adherents of the faith assemble within the building in order to venerate the deity at the shrine. In classical temple architecture, the shrine may be synonymous with the cella, historically, in Hinduism, Buddhism and Roman Catholicism, and also in modern faiths, such as Neopaganism, a shrine can commonly be found within the home or shop. This shrine is usually a structure or a setup of pictures and figurines dedicated to a deity that is part of the official religion. Small household shrines are common among the Chinese and people from South and Southeast Asia, whether Hindu. Usually a small lamp and small offerings are kept daily by the shrine, Buddhist household shrines must be on a shelf above the head, Chinese shrines must stand directly on the floor. Small outdoor yard shrines are found at the bottom of many gardens, following various religions, including historically. Shrines are found in most, though not all, religions, Shrines therefore attract the practice of pilgrimage. Shrines are found in many, though not all, forms of Christianity, Roman Catholicism, the largest denomination of Christianity, has many shrines, as do Orthodox Christianity and Anglicanism. For a shrine to be described as national, the approval of the Episcopal Conference is necessary, for it to be described as international, the approval of the Holy See is required. Another use of the shrine in colloquial Catholic terminology is a niche or alcove in most – especially larger – churches used by parishioners when praying privately in the church. They were also called Devotional Altars, since they could look like small Side Altars or bye-altars, Shrines were always centered on some image of Christ or a saint – for instance, a statue, painting, mural or mosaic, and may have had a reredos behind them. However, Mass would not be celebrated at them, they were used to aid or give a visual focus for prayers. Side altars, where Mass could actually be celebrated, were used in a way to shrines by parishioners
21.
Cult image
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In the practice of religion, a cult image is a human-made object that is venerated or worshipped for the deity, spirit or daemon that it embodies or represents. Cultus, the outward religious formulas of cult, often centers upon the treatment of cult images, religious images cover a wider range of all types of images made with a religious purpose, subject, or connection. In many contexts cult image specifically means the most important image in a temple, kept in an inner space, as opposed to what may be many other images decorating the temple. The term idol is often synonymous with cult image, but may be used especially of an image believed not just to depict or represent a deity or spirit. Sometimes the image is believed to have its own powers, to grant wishes or otherwise affect the world, in cultures where idolatry is not viewed negatively, the word idol is not generally seen as pejorative, such as in Indian English. Cult of images is the practice of worshipping or venerating religious or cult images representing divine figures, common in a number of ancient religions, the practice continues most prominently today in Hinduism. Assertions by others outside the group concerned that such beliefs are held by the group are however common. Cult images were a presence in Ancient Egypt, and still are in modern-day Kemetism. A common example of an image in ancient Egypt was the Apis Bull. The term is confined to the relatively small images, typically in gold. These images usually showed the god in their sacred barque or boat, the Parthenon contained a cult image of Athena, the Greek goddess of civilization and the noble side of war. This cult image, known as Athena Parthenos, was created by Phidias and this cult image was used for religious sacrifices at this Athenian temple. Hinduism allows for many forms of worship and therefore it neither prescribes nor proscribes worship of images, in Hinduism, a murti typically refers to an image that expresses a Divine Spirit. Meaning literally embodiment, a murti is a representation of a divinity, made usually of stone, wood, or metal, hindus consider a murti worthy of serving as a focus of divine worship only after the divine is invoked in it for the purpose of offering worship. The depiction of the divinity must reflect the gestures and proportions outlined in religious tradition, members of Abrahamic religions identify cult images as idols and their worship as idolatry, the worship of hollow forms. The avoidance of such a degrading paradox was expressed in the early Christian idea of miraculous icons that were not made by human hands, acheiropoietoi. Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Christians make an exception for the veneration of image of saints, the word idol entered Middle English in the 13th century from Old French idole adapted in Ecclesiastical Latin from the Greek eidolon. Greek eidos was employed by Plato and the Platonists to signify perfect immutable forms, the local tribes, of the Arabian peninsula, came to this centre of commerce to place their idols in the Kaaba, in the process being charged tithes
22.
Egyptian temple
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Egyptian temples were built for the official worship of the gods and in commemoration of the pharaohs in ancient Egypt and regions under Egyptian control. Temples were seen as houses for the gods or kings to whom they were dedicated and these rituals were seen as necessary for the gods to continue to uphold maat, the divine order of the universe. Housing and caring for the gods were the obligations of pharaohs, nevertheless, a temple was an important religious site for all classes of Egyptians, who went there to pray, give offerings, and seek oracular guidance from the god dwelling within. The most important part of the temple was the sanctuary, which contained a cult image. These edifices are among the largest and most enduring examples of Egyptian architecture and their typical design consisted of a series of enclosed halls, open courts, and massive entrance pylons aligned along the path used for festival processions. Beyond the temple proper was a wall enclosing a wide variety of secondary buildings. A large temple also owned sizable tracts of land and employed thousands of laymen to supply its needs, temples were therefore key economic as well as religious centers. The priests who managed these powerful institutions wielded considerable influence, temple-building in Egypt continued despite the nations decline and ultimate loss of independence to the Roman Empire. With the coming of Christianity, however, Egyptian religion faced increasing persecution, for centuries, the ancient buildings suffered destruction and neglect. Dozens of temples survive today, and some have become world-famous tourist attractions that contribute significantly to the modern Egyptian economy, Egyptologists continue to study the surviving temples and the remains of destroyed ones, as they are invaluable sources of information about ancient Egyptian society. Ancient Egyptian temples were meant as places for the gods to reside on earth, indeed, the term the Egyptians most commonly used to describe the temple building, ḥwt-nṯr, means mansion of a god. A gods presence in the temple linked the human and divine realms and these rituals, it was believed, sustained the god and allowed it to continue to play its proper role in nature. They were therefore a key part of the maintenance of maat, maintaining maat was the entire purpose of Egyptian religion, and it was the purpose of a temple as well. Because he was credited with divine power himself, the pharaoh, as a king, was regarded as Egypts representative to the gods. Thus, it was theoretically his duty to perform the temple rites, the pharaoh was nevertheless obligated to maintain, provide for, and expand the temples throughout his realm. Although the pharaoh delegated his authority, the performance of rituals was still an official duty. The participation of the populace in most ceremonies was prohibited. Much of the lay religious activity in Egypt instead took place in private and community shrines, however, as the primary link between the human and divine realms, temples attracted considerable veneration from ordinary Egyptians
23.
Church of the Holy Sepulchre
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The Church of the Holy Sepulchre is a church in the Christian Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem, a few steps away from the Muristan. The tomb is enclosed by the 18th-century shrine, called the Aedicule, within the church proper are the last four Stations of the Via Dolorosa, representing the final episodes of Jesus Passion. The main denominations sharing property over parts of the church are the Greek Orthodox, Armenian Orthodox and Roman Catholic, and to a lesser degree the Egyptian Copts, Syriacs and Ethiopians. According to Eusebius of Caesarea, the Roman emperor Hadrian in the 2nd century AD built a dedicated to the goddess Venus in order to bury the cave in which Jesus had been buried. The first Christian emperor, Constantine the Great, ordered in about 325/326 that the temple be replaced by a church, during the building of the Church, Constantines mother, Helena, is believed to have rediscovered the tomb. Socrates Scholasticus, in his Ecclesiastical History, gives a description of the discovery. The remains are enveloped by a marble sheath placed some 500 years before to protect the ledge from Ottoman attacks. However, there are several thick window wells extending through the marble sheath and they appear to reveal an underlying limestone rock, which may be part of the original living rock of the tomb. The church was starting in 325/326, and was consecrated on 13 September 335. From pilgrim reports it seems that the housing the tomb of Jesus was freestanding at first. Each year, the Eastern Orthodox Church celebrates the anniversary of the consecration of the Church of the Resurrection on 13 September and this building was damaged by fire in May of 614 when the Sassanid Empire, under Khosrau II, invaded Jerusalem and captured the True Cross. In 630, the Emperor Heraclius restored it and rebuilt the church after recapturing the city, after Jerusalem came under Arab rule, it remained a Christian church, with the early Muslim rulers protecting the citys Christian sites. A story reports that the Caliph Umar ibn al-Khattab visited the church and stopped to pray on the balcony and he feared that future generations would misinterpret this gesture, taking it as a pretext to turn the church into a mosque. Eutychius added that Umar wrote a decree prohibiting Muslims from praying at this location, the building suffered severe damage due to an earthquake in 746. Early in the century, another earthquake damaged the dome of the Anastasis. The damage was repaired in 810 by Patriarch Thomas, in the year 841, the church suffered a fire. In 935, the Orthodox Christians prevented the construction of a Muslim mosque adjacent the Church, in 938, a new fire damaged the inside of the basilica and came close to the rotunda. In 966, due to a defeat of Muslim armies in the region of Syria, the doors and roof were burnt, and the Patriarch John VII was murdered
24.
Jerusalem
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Jerusalem is a city located on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is considered a city in the three major Abrahamic religions of Judaism, Christianity and Islam. During its long history, Jerusalem has been destroyed at least twice, besieged 23 times, attacked 52 times, the part of Jerusalem called the City of David was settled in the 4th millennium BCE. In 1538, walls were built around Jerusalem under Suleiman the Magnificent, today those walls define the Old City, which has been traditionally divided into four quarters—known since the early 19th century as the Armenian, Christian, Jewish, and Muslim Quarters. The Old City became a World Heritage Site in 1981, and is on the List of World Heritage in Danger, Modern Jerusalem has grown far beyond the Old Citys boundaries. These foundational events, straddling the dawn of the 1st millennium BCE, the sobriquet of holy city was probably attached to Jerusalem in post-exilic times. The holiness of Jerusalem in Christianity, conserved in the Septuagint which Christians adopted as their own authority, was reinforced by the New Testament account of Jesuss crucifixion there, in Sunni Islam, Jerusalem is the third-holiest city, after Mecca and Medina. As a result, despite having an area of only 0, outside the Old City stands the Garden Tomb. Today, the status of Jerusalem remains one of the issues in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. During the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, West Jerusalem was among the captured and later annexed by Israel while East Jerusalem, including the Old City, was captured. Israel captured East Jerusalem from Jordan during the 1967 Six-Day War and subsequently annexed it into Jerusalem, one of Israels Basic Laws, the 1980 Jerusalem Law, refers to Jerusalem as the countrys undivided capital. All branches of the Israeli government are located in Jerusalem, including the Knesset, the residences of the Prime Minister and President, the international community does not recognize Jerusalem as Israels capital, and the city hosts no foreign embassies. Jerusalem is also home to some non-governmental Israeli institutions of importance, such as the Hebrew University. In 2011, Jerusalem had a population of 801,000, of which Jews comprised 497,000, Muslims 281,000, a city called Rušalim in the Execration texts of the Middle Kingdom of Egypt is widely, but not universally, identified as Jerusalem. Jerusalem is called Urušalim in the Amarna letters of Abdi-Heba, the name Jerusalem is variously etymologized to mean foundation of the god Shalem, the god Shalem was thus the original tutelary deity of the Bronze Age city. The form Yerushalem or Yerushalayim first appears in the Bible, in the Book of Joshua, according to a Midrash, the name is a combination of Yhwh Yireh and the town Shalem. The earliest extra-biblical Hebrew writing of the word Jerusalem is dated to the sixth or seventh century BCE and was discovered in Khirbet Beit Lei near Beit Guvrin in 1961. The inscription states, I am Yahweh thy God, I will accept the cities of Judah and I will redeem Jerusalem, or as other scholars suggest, the mountains of Judah belong to him, to the God of Jerusalem
25.
Monza ampullae
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They have been in the Treasury of Monza Cathedral north of Milan in Italy since they were donated by Theodelinda, queen of the Lombards. Since the great majority of surviving examples of such flasks are those in the Monza group, the few other examples are now scattered across the world, this article deals with the whole group of over fifty known ampullae, wherever located. They are also believed to represent buildings and shrines found in Jerusalem in the sixth and early seventh centuries and they were brought back from the Holy Land filled with oil which had been used in lamps burning before important pilgrimage shrines. Often there is a strip in a different metal running round the edge of the faces and up the sides of the neck, in the Monza examples these strips are secured by wire wound rather untidily round the neck. A diameter for the body of about 5–7 cm is typical. Those at Monza are in good condition, but those from Bobbio and other examples such as the one at Dumbarton Oaks are flattened and damaged. Despite their small size, the images are typically crowded multi-figure compositions, sometimes with extensive depiction of architectural elements, and somewhat crude in execution. They appear in low relief, typically occupying all the space of the faces on both sides of the ampulla, though some have figureless decoration, usually centred on a cross, on the reverse face. There are often inscriptions and tituli in medieval Greek, many running round the outside of a face, a smaller scene may occupy the lower part of a face, or scenes may appear in small roundels grouped across the overall design. Common subjects, which account for the majority of the designs, are. As often later, a composition is created by having the magi to the left of the Virgin and Child. It has been speculated that the compositions reflect a lost mosaic then in the apse of the Church of the Nativity, Bethlehem. The Baptism of Christ The Crucifixion of Jesus, where ampullae show the depiction of the scene. The two thieves are shown on their crosses even when Christs central cross has no corpus. This is now covered or replaced by later accretions, and its 6th century appearance is known from such representations. Typically, two women approach from the left of the tomb, while an angel sits to its right. One of the women, perhaps to be identified as Mary Magdalene, often seems to be carrying a censer, the Ascension of Jesus, usually with the Pentecost below. Saints, typically on the side, with a New Testament scene on the obverse
26.
Constantine the Great
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Constantine the Great, also known as Constantine I or Saint Constantine, was a Roman Emperor from 306 to 337 AD. Constantine was the son of Flavius Valerius Constantius, a Roman Army officer and his father became Caesar, the deputy emperor in the west, in 293 AD. Constantine was sent east, where he rose through the ranks to become a military tribune under the emperors Diocletian, in 305, Constantius was raised to the rank of Augustus, senior western emperor, and Constantine was recalled west to campaign under his father in Britannia. As emperor, Constantine enacted many administrative, financial, social, the government was restructured and civil and military authority separated. A new gold coin, the solidus, was introduced to combat inflation and it would become the standard for Byzantine and European currencies for more than a thousand years. He called the First Council of Nicaea in 325, at which the Nicene Creed was adopted by Christians, in military matters, the Roman army was reorganised to consist of mobile field units and garrison soldiers capable of countering internal threats and barbarian invasions. The age of Constantine marked an epoch in the history of the Roman Empire. He built a new residence at Byzantium and renamed the city Constantinople after himself. It would later become the capital of the Empire for over one thousand years and his more immediate political legacy was that, in leaving the empire to his sons, he replaced Diocletians tetrarchy with the principle of dynastic succession. His reputation flourished during the lifetime of his children and centuries after his reign, the medieval church upheld him as a paragon of virtue while secular rulers invoked him as a prototype, a point of reference, and the symbol of imperial legitimacy and identity. Beginning with the Renaissance, there were more critical appraisals of his due to the rediscovery of anti-Constantinian sources. Critics portrayed him as a tyrant, trends in modern and recent scholarship attempted to balance the extremes of previous scholarship. The Church of the Holy Sepulchre, built on his orders at the site of Jesus tomb in Jerusalem. The Papal claim to power in the High Middle Ages was based on the supposed Donation of Constantine. He is venerated as a saint by Eastern Orthodox and Byzantine Catholics, though Constantine has historically often been referred to as the First Christian Emperor, scholars debate his actual beliefs or even his actual comprehension of the Christian faith itself. Constantine was a ruler of major importance, and he has always been a controversial figure, the fluctuations in Constantines reputation reflect the nature of the ancient sources for his reign. These are abundant and detailed, but have strongly influenced by the official propaganda of the period. There are no surviving histories or biographies dealing with Constantines life, the nearest replacement is Eusebius of Caesareas Vita Constantini, a work that is a mixture of eulogy and hagiography
27.
Saladin
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An-Nasir Salah ad-Din Yusuf ibn Ayyub, known as Saladin, was the first sultan of Egypt and Syria and the founder of the Ayyubid dynasty. A Sunni Muslim of Kurdish origin, Saladin led the Muslim military campaign against the Crusader states in the Levant, at the height of his power, his sultanate included Egypt, Syria, Upper Mesopotamia, the Hejaz, Yemen and other parts of North Africa. When Saladins uncle Shirkuh died in 1169, al-Adid appointed Saladin vizier, in the following years, he led forays against the Crusaders in Palestine, commissioned the successful conquest of Yemen, and staved off pro-Fatimid rebellions in Upper Egypt. Not long after Nur ad-Dins death in 1174, Saladin launched his conquest of Syria, by mid-1175, Saladin had conquered Hama and Homs, inviting the animosity of his former Zengid lords, who had been the official rulers of Syria. Soon after, he defeated the Zengid army at the Battle of the Horns of Hama and was proclaimed the Sultan of Egypt. Saladin made further conquests in northern Syria and Jazira, escaping two attempts on his life by the Assassins, before returning to Egypt in 1177 to address issues there. By 1182, Saladin completed the conquest of Muslim Syria after capturing Aleppo, although the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem continued to exist until the late 13th century, its defeat at Hattin marked a turning point in its conflict with the Muslim powers of the region. Saladin died in Damascus in 1193, having given away much of his wealth to his subjects. He is buried in an adjacent to the Umayyad Mosque. Saladin has become a prominent figure in Muslim, Arab, Turkish and Kurdish culture, Saladin was born in Tikrit in modern-day Iraq. His personal name was Yusuf, Salah ad-Din is a laqab and his family was of Kurdish ancestry, and had originated from the city of Dvin in medieval Armenia. The Rawadid tribe he hailed from had been assimilated into the Arabic-speaking world by this time. Ayyub provided ferries for the army and gave refuge in Tikrit. According to Baha ad-Din ibn Shaddad, Saladin was born on the night his family left Tikrit. In 1139, Ayyub and his moved to Mosul, where Imad ad-Din Zengi acknowledged his debt. After the death of Zengi in 1146, his son, Nur ad-Din, became the regent of Aleppo, Saladin, who now lived in Damascus, was reported to have a particular fondness for the city, but information on his early childhood is scarce. About education, Saladin wrote children are brought up in the way in which their elders were brought up, several sources claim that during his studies he was more interested in religion than joining the military. Another factor which may have affected his interest in religion was that, during the First Crusade, in addition to Islam, Saladin had a knowledge of the genealogies, biographies, and histories of the Arabs, as well as the bloodlines of Arabian horses
28.
Martyr
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A martyr is somebody who suffers persecution and death for advocating, renouncing, refusing to renounce, or refusing to advocate a belief or cause as demanded by an external party. This refusal to comply with the presented demands results in the punishment or execution of the martyr by the oppressor, originally applied only to those who suffered for their religious beliefs, the term is now often used in connection with people imprisoned or killed for espousing a political cause. Most martyrs are considered holy or are respected by their followers, becoming symbols of exceptional leadership, Martyrs play significant roles in religions. Similarly, martyrs have had effects in secular life, including specific figures such as Socrates, as well as in politics. In its original meaning, the martyr, meaning witness, was used in the secular sphere as well as in the New Testament of the Bible. The term, in this sense, entered the English language as a loanword. The death of a martyr or the value attributed to it is called martyrdom, the early Christians who first began to use the term martyr in its new sense saw Jesus as the first and greatest martyr, on account of his crucifixion. The early Christians appear to have seen Jesus as the archetypal martyr, the word martyr is used in English to describe a wide variety of people. However, the table presents a general outline of common features present in stereotypical martyrdoms. Examples of this are found in the Mahabharata, during the great war which commenced, even Arjuna was brought down with doubts, e. g. attachment, sorrow, fear. This is where Krishna instructs Arjuna how to carry out his duty as a righteous warrior, Martyrdom in Judaism is one of the main examples of Kiddush Hashem, meaning sanctification of Gods name through public dedication to Jewish practice. Religious martyrdom is considered one of the significant contributions of Hellenistic Judaism to Western Civilization. Frend, Judaism was itself a religion of martyrdom and it was this Jewish psychology of martyrdom that inspired Christian martyrdom. In Christianity, a martyr, in accordance with the meaning of the original Greek martys in the New Testament, is one who brings a testimony, in particular, the testimony is that of the Christian Gospel, or more generally, the Word of God. A Christian witness is a biblical witness whether or not death follows, however, over time many Christian testimonies were rejected, and the witnesses put to death, and the word martyr developed its present sense. Where death ensues, the follow the example of Jesus in offering up their lives for truth. The concept of Jesus as a martyr has recently received greater attention, analyses of the Gospel passion narratives have led many scholars to conclude that they are martyrdom accounts in terms of genre and style. Several scholars have concluded that Paul the Apostle understood Jesus death as a martyrdom
29.
Euphrasian Basilica
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The Euphrasian Basilica or the Cathedral Basilica of the Assumption of Mary is a basilica in Poreč, Croatia. The Euphrasian basilica has for the most part retained its original shape, since it is the third church to be built on the same site, it conceals previous buildings, for example the great floor mosaic of the previous basilica from the 5th century. Because of its value, it has been inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List since 1997. The Basilica is also the Cathedral of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Poreč-Pula, the earliest basilica was dedicated to Saint Maurus of Parentium and dates back to the second half of the 4th century. The floor mosaic from its oratory, originally part of a large Roman house, is preserved in the church garden. This oratorium was already expanded in the century into a church composed of a nave. The fish on the mosaic dates from this period. Coins with the portrayal of emperor Valens, found in the same spot, the present basilica, dedicated to Mary, was built in the sixth century during the period of Bishop Euphrasius. It was built from 553 on the site of the basilica that had become dilapidated. For the construction, parts of the church were used. The wall mosaics were executed by Byzantian masters and the mosaics by local experts. The construction took ten years. Euphrasius, holding the church in his arms, is represented on one of the mosaics on the apse, next to St. Maurus. Following the earthquake of 1440 the southern wall of the nave of the basilica was restored, so that in place of the windows which were destroyed. The basilica is part of a composed of, A 6th-century octagonal baptistry. Built in the 5th century together with the basilica. Built after the basilica, it is covered on all four sides by a portico which houses a collection of stone monuments. An Episcopal residence, also built in the 6th century, very little remains of the original building
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Istria
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Istria, formerly Histria, is the largest peninsula in the Adriatic Sea. The peninsula is located at the head of the Adriatic between the Gulf of Trieste and the Kvarner Gulf and it is shared by three countries, Croatia, Slovenia, and Italy. Istria lies in three countries, Croatia, Slovenia and Italy, by far the largest portion lies in Croatia. Croatian Istria is divided into two counties, the larger being Istria County in western Croatia, important towns in Istria County include Pula/Pola, Poreč/Parenzo, Rovinj//Rovigno, Pazin//Pisino, Labin/Albona, Umag/Umago, Motovun//Montona, Buzet/Pinguente, and Buje/Buie. Smaller towns in Istria County include Višnjan, Roč, and Hum, northwards of Slovenian Istria, there is a tiny portion of the peninsula that lies in Italy. This smallest portion of Istria consists of the comunes of Muggia and San Dorligo della Valle, central Istria has a Continental climate. North-Slovenian coast of Istria has a Sub-Mediterranean climate, west and south coast has a Mediterranean climate. East coast has a Sub-Mediterranean climate with Oceanic climate influences, the warmest places are Pula, Rovinj, while the coldest is Pazin. Precipitation is moderate, with between 640 and 1,020 mm falling in the areas, and up to 1,500 mm in the hills. The name is derived from the Histri tribes, which Strabo refers to as living in the region, the Histri are classified in some sources as a Venetic Illyrian tribe, with certain linguistic differences from other Illyrians. The Romans described the Histri as a tribe of pirates. It took two military campaigns for the Romans to finally subdue them in 177 BC, the region was then called together with the Venetian part the X. Roman Region of Venetia et Histria, the ancient definition of the northeastern border of Italy. Dante Alighieri refers to it as well, the border of Italy per ancient definition is the river Arsia. The eastern side of river was settled by people whose culture was different than Histrians. Earlier influence of the Iapodes was attested there, while at some time between the 4th and 1st century BC, the Liburnians extended their territory and it became a part of Liburnia, on the northern side, Histria went much further north and included the Italian city of Trieste. Some scholars speculate that the names Histri and Istria are related to the Latin name Hister, ancient folktales reported — inaccurately — that the Danube split in two or bifurcated and came to the sea near Trieste as well as at the Black Sea. The story of the Bifurcation of the Danube is part of the Argonaut legend, there is also a suspected link to the commune of Istria in Constanţa, Romania. After the fall of the Western Roman Empire, the region was pillaged by the Goths, the Eastern Roman Empire, and it was subsequently annexed to the Lombard Kingdom in 751, and then annexed to the Frankish kingdom by Pepin of Italy in 789
31.
Croatia
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Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a sovereign state between Central Europe, Southeast Europe, and the Mediterranean. Its capital city is Zagreb, which one of the countrys primary subdivisions. Croatia covers 56,594 square kilometres and has diverse, mostly continental, Croatias Adriatic Sea coast contains more than a thousand islands. The countrys population is 4.28 million, most of whom are Croats, the Croats arrived in the area of present-day Croatia during the early part of the 7th century AD. They organised the state into two duchies by the 9th century, tomislav became the first king by 925, elevating Croatia to the status of a kingdom. The Kingdom of Croatia retained its sovereignty for nearly two centuries, reaching its peak during the rule of Kings Petar Krešimir IV and Dmitar Zvonimir, Croatia entered a personal union with Hungary in 1102. In 1527, faced with Ottoman conquest, the Croatian Parliament elected Ferdinand I of the House of Habsburg to the Croatian throne. In 1918, after World War I, Croatia was included in the unrecognized State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs which seceded from Austria-Hungary, a fascist Croatian puppet state backed by Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany existed during World War II. After the war, Croatia became a member and a federal constituent of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. On 25 June 1991 Croatia declared independence, which came wholly into effect on 8 October of the same year, the Croatian War of Independence was fought successfully during the four years following the declaration. A unitary state, Croatia is a republic governed under a parliamentary system, the International Monetary Fund classified Croatia as an emerging and developing economy, and the World Bank identified it as a high-income economy. Croatia is a member of the European Union, United Nations, the Council of Europe, NATO, the World Trade Organization, the service sector dominates Croatias economy, followed by the industrial sector and agriculture. Tourism is a significant source of revenue during the summer, with Croatia ranked the 18th most popular tourist destination in the world, the state controls a part of the economy, with substantial government expenditure. The European Union is Croatias most important trading partner, since 2000, the Croatian government constantly invests in infrastructure, especially transport routes and facilities along the Pan-European corridors. Internal sources produce a significant portion of energy in Croatia, the rest is imported, the origin of the name is uncertain, but is thought to be a Gothic or Indo-Aryan term assigned to a Slavic tribe. The oldest preserved record of the Croatian ethnonym *xъrvatъ is of variable stem, the first attestation of the Latin term is attributed to a charter of Duke Trpimir from the year 852. The original is lost, and just a 1568 copy is preserved—leading to doubts over the authenticity of the claim, the oldest preserved stone inscription is the 9th-century Branimir Inscription, where Duke Branimir is styled as Dux Cruatorvm. The inscription is not believed to be dated accurately, but is likely to be from during the period of 879–892, the area known as Croatia today was inhabited throughout the prehistoric period
32.
Archbasilica of St. John Lateran
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It is the oldest of and has precedence among the four papal major basilicas, all of which are in Rome, because it is the oldest church in the West and houses the cathedra of the Roman Pontiff. It has the title of ecumenical mother church of the Roman Catholic faithful, the current archpriest is Agostino Vallini, Cardinal Vicar General for the Diocese of Rome. The archbasilica stands over the remains of the Castra Nova equitum singularium, the fort was established by Septimius Severus in AD193. Following the victory of Emperor Constantine I over Maxentius at the Battle of the Milvian Bridge, the guard was abolished, substantial remains of the fort lie directly beneath the nave. The remainder of the site was occupied during the early Roman Empire by the palace of the gens Laterani, sextius Lateranus was the first plebeian to attain the rank of consul, and the Laterani served as administrators for several emperors. One of the Laterani, Consul-designate Plautius Lateranus, became famous for being accused by Nero of conspiracy against the Emperor, the accusation resulted in the confiscation and redistribution of his properties. The Lateran Palace fell into the hands of the Emperor when Constantine I married his second wife Fausta, known by that time as the Domus Faustae or House of Fausta, the Lateran Palace was eventually given to the Bishop of Rome by Constantine I. The palace basilica was converted and extended, becoming the residence of Pope St. Silvester I, eventually becoming the Cathedral of Rome, Pope Sylvester I presided over the official dedication of the archbasilica and the adjacent Lateran Palace in 324, declaring both to be a Domus Dei. The papal cathedra was placed in its interior, rendering it the cathedral of the Pope qua Bishop of Rome, the archbasilica and Lateran Palace were re-dedicated twice. Pope Sergius III dedicated them to St. John the Baptist in the 10th century in honor of the newly consecrated baptistry of the archbasilica, Pope Lucius II dedicated them to St. John the Evangelist in the 12th century. Consequently, the archbasilica remains dedicated to the Savior, and its titular feast is the Feast of the Transfiguration, the archbasilica became the most important shrine of the two St. Johns, albeit infrequently jointly venerated. In later years, a Benedictine monastery was established in the Lateran Palace, and was devoted to serving the archbasilica, the Lateran Palace has also been the site of five ecumenical councils. During the time the papacy was seated in Avignon, France, the Lateran Palace, two fires ravaged them in 1307 and 1361. After both fires the pope sent money from Avignon to pay for their reconstruction and maintenance, nonetheless, the archbasilica and Lateran Palace lost their former splendor. When the papacy returned from Avignon and the pope again resided in Rome, the archbasilica, the popes resided at the Basilica di Santa Maria in Trastevere and later at the Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore. Eventually, the Palace of the Vatican was built adjacent to the Basilica of St. Peter, which existed since the time of Emperor Constantine I, and it has remained the official residence of the pope. The original Lateran Palace was demolished and replaced with a new edifice, on the square in front of the Lateran Palace is the largest standing obelisk in the world, known as the Lateran Obelisk. It weighs an estimated 455 tons and it was commissioned by the Egyptian Pharaoh Thutmose III and erected by Thutmose IV before the great Karnak temple of Thebes, Egypt
33.
Visigoths
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The Visigoths were the western branches of the nomadic tribes of Germanic peoples referred to collectively as the Goths. These tribes flourished and spread throughout the late Roman Empire in Late Antiquity, the Visigoths emerged from earlier Gothic groups who had invaded the Roman Empire beginning in 376 and had defeated the Romans at the Battle of Adrianople in 378. Relations between the Romans and the Visigoths were variable, alternately warring with one another and making treaties when convenient, the Visigoths invaded Italy under Alaric I and sacked Rome in 410. The Visigoths first settled in southern Gaul as foederati of the Romans – a relationship established in 418, however, they soon fell out with their Roman hosts and established their own kingdom with its capital at Toulouse. They next extended their authority into Hispania at the expense of the Suebi, in 507, however, their rule in Gaul was ended by the Franks under Clovis I, who defeated them in the Battle of Vouillé. After that, the Visigoth kingdom was limited to Hispania, in or around 589, the Visigoths under Reccared I converted from Arianism to Nicene Christianity, gradually adopting the culture of their Hispano-Roman subjects. Their legal code, the Visigothic Code abolished the practice of applying different laws for Romans. Once legal distinctions were no longer being made between Romani and Gothi, they became known collectively as Hispani, in the century that followed, the region was dominated by the Councils of Toledo and the episcopacy. In 711 or 712, a force of invading African Moors defeated the Visigoths in the Battle of Guadalete and their king and many members of their governing elite were killed, and their kingdom rapidly collapsed. During their governance of the Kingdom of Hispania, the Visigoths built several churches that survive and they also left many artifacts, which have been discovered in increasing numbers by archaeologists in recent times. The Treasure of Guarrazar of votive crowns and crosses is the most spectacular and they founded the only new cities in western Europe from the fall of the Western half of the Roman Empire until the rise of the Carolingian dynasty. Many Visigothic names are still in use in modern Spanish and Portuguese, contemporaneous references to the Gothic tribes use the terms Vesi, Ostrogothi, Thervingi, and Greuthungi. Most scholars have concluded that the terms Vesi and Tervingi were both used to refer to one particular tribe, while the terms Ostrogothi and Greuthungi were used to refer to another. In addition, the Notitia Dignitatum equates the Vesi with the Tervingi in a reference to the years 388–391, the earliest sources for each of the four names are roughly contemporaneous. The first recorded reference to the Tervingi is in a eulogy of the emperor Maximian, delivered in or shortly after 291 and it says that the Tervingi, another division of the Goths, joined with the Taifali to attack the Vandals and Gepidae. The first known use of the term Ostrogoths is in a document dated September 392 from Milan and this would explain why the latter terms dropped out of use shortly after 400, when the Goths were displaced by the Hunnic invasions. Wolfram believes that the people Zosimus describes were those Tervingi who had remained behind after the Hunnic conquest, for the most part, all of the terms discriminating between different Gothic tribes gradually disappeared after they moved into the Roman Empire. The last indication that the Goths whose king reigned at Toulouse thought of themselves as Vesi is found in a panegyric on Avitus by Sidonius Apollinaris dated 1 January 456, most recent scholars have concluded that Visigothic group identity emerged only within the Roman Empire
34.
Basilica of Sant'Apollinare in Classe
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The Basilica of Sant Apollinare in Classe is an important monument of Byzantine art near Ravenna, Italy. The imposing brick structure was erected at the beginning of 6th century by order of Bishop Ursicinus and it was certainly located next to a Christian cemetery, and quite possibly on top of a pre-existing pagan one, as some of the ancient tombstones were re-used in its construction. SantApollinare in Classe was consecrated on May 9,549 by Bishop Maximian and dedicated to Saint Apollinaris, first bishop of Ravenna, the Basilica is thus contemporary with the Basilica of San Vitale of Ravenna. In 856, the relics of Saint Apollinaris were transferred from the Basilica of SantApollinare in Classe to the Basilica of Sant Apollinare Nuovo in Ravenna, the exterior has a large façade with two simple uprights and one mullioned window with three openings. The narthex and building to the right of the entry are later additions, the church is on a nave and two aisles. An ancient altar in the mid of the covers the place of the saints martyrdom. The church ends with an apse, sided by two chapels with apses. The nave contains 24 columns of Greek marble, the carved capitals of the columns depict acanthus leaves, but unlike most such carvings the leaves appear twisted as if being buffeted by the wind. The faded frescos depict some of the archbishops of Ravenna, the lateral walls are bare, but were certainly once covered with gorgeous mosaics. These were likely demolished by the Venetians in 1449, although left the mosaic decoration in the apse and on the triumphal arch. The upper section of the triumphal arch depicts, inside a medallion, at the sides, within a sea of clouds, are the winged symbols of the four Evangelists, the Eagle, the Winged Man, the Lion, the Calf. The lower section has, at its two edges, the walls showing precious gems from which twelve lambs exit. The sides of the show two palms which, in the Bibles symbolism, represent justice, under them are the archangels Michael and Gabriel, with the bust of St. Matthew. The decoration of the date to the 6th century, and can be divided into two parts, in the upper one, a large disc encloses a starry sky in which is a cross with gems. Over the cross is a hand protruding from the clouds, the theme of the Hand of God, at the side of the disc are the figures of Elijah and Moses. In the middle is the figure of Saint Apollinaris, portrayed in the act of praying God to give grace to his faithful, symbolized by twelve white lambs. In the spaces between the windows are the four bishops who founded the main basilicas in Ravenna, Ursicinus, Ursus, Severus and Ecclesius, in the right panel are Abraham, Abel and Melchisedek around an altar, on which they offer a sacrifice to God. The choice of the subject is closely linked to the fight against Arianism, the Basilicas walls are lined by numerous sarcophagi from different centuries
35.
Ravenna
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Ravenna is the capital city of the Province of Ravenna, in the Emilia-Romagna region of Northern Italy. It was the city of the Western Roman Empire from 402 until that empire collapsed in 476. It then served as the capital of the Kingdom of the Ostrogoths until it was re-conquered in 540 by the Eastern Roman Empire. Afterwards, the city formed the centre of the Byzantine Exarchate of Ravenna until the invasion of the Lombards in 751, although an inland city, Ravenna is connected to the Adriatic Sea by the Candiano Canal. It is known for its well-preserved late Roman and Byzantine architecture, the origin of the name Ravenna is unclear, although it is believed the name is Etruscan. Some have speculated that ravenna is related to Rasenna, the term that the Etruscans used for themselves, the origins of Ravenna are uncertain. Ravenna consisted of houses built on piles on a series of islands in a marshy lagoon – a situation similar to Venice several centuries later. The Romans ignored it during their conquest of the Po River Delta, in 49 BC, it was the location where Julius Caesar gathered his forces before crossing the Rubicon. Later, after his battle against Mark Antony in 31 BC and this harbor, protected at first by its own walls, was an important station of the Roman Imperial Fleet. Nowadays the city is landlocked, but Ravenna remained an important seaport on the Adriatic until the early Middle Ages, during the German campaigns, Thusnelda, widow of Arminius, and Marbod, King of the Marcomanni, were confined at Ravenna. Ravenna greatly prospered under Roman rule, Emperor Trajan built a 70 km long aqueduct at the beginning of the 2nd century. During the Marcomannic Wars, Germanic settlers in Ravenna revolted and managed to seize possession of the city, for this reason, Marcus Aurelius decided not only against bringing more barbarians into Italy, but even banished those who had previously been brought there. In AD402, Emperor Honorius transferred the capital of the Western Roman Empire from Milan to Ravenna, at that time it was home to 50,000 people. However, in 409, King Alaric I of the Visigoths simply bypassed Ravenna, after many vicissitudes, Galla Placidia returned to Ravenna with her son, Emperor Valentinian III and the support of her nephew Theodosius II. The late 5th century saw the dissolution of Roman authority in the west, Odoacer ruled as King of Italy for 13 years, but in 489 the Eastern Emperor Zeno sent the Ostrogoth King Theoderic the Great to re-take the Italian peninsula. After losing the Battle of Verona, Odoacer retreated to Ravenna, Theoderic took Ravenna in 493, supposedly slew Odoacer with his own hands, and Ravenna became the capital of the Ostrogothic Kingdom of Italy. Both Odoacer and Theoderic and their followers were Arian Christians, but co-existed peacefully with the Latins, Ravennas Orthodox bishops carried out notable building projects, of which the sole surviving one is the Capella Arcivescovile. Theoderic allowed Roman citizens within his kingdom to be subject to Roman law, the Goths, meanwhile, lived under their own laws and customs
36.
Justinian I
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Justinian I, traditionally known as Justinian the Great and also Saint Justinian the Great in the Eastern Orthodox Church, was a Byzantine emperor from 527 to 565. During his reign, Justinian sought to revive the empires greatness, because of his restoration activities, Justinian has sometimes been called the last Roman in modern historiography. This ambition was expressed by the recovery of the territories of the defunct western Roman Empire. His general, Belisarius, swiftly conquered the Vandal kingdom in North Africa, the prefect Liberius reclaimed the south of the Iberian peninsula, establishing the province of Spania. These campaigns re-established Roman control over the western Mediterranean, increasing the Empires annual revenue by over a million solidi, during his reign Justinian also subdued the Tzani, a people on the east coast of the Black Sea that had never been under Roman rule before. A still more resonant aspect of his legacy was the rewriting of Roman law, the Corpus Juris Civilis. His reign also marked a blossoming of Byzantine culture, and his building program yielded such masterpieces as the church of Hagia Sophia, a devastating outbreak of bubonic plague in the early 540s marked the end of an age of splendour. Justinian was born in Tauresium around 482, a native speaker of Latin, he came from a peasant family believed to have been of Illyro-Roman or Thraco-Roman origins. The cognomen Iustinianus, which he later, is indicative of adoption by his uncle Justin. During his reign, he founded Justiniana Prima not far from his birthplace and his mother was Vigilantia, the sister of Justin. Justin, who was in the guard before he became emperor, adopted Justinian, brought him to Constantinople. As a result, Justinian was well educated in jurisprudence, theology, Justinian served for some time with the Excubitors but the details of his early career are unknown. Chronicler John Malalas, who lived during the reign of Justinian, tells of his appearance that he was short, fair skinned, curly haired, round faced, another contemporary chronicler, Procopius, compares Justinians appearance to that of tyrannical Emperor Domitian, although this is probably slander. When Emperor Anastasius died in 518, Justin was proclaimed the new emperor, during Justins reign, Justinian was the emperors close confidant. As Justin became senile near the end of his reign, Justinian became the de facto ruler, Justinian was appointed consul in 521 and later commander of the army of the east. Upon Justins death on 1 August 527, Justinian became the sole sovereign, as a ruler, Justinian showed great energy. He was known as the emperor who never sleeps on account of his work habits, nevertheless, he seems to have been amiable and easy to approach. Around 525, he married his mistress, Theodora, in Constantinople and she was by profession a courtesan and some twenty years his junior
37.
Hagia Sophia
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Hagia Sophia was a Greek Orthodox Christian patriarchal basilica, later an imperial mosque, and now a museum in Istanbul, Turkey. The building was converted into an Ottoman mosque from 29 May 1453 until 1931. It was then secularized and opened as a museum on 1 February 1935, famous in particular for its massive dome, it is considered the epitome of Byzantine architecture and is said to have changed the history of architecture. It remained the worlds largest cathedral for nearly a thousand years and it was designed by the Greek geometers Isidore of Miletus and Anthemius of Tralles. The church contained a collection of relics and featured, among other things. In 1453, Constantinople was conquered by the Ottoman Empire under Mehmed the Conqueror, by that point, the church had fallen into a state of disrepair. Nevertheless, the Christian cathedral made an impression on the new Ottoman rulers. Islamic features—such as the mihrab, minbar, and four minarets—were added and it remained a mosque until 1931, when it was closed to the public for four years. It was re-opened in 1935 as a museum by the Republic of Turkey, Hagia Sophia was, as of 2014, the second-most visited museum in Turkey, attracting almost 3.3 million visitors annually. According to data released by the Turkish Culture and Tourism Ministry, from its initial conversion until the construction of the nearby Sultan Ahmed Mosque in 1616, it was the principal mosque of Istanbul. The first church on the site was known as the Μεγάλη Ἐκκλησία, or in Latin Magna Ecclesia, inaugurated on 15 February 360 by the Arian bishop Eudoxius of Antioch, it was built next to the area where the imperial palace was being developed. The nearby Hagia Eirene church was completed earlier and served as cathedral until the Great Church was completed, both churches acted together as the principal churches of the Byzantine Empire. Writing in 440, Socrates of Constantinople claimed that the church was built by Constantius II, a tradition which is not older than the 7th or 8th century, reports that the edifice was built by Constantine the Great. Zonaras reconciles the two opinions, writing that Constantius had repaired the edifice consecrated by Eusebius of Nicomedia, after it had collapsed. Since Eusebius was bishop of Constantinople from 339 to 341, and Constantine died in 337, the edifice was built as a traditional Latin colonnaded basilica with galleries and a wooden roof. It was preceded by an atrium and it was claimed to be one of the worlds most outstanding monuments at the time. The Patriarch of Constantinople John Chrysostom came into a conflict with Empress Aelia Eudoxia, wife of the emperor Arcadius, during the subsequent riots, this first church was largely burned down. Nothing remains of the first church today, a second church on the site was ordered by Theodosius II, who inaugurated it on 10 October 415
38.
Constantinople
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Constantinople was the capital city of the Roman/Byzantine Empire, and also of the brief Latin, and the later Ottoman empires. It was reinaugurated in 324 AD from ancient Byzantium as the new capital of the Roman Empire by Emperor Constantine the Great, after whom it was named, Constantinople was famed for its massive and complex defences. The first wall of the city was erected by Constantine I, Constantinople never truly recovered from the devastation of the Fourth Crusade and the decades of misrule by the Latins. The origins of the name of Byzantion, more known by the later Latin Byzantium, are not entirely clear. The founding myth of the city has it told that the settlement was named after the leader of the Megarian colonists, Byzas. The later Byzantines of Constantinople themselves would maintain that the city was named in honour of two men, Byzas and Antes, though this was likely just a play on the word Byzantion. During this time, the city was also called Second Rome, Eastern Rome, and Roma Constantinopolitana. As the city became the remaining capital of the Roman Empire after the fall of the West, and its wealth, population, and influence grew. In the language of other peoples, Constantinople was referred to just as reverently, the medieval Vikings, who had contacts with the empire through their expansion in eastern Europe used the Old Norse name Miklagarðr, and later Miklagard and Miklagarth. In Arabic, the city was sometimes called Rūmiyyat al-kubra and in Persian as Takht-e Rum, in East and South Slavic languages, including in medieval Russia, Constantinople was referred to as Tsargrad or Carigrad, City of the Caesar, from the Slavonic words tsar and grad. This was presumably a calque on a Greek phrase such as Βασιλέως Πόλις, the modern Turkish name for the city, İstanbul, derives from the Greek phrase eis tin polin, meaning into the city or to the city. In 1928, the Turkish alphabet was changed from Arabic script to Latin script, in time the city came to be known as Istanbul and its variations in most world languages. In Greece today, the city is still called Konstantinoúpolis/Konstantinoúpoli or simply just the City, apart from this, little is known about this initial settlement, except that it was abandoned by the time the Megarian colonists settled the site anew. A farsighted treaty with the emergent power of Rome in c.150 BC which stipulated tribute in exchange for independent status allowed it to enter Roman rule unscathed. The site lay astride the land route from Europe to Asia and the seaway from the Black Sea to the Mediterranean, and had in the Golden Horn an excellent and spacious harbour. He would later rebuild Byzantium towards the end of his reign, in which it would be briefly renamed Augusta Antonina, fortifying it with a new city wall in his name, Constantine had altogether more colourful plans. Rome was too far from the frontiers, and hence from the armies and the imperial courts, yet it had been the capital of the state for over a thousand years, and it might have seemed unthinkable to suggest that the capital be moved to a different location. Constantinople was built over 6 years, and consecrated on 11 May 330, Constantine divided the expanded city, like Rome, into 14 regions, and ornamented it with public works worthy of an imperial metropolis
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Paul the Silentiary
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Paul the Silentiary, also known as Paulus Silentiarius, was a Greek poet. His contemporary, the historian and poet Agathias, describes him as a rich man, Paul is best known and most admired for his short poems in the classical tradition, about 80 of which have been preserved in the Greek Anthology. Forty of these are love poems, two are replies to poems by Agathias, in another Paul laments the death of Damocharis of Cos, Agathiass favorite pupil. These short poems also contain interesting social information and he also composed in verse an ecphrasis or evocative account of Justinians cathedral of the Holy Wisdom, describing its architecture and decoration after the reconstruction of the dome in 562. Paul sees the church as a meadow of many-coloured marbles, the poem was probably commissioned by Justinian himself, and Paul had to read verses to the emperor through the inauguration. It consists of 1029 verses in Greek, starting with 134 lines of iambic trimeter and he also wrote a poem about the hot springs at Pythia. Paul died some time between 575 and 580, bell Sex and the Civil Servant, Poems by Paul the Silentiary, tr. Graham John Wheeler J. Kostenec, K. Dark, Paul the Silentiarys description of Hagia Sophia in the light of new evidence, in Byzantinoslavica, LXIX3 supplementum. R. Macrides, P. Magdalino, The architecture of ecphrasis, construction and context of Paul the Silentiarys poem on Hagia Sophia, in Byzantine And Modern Greek Studies,12, the Occasion of Paul the Silentiarys Ekphrasis of S. Sophia. Paul the Silentiary, The Magnificence of Hagia Sophia at The Internet Medieval Sourcebook Extracts of his eulogy of the Hagia Sophia
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Niello
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Niello is a black mixture of copper, silver, and lead sulphides, used as an inlay on engraved or etched metal. The resulting design, called a niello, was of much higher contrast, during the 10th to 13th century AD, Kievan Rus craftsmen possessed a high degree of skill in jewelry making. John Tsetses, a 12th-century Byzantine writer, praised the work of Kievan Rus artisans and likened their work to the creations of Daedalus, the Kievan Rus technique for niello application was first shaping silver or gold by repoussé work, embossing, and casting. The heat of the furnace would blacken the niello and make the other stand out more vividly. During the Mongol invasion from 1237 to 1240 AD, nearly all of Kievan Rus was overrun, settlements and workshops were burned and razed and most of the craftsmen and artisans were killed. Afterwards, skill in niello and cloisonné enamel diminished greatly, the Ukrainian Museum of Historic Treasures, located in Kiev, has a large collection of nielloed items mostly recovered from tombs found throughout Ukraine. Nielloware jewelry and related items from Thailand were popular gifts from American soldiers taking R&R in Thailand to their girlfriends/wives back home from the 1930s to the 1970s, most of it was completely handmade jewelry. The technique is as follows, The artisan would carve a particular character or pattern into the silver and he would then use the niello inlay to fill in the background. After being baked in a fire, the alloy would harden. It would then be sanded smooth and buffed, finally, a silver artisan would add minute details by hand. Filigree was often used for additional ornamentation, Nielloware is classified as only being black and silver colored. Other colored jewelry originating during this time uses a different technique and is not considered niello, many of the characters shown in nielloware are characters originally found in the Hindu legend Ramayana. The Thai version is called Ramakien, important Thai cultural symbols were also frequently used. Collecting Thai jewelry is a hobby with many jewelry enthusiasts. The Kiev museum of historic treasures, overview of Siam Sterling Nielloware, Tampa, FL Dittell, C. Survey of Siam Sterling Nielloware, Bookbaby Publishers Maryon, Herbert, untracht, Oppi Metal techniques For Craftsmen, New York 1968. The Siam Sterling Nielloware Site Nielloware in Thailand Niello information site
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Crux gemmata
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A crux gemmata is a form of cross typical of Early Christian and Early Medieval art, where the cross, or at least its front side, is principally decorated with jewels. In an actual cross, rather than an image of one. Examples in metalwork are the Cross of Justin II, the cross in the Staffordshire Hoard, the Cross of Lothair, the Iberian Cross of the Angels and Victory Cross. In the case of the cross, such decorative embellishment was especially common, the cross very often has splayed ends to its arms, but the proportions of the vertical axis to the horizontal one depends entirely on the needs of the composition, and varies greatly. Pendilia, or hanging jewels or ornaments, may hang from the arms, especially the letters alpha, the motif is first seen in a sarcophagus fragment from the late 4th century, the splayed ends of the arms are present from the earliest examples. The jewelled cross also served as a symbol of the Christian version of the Tree of Life, the Staffordshire Hoard crumpled cross has vine leaves showing at the corners and represents Jesus the vine. It is sometimes shown on a mound representing paradise, with four rivers flowing down it, the link of the cross generally with the Tree of Life appears frequently in the hymns of Venantius Fortunatus. Sharp has shown the interlace on the front of the Staffordshire Hoard cross corresponds with the river or tree of life described in Revelation 22. For much of the period, a jewelled cross is recorded as decorating the presumed site of the Crucifixion. It was presented by the Eastern Emperor Theodosius II, there was resistance to representations of the cross with the body of Christ on it, a practice that did not begin until the 5th century, becoming more common in the 6th. It was the Nestorians, another force of the opposite persuasion. In so-called mystical images, such as the mosaic at the Basilica of Sant Apollinare in Classe, Ravenna. A poem by St Paulinus of Nola allows a reconstruction of a mosaic apse he had commissioned in the basilica of St Felix of Nola at Cimitile in the early 5th century. At the bottom of the semi-dome were twelve lambs, six on each side, with a haloed Lamb of God on a hillock in the centre. The bottom of the mosaic at Santa Pudenziana in Rome originally also had a level with this. The crux gemmata is commonly seen on coins, often held by a figure of Victory, another common Byzantine coin type shows a cross with a stepped base, which should be understood as a crux gemmata even though scale does not normally allow any indication of gems. The apse mosaic in the Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls has an example with thirteen jewels and it is not usual to use the term crux gemmata for crosses from more recent periods, especially for small crosses that fall under the category of jewellery. The Female Crucifix, Images of St. Wilgefortis Since the Middle Ages, Wilfrid Laurier University Press,2001, ISBN 0-88920-365-2, google books Hellemo, Geir
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Eastern Orthodox Church
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The Eastern Orthodox Church teaches that it is the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church established by Jesus Christ in his Great Commission to the apostles. It practices what it understands to be the original Christian faith, the Eastern Orthodox Church is a communion of autocephalous churches, each typically governed by a Holy Synod. It teaches that all bishops are equal by virtue of their ordination, prior to the Council of Chalcedon in AD451, the Eastern Orthodox had also shared communion with the Oriental Orthodox churches, separating primarily over differences in Christology. Eastern Orthodoxy spread throughout the Roman and later Eastern Roman Empires and beyond, playing a prominent role in European, Near Eastern, Slavic, and some African cultures. As a result, the term Greek Orthodox has sometimes used to describe all of Eastern Orthodoxy in general. However, the appellation Greek was never in use and was gradually abandoned by the non-Greek-speaking Eastern Orthodox churches. Its most prominent episcopal see is Constantinople, there are also many in other parts of the world, formed through immigration, conversion and missionary activity. The official name of the Eastern Orthodox Church is the Orthodox Catholic Church and it is the name by which the church refers to itself in its liturgical or canonical texts, in official publications, and in official contexts or administrative documents. Orthodox teachers refer to the Church as Catholic and this name and longer variants containing Catholic are also recognized and referenced in other books and publications by secular or non-Orthodox writers. The common name of the Church, Eastern Orthodox Church, is a shortened practicality that helps to avoid confusions in casual use, for this reason, the eastern churches were sometimes identified as Greek, even before the great schism. After 1054, Greek Orthodox or Greek Catholic marked a church as being in communion with Constantinople and this identification with Greek, however, became increasingly confusing with time. Missionaries brought Orthodoxy to many regions without ethnic Greeks, where the Greek language was not spoken. Today, many of those same Roman churches remain, while a large number of Orthodox are not of Greek national origin. Eastern, then, indicates the element in the Churchs origin and development, while Orthodox indicates the faith. While the Church continues officially to call itself Catholic, for reasons of universality, the first known use of the phrase the catholic church occurred in a letter written about 110 AD from one Greek church to another. Quote of St Ignatius to the Smyrnaeans, Wheresoever the bishop shall appear, there let the people be, even as where Jesus may be, thus, almost from the very beginning, Christians referred to the Church as the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church. The Orthodox Church claims that it is today the continuation and preservation of that same Church, a number of other Christian churches also make a similar claim, the Roman Catholic Church, the Anglican Communion, the Assyrian Church and the Oriental Orthodox Churches. The Church of England separated from the Roman Catholic Church, not directly from the Orthodox Church, the depth of this meaning in the Orthodox Church is registered first in its use of the word Orthodox itself, a union of Greek orthos and doxa
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Last Supper in Christian art
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The Last Supper of Jesus and the Twelve Apostles has been a popular subject in Christian art, often as part of a cycle showing the Life of Christ. Depictions of the Last Supper in Christian art date back to early Christianity, the Last Supper was depicted both in the Eastern and Western Churches. By the Renaissance, it was a subject in Italian art. It was also one of the few subjects to be continued in Lutheran altarpieces for a few decades after the Protestant Reformation, There are two major scenes shown in depictions of the Last Supper, the dramatic announcement of the betrayal of Jesus, and the institution of the Eucharist. After the meal the further scenes of Jesus washing the feet of his apostles, the earliest known written reference to the Last Supper is in Pauls First Epistle to the Corinthians, which dates to the middle of the first century. The Last Supper was likely a retelling of the events of the last meal of Jesus among the early Christian community, the earliest depictions of such meals occur in the frescoes of the Catacomb of Rome, where figures are depicted reclining around semi-circular tables. Byzantine artists sometimes used semi-circular tables in their depictions, but more frequently they focused on the Communion of the Apostles, by the Renaissance, the Last Supper was a favorite subject in Italian art, especially in the refectories of monasteries. These depictions typically portrayed the reactions of the disciples to the announcement of the betrayal of Jesus, most of the Italian depictions use an oblong table, and not a semi-circular one, and sometimes Judas is shown by himself clutching his money bag. With an oblong table, the artist had to decide whether to show the apostles on both sides, so with some seen from behind, or all on one side of the table facing the viewer. Sometimes only Judas is on the side nearest the viewer, allowing the bag to be seen, duccio, daringly for the time, just omits the halos of the apostles nearest the viewer. Artists who showed the scene on a ceiling or in a relief sculpture had further difficulties in devising a composition, the food on the table often includes a paschal lamb, in Late Antique and Byzantine versions fish was the main dish. In later works the bread may become more like a communion host, and more food, eating, There are two major episodes or moments depicted in Last Supper scenes, each with specific variants. There are also other, less frequently depicted scenes, such as the washing of the feet of the disciples, the first episode, much the most common in Western Medieval art, is the dramatic and dynamic moment of Jesus announcement of his betrayal. 22 The disciples looked one on another, doubting of whom he spake,23 There was at the table reclining in Jesus bosom one of his disciples, whom Jesus loved. 24 Simon Peter therefore beckoneth to him, and saith unto him,25 He leaning back, as he was, on Jesus breast saith unto him, Lord, who is it. 26 Jesus therefore answereth, He it is, for whom I shall dip the sop, so when he had dipped the sop, he taketh and giveth it to Judas, of Simon Iscariot. 27 And after the sop, then entered Satan into him, Jesus therefore saith unto him, What thou doest, do quickly. 28 Now no man at the table knew for what intent he spake this unto him
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Mosaic
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A mosaic is a piece of art or image made from the assemblage of small pieces of colored glass, stone, or other materials. It is often used in art or as interior decoration. Most mosaics are made of small, flat, roughly square, pieces of stone or glass of different colors, some, especially floor mosaics, are made of small rounded pieces of stone, and called pebble mosaics. Others are made of other materials, mosaics have a long history, starting in Mesopotamia in the 3rd millennium BC. Pebble mosaics were made in Tiryns in Mycenean Greece, mosaics with patterns and pictures became widespread in classical times, Early Christian basilicas from the 4th century onwards were decorated with wall and ceiling mosaics. Mosaic fell out of fashion in the Renaissance, though artists like Raphael continued to practise the old technique, Roman and Byzantine influence led Jews to decorate 5th and 6th century synagogues in the Middle East with floor mosaics. Mosaic was widely used on buildings and palaces in early Islamic art, including Islams first great religious building, the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem. Mosaic went out of fashion in the Islamic world after the 8th century, modern mosaics are made by professional artists, street artists, and as a popular craft. Many materials other than stone and ceramic tesserae may be employed, including shells, glass. The earliest known examples of made of different materials were found at a temple building in Abra, Mesopotamia. They consist of pieces of colored stones, shells and ivory, excavations at Susa and Chogha Zanbil show evidence of the first glazed tiles, dating from around 1500 BC. However, mosaic patterns were not used until the times of Sassanid Empire, mythological subjects, or scenes of hunting or other pursuits of the wealthy, were popular as the centrepieces of a larger geometric design, with strongly emphasized borders. Pliny the Elder mentions the artist Sosus of Pergamon by name, describing his mosaics of the left on a floor after a feast. Both of these themes were widely copied, most recorded names of Roman mosaic workers are Greek, suggesting they dominated high quality work across the empire, no doubt most ordinary craftsmen were slaves. Splendid mosaic floors are found in Roman villas across North Africa, in such as Carthage. The tiny tesserae allowed very fine detail, and an approach to the illusionism of painting, often small panels called emblemata were inserted into walls or as the highlights of larger floor-mosaics in coarser work. The normal technique was opus tessellatum, using larger tesserae, which was laid on site, there was a distinct native Italian style using black on a white background, which was no doubt cheaper than fully coloured work. In Rome, Nero and his architects used mosaics to cover surfaces of walls and ceilings in the Domus Aurea, built 64 AD
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Apse
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In architecture, an apse is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical vault or semi-dome, also known as an Exedra. Smaller apses may also be in other locations, especially shrines, an apse is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical vault. Commonly, the apse of a church, cathedral or basilica is the semicircular or polygonal termination to the choir or sanctuary, in relation to church architecture it is generally the name given to where the altar is placed or where the clergy are seated. An apse is occasionally found in a synagogue, e. g. Maoz Haim Synagogue, the apse is separated from the main part of the church by the transept. Smaller apses are sometimes built in other than the east end. The domed apse became a part of the church plan in the early Christian era. In the Eastern Orthodox tradition, the apse is known as diaconicon. Various ecclesiastical features of which the apse may form part are drawn here, The chancel, directly to the east beyond the choir contains the High Altar. This area is reserved for the clergy, and was formerly called the presbytery. Hemi-cyclic choirs, first developed in the East, came to use in France in 470, famous northern French examples of chevets are in the Gothic cathedrals of Amiens, Beauvais and Reims. The word ambulatory refers to an aisle in the apse that passes behind the altar and choir. An ambulatory may refer to the passages that enclose a cloister in a monastery, or to other types of aisles round the edge of a church building
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Saint Sophia's Cathedral, Kiev
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Saint Sophia Cathedral in Kyiv is an outstanding architectural monument of Kievan Rus. The cathedral is one of the citys best known landmarks and the first heritage site in Ukraine to be inscribed on the World Heritage List along with the Kyiv Cave Monastery complex. Aside from its building, the cathedral includes an ensemble of supporting structures such as a bell tower. In 2011 the historic site was reassigned from the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Regional Development of Ukraine to the Ministry of Culture of Ukraine, in Ukrainian the cathedral is known as Sobor Sviatoyi Sofiyi or Sofiyskyi sobor. In Russian it is known as Sobor Svyatoi Sofii or Sofiyskiy sobor, the cathedrals name comes from the 6th-century Hagia Sophia cathedral in Constantinople. The first foundations were laid in 1037 or 1011, but the cathedral took two decades to complete. This info has been accepted by both UNESCO and Ukraine, which celebrated the 1000th anniversary of the cathedral during 2011. )The structure has 5 naves,5 apses. It is surrounded by galleries from three sides. Measuring 37 to 55 m, the used to be faced with plinths. On the inside, it retains mosaics and frescos from the 11th century, including a representation of Yaroslavs family. After the pillaging of Kiev by Andrei Bogolyubsky of Vladimir-Suzdal in 1169, followed by Mongolian Tatars in 1240 and it was also greatly damaged in the 16th century, when Poland and Ukraine were trying to unite catholic and orthodox churches. At this period the Cathedral was almost ruined, its roof decayed, following the 1595-96 Union of Brest, the Cathedral of Holy Sophia belonged to the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church until it was claimed by the Moldavian Orthodox metropolitan Peter Mogila in 1633. The work continued under the Cossack Hetman Ivan Mazepa until 1767, all of these buildings as well as the Cathedral after the reconstruction have distinctive features of Ukrainian Baroque. The cathedral was saved from destruction primarily with the effort of many scientists, since the late 1980s Soviet, and later Ukrainian, politicians promised to return the building to the Orthodox Church. Due to various schisms and factions within the Church the return was postponed as all Orthodox, although all of the Orthodox churches have been allowed to conduct services at different dates, at other times they are denied access. After events such as those no religious body has yet given the rights for regular services. The complex now remains a museum of Ukraines Christianity, with most of its visitors being tourists
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Germanus I of Constantinople
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Saint Germanus I was Patriarch of Constantinople from 715 to 730. He is regarded as a saint, by both the Orthodox and Roman Catholic Churches, with a feast day of 12 May, according to Theophanes the Confessor, Germanus was a son of patrician Justinian, who was executed in 668. Justinian was reportedly involved in the murder of Constans II and usurpation of the throne by Mezezius, Constantine IV, son of Constans II, defeated his rival and punished the supporters of Mezezius. Germanus survived the persecutions, but was made a eunuch by the victors, Germanus was sent to a monastery. He resurfaces as Bishop of Cyzicus and he took part in the 712 Council of Constantinople where decisions favored Monothelitism, abolishing the canons of the Third Council of Constantinople. The Council followed the religious preferences of Philippikos Bardanes, in 713, Philippikos Bardanes was deposed by Anastasios II. Anastasios soon reversed all religious decisions of his predecessor, Patriarch John VI, strongly associated with Monothelitism, was eventually dismissed. On 11 August 714/715, Germanus was elected Patriarch of Constantinople, Germanus later helped negotiate Anastasius surrender terms to Theodosios III. In 715, Germanus organized a new council propagating Dyothelitism and anathematizing various leaders of the opposing faction and he attempted to improve relations with the Armenian Apostolic Church with a view towards reconciliation. The major issue of his term would, however, be the emerging Byzantine Iconoclasm, after an apparently successful attempt to enforce the baptism of all Jews and Montanists in the empire, Leo issued a series of edicts against the worship of images. Germanus either resigned or was deposed following the ban, surviving letters Germanus wrote at the time say little of theology. Tradition depicts Germanos as much more determined in his position, even winning a debate on the matter with Constantine, Bishop of Nacoleia, a leading Iconoclast. Pope Gregory II, an iconodule, praised Germanus zeal. Germanus was replaced by Anastasios, more willing to obey the emperor, Germanus retired to the residence of his family. He died a few years at an age in 740. He was buried at the Chora Church, the Second Council of Nicaea included Germanus in the diptychs of the saints. He has since been regarded a saint by both the Orthodox Church and the Catholic Church, several of his writings have been preserved. His Historia Ecclesiastica was a work in Greek and Latin translations for many centuries
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Orthodoxy
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Orthodoxy is adherence to correct or accepted creeds, especially in religion. In the Christian sense the term means conforming to the Christian faith as represented in the creeds of the early Church, the first seven Ecumenical Councils were held between the years of 325 and 787 with the aim of formalizing accepted doctrines. In classical Christian usage, the term refers to the set of doctrines which were believed by the early Christians. A series of councils, also known as the First seven Ecumenical Councils, were held over a period of several centuries to try to formalize these doctrines. The most significant of these decisions was that between the Homoousian doctrine of Athanasius and Eustathius and the Heteroousian doctrine of Arius and Eusebius. The earliest recorded use of the term orthodox is in the Codex Iustinianus of 529–534, following the 1054 Great Schism, both the Western and Eastern Churches continued to consider themselves uniquely orthodox and catholic. Over time, the Western Church gradually identified with the Catholic label and this was in note of the fact that both Catholic and Orthodox were in use as ecclesiastical adjectives as early as the 2nd and 4th centuries respectively. Today the two largest Orthodox Christian communions are the Eastern Orthodox Church and Oriental Orthodoxy, Orthodox Judaism is split into various different movements and factions. They have different ways of interpreting and following the laws and traditions of Judaism, Orthodox Judaism is distinct from Conservative Judaism. The term Orthodox Islam generally refers to the teachings and religious practices of traditional Sunni Islam. The term Orthodox Hinduism commonly refers to the teachings and practices of Sanātanī. In this sense, the term has a pejorative connotation. Among various orthodoxies in distinctive fields, most common terms are, Political orthodoxy, Social orthodoxy, Economic orthodoxy, Scientific orthodoxy, Orthodoxy is opposed to heterodoxy or heresy. A deviation lighter than heresy is commonly called error, in the sense of not being enough to cause total estrangement. Sometimes error is used to cover both full heresies and minor errors. The concept of orthodoxy is prevalent in many forms of organized monotheism, syncretism, for example, plays a much wider role in non-monotheistic religion. The prevailing governing norm within polytheism is often rather than the right belief of orthodoxy. Henderson, The Construction of Orthodoxy and Heresy, Neo-Confucian, Islamic, Jewish, and Early Christian Patterns, SUNY Press 1998
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