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The little church of San Nicolas in Yaxunah (Yaxuná), Yucatan was consecrated in 1817 and suffered significant damage during the Caste War (1847-1901). According to Alexander in “Yaxcabá and the Caste War of Yucatan”, “both the Maya rebels and the Spanish-Creole militia repeatedly attacked and pillaged villages such as Yaxuná. The parish of Yaxcabá, to which both Yaxuná and Cetelac belonged, would suffer in the words of one historian, ‘almost Biblical destruction during the Caste War’ (Rugeley, 1997, p. 5).” As with many of these heavily damaged churches, despite the lack of roof, floor, pews or sometimes sections of walls, they are still used.
One of the goals on my trip to Mexico was to photograph churches damaged during the Caste War. The Caste War (1847-1901) was an over 50-year Mayan revolt in the Yucatan in which cities and churches on the frontier, such as Yaxunah, suffered what can only be described as devastation. By some estimates, one half of the population of these areas perished during the war from starvation, disease and casualties. Cities were taken and then retaken (and burned and devastated) by both sides.
If you'd like, take a look at more of my images from Mexico
The newly consecrated National Cathedral of the Romanian Orthodox Church, still under construction in Bucharest
Orthodox Patriarchs of Constantinople and Bucharest consecrate Cathedral
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romanian_People%27s_Salvation_Cathe...
The Cathedral was consecrated on 25 November 2018 by the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople Bartholomew I, Patriarch Daniel of Romania and Metropolitan Chrysostomos (gr) of Patras from the Greek Orthodox Church.
The Basílica i Temple Expiatori de la Sagrada Família -
(English: Basilica and Expiatory Church of the Holy Family), is a large Roman Catholic church in Barcelona, Catalonia (Spain), designed by Catalan architect Antoni Gaudí (1852–1926). Although incomplete, the church is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and in November 2010 Pope Benedict XVI consecrated and proclaimed it a minor basilica, as distinct from a cathedral which must be the seat of a bishop.
Construction of Sagrada Família had commenced in 1882 and Gaudí became involved in 1883, taking over the project and transforming it with his architectural and engineering style, combining Gothic and curvilinear Art Nouveau forms. Gaudí devoted his last years to the project, and at the time of his death at age 73 in 1926 less than a quarter of the project was complete. Sagrada Família's construction progressed slowly, as it relied on private donations and was interrupted by the Spanish Civil War, only to resume intermittent progress in the 1950s. Construction passed the midpoint in 2010 with some of the project's greatest challenges remaining and an anticipated completion date of 2026, the centenary of Gaudí's death.
The basílica has a long history of dividing the citizens of Barcelona: over the initial possibility it might compete with Barcelona's cathedral, over Gaudí's design itself, over the possibility that work after Gaudí's death disregarded his design, and the recent proposal to build an underground tunnel of Spain's high-speed rail link to France which could disturb its stability. Describing Sagrada Família, art critic Rainer Zerbst said, "It is probably impossible to find a church building anything like it in the entire history of art" and Paul Goldberger called it, "The most extraordinary personal interpretation of Gothic architecture since the Middle Ages."
The church shares its site with the Sagrada Família Schools building, a school originally designed by Gaudí in 1909 for the children of the construction workers. Relocated in 2002 from the eastern corner of the site to the southern corner, the building now houses an exhibition.
The Basilica of the Sagrada Família was the inspiration of a bookseller, Josep Maria Bocabella, founder of Asociación Espiritual de Devotos de San José (Spiritual Association of Devotees of St. Joseph). After a visit to the Vatican in 1872, Bocabella returned from Italy with the intention of building a church inspired by that at Loreto.
Antoni Gaudí began work on the church in 1883 but was not appointed Architect Director until 1884.
On the subject of the extremely long construction period, Gaudí is said to have remarked: "My client is not in a hurry." When Gaudí died in 1926, the basilica was between 15 and 25 percent complete. After Gaudí's death, work continued under the direction of Domènec Sugrañes i Gras until interrupted by the Spanish Civil War in 1936. Parts of the unfinished basilica and Gaudí's models and workshop were destroyed during the war by Catalan anarchists. The present design is based on reconstructed versions of the plans that were burned in a fire as well as on modern adaptations. Since 1940 the architects Francesc Quintana, Isidre Puig Boada, Lluís Bonet i Gari and Francesc Cardoner have carried on the work. The illumination was designed by Carles Buigas. The current director and son of Lluís Bonet, Jordi Bonet i Armengol, has been introducing computers into the design and construction process since the 1980s. Mark Burry of New Zealand serves as Executive Architect and Researcher. Sculptures by J. Busquets, Etsuro Sotoo and the controversial Josep Subirachs decorate the fantastical façades.
The central nave vaulting was completed in 2000 and the main tasks since then have been the construction of the transept vaults and apse. As of 2006, work concentrated on the crossing and supporting structure for the main tower of Jesus Christ as well as the southern enclosure of the central nave, which will become the Glory façade.
One projection anticipates construction completion around 2026, the centennial of Gaudí's death—while the project's information leaflet estimates a completion date in 2028, accelerated by additional funding from visitors to Barcelona following the 1992 Barcelona Olympics.
Computer-aided design technology has been used to accelerate construction of the building, which had previously been expected to last for several hundred years, based on building techniques available in the early 20th century.[citation needed] Current technology allows stone to be shaped off-site by a CNC milling machine, whereas in the 20th century, the stone was carved by hand.
In 2008, some renowned Catalan architects advocated a halt to construction,[18] to respect Gaudí's original designs, which, although they were not exhaustive and were partially destroyed, have been partially reconstructed in recent years.
A 2010 exhibition, Gaudí Unseen, Completing La Sagrada Família at the German Architecture Museum, Frankfurt am Main, describes the current construction methods and future plans for the Sagrada Família.
The Church will have three grand façades: the Nativity façade to the East, the Passion façade to the West, and the Glory façade to the South (yet to be completed). The Nativity Façade was built before work was interrupted in 1935 and bears the most direct Gaudí influence. The Passion façade was built after the project which Gaudi planned in 1917. The construction was begun in 1954, and the towers, built over the elliptical plan, were finished in 1976. It is especially striking for its spare, gaunt, tormented characters, including emaciated figures of Christ being scourged at the pillar; and Christ on the Cross. These controversial designs are the work of Josep Maria Subirachs. The Glory façade, on which construction began in 2002, will be the largest and most monumental of the three and will represent one's ascension to God. It will also depict various scenes such as Hell, Purgatory, and will include elements such as the Seven Deadly Sins and the Seven Heavenly Virtues.
Constructed between 1894 and 1930, the Nativity façade was the first façade to be completed. Dedicated to the birth of Jesus, it is decorated with scenes reminiscent of elements of life. Characteristic of Gaudí's naturalistic style, the sculptures are ornately arranged and decorated with scenes and images from nature, each a symbol in their own manner. For instance, the three porticos are separated by two large columns, and at the base of each lies a turtle or a tortoise (one to represent the land and the other the sea; each are symbols of time as something set in stone and unchangeable). In contrast to the figures of turtles and their symbolism, two chameleons can be found at either side of the façade, and are symbolic of change.
The façade faces the rising sun to the northeast, a symbol for the birth of Christ. It is divided into three porticos, each of which represents a theological virtue (Hope, Faith and Charity). The Tree of Life rises above the door of Jesus in the portico of Charity. Four towers complete the façade and are each dedicated to a Saint (Matthias the Apostle, Saint Barnabas, Jude the Apostle, and Simon the Zealot).
Originally, Gaudí intended for this façade to be polychromed, for each archivolt to be painted with a wide array of colours. He wanted every statue and figure to be painted. In this way the figures of humans would appear as much alive as the figures of plants and animals.
Gaudí chose this façade to embody the structure and decoration of the whole church. He was well aware that he would not finish the church and that he would need to set an artistic and architectural example for others to follow. He also chose for this façade to be the first on which to begin construction and for it to be, in his opinion, the most attractive and accessible to the public. He believed that if he had begun construction with the Passion Façade, one that would be hard and bare (as if made of bones), before the Nativity Façade, people would have withdrawn at the sight of it. Some of the statues were destroyed in 1936, and subsequently were reconstructed by the sculptor Sotoo.
In contrast to the highly decorated Nativity Façade, the Passion Façade is austere, plain and simple, with ample bare stone, and is carved with harsh straight lines to resemble the bones of a skeleton. Dedicated to the Passion of Christ, the suffering of Jesus during his crucifixion, the façade was intended to portray the sins of man. Construction began in 1954, following the drawings and instructions left by Gaudí for future architects and sculptors. The towers were completed in 1976, and in 1987 a team of sculptors, headed by Josep Maria Subirachs, began work sculpting the various scenes and details of the façade. They aimed to give a rigid, angular form to provoke a dramatic effect. Gaudí intended for this façade to strike fear into the onlooker. He wanted to "break" arcs and "cut" columns, and to use the effect of chiaroscuro (dark angular shadows contrasted by harsh rigid light) to further show the severity and brutality of Christ's sacrifice.
Facing the setting sun, indicative and symbolic of the death of Christ, the Passion Façade is supported by six large and inclined columns, designed to resemble sequoia trunks. Above there is a pyramidal pediment, made up of eighteen bone-shaped columns, which culminate in a large cross with a crown of thorns. Each of the four towers is dedicated to an apostle (James, Thomas, Philip, or Bartholomew) and, like the Nativity Façade, there are three porticos, each representing the theological virtues, though in a much different light.
The scenes sculpted into the façade may be divided into three levels, which ascend in an 'S' form and reproduce the Via Crucis of Christ. The lowest level depicts scenes from Jesus' last night before the crucifixion, including The Last Supper, Kiss of Judas, Ecce Homo, and the Sanhedrin Trial of Jesus. The middle level portrays the Calvary, or Golgotha, of Christ, and includes The Three Marys, Saint Veronica, Saint Longinus, and a hollow-face illusion of Christ. In the third and final level the Death, Burial and the Resurrection of Christ can be seen. A bronze figure situated on a bridge creating a link between the towers of Saint Bartholomew and Saint Thomas represents the Ascension of Jesus.
The largest and most striking of the façades will be the Glory Façade, on which construction began in 2002. It will be the principal façade and will offer access to the central nave. Dedicated to the Celestial Glory of Jesus, it represents the road to God: Death, Final Judgment, and Glory, while Hell is left for those who deviate from God's will. Aware that he would not live long enough to see this façade completed, Gaudí made a model which was demolished in 1936, whose original fragments were base for the development of the project of the façade. The completion of this façade will require the demolition of the complete block with buildings across the Carrer de Mallorca. To reach the Glory Portico the large staircase will lead over the underground passage built over Carrer de Mallorca with the decoration representing Hell and vice. It will be decorated with demons, idols, false gods, heresy and schisms, etc. Purgatory and death will also be depicted, the latter using tombs along the ground. The portico will have seven large columns dedicated to spiritual gifts. At the base of the columns there will be representations of the Seven Deadly Sins, and at the top, The Seven Heavenly Virtues.
The towers on the Nativity façade are crowned with geometrically shaped tops that are reminiscent of Cubism (they were finished around 1930), and the intricate decoration is contemporary to the style of Art Nouveau, but Gaudí's unique style drew primarily from nature, not other artists or architects, and resists categorization.
Gaudí used hyperboloid structures in later designs of the Sagrada Família (more obviously after 1914), however there are a few places on the nativity façade—a design not equated with Gaudí's ruled-surface design—where the hyperboloid crops up. For example, all around the scene with the pelican there are numerous examples (including the basket held by one of the figures). There is a hyperboloid adding structural stability to the cypress tree (by connecting it to the bridge). And finally, the "bishop's mitre" spires are capped with hyperboloid structures. In his later designs, ruled surfaces are prominent in the nave's vaults and windows and the surfaces of the Passion façade.
Themes throughout the decoration include words from the liturgy. The towers are decorated with words such as "Hosanna", "Excelsis", and "Sanctus"; the great doors of the Passion façade reproduce words from the Bible in various languages including Catalan; and the Glory façade is to be decorated with the words from the Apostles' Creed. The three entrances symbolize the three virtues: Faith, Hope and Love. Each of them is also dedicated to a part of Christ's life. The Nativity Façade is dedicated to his birth; it also has a cypress tree which symbolizes the tree of life. The Glory façade is dedicated to his glory period. The Passion façade is symbolic of his suffering. The apse tower bears Latin text of Hail Mary. All in all, the Sagrada Família is symbolic of the lifetime of Christ.
Areas of the sanctuary will be designated to represent various concepts, such as saints, virtues and sins, and secular concepts such as regions, presumably with decoration to match.
World Heritage status
Together with six other Gaudí buildings in Barcelona, part of la Sagrada Família is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, as testifying "to Gaudí’s exceptional creative contribution to the development of architecture and building technology", "having represented el Modernisme of Catalonia" and "anticipated and influenced many of the forms and techniques that were relevant to the development of modern construction in the 20th century". The inscription only includes the Crypt and the Nativity Facade.
St Mark's Basilica
Basilica di San Marco
The Patriarchal Cathedral Basilica of Saint Mark
Basilica Cattedrale Patriarcale di San Marco
Location: Venice, Italy
Denomination: Catholic Church
Consecrated: 8 October 1094
Titular saint: Mark the Evangelist
Designation: Cathedral (minor basilica)
1807–present
Episcopal see: Patriarchate of Venice
Prior status
Designation: Ducal chapel
c. 836–1797
Tutelage: Doge of Venice
Built: c. 829–c. 836
Rebuilt: c. 1063–1094
Styles: Byzantine, Romanesque, Gothic
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_Mark%27s_Basilica
www.basilicasanmarco.it/?lang=en
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music:
Old Roman chant - Qui habitat in adiutorio altissimi (Part II)
youtu.be/X5xoJfXT1LU?si=Tjj5luVnwdwjuoB_
~ Psalm 90 ~
Latin:
Qui habitat in adiutorio Altissimi, in protectione Dei caeli commorabitur. Dicet Domino: Susceptor meus es, et refugium meum, Deus meus: sperabo in eum. Quoniam ipse liberavit me de laqueo venantium, et a verbo aspero. Scapulis suis obumbrabit tibi, et sub pennis eius sperabis. Scuto circumdabit te veritas eius: non timebis a timore nocturno. A sagitta volante per diem, a negotio perambulante in tenebris, a ruina et daemonio meridiano. Cadent a latere tuo mille, et decem millia a dextris tuis: tibi autem non appropinquabit. Quoniam Angelis suis mandavit de te, ut custodiant te in omnibus viis tuis. In manibus portabunt te, ne unquam offendas ad lapidem pedem tuum. Super aspidem et basiliscum ambulabis, et conculcabis leonem et draconem. Quoniam in me speravit, liberabo eum: protegam eum, quoniam cognovit nomen meum. Invocabit me, et ego exaudiam eum: cum ipso sum in tribulatione. Eripiam eum, et glorificabo eum: longitudine dierum adimplebo eum, et ostendam illi salutare meum.
Greek:
Ο κατοικῶν ἐν βοηθείᾳ τοῦ ῾Υψίστου, ἐν σκέπῃ τοῦ Θεοῦ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ αὐλισθήσεται. Ερεῖ τῷ Κυρίῳ· αντιλήπτωρ μου εἶ καὶ καταφυγή μου, ὁ Θεός μου, καὶ ἐλπιῶ ἐπ᾿ αὐτόν, ὅτι αὐτὸς ρύσεταί σε ἐκ παγίδος θηρευτῶν καὶ απὸ λόγου ταραχώδους. Εν τοῖς μεταφρένοις αὐτοῦ ἐπισκιάσει σοι,καὶ ὑπὸ τὰς πτέρυγας αὐτοῦ ἐλπιεῖς· ὅπλῳ κυκλώσει σε ἡ αλήθεια αὐτοῦ. Οὐ φοβηθήσῃ απὸ φόβου νυκτερινοῦ, απὸ βέλους πετομένου ἡμέρας, απὸ πράγματος ἐν σκότει διαπορευομένου, απὸ συμπτώματος καὶ δαιμονίου μεσημβρινοῦ. Πεσεῖται ἐκ τοῦ κλίτους σου χιλιὰς καὶ μυριὰς ἐκ δεξιῶν σου, πρὸς σὲ δὲ οὐκ ἐγγιεῖ· πλὴν τοῖς ὀφθαλμοῖς σου κατανοήσεις καὶ ανταπόδοσιν ἁμαρτωλῶν ὄψει. Ότι σύ, Κύριε, ἡ ἐλπίς μου· τὸν ῞Υψιστον ἔθου καταφυγήν σου. Οὐ προσελεύσεται πρὸς σὲ κακά, καὶ μάστιξ οὐκ ἐγγιεῖ ἐν τῷ σκηνώματί σου. Ότι τοῖς αγγέλοις αὐτοῦ ἐντελεῖται περὶ σοῦ τοῦ διαφυλάξαι σε ἐν πάσαις ταῖς ὁδοῖς σου· ἐπὶ χειρῶν άροῦσί σε, μήποτε προσκόψῃς πρὸς λίθον τὸν πόδα σου· επὶ ασπίδα καὶ βασιλίσκον ἐπιβήσῃ καὶ καταπατήσεις λέοντα καὶ δράκοντα. Ότι ἐπ᾿ ἐμὲ ἤλπισε, καὶ ρύσομαι αὐτόν· σκεπάσω αὐτόν, ὅτι ἔγνω τὸ ὄνομά μου. Κεκράξεται πρός με, καὶ ἐπακούσομαι αὐτοῦ, μετ᾿ αὐτοῦ εἰμι ἐν θλίψει· ἐξελοῦμαι αὐτόν, καὶ δοξάσω αὐτόν. Μακρότητα ἡμερῶν ἐμπλήσω αὐτὸν καὶ δείξω αὐτῷ τὸ σωτήριόν μου.
English:
He that dwells in the help of the Highest, shall sojourn under the shelter of the God of heaven. He shall say to the Lord, Thou art my helper and my refuge: my God; I will hope in him. For he shall deliver thee from the snare of the hunters, from [every] troublesome matter. He shall overshadow thee with his shoulders, and thou shalt trust under his wings: his truth shall cover thee with a shield. Thou shalt not be afraid of terror by night; nor of the arrow flying by day; [nor] of the [evil] thing that walks in darkness; [nor] of calamity, and the evil spirit at noon-day. A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee. Only with thine eyes shalt thou observe and see the reward of sinners. For thou, O Lord, art my hope: thou, my soul, hast made the Most High thy refuge. No evils shall come upon thee, and no scourge shall draw night to the dwelling. For he shall give his angels charge concerning thee, to keep thee in all thy ways. They shall bear thee up on their hands, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone. Thou shalt tread on the asp and basilisk: and thou shalt trample on the lion and dragon. For he has hoped in me, and I will deliver him: I will protect him, because he has known my name. He shall call upon me, and I will hearken to him: I am with him in affliction; and I will deliver him, and glorify him. I will satisfy him with length of days, and shew him my salvation.
The Basilica of Sacré Coeur de Montmartre (English: Sacred Heart of Montmartre), commonly known as Sacré-Cœur Basilica and often simply Sacré-Cœur, is a Catholic church and minor basilica in Paris dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. It was formally approved as a national historic monument by the National Commission of Patrimony and Architecture on December 8, 2022.
Sacré-Cœur Basilica is located at the summit of the butte of Montmartre. From its dome two hundred meters above the Seine, the basilica overlooks the entire city of Paris and its suburbs. It is the second most popular tourist destination in the capital after the Eiffel Tower.
The basilica was first proposed by Felix Fournier, the Bishop of Nantes, in 1870 after the defeat of France and the capture of Napoleon III at the Battle of Sedan in the Franco-Prussian War. He attributed the defeat of France to the moral decline of the country since the French Revolution, and proposed a new Parisian church dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. The edifice was proposed before the repression of the Paris Commune, but since it was constructed near the site of the outbreak of the Commune, it has remained controversial with politicians of the French left, for whom it symbolizes the repression of the Communards and the reactionary politics of the Third French Republic.
The basilica was designed by Paul Abadie, whose Neo-Byzantine-Romanesque plan was selected from among seventy-seven proposals. Construction began in 1875 and continued for forty years under five different architects. Completed in 1914, the basilica was formally consecrated in 1919 after World War I.
Sacré-Cœur Basilica has maintained perpetual adoration of the Holy Eucharist since 1885. The site is traditionally associated with the martrydom of Saint Denis, the patron saint of Paris.
May 31, 2013
It has been so hot outside lately, so I took use of the cooling weather as the sun set and went on a rampage setting up candles that I bought from walmart today :P
Stephansdom (St. Stephen's Cathedral), "is the mother church of the Archdiocese of Vienna and the seat of the Archbishop of Vienna, Christoph Cardinal Schönborn, OP. Its current Romanesque and Gothic form seen today, situated at the heart of Vienna, Austria in the Stephansplatz, was largely initiated by Rudolf IV and stands on the ruins of two earlier churches, the first being a parish church consecrated in 1147. As the most important religious building in Austria's capital, the cathedral has borne witness to many important events in that nation's history and has, with its multi-colored tile roof, become one of the city's most recognizable symbols." Wiki.
We spent 24 days travelling through the Czech Republic and Austria. This set is Vienna, Austria. Photos are tagged as to which day.
Consecrated on November 11, 1973, the interior finishes include white oak furnishings and acoustic paneling and a slate floor. It is naturally lit from the skylights and a large curtain wall, which provides a view of Lake Champlain and the Adirondacks. The cathedral contains a significant pipe organ, Opus 32, built 1973 by Organbuilder Karl Wilhelm of Mont Saint-Hilaire Québec. It is a two manual and pedal mechanical action organ of 32 ranks.
"Santa Maria in Provenzano, or the Insigne Collegiata di Santa Maria in Provenzano, is a late-Renaissance-Baroque style, Roman Catholic, collegiate church in Piazza Provenzano Salvani, in the Terza Camollia, just southwest of the basilica of San Francesco, in the city of Siena, region of Tuscany, Italy. This Marian shrine was built around a 14th-century terracotta icon of the Madonna, which was credited with miracles. The Palio of Siena takes place on the day of veneration of this Marian devotion.
The church was consecrated on October 16, 1611 by the archbishop Camillo Borghesi. The image, which originally was in an aedicule on a wall next to a house, was carried by a procession (translated) into the church on this day. The event was painted by Taddeo Gregori. This painting is presently in the Sacristy of the Collegiata. The procession's members included the widowed former grand-duchess Cristina of Lorraine and the reigning Grand-Duchess Maria Maddalena d'Austria.
Construction of the Mannerist church building, with a Latin Cross layout, was begun in 1595. It has an imposing white marble facade and a peaked dome at the crossing of the transept.
The first altar at the right depicts the Mass of San Cerbone (1630) by Rutilio Manetti. It depicts a miracle that occurred when the holy bishop of Massa Marittima saw apparitions of angels at a service he invoked for the pope. The canvas was commissioned by the bishop of Massa Marittima, Fabio Piccolomini.
The second altar on the right has a canvas depicting Saints Catherine of Siena and Catherine of Alexandria by Francesco Rustici, and one of the Annunciation by Giovanni Domenico Manenti.
The first altar on the left has an altarpiece depicting St Catherine of Siena has a Vision of the Martyrdom of St Lawrence (1685), by Dionisio Montorselli. The canvas was first hanged in the former Sienese church of San Lorenzo, which was destroyed. The second altar on the left has a 19th-century wooden crucifix.
The spandrels of the cupola were frescoed with the four patron Saints of Siena: St Ansano (1715) painted by Giuseppe Nicola Nasini; St Savino and St Crescenzio (1727) by Vincenzo Meucci; and St Vittore (1726) by Gasparo Bidelli. Along the walls are monochrome canvases depicting the Dream of St John the Evangelist and the Mass of St Gregory Magno by Bernardino Mei and Deifebo Burbarini. Along the nave are four large paintings depicting the Nativity of Mary, the Visitation, the Presentation of Jesus at the Temple, and the Coronation of the Virgin by Luigi Boschi and Giovanni Bruni.
In the transept are paintings depicting venerated individuals who had lived in the same neighborhood: St Bernardo Tolomei and the Blessed Savina Petrilli (2013), by Francesco Mori. The polychrome marble floor decoration below the cupola depicts the heraldic symbols of Grandukes of Tuscany Cosimo III de' Medici and Margherita Luisa d'Orléans, and of the Florentine and Sienese states. It is surrounded by the symbols of the nearby bishoprics of the ancient Republic of Siena: Grosseto, Sovana, Pienza, Montalcino, Massa Marittima and Chiusi.
The main altar shelters the terracotta icon of the Madonna di Provenzano in an architectural work (1617-1632) by Flaminio del Turco. The icon is surrounded by a "glory" of silver angels, and bronze statues of Saints Catherine and Bernardino sculpted by Giovanni Battista Querci. Some of the drapery on the altar has the symbols of Pope Alexander VII, the last pope from Siena. In the Sacristy is a Compianto sul Cristo morto by Alessandro Casolani.
The apse displays a flag captured by Sienese mercenary Paolo Amerighi from the Turks during the Battle of Vienna (1683), at the height of the Ottoman invasion of Europe. In the counterfacade is a flag from the Medici Fortress in Siena, given by the Grand-Duke Peter Leopold as a sign of the demilitarization of the city.
Below the church, in its former crypt, is the Oratory del Suffragio, the chapel for the Contrada of Giraffa. It has an entrance on Via della Vergine.
Siena (/siˈɛnə/ see-EN-ə, Italian: [ˈsjɛːna]; in English sometimes spelled Sienna; Latin: Sena Iulia) is a city in Tuscany, Italy. It is the capital of the province of Siena.
The historic centre of Siena has been declared by UNESCO a World Heritage Site. It is one of the nation's most visited tourist attractions, with over 163,000 international arrivals in 2008. Siena is famous for its cuisine, art, museums, medieval cityscape and the Palio, a horse race held twice a year.
Siena, like other Tuscan hill towns, was first settled in the time of the Etruscans (c. 900–400 BC) when it was inhabited by a tribe called the Saina. The Etruscans were a tribe of advanced people who changed the face of central Italy through their use of irrigation to reclaim previously unfarmable land, and their custom of building their settlements in well-defended hill forts. A Roman town called Saena Julia was founded at the site in the time of the Emperor Augustus. Some archaeologists assert that Siena was controlled for a period by a Gaulish tribe called the Senones.
According to local legend, Siena was founded by Senius and Aschius, two sons of Remus and thus nephews of Romulus, after whom Rome was named. Supposedly after their father's murder by Romulus, they fled Rome, taking with them the statue of the she-wolf suckling the infants (Capitoline Wolf), thus appropriating that symbol for the town. Additionally they rode white and black horses, giving rise to the Balzana, or coat of arms of Siena with a white band atop a dark band. Some claim the name Siena derives from Senius. Other etymologies derive the name from the Etruscan family name Saina, the Roman family name Saenii, or the Latin word senex "old" or its derived form seneo "to be old".
Siena did not prosper under Roman rule. It was not sited near any major roads and lacked opportunities for trade. Its insular status meant that Christianity did not penetrate until the 4th century AD, and it was not until the Lombards invaded Siena and the surrounding territory that it knew prosperity. After the Lombard occupation, the old Roman roads of Via Aurelia and the Via Cassia passed through areas exposed to Byzantine raids, so the Lombards rerouted much of their trade between the Lombards' northern possessions and Rome along a more secure road through Siena. Siena prospered as a trading post, and the constant streams of pilgrims passing to and from Rome provided a valuable source of income in the centuries to come.
The oldest aristocratic families in Siena date their line to the Lombards' surrender in 774 to Charlemagne. At this point, the city was inundated with a swarm of Frankish overseers who married into the existing Sienese nobility and left a legacy that can be seen in the abbeys they founded throughout Sienese territory. Feudal power waned, however, and by the death of Countess Matilda in 1115 the border territory of the March of Tuscany which had been under the control of her family, the Canossa, broke up into several autonomous regions. This ultimately resulted in the creation of the Republic of Siena.
The Republic existed for over four hundred years, from the 12th century until the year 1555. During the golden age of Siena before the Black Death in 1348, the city was home to 50,000 people.
In the Italian War of 1551–59, the republic was defeated by the rival Duchy of Florence in alliance with the Spanish crown. After 18 months of resistance, Siena surrendered to Spain on 17 April 1555, marking the end of the republic.
The new Spanish King Felipe II, owing huge sums to the Medici, ceded it (apart from a series of coastal fortress annexed to the State of Presidi) to the Grand Duchy of Tuscany, to which it belonged until the unification of Italy in the 19th century.
A Republican government of 700 Sienese families in Montalcino resisted until 1559.
Tuscany (/ˈtʌskəni/ TUSK-ə-nee; Italian: Toscana [tosˈkaːna]) is a region in central Italy with an area of about 23,000 square kilometres (8,900 square miles) and a population of about 3.8 million inhabitants (2013). The regional capital is Florence (Firenze).
Tuscany is known for its landscapes, history, artistic legacy, and its influence on high culture. It is regarded as the birthplace of the Italian Renaissance and has been home to many figures influential in the history of art and science, and contains well-known museums such as the Uffizi and the Pitti Palace. Tuscany produces wines, including Chianti, Vino Nobile di Montepulciano, Morellino di Scansano and Brunello di Montalcino. Having a strong linguistic and cultural identity, it is sometimes considered "a nation within a nation".
Tuscany is a popular destination in Italy. The main tourist spots are Florence, Pisa, Castiglione della Pescaia, Grosseto and Siena. The town of Castiglione della Pescaia is the most visited seaside destination in the region, with seaside tourism accounting for approximately 40% of tourist arrivals. Additionally, the Maremma region, Siena, Lucca, the Chianti region, Versilia and Val d'Orcia are also internationally renowned and particularly popular spots among travellers.
Seven Tuscan localities have been designated World Heritage Sites: the historic centre of Florence (1982); the Cathedral square of Pisa (1987); the historical centre of San Gimignano (1990); the historical centre of Siena (1995); the historical centre of Pienza (1996); the Val d'Orcia (2004), and the Medici Villas and Gardens (2013). Tuscany has over 120 protected nature reserves, making Tuscany and its capital Florence popular tourist destinations that attract millions of tourists every year. In 2012, the city of Florence was the world's 89th most visited city, with 1.834 million arrivals." - info from Wikipedia.
Summer 2019 I did a solo cycling tour across Europe through 12 countries over the course of 3 months. I began my adventure in Edinburgh, Scotland and finished in Florence, Italy cycling 8,816 km. During my trip I took 47,000 photos.
Now on Instagram.
Become a patron to my photography on Patreon.
All Saints' Church is a late 18th-century church in Lower Pilgrim Street, Newcastle upon Tyne, England, which replaced a medieval church on the same site. All Saints' Church is the only elliptical church building in England, the third tallest religious building in Newcastle and the ninth-tallest structure in the city overall. It is a Grade I listed building.
About 1785 the churchwardens procured plans and estimates for the restoration of the building from William Newton, of Newcastle; but Dr Sharp, the Archdeacon of Northumberland, objected to the proposed design of shortening the chancel, and thus altering the form of an old Gothic church. Two other architects, David Stephenson and John Dodds, were called in, and they reported that it was impossible to give an estimate for restoring the church, as so many unforeseen circumstances might crop up. They reported, "That this decayed building cannot be repaired but at as much expense as building a new one. If one part is taken down the rest will follow." It appeared that "the south wall was in danger of falling by the pressure of the roof; one of the pillars of the steeple had considerably shrunk, and the steeple itself inclined to the south. The stone of the groined arches under the bells was decayed, the timber and bells in great danger of falling in, the stone in several windows decayed, the walls were rotten, and the lime had lost its cement and become almost dust".
On Easter Tuesday (18 April 1786) a general meeting of the parishioners was held, and they resolved unanimously to erect a new church. The work of destroying the old one proceeded immediately and, unfortunately, most of its old monuments, windows, and other interesting relics were not preserved; they either perished or were carried away during the operations. It was found necessary to blast with gunpowder the masonry of the tower, so tenacious was the mortar binding it, and while doing so a sad accident occurred, by which a well-known inhabitant of the town lost his life. This was Captain William Hedley, who was killed by one of the stones of the great west door falling upon him while he was standing watching the work of destruction. He was greatly respected in Newcastle, and well known abroad as the hero of a deed of humanity and daring, in saving a child from drowning in Bordeaux harbour. His conduct on that occasion was praised highly in the French newspapers.
The whole of the old church having at length been taken down, the construction of the new one was commenced with. The design of David Stephenson had been selected, and the foundation stone was laid on 14 August 1786 by the Rev. James Stephen Lushington, Vicar of Newcastle. In proceeding with the building the original design was departed from in two important points. The portico, which was to have had a colonnade of Ionic columns along the south front, was altered to the present Doric design, and the money thus saved was devoted to the improvement of the tower. According to the original design, the latter was to have consisted of "a plain octagonal tower, of uniform width, rising from the arch on which the present spire stands to the height of thirty-seven and a-half feet, and terminating with a semicircular dome twelve feet in diameter, making a total height of one hundred and forty-three feet from the ground. The tame and spiritless appearance of the model, however, happily caused its rejection. A model of the present handsome and superior design was exhibited to the trustees in August 1790, and finally adopted on the 12th of September following."
The new church was finished in 1796, and its cost was £27,000, the whole being obtained by assessment of the parish, except £2061.19s raised by the sale of pews, £30 by donations, and £100 given by Mrs Atlee for the additional expense of making the internal fittings of mahogany instead of oak. The church is built in the form of an ellipse, the longer diameter of which runs nearly north and south. It is in form like the Pantheon at Rome. The roof, without any supporting pillars, is a splendid piece of carpentry. It was first put together in the yard at the Austin Friars, where the bells of the old church were cast. The square tower on which the steeple stands is at the south end, and the interior forms the vestibule. On either side of it there is a wing – that on the left being used as a morning chapel and for baptisms, and that on the right as the vestry where hung the monumental brass of Roger Thornton, now moved to Newcastle Cathedral.
On Tuesday, 17 November 1789, the new church was consecrated by the Right Rev. Thomas Thurlow, Lord Bishop of Durham, and the opening sermon was preached by the Rev. Hugh Moises, morning lecturer of All Saints’ and head-master of the Grammar School. His text was from Leviticus xix: 30: Ye shall keep My Sabbaths and reverence My sanctuary. I am the Lord.
In 1881 the churchwardens called the public attention to the state of the church, and appealed for help to remedy it. Subscriptions were gathered in and the work of restoration was vigorously proceeded with.
About the end of 1881 Richard S. Donkin of Campville, North Shields, a wealthy shipowner, whose place of business was close by the old church, made a handsome offer to improve the graveyard at his own expense. This offer was thankfully accepted by the parishioners, and early in 1882 the work was proceeded with. Many other generous gifts were at the same time made to the church, but we will only mention one more, that of the presentation of the new clock by Mr John Hall, another Newcastle merchant. It was formally set going and illuminated on the evening of 3 February 1882. On the occasion an address was presented to Mr Hall by Mr Joseph Cowen, M.P. for the town, on behalf of the people of the parish. In presenting this address Mr Cowen, standing on the steps of the church, made a speech to the assembled people who crowded below to the number of about ten thousand.
Conceived by Louis IX as his personal chapel. Consecrated in 1248. Fifteen floor-to-ceiling wall-to-wall stained glass windows (oldest in the city) depicting the biblical story from Genesis to the Resurrection. Reached via a spiral staircase from the lower chapel (built for the king's staff). Beyond beautiful. At its pinnacle when the sun is shining, 'tis said. Still, even on an overcast day, as it was when I was there, awe-inspiring.
The chapel's stained-glass is under restoration. The work-scaffolding erected on one side of the interior was behind hoarding, which can be seen as backdrop in the candid capture below, a young girl's response to the stained-glass windows.
Turin Cathedral, consecrated in 1500, is a masterpiece of late Gothic architecture and the spiritual heart of the city. Commissioned by Duke Emmanuel Philibert of Savoy, it was designed by Meo del Caprina and houses the revered Holy Shroud—a linen cloth believed by many to bear the image of Christ. Though modest in size compared to other cathedrals, its elegant proportions, Renaissance chapels, and intimate atmosphere reflect the deep religious devotion of the House of Savoy. The adjacent Chapel of the Holy Shroud, designed by Guarino Guarini, is a Baroque gem of light and geometry, making the cathedral a unique blend of faith, art, and dynastic symbolism.
The Oude Kerk ("old church") is Amsterdam’s oldest parish church, consecrated in 1306 by the bishop of Utrecht. It stands in De Wallen, Red Light district. The square surrounding the church is the Oudekerksplein. The church has seen a number of renovations performed by 15 generations of Amsterdam citizens. The church stood for only half a century before the first alterations were made, the aisles lengthened and wrapped around the choir in a half circle to support the structure. Not long after the turn of the 15th century, north and south transepts were added to the church creating a cross formation. Work on these renovations was completed in 1460, though it is likely that progress was largely interrupted by the great fires that besieged the city in 1421 and 1452. In 1578, the Oude Kerk became home to the registry of marriages. Rembrandt was a frequent visitor to the Oude Kerk and his children were all christened here. It is the only building in Amsterdam that remains in its original state since Rembrandt walked its halls. In the Holy Sepulchre is a small Rembrandt exhibition, a shrine to his wife “Saskia” van Uylenburgh who was buried here in 1782...
Late-Gothic spire built by Joost Bilhamer in 1565, there are splendid views over the Oude Zijde. The tower contains a 47-bell carillon, a 17th-century addition which rings out every Saturday afternoon. The sounds of the bells are floating over the old city, over the roofs of narrowest buidings in the World. In the reality only the front sides are so narrow. Many houses in Amsterdam are very small because they used to pay taxes according to the width of their facade. So they built the houses very narrow but deep. Behind facades the houses broaden out to more normal dimensions. As the stairs were very narrow and steep it was impossible to get the goods and furniture inside this way, so every house has a hook (local people call it hijsbalk) on the outside to lift the goods through the very large windows...
Much better viewed large View On Black
''Historical monuments are the common heritage of mankind''
A nymphaeum or nymphaion (Ancient Greek: νυμφαῖον), in ancient Greece and Rome, was a monument consecrated to the nymphs, especially those of springs.
These monuments were originally natural grottoes, which tradition assigned as habitations to the local nymphs. They were sometimes so arranged as to furnish a supply of water, as at Pamphylian Side. A nymphaeum dedicated to a local water nymph, Coventina, was built along Hadrian's Wall, in the northernmost reach of the Roman Empire. Subsequently, artificial grottoes took the place of natural ones.
A nymphaeum or nymphaion (Ancient Greek: νυμφαῖον), in ancient Greece and Rome, was a monument consecrated to the nymphs, especially those of springs.
These monuments were originally natural grottoes, which tradition assigned as habitations to the local nymphs. They were sometimes so arranged as to furnish a supply of water, as at Pamphylian Side. A nymphaeum dedicated to a local water nymph, Coventina, was built along Hadrian's Wall, in the northernmost reach of the Roman Empire. Subsequently, artificial grottoes took the place of natural ones
www.sagalassos.be/en/virtual_antonine_nymphaeum
The Sagalassos Project
Unesco Tentative List;
whc.unesco.org/en/tentativelists/5409/
The archaeological site of Sagalassos is located in southwest Turkey, near the present town of Ağlasun (Burdur province); roughly 110 km to the north of the well-known port and holiday resort of Antalya. The ancient city was founded on the south facing slopes of the Taurus mountain range and was the metropolis of the Roman province of Pisidia. Next to its mountainous landscape, a series of lakes form another typical feature of the regional geography. Today this region is known as the Lake District.
The first traces of hunter/gatherers in the territory of Sagalassos date back to some 12 000 years BP. During the eighth millennium BC, farmers settled along, the shores of Lake Burdur. During the Bronze Age, territorial "chiefdoms" developed in the region, whereas Sagalassos itself was most probably not yet occupied. This may have changed by the 14th century BC, when the mountain site of Salawassa was mentioned in Hittite documents, possibly to be identified with the later Sagalassos. Under Phrygian and Lydian domination the site gradually developed into an urban centre. During the Persian period, Pisidia became known for its warlike and rebellious factions; a reputation to which the region certainly lived up in 332 BC, when Alexander the Great experienced fierce resistance at Sagalassos while conquering the region as part of his conquest of the Persian kingdom.
Pisidia changed hands many times among the successors of Alexander, being incorporated into the kingdom Antigonos Monopthalmos (321-301 BC), perhaps regaining its autonomy under Lysimachos of Thrace (301-281 BC), and then being conquered again by the Seleucids of Syria (281-189 BC) and later given to Attalids of Pergamon (189-133 BC). The use of Greek, the development of Municipal institutions and material culture of Greek origin seem to testify to fairly quick Hellenisation, but the recent discovery at Tepe Düzen of an indigenous city, with a possible Hellenistic date makes clear that Hellenisation must have been a complex process. After the Attalids bequeathed their kingdom to Rome, Pisidia at first became part of the newly created Roman province of Asia, then, around 100 BC of the coastal province of Cilicia and once more of Asia around the middle of that century.
Sagalassos and its territory turned into dependable and very prospering Roman partners. In fact, the control of an extremely fertile territory with a surplus production of grain and olives, as well as the presence of excellent clay beds allowing an industrial production of high quality table ware ("Sagalassos red slip ware"), made the export of local products possible. Rapidly, under Roman Imperial rule, Sagalassos became the metropolis of Pisidia. Trouble only started around 400 AD, when the town had to fortify its civic centre against, among others, rebellious Isaurian tribes. Sagalassos seems to have remained rather prosperous even under these conditions. After the earthquake around 500 AD, it was restored with a great sense of monumentality.
As a result of recurring epidemics after the middle of the 6th century and related general decline of the economic system in Asia Minor, the city started to lose population. Large parts of the town were abandoned and the urban life was replaced by a more rural way of living.
In the 7th century AD, the situation had further aggravated due to continuous Arab raids and new epidemics when the city was struck once more with a heavy earthquake, most probably around 590 AD. Despite this disaster, recent research has proven that the city remained occupied until the 13th century in the form of isolated and well-defended hamlets, located on some promontories which maintained the name of the former ancient city. One of these hamlets found on the Alexander's Hill of Sagalassos was destroyed in mid 13th century, by which time Seljuk's had already build a bath and a caravanserai in the village in the valley (Ağlasun).
The abandoned ancient city was then rapidly covered under vegetation and erosion layers. As a result of its remote location, Sagalassos was not really looted in later periods and remained to be one of the best preserved ancient cities in the Mediterranean.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sagalassos
Sagalassos (Greek: Σαγαλασσός) is an archaeological site in southwestern Turkey, about 100 km north of Antalya (ancient Attaleia), and 30 km from Burdur and Isparta. The ancient ruins of Sagalassos are 7 km from Ağlasun (as well as being its namesake) in the province of Burdur, on Mount Akdağ, in the Western Taurus mountains range, at an altitude of 1450–1700 metres. In Roman Imperial times, the town was known as the "first city of Pisidia", a region in the western Taurus mountains, currently known as the Turkish Lakes Region. During the Hellenistic period it was already one of the major Pisidian towns.
Bir şehir değil, bir şiir: Sagalassos
www.hurriyet.com.tr/seyahat/yazarlar/ertugrul-gunay/bir-s...
The view from the Basilica of the Sacre Coeur and the surrounding neighborhood and city in Paris, France.
The Basilica of the Sacred Heart of Paris, commonly known as Sacre-Coeur Basilica, is a Roman Catholic church and minor basilica, dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, in Paris, France. A popular landmark, the basilica is located at the summit of the butte Montmartre, the highest point in the city. Sacre-Coeur is a double monument, political and cultural, both a national penance for the defeat of France in the 1871 Franco-Prussian War and the socialist Paris Commune of 1871 crowning its most rebellious neighborhood, and an embodiment of conservative moral order, publicly dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, which was an increasingly popular vision of a loving and sympathetic Christ.
The Sacre-Coeur Basilica was designed by Paul Abadie. Construction began in 1875 and was finished in 1914. It was consecrated after the end of World War I in 1919.
Paris, December 2014
Consecrated July 24, 1842, L'église Sainte-Marie-Madeleine (less formally, just La Madeleine) is a Roman Catholic church occupying a commanding position in the 8th arrondissement of Paris. The Madeleine Church was designed in its present form as a temple to the glory of Napoleon's army. To its south lies the Place de la Concorde, to the east is the Place Vendôme, and to the west Saint-Augustin, Paris.
On a whim we bought tickets to see a live concert inside this beautiful church, where musicians played Vivaldi's Quatre Saisons (Four Seasons).
The newly consecrated National Cathedral of the Romanian Orthodox Church, still under construction in Bucharest
Orthodox Patriarchs of Constantinople and Bucharest consecrate Cathedral
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romanian_People%27s_Salvation_Cathe...
The Cathedral was consecrated on 25 November 2018 by the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople Bartholomew I, Patriarch Daniel of Romania and Metropolitan Chrysostomos (gr) of Patras from the Greek Orthodox Church.
Church is consecrated in 1852 and designed in Neo-Gothic forms by Johann Daniel Felsko. It was built as a church of the Hall type with built-in emporia (lanterns, balcony) and red brick facades in eclectic Romanesque architectural forms. The land for the construction of St Martin's Church was donated by the owner of Schwartz Manor, Dr. S. Schwartz. Between 1887 and 1888, the church was rebuilt according to a design by academician Heinrich Karl Schöll. The small old tower was demolished and a wide anteroom with two towers on each side was added to the building on the Slokas Street side. A new semicircular apse was built at the end of the altar.
Florenz - Kathedrale
Florence Cathedral (Italian: Duomo di Firenze), formally the Cathedral of Saint Mary of the Flower (Italian: Cattedrale di Santa Maria del Fiore [katteˈdraːle di ˈsanta maˈriːa del ˈfjoːre]), is the cathedral of Florence, Italy. It was begun in 1296 in the Gothic style to a design of Arnolfo di Cambio and was structurally completed by 1436, with the dome engineered by Filippo Brunelleschi. The exterior of the basilica is faced with polychrome marble panels in various shades of green and pink, bordered by white, and has an elaborate 19th-century Gothic Revival façade by Emilio De Fabris.
The cathedral complex, in Piazza del Duomo, includes the Baptistery and Giotto's Campanile. These three buildings are part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site covering the historic centre of Florence and are a major tourist attraction of Tuscany. The basilica is one of Italy's largest churches, and until the development of new structural materials in the modern era, the dome was the largest in the world. It remains the largest brick dome ever constructed.
The cathedral is the mother church of the Archdiocese of Florence, whose archbishop is Giuseppe Betori.
History
Santa Maria del Fiore was built on the site of Florence's second cathedral dedicated to Saint Reparata; the first was the Basilica di San Lorenzo di Firenze, the first building of which was consecrated as a church in 393 by St. Ambrose of Milan.The ancient structure, founded in the early 5th century and having undergone many repairs, was crumbling with age, according to the 14th-century Nuova Cronica of Giovanni Villani, and was no longer large enough to serve the growing population of the city. Other major Tuscan cities had undertaken ambitious reconstructions of their cathedrals during the Late Medieval period, such as Pisa and particularly Siena where the enormous proposed extensions were never completed.
City council approved the design of Arnolfo di Cambio for the new church in 1294. Di Cambio was also architect of the church of Santa Croce and the Palazzo Vecchio. He designed three wide naves ending under the octagonal dome, with the middle nave covering the area of Santa Reparata. The first stone was laid on 9 September 1296, by Cardinal Valeriana, the first papal legate ever sent to Florence. The building of this vast project was to last 140 years; Arnolfo's plan for the eastern end, although maintained in concept, was greatly expanded in size.
After Arnolfo died in 1302, work on the cathedral slowed for almost 50 years. When the relics of Saint Zenobius were discovered in 1330 in Santa Reparata, the project gained a new impetus. In 1331, the Arte della Lana, the guild of wool merchants, took over patronage for the construction of the cathedral and in 1334 appointed Giotto to oversee the work. Assisted by Andrea Pisano, Giotto continued di Cambio's design. His major accomplishment was the building of the campanile. When Giotto died on 8 January 1337, Andrea Pisano continued the building until work was halted due to the Black Death in 1348.
In 1349, work resumed on the cathedral under a series of architects, starting with Francesco Talenti, who finished the campanile and enlarged the overall project to include the apse and the side chapels. In 1359, Talenti was succeeded by Giovanni di Lapo Ghini (1360–1369) who divided the centre nave in four square bays. Other architects were Alberto Arnoldi, Giovanni d'Ambrogio, Neri di Fioravanti and Andrea Orcagna. By 1375, the old church Santa Reparata was pulled down. The nave was finished by 1380, and only the dome remained incomplete until 1418.
On 19 August 1418, the Arte della Lana announced an architectural design competition for erecting Neri's dome. The two main competitors were two master goldsmiths, Lorenzo Ghiberti and Filippo Brunelleschi, the latter of whom was supported by Cosimo de Medici. Ghiberti had been the winner of a competition for a pair of bronze doors for the Baptistery in 1401 and lifelong competition between the two remained sharp. Brunelleschi won and received the commission.
Ghiberti, appointed coadjutor, drew a salary equal to Brunelleschi's and, though neither was awarded the announced prize of 200 florins, was promised equal credit, although he spent most of his time on other projects. When Brunelleschi became ill, or feigned illness, the project was briefly in the hands of Ghiberti. But Ghiberti soon had to admit that the whole project was beyond him. In 1423, Brunelleschi was back in charge and took over sole responsibility.
Work on the dome began in 1420 and finished in 1436. The cathedral was consecrated by Pope Eugene IV on 25 March 1436, (the first day of the year according to the Florentine calendar). It was the first 'octagonal' dome in history to be built without a temporary wooden supporting frame. It was one of the most impressive projects of the Renaissance. During the consecration in 1436, Guillaume Dufay's motet Nuper rosarum flores was performed.
The decoration of the exterior of the cathedral, begun in the 14th century, was not completed until 1887, when the polychrome marble façade was completed with the design of Emilio De Fabris. The floor of the church was relaid in marble tiles in the 16th century.
The exterior walls are faced in alternate vertical and horizontal bands of polychrome marble from Carrara (white), Prato (green), Siena (red), Lavenza and a few other places. These marble bands had to repeat the already existing bands on the walls of the earlier adjacent baptistery the Battistero di San Giovanni and Giotto's Bell Tower. There are two side doors: the Doors of the Canonici (south side) and the Door of the Mandorla (north side) with sculptures by Nanni di Banco, Donatello, and Jacopo della Quercia. The six side windows, notable for their delicate tracery and ornaments, are separated by pilasters. Only the four windows closest to the transept admit light; the other two are merely ornamental. The clerestory windows are round, a common feature in Italian Gothic.
Exterior
Plan and structure
The cathedral of Florence is built as a basilica, having a wide central nave of four square bays, with an aisle on either side. The chancel and transepts are of identical polygonal plan, separated by two smaller polygonal chapels. The whole plan forms a Latin cross. The nave and aisles are separated by wide pointed Gothic arches resting on composite piers.
The dimensions of the building are enormous: building area 8,300 m2 (89,340 sq ft), length 153 m (502 ft), width 38 m (125 ft), width at the crossing 90 m (300 ft). The height of the arches in the aisles is 23 m (75 ft). The height of the dome is 114.5 m (375.7 ft). It has the fifth tallest dome in the world.
Planned sculpture for the exterior
The Overseers of the Office of Works of Florence Cathedral the Arte della Lana, had plans to commission a series of twelve large Old Testament sculptures for the buttresses of the cathedral. Donatello, then in his early twenties, was commissioned to carve a statue of David in 1408, to top one of the buttresses of Florence Cathedral, though it was never placed there. Nanni di Banco was commissioned to carve a marble statue of Isaiah, at the same scale, in the same year. One of the statues was lifted into place in 1409, but was found to be too small to be easily visible from the ground and was taken down; both statues then languished in the workshop of the opera for several years. In 1410 Donatello made the first of the statues, a figure of Joshua in terracotta. In 1409–1411 Donatello made a statue of Saint John the Evangelist which until 1588 was in a niche of the old cathedral façade. Between 1415 and 1426, Donatello created five statues for the campanile of Santa Maria del Fiore in Florence, also known as the Duomo. These works are the Beardless Prophet; Bearded Prophet (both from 1415); the Sacrifice of Isaac (1421); Habbakuk (1423–25); and Jeremiah (1423–26); which follow the classical models for orators and are characterized by strong portrait details. A figure of Hercules, also in terracotta, was commissioned from the Florentine sculptor Agostino di Duccio in 1463 and was made perhaps under Donatello's direction. A statue of David by Michelangelo was completed 1501–1504 although it could not be placed on the buttress because of its six-ton weight. In 2010 a fiberglass replica of "David" was placed for one day on the Florence cathedral.
Dome
After a hundred years of construction and by the beginning of the 15th century, the structure was still missing its dome. The basic features of the dome had been designed by Arnolfo di Cambio in 1296. His brick model, 4.6 m (15.1 ft) high, 9.2 m (30.2 ft) long, was standing in a side aisle of the unfinished building, and had long been sacrosanct. It called for an octagonal dome higher and wider than any that had ever been built, with no external buttresses to keep it from spreading and falling under its own weight.
The commitment to reject traditional Gothic buttresses had been made when Neri di Fioravanti's model was chosen over a competing one by Giovanni di Lapo Ghini. That architectural choice, in 1367, was one of the first events of the Italian Renaissance, marking a break with the Medieval Gothic style and a return to the classic Mediterranean dome. Italian architects regarded Gothic flying buttresses as ugly makeshifts. Furthermore, the use of buttresses was forbidden in Florence, as the style was favored by central Italy's traditional enemies to the north. Neri's model depicted a massive inner dome, open at the top to admit light, like Rome's Pantheon, partly supported by the inner dome, but enclosed in a thinner outer shell, to keep out the weather. It was to stand on an unbuttressed octagonal drum. Neri's dome would need an internal defense against spreading (hoop stress), but none had yet been designed.
The building of such a masonry dome posed many technical problems. Brunelleschi looked to the great dome of the Pantheon in Rome for solutions. The dome of the Pantheon is a single shell of concrete, the formula for which had long since been forgotten. The Pantheon had employed structural centring to support the concrete dome while it cured. This could not be the solution in the case of a dome this size and would put the church out of use. For the height and breadth of the dome designed by Neri, starting 52 m (171 ft) above the floor and spanning 44 m (144 ft), there was not enough timber in Tuscany to build the scaffolding and forms. Brunelleschi chose to follow such design and employed a double shell, made of sandstone and marble. Brunelleschi would have to build the dome out of brick, due to its light weight compared to stone and being easier to form, and with nothing under it during construction. To illustrate his proposed structural plan, he constructed a wooden and brick model with the help of Donatello and Nanni di Banco, a model which is still displayed in the Museo dell'Opera del Duomo. The model served as a guide for the craftsmen, but was intentionally incomplete, so as to ensure Brunelleschi's control over the construction.
Brunelleschi's solutions were ingenious. The spreading problem was solved by a set of four internal horizontal stone and iron chains, serving as barrel hoops, embedded within the inner dome: one at the top, one at the bottom, with the remaining two evenly spaced between them. A fifth chain, made of wood, was placed between the first and second of the stone chains. Since the dome was octagonal rather than round, a simple chain, squeezing the dome like a barrel hoop, would have put all its pressure on the eight corners of the dome. The chains needed to be rigid octagons, stiff enough to hold their shape, so as not to deform the dome as they held it together.
Each of Brunelleschi's stone chains was built like an octagonal railroad track with parallel rails and cross ties, all made of sandstone beams 43 cm (17 in) in diameter and no more than 2.3 m (7.5 ft) long. The rails were connected end-to-end with lead-glazed iron splices. The cross ties and rails were notched together and then covered with the bricks and mortar of the inner dome. The cross ties of the bottom chain can be seen protruding from the drum at the base of the dome. The others are hidden. Each stone chain was supposed to be reinforced with a standard iron chain made of interlocking links, but a magnetic survey conducted in the 1970s failed to detect any evidence of iron chains, which if they exist are deeply embedded in the thick masonry walls. Brunelleschi also included vertical "ribs" set on the corners of the octagon, curving towards the center point. The ribs, 4 m (13 ft) deep, are supported by 16 concealed ribs radiating from center.The ribs had slits to take beams that supported platforms, thus allowing the work to progress upward without the need for scaffolding.
A circular masonry dome can be built without supports, called centering, because each course of bricks is a horizontal arch that resists compression. In Florence, the octagonal inner dome was thick enough for an imaginary circle to be embedded in it at each level, a feature that would hold the dome up eventually, but could not hold the bricks in place while the mortar was still wet. Brunelleschi used a herringbone brick pattern to transfer the weight of the freshly laid bricks to the nearest vertical ribs of the non-circular dome.
The outer dome was not thick enough to contain embedded horizontal circles, being only 60 cm (2 ft) thick at the base and 30 cm (1 ft) thick at the top. To create such circles, Brunelleschi thickened the outer dome at the inside of its corners at nine different elevations, creating nine masonry rings, which can be observed today from the space between the two domes. To counteract hoop stress, the outer dome relies entirely on its attachment to the inner dome and has no embedded chains.
A modern understanding of physical laws and the mathematical tools for calculating stresses were centuries in the future. Brunelleschi, like all cathedral builders, had to rely on intuition and whatever he could learn from the large scale models he built. To lift 37,000 tons of material, including over 4 million bricks, he invented hoisting machines and lewissons for hoisting large stones. These specially designed machines and his structural innovations were Brunelleschi's chief contribution to architecture. Although he was executing an aesthetic plan made half a century earlier, it is his name, rather than Neri's, that is commonly associated with the dome.
Brunelleschi's ability to crown the dome with a lantern was questioned and he had to undergo another competition, even though there had been evidence that Brunelleschi had been working on a design for a lantern for the upper part of the dome. The evidence is shown in the curvature, which was made steeper than the original model. He was declared the winner over his competitors Lorenzo Ghiberti and Antonio Ciaccheri. His design (now on display in the Museum Opera del Duomo) was for an octagonal lantern with eight radiating buttresses and eight high arched windows. Construction of the lantern was begun a few months before his death in 1446. Then, for 15 years, little progress was possible, due to alterations by several architects. The lantern was finally completed by Brunelleschi's friend Michelozzo in 1461. The conical roof was crowned with a gilt copper ball and cross, containing holy relics, by Verrocchio in 1469. This brings the total height of the dome and lantern to 114.5 m (376 ft). This copper ball was struck by lightning on 17 July 1600 and fell down. It was replaced by an even larger one two years later.
The commission for this gilt copper ball [atop the lantern] went to the sculptor Andrea del Verrocchio, in whose workshop there was at this time a young apprentice named Leonardo da Vinci. Fascinated by Filippo's [Brunelleschi's] machines, which Verrocchio used to hoist the ball, Leonardo made a series of sketches of them and, as a result, is often given credit for their invention.
Leonardo might have also participated in the design of the bronze ball, as stated in the G manuscript of Paris "Remember the way we soldered the ball of Santa Maria del Fiore".
The decorations of the drum gallery by Baccio d'Agnolo were never finished after being disapproved by no one less than Michelangelo.
A huge statue of Brunelleschi now sits outside the Palazzo dei Canonici in the Piazza del Duomo, looking thoughtfully up towards his greatest achievement, the dome that would forever dominate the panorama of Florence. It is still the largest masonry dome in the world.
The building of the cathedral had started in 1296 with the design of Arnolfo di Cambio and was completed in 1469 with the placing of Verrochio's copper ball atop the lantern. But the façade was still unfinished and would remain so until the 19th century.
Facade
The original façade, designed by Arnolfo di Cambio and usually attributed to Giotto, was actually begun twenty years after Giotto's death. A mid-15th-century pen-and-ink drawing of this so-called Giotto's façade is visible in the Codex Rustici, and in the drawing of Bernardino Poccetti in 1587, both on display in the Museum of the Opera del Duomo. This façade was the collective work of several artists, among them Andrea Orcagna and Taddeo Gaddi. This original façade was completed in only its lower portion and then left unfinished. It was dismantled in 1587–1588 by the Medici court architect Bernardo Buontalenti, ordered by Grand Duke Francesco I de' Medici, as it appeared totally outmoded in Renaissance times. Some of the original sculptures are on display in the Museum Opera del Duomo, behind the cathedral. Others are now in the Berlin Museum and in the Louvre.
The competition for a new façade turned into a huge corruption scandal. The wooden model for the façade of Buontalenti is on display in the Museum Opera del Duomo. A few new designs had been proposed in later years, but the models (of Giovanni Antonio Dosio, Giovanni de' Medici with Alessandro Pieroni and Giambologna) were not accepted. The façade was then left bare until the 19th century.
In 1864, a competition held to design a new façade was won by Emilio De Fabris (1808–1883) in 1871. Work began in 1876 and was completed in 1887. This neo-gothic façade in white, green and red marble forms a harmonious entity with the cathedral, Giotto's bell tower and the Baptistery, but some think it is excessively decorated.
The whole façade is dedicated to the Mother of Christ.
Cracking of the dome
The unreinforced masonry that Brunelleschi used to construct the dome is weak in tension which leads to cracking when tensile stresses exceed the limited masonry tensile strength. The material is especially susceptible to damage from seismic loading due to its heterogeneity and many surfaces between different materials (stones to mortar connection).
Cracking of the dome was observed even before its construction was completed. It is possible that the first cracks were caused by a strong earthquake in 1453.[
The first written evidence about the presence of cracks appears in a report by Gherardo Silvani report dated 18 September 1639 which refers to "peli" ("hairs"). In 1694 Gianbattista Nelli and Vincenzo Viviani surveyed the cracks with Nelli recording that there were two major cracks with a maximum width of 29 mm (1.1 in). They believed that the cracks were caused by the weight of the dome, and the resulting the horizontal thrusts on the pillars. A commission, headed by Vincenzo Viviani carried out investigations in 1695 and came to the conclusion that the cracking was due to the dead weight of the buildings, it was proposed that the dome be strengthened by installing four large iron belts; three on the outside of the dome between the bugling area of the dome and the circular windows, while the fourth would be installed internally in the second walkway between the two shells. This was similar to what had been done on the dome of St. Peter's in Rome. After a long debate, a decision was made to leave the dome as it was.
The first most complete survey of the cracks was published in 1757 by the Jesuit Leonardo Ximenes (1716–1786). In his document he described 13 different crack typologies. In 1934, Pier Luigi Nervi, who was head of a special commission established by the Opera del Duomo to study the cracking observed that the cracks opened and closed with the seasons. In the winter, the dome's stone and bricks would contract causing the cracks to widen while over the summer the materials would expand and the cracks would close up. While modern buildings by design incorporate expansion joints, the cathedral's dome does not include any and so subsequently developed its own expansion joints in the form of these cracks which allowed the structure to "breathe". To date they have not caused any catastrophic damage to the dome.
In 1955 the Opera del Duomo installed 22 mechanical deformometers, which were read four times a year to record the variations in the width of the major cracks in the inner dome. At the same time the dome's internal and external temperatures were also recorded. This remained in service until 2009.
In 1975 a commission was appointed by the Italian government to safeguard the dome. In 1978 a government culture agency decided to restore the frescoes. Brunelleschi left forty eight 600 mm (24 in) holes in the base of the dome. They are open on the inside and covered by the outer skin of the dome. It has long been assumed that the holes simply served as mounts for the scaffold used when frescoes were painted on the inside of the dome. While the holes had been able to support the scaffolding used for the creation of the frescos on the interior of the dome they were not strong enough for the network of modern metal scaffolding necessary to provide access for the restoration work undertaken on the frescos between 1979 and 1995. To strengthen the scaffolding, the private company contracted to build scaffolding for the work was allowed in 1982 to fill the holes with concrete so that steel beams could be anchored in them.
In 1985 local architect Lando Bartoli noticed that additional cracks were forming around the sealed holes. It was theorized at the time that in summer the four major masses separated by the "A" cracks expanded into the fissures, but now, at the base of the dome, the masses come up against the unyielding concrete that now fills the 48 holes acts as a fulcrum which causes the energy that was once dissipated with the closing of the fissures and into the holes to be transferred into the upper areas of the dome. However analysis by Andrea Chiarugi, Michele Fanelli and Giuseppetti (published in 1983) found that the principal source of the cracks was a dead-weight effect due to the geometry of the dome, its weight (estimated to be 25,000 tons) and the insufficient resistance of the ring beam, while thermal variations, has caused fatigue loading and thus expanding of the structure. This is a well-known collapse mechanism typical of domed structures: a lowering of the top of the structure under its own weight with significant horizontal thrusts on the bearing elements.
In 1985 a commission established by the Italian Ministry of Cultural and Monumental Heritage accepted this theory. The debate about the filling of the scaffolding holes was finally settled in 1987 when it was demonstrated that closing the 48 holes had had no impact on the expansion and contraction of the dome. A survey completed in 1984 counted a total of 493 cracks of various sizes, sorted into categories identified by the letters "A" through "D". These are as follows:
Type A. These are sub-vertical major cracks that start from the ring beam and continue upwards for approximately two-thirds of the height of the dome; they pass through both the internal and external layer of the even webs and their range in thickness from 55 mm (2.2 in) to 60 mm (2.4 in) (webs 4 and 6) and 25 mm (0.98 in) to 30 mm (1.2 in) (webs 2 and 8). The dome has eight webs numbered counter clockwise from 1, which faces the main nave of the cathedral. These effectively divide the dome into quarters and never completely close in summer. There is a theory that the plaster used to patch the cracks over the years and crumbling building materials have jammed the fissures.
Type B. These sub-vertical minor cracks are located near the circular windows.
Type C. These are sub-vertical minor cracks that are present around the eight edges of the dome.
Type D. These are four sub-vertical minor cracks in the internal part of the odd webs. They do not pass through the width of the dome.
All have formed in a symmetrical pattern.
The development of the Type "A" cracks means that the dome now permanently behaves as four drifting half-arches linked below the upper oculus. The abutments of these half-arches are constituted by the pillars, the chapels and the nave of the church. The differences in the cracking patterns between even and odd webs is believed to be due to variations in the stiffness of the supporting ring beam structure under the dome as it is supported by four heavy pillars which line up with the even webs while the odd webs are located over four arches which connect the pillars.
In 1987 a second and more comprehensive digital system (which automatically collects data every six hours) was installed by ISMES (in cooperation with the "Soprintendenza", the local branch of the Ministry of Culture, which is responsible for the conservation of all historical monuments in Florence) in 1987. It consists of 166 instruments, among which are 60 thermometers measuring the masonry and air temperature at various locations, 72 inductive type displacement transducers (deformometers) at various levels on the main cracks of the inner and outer domes; eight plumb-lines at the centre of each web, which measure the relative displacements between pillars and tambour; eight livellometers and two piezometers, one near the web 4 and the other below the nave which register the variation of the underground water level. A linear regression analysis of the recorded data has shown that the major cracks are widening by approximately 3 mm (0.12 in) per century. Another source quotes a movement of 5.5mm.
Using software that had been used to model the structures of large dam a computer model of the dome was developed in 1980 in a collaboration between Italian National Agency for Electric Power and Structural and Hydraulic Research Centre (CRIS) by a group of researcher leaded by Michele Fanelli and Gabriella Giuseppetti in cooperation with the Department of Civil Engineering of the University of Florence, under the supervision of Andrea Chiarugi. Because of limited computational resources and for reasons of symmetry only a quarter of the dome was modelled. The resulting finite elements analysis confirmed that the main cracks was essentially being created by self-weight of the dome. Since then series of numerical models of increasing complexity have been developed. To assist in monitoring of the dome an extensive photogrammetric and topographical survey of the entire dome was commissioned in 1992 by the "Soprintendenza". The results of this survey were then used to further develop the finite elements model of the dome.
(Wikipedia)
Die Kathedrale Santa Maria del Fiore (italienisch Cattedrale metropolitana di Santa Maria del Fiore) in Florenz ist die Bischofskirche des Erzbistums Florenz und somit Metropolitankirche der Kirchenprovinz Florenz. Sie wurde von Papst Eugen IV. am 24. März 1436 geweiht und trägt den Titel einer Basilica minor. Das Kirchenschiff fasst circa 4.000–5.000 Personen. Ihre gewaltige Kuppel, das Hauptwerk Brunelleschis, gilt als technische Meisterleistung der frühen Renaissance.
Dimensionen
Der Florentiner Dom ist, bezogen auf die Länge des Längsschiffs, nach dem Petersdom im Vatikan, St Paul’s Cathedral in London und dem Mailänder Dom die viertgrößte Kirche in Europa (nach der bebauten Fläche rangiert allerdings noch die Kathedrale von Sevilla in Spanien an dritter Stelle). Seine Abmessungen: 153 m Länge, 38 m Breite, Breite des Kuppelfundaments 90 m. Die Seitenschiffe haben eine Gewölbehöhe von 23 m, das Mittelschiff ist um etwa 12 Meter höher. Die lichte Höhe der Kuppel beträgt vom Boden bis zur Laterne 90 m. Außen ist die Kuppel mit Laterne mehr als 114 m hoch.
Baugeschichte
Bis ins 13. Jahrhundert hatten den Bewohnern der Stadt das Baptisterium San Giovanni sowie einige kleine Kirchen zur Repräsentation genügt. Erst 1296 entschloss man sich zum Bau eines Doms nach Plänen von Arnolfo di Cambio. Der Bau sollte Ausmaße haben, wie sie die Toskana nie zuvor gesehen hatte. Der Entschluss kam nicht aus einem religiösen Impuls, sondern aus dem Wunsch nach einem weithin sichtbaren Monument, nicht zuletzt in Konkurrenz zu Venedig, Pisa und zum 1229 begonnenen Dombau in Siena.
Baubeginn
Noch im gleichen Jahre wurde mit der Errichtung der Westfassade begonnen. Die ursprüngliche Bischofskirche, Santa Reparata, wurde dabei zunächst von dem Neubau umgeben und weiter liturgisch genutzt. Nach dem Tod Arnolfos kamen die Arbeiten zum Erliegen, da die Ressourcen zum Bau der dritten Stadtmauer und zur Errichtung des Palazzo della Signoria genutzt wurden. Von der Fassade war nach Arnolfos Entwürfen bis dahin nur der untere Teil vollendet.
Der Campanile Giottos
Erst die spätere Berufung Giottos brachte neue Impulse. Doch Giotto, schon 68 Jahre alt, richtete seine ganze Energie auf den Campanile, der in kürzerer Zeit zu vollenden war. So wollte er Florenz wenigstens mit dem Campanile ein alles überragendes Wahrzeichen schenken.
Die Turmfundamente waren bereits 1298 zu Beginn der Bauarbeiten an der neuen Kathedrale unter Arnolfo di Cambio gelegt worden. Die für die italienische Gotik ungewöhnliche Position des Glockenturms – in einer Linie mit der Westfassade – wird zum einen als Indiz für die besondere Betonung der Vertikalen als Zentrum der Bischöflichen Insel gewertet, andererseits wollte man die Sichtachse auf die geplante große Kuppel freihalten.
Giotto di Bondone entwarf einen Campanile, der eine pyramidenförmige Spitze mit einer Höhe von 50 florentinischen Braccia (Armlängen), also etwa 30 Metern gehabt hätte; insgesamt wäre er 110–115 Meter hoch geworden. Bei Giottos Tod im Jahr 1337 war erst das erste Geschoss fertiggestellt. Andrea Pisano und Francesco Talenti beendeten den Bau 1359 mit einigen Änderungen. Der Turm bekam ein niedriges Pyramidendach und wurde nur 85 m hoch.
Im Turm sind insgesamt zwölf Kirchenglocken untergebracht. Eine Glocke befindet sich abgestellt auf dem Boden des Glockengeschosses. Sie ist die 1516 von Lodovico di Guglielmo gegossene 2500 Kilogramm schwere Apostolica. Zudem hängen auf allen vier Seiten, jeweils zwischen Glockenstube und Fenster vier kleinere Glocken (Beona, Maria Anna, Campana Piccola, Campana Più Piccola), die nicht geläutet werden können. Die übrigen sieben Glocken bilden das Hauptgeläut, das seit 2000/2001 über einen neuen elektrischen Läuteantrieb verfügt.
Wiederaufnahme der Bauarbeiten am Dom
Ab 1330 übernahm die Wollweberzunft die Verantwortung für den Dombau. Neue Baumeister modifizierten die Pläne immer wieder, bis sie 1368 gebilligt und das danach entstandene Ziegelmodell (Maßstab 1:10) für verbindlich erklärt wurden. Der Bau konnte nun schneller vorangetrieben werden. Schon 1379 wurde das Langhaus für den Gottesdienst in Gebrauch genommen.
Fassade
Die unter Arnolfo di Cambio begonnene Fassade wurde schon 1588 als unzeitgemäß empfunden und abgerissen, um Platz für eine neue Fassadengestaltung zu schaffen, für die die Mittel dann allerdings nicht ausreichten. Die heutige Westfassade ist eine neogotische Vervollständigung des späten 19. Jahrhunderts, die den Stil des Langhauses, die Gestaltung in dreifarbigem Marmor, fortsetzt. Sie wurde nach Entwürfen von Emilio de Fabris und Guglielmo Calderini (Obergeschoss) bis 1887 vollendet.
Kuppel
Brunelleschis Kuppel
1417 legte Brunelleschi sein erstes Kuppelmodell vor, nachdem vorher beschlossen worden war, eine noch prächtigere und größere Kuppel zu erstellen, als das erste Modell vorgesehen hatte. Der Bau der 107 Meter hohen Kuppel mit einem Durchmesser von 45 Metern dauerte 16 Jahre (1418 bis 1434). Von Anfang an trug die aus zwei Schalen bestehende Konstruktion sich selbst und wurde ohne Lehrgerüst errichtet. Aufgrund ihrer Einzigartigkeit wird sie noch heute als Höhepunkt der Renaissance gesehen. Der Dom wurde nach der Fertigstellung der Kuppel am 25. März 1436 in Anwesenheit von Donatello, Brunelleschi, Ghiberti, Michelozzo und Alberti durch Papst Eugen IV. geweiht. Für die Ausführung der Glasfenster wurde 1436 der Glasmaler Francesco Livi aus Lübeck nach Florenz berufen. Die Laterne wurde nach einem Entwurf Brunelleschis von 1446 bis 1461, zuletzt unter der Aufsicht von Michelozzo, erbaut. Bis zum Ende des 16. Jahrhunderts gab es immer wieder kleinere Arbeiten am Dom.
Ausmalung der Kuppel
Die Innenbemalung der Kuppel war nach früherer einhelliger Meinung der Kunsthistoriker missglückt. Kein Geringerer als Giorgio Vasari, der Vater der Kunstgeschichtsschreibung und der Schöpfer des gleichnamigen Korridors über den Ponte Vecchio, hatte 1572 dieses Fresko begonnen, das 1579 von Federico Zuccari vollendet wurde. Es ist in seinen Ausmaßen riesig und gilt nach der Fläche als der größte Fresken-Zyklus zu einem christlichen Thema. Hunderte von Kolossalfiguren gruppieren sich auf insgesamt 4000 m² um den Weltenrichter, den man in der unteren Mitte mühsam erkennen kann. Vasaris Traum soll es gewesen sein, Michelangelos Jüngstes Gericht in der Sixtinischen Kapelle zu übertreffen.
Das Riesenwerk ist nicht unproblematisch. Denn es ist so weit vom Boden entfernt, dass man kaum ein Detail hinreichend erkennen kann – der Kuppelraum ist normalerweise dunkler als auf den Fotos –, und vor allem: Das Fresko Vasaris lässt die Kuppel nicht höher erscheinen, sondern niedriger. Das Kuppelfresko wurde seit 1979 restauriert und ist 1994 wieder enthüllt worden, wobei die beiden Kunsthistorikerinnen Cristina Acidini und Cristina Danti bisher ungewürdigte künstlerische Qualitäten dokumentiert haben.
Vasari war schon krank, als er 1572 im Alter von 61 Jahren das Gerüst zur Ausmalung der Kuppel bestieg und starb bereits zwei Jahre danach 1574 lange vor der Vollendung des Freskos. Federico Zuccari übermalte und modernisierte teilweise Vasaris Malerei. Dabei unterliefen ihm auch einige Fehler. So bekam beispielsweise ein Esel die massigen Beine eines Bären, der seinerseits mit Hufen ausgestattet wurde, was vom Boden der Kathedrale aus jedoch nicht sichtbar ist.
Einzelne Aspekte zum Florentiner Kuppelbau
Vorgeschichte
Die Kuppel des Domes von Florenz ist nicht die Bekrönung der Vierung eines lateinischen Kreuzes, also einer Kreuzung von Langhaus und Querhaus, sondern einer Drei-Konchen-Anlage, somit also ein Zentralbau, der erste der Renaissance. Zumindest hieß es so lange Zeit in der Fachliteratur. Aber dieser Zentralbau ist eine Idee der Gotik und seine Durchführung wurde mit gotischen Mitteln erreicht. Man sagt also besser: Dieser gotische Plan kam den Tendenzen der Renaissance entgegen.
Die Bewunderung für das antike römische Pantheon und die architektonische Tradition hatten sich vereint, um die Kuppel zum idealen und zentralen Bestandteil der Kirche zu machen. Es scheint, dass man auch in jenen Fällen, in denen man keinen Zentralbau durchführen konnte, weil – wie hier am Florentiner Dom – ein Langhaus bereits vorgegeben war, sich als Ersatz dafür im Ostbau wenigstens die Illusion eines Zentralbaus mit der Kuppel als wichtigstem Bestandteil hat verschaffen wollen.
Dabei gab es eine prinzipielle Schwierigkeit in der Renaissance bei der Verbindung des Zentralbauideals mit rein liturgischen Erfordernissen. Sollte ein Zentralbau eine Kuppel erhalten, dann konnte er nicht allzu groß werden, weil die Konstruktion der Kuppel das schwierigste von allem war. Deshalb wurde das Ideal des reinen Zentralbaus meistens bei kleineren Kirchen erfüllt.
In großen Kirchen sollten aber auch viele Menschen zusammenkommen, und das widersprach den technischen Grenzen des Zentralbaus. Deshalb wurden häufig Kompromisse gebildet, indem man an einen zentralbauähnlichen Ostteil ein Langhaus anschloss. Jetzt konnten zwar viele Gläubige im Innenraum zusammengefasst werden, aber ein idealer Zentralbau war das nicht, wie man am Grundriss sehen kann.
Besonders dramatisch waren später diese Auseinandersetzungen beim Neubau von St. Peter in Rom. Auch hier siegte im Endeffekt die politische Wirkung eines solchen bedeutenden Baues über das architektonische Ideal Michelangelos. Und die Politik spielte auch hier in Florenz eine Rolle.
Die Kuppel als Träger der Staatsidee
Von jeher war Architektur in den italienischen Stadtstaaten dazu ausersehen, Träger der Staatsideen zu werden. Und die Kuppel des Florentiner Doms hier war der deutlich sichtbare Ausdruck eines neuen Machtanspruchs einer Stadt, die mit 50.000 Einwohnern so viele Bewohner hatte wie London. Durch Brunelleschi wurde die Kuppel zu einer neuen Pathosformel erhoben – und das merkt man bis hin zum Kapitol in Washington von 1857. Im Mittelalter war der Turm oder die Turmgruppe das höchste architektonische Zeichen städtischer Majestät. Jetzt in der Neuzeit, in der Renaissance, wurde die Kuppel das Symbol staatlicher Macht.
Hier spielt sicher auch eine Rolle, dass zur damaligen Zeit Florenz mit Kunstwerken deutlich weniger ausgestattet war als seine italienischen Konkurrenten. Nach den Zeiten der Protorenaissance im 11. Jahrhundert gab es seltsamerweise eine lange Pause in der Entwicklung der Kunst. Erst 1246 mit der Dominikanerkirche Santa Maria Novella wurde wieder eine neue Periode in der Kunstgeschichte der Stadt eröffnet.
Im ganzen 12. Jahrhundert und noch im frühen 13. Jahrhundert, als in Pisa bereits der Dom erweitert wurde, der Campanile, das Baptisterium und der Camposanto erbaut wurden, als man in Lucca, in Pistoia, in Prato und später auch in Arezzo und Siena Dome und Kirchen errichtete, entstand in Florenz kein Bauwerk gleichen Ranges. Während sich Pisa und Lucca zu Zentren der Bildhauerkunst und der Malerei entfalteten, ist für Florenz kaum eine Skulptur und kein Gemälde bezeugt. In dieser fast 150 Jahre dauernden Pause schuf Florenz stattdessen die wirtschaftlichen und politischen Voraussetzungen für seine spätere Vormachtstellung, die dann durch den Bau des Domes und vor allem durch die dominierende Kuppel neuen, majestätischen Ausdruck erhalten sollte. Also: Die Kuppel des Doms hatte für Florenz wortwörtlich überragende Bedeutung. Hier musste mit einem Schlag ein langer künstlerischer Rückstand übersprungen werden. Florenz hatte gleichsam keine Wahl. Die Kuppel musste gelingen.
Das Interessante daran ist, dass möglicherweise bereits Arnolfo di Cambio, der 1296 mit dem Bau begonnen hatte, eine solche Kuppel vorgesehen hatte. Inspiriert war diese Idee sicher damals schon vom Baptisterium und von den gigantischen Kuppelbauten der römischen Antike, vor allem auch hier vom Pantheon in Rom und von der Hagia Sophia in Byzanz. Als weiteres Vorbild darf sicher die Kuppel des Pisaner Domes angenommen werden und die des Doms von Siena, einer Stadt, zu der Florenz in besonderer Konkurrenz stand. Aber die Verbindung dieser Idee einer so gigantischen Kuppel mit einem gotischen Langhaus war neu.
Die Probleme eines Kuppelbaus
Der Plan zu einer riesigen Kuppel war auch 1367 vorherrschend, als nach langer Bauunterbrechung eine Kommission der Baumeister und Maler die Ausdehnung der Vierung selbstbewusst auf 42 Meter erhöhte und eine Gewölbehöhe der noch zu bauenden Kuppel von 83 Metern vorsah.[9] Damit sollte die Florentiner Kuppel nicht nur die breiteste, sondern auch die höchste jemals errichtete Kuppel werden. Man hatte dabei sicher das Pantheon in Rom vor Augen, dessen Kuppeldurchmesser 42,70 Meter beträgt, also fast identisch mit den Florentiner Plänen.
Die aus diesen gewaltigen Ausmaßen resultierenden Schwierigkeiten erkannte man erst später. Denn man wusste nicht, wie man ein solch riesiges Gewölbe von 42 Metern Durchmesser über dem achteckigen Grundriss errichten konnte. Es erwies sich nämlich beispielsweise als unmöglich, die Gerüstbalken zu beschaffen, die für den Bau einer solchen Wölbung benötigt wurden. Denn man war zuvor – 1410–1413 – auf die kühne Idee gekommen, auf das 42 Meter hohe oktogonale Grundgeschoss noch ein Tambourgeschoß von knapp zehn Metern Höhe und 4½ Metern Dicke aufzusetzen, so dass die Kuppel erst in der unglaublichen Höhe von 52 Metern ansetzte, also in einer Höhe, die über den höchsten Gewölben der französischen gotischen Kathedralen lag – das höchste gotische Gewölbe hat die Kathedrale von Beauvais mit 48 Metern.
Übrigens erhielt die Kirche erst jetzt ihren heutigen Namen Santa Maria del Fiore. Bis dahin hieß sie wie die Vorgängerkirche Santa Reparata.
Und damit niemand auf die Idee kam, diesen neuen, kühnen Plan von 1367 zugunsten älterer, einfacherer Lösungen zu verlassen und damit den neuen Machtanspruch von Florenz zu reduzieren, vernichtete man alle älteren Dokumente, die sich mit dem Dombau befassten. Man hat also gleichsam alle Brücken hinter sich abgebrochen. Entweder diese neue Kuppel mit bisher noch nie erreichter Höhe – oder gar keine. Daher ist nur unzulänglich bekannt, wie sich Arnolfo di Cambio und seine frühen Nachfolger den Dom eigentlich vorgestellt hatten.
Die Konkurrenzsituation
Damals, in der 2. Hälfte des 14. Jahrhunderts herrschte eine scharfe Konkurrenz zwischen den großen norditalienischen Städten in Bezug auf ihre zentralen großen Kirchenbauten. In Florenz wurden teilweise über acht Prozent der gesamten Staatseinkünfte für den Bau des Domes aufgewandt.
1388 wurde in Bologna der Dom San Petronio begonnen, der den im Bau befindlichen Florentiner Dom noch übertreffen sollte, aber nie vollendet wurde. Zwei Jahre zuvor, 1386, war der Mailänder Dom begonnen worden, der nicht nur die italienischen, sondern alle Kathedralen des Abendlandes übertreffen sollte – allerdings ohne große Türme und ohne Kuppel. Die Kuppelwölbung war das große Problem und sie blieb es bis in unsere Zeit hinein, daher auch ihre große Bedeutung für die Repräsentation. Noch in der Nikolaikirche in Potsdam in der Mitte des 19. Jahrhunderts, im Kapitol von Washington 1857 und in den Großmacht-Fantasien des NS-Architekten Albert Speer für das Neue Berlin der 40er Jahre des 20. Jahrhunderts wirkte diese Idee nach.
1414 war in Florenz der Bau wieder ins Stocken geraten. Als vorerst letztes Glied wurde der zehn Meter hohe achteckige Tambour mit seinen runden Lichtöffnungen von 3,5 Meter Durchmesser errichtet. Die oktogonale Basis als Auflager für die Dachkonstruktion war damit vorgegeben.
Der Wettbewerb
Das Problem wurde über einen Wettbewerb im Jahr 1418 gelöst. Man schrieb am 19. August einen Wettbewerb aus, den Brunelleschi nach diversen Widerständen mit einem Rohentwurf gewann.
Die revolutionäre Idee Brunelleschis bestand darin, das Baugerüst gar nicht auf dem Boden aufsetzen zu lassen, sondern als Klettergerüst innerhalb der noch zu bauenden Kuppel zu verankern. Die Gutachterkommission lehnte seinen Vorschlag zunächst mehrmals ab. Brunelleschi bestand aber auf seinem Plan, teilweise so beharrlich, dass man ihn mehrmals aus den Sitzungen der Gutachterkommission hinaustragen musste. Außerdem war Brunelleschi nicht bei einem Baumeister in die Lehre gegangen, sondern bei einem Goldschmied, gehörte also nicht zur Gilde der Steinmetze, sondern derjenigen der Seidenweber an, die sich mit den Goldschmieden zusammengeschlossen hatten.
Erst als auf Seiten der Stadt keine brauchbare Alternative zu Brunelleschis Plan gefunden wurde, ließ man sich doch auf dessen Idee ein. Brunelleschi wurde nach der Annahme seines Rohentwurfes gebeten, einen genauen Plan auszuarbeiten. Ihm wurde zwar die Bauleitung übertragen, aber als unerfahrenem Baumeister wurde ihm – zur Vorsicht – Lorenzo Ghiberti an die Seite gestellt, was ihn sehr geärgert haben muss. Beide sollen sich zeitlebens wenig verstanden haben, nachdem 1401 Brunelleschi im Wettbewerb um die zweite Bronzetür des Baptisteriums Ghiberti unterlegen war. Trotzdem arbeiteten sie 18 Jahre lang an der Kuppel des Florentiner Domes zusammen, anfangs mit gleichem Gehalt. Um Ghibertis Inkompetenz bloßzustellen, soll Brunelleschi eine Krankheit fingiert haben, deretwegen die Bauarbeiten ins Stocken kamen.
Der Baubeginn der Kuppel
Der Baubeginn der Kuppel fand am 7. August 1420 in 52 Metern Höhe statt. Im gleichen Jahr war Brunelleschi mit einer weiteren genialen Idee aufgetreten. Er übernahm ein Bauprinzip aus der nordeuropäischen Gotik, die Rippenwölbung. Er verlegte Rippen an jeder Ecke des Oktogons und jeweils zwei zusätzliche im Innern jeder Gewölbekappe, also insgesamt 24, die miteinander durch waagerechte Querbalken verbunden waren. Die äußeren sind die weithin sichtbaren acht großen Marmorrippen mit einem Maß von 4,4 × 3,5 Metern. Jedes der acht Segmente der Kuppelschale ist an seiner Basis 17 Meter breit, 3,50 Meter dick und vollwandig aus massivem Kalksandstein geschichtet.
Durch diese insgesamt 24 Rippen entstand ein Skelettsystem, das mit zwei Ziegelschalen, einer inneren und einer äußeren, ausgefugt wurde. Die Schalen aus Ziegeln wurden in einzelnen Ringen von unten nach oben aufgemauert; die Kuppel wurde ohne Lehrgerüst errichtet. Das Deckenloch wurde zuerst wie im Pantheon in Rom offen gelassen. Später wurde die Laterne aufgesetzt.
Um einen Begriff davon zu bekommen, um welche Dimensionen an Hölzern es sich hier handelte: Für die Halbkuppel der südlichen Apsis, die im Jahr 1418 mit einem solchen Lehrgerüst konstruiert wurde, benötigte man 32 Baumstämme, die in Bohlen von insgesamt 280 Metern Länge und 135 Balken zersägt wurden. Die Halbkuppel ist aber weitaus kleiner im Vergleich zur Vierungskuppel, für die nach einer Schätzung zwanzig Mal so viel Holz benötigt wurde.
Das waren bis dahin kaum vorstellbare und schwerlich finanzierbare Dimensionen, und auch die technische Realisierbarkeit blieb weiterhin fraglich. Brunelleschi, der sich in antiker Architektur auskannte, nahm die alte Idee der Doppelschaligkeit auf und erfand ganz neue Techniken für die einzelnen Arbeitsschritte.
Zugringe aus Stein
Eine doppelschalige Kuppelkonstruktion entsprach der antiken Tradition. Auch das Baptisterium besitzt in Ansätzen eine solche doppelte Schale. Die Idee stammt aus dem mittelalterlichen Persien und stellte das typische Merkmal islamischer Moscheen dar. Trotz der Doppelschaligkeit blieben bauliche Schwierigkeiten.
Die Kuppel musste – auch als Rippenkonstruktion – zusätzlich abgestützt werden, genauso wie in der gotischen Architektur Nordeuropas, wo diese Idee herkam. Aber in Italien gibt es außer beim Mailänder Dom kein äußeres, stützendes Strebewerk wie in Frankreich oder Deutschland. Die riesige Kuppel in Florenz kann seitlich nicht abgestützt werden, da sie in zu großer Höhe thront. Um den horizontalen Schub des Gewölbes zu neutralisieren und nur noch Vertikalkräfte in die Tambourwände einzuleiten, erfand Brunelleschi „ein System so genannter Steinketten, um die beiden Gewölbeschalen zusammenzuhalten. Sie setzen an den Rippen an und sind durch Metallklammern verbunden, so dass sie Zugspannung aufnehmen können. Ohne sie würden die Rippen unter der Gesteinslast nach außen gedrückt“ und bersten.
Die Kuppel: Gotik oder Renaissance?
Die Kuppelkonstruktion hatte nachhaltige Konsequenzen für die Architektur der gesamten Renaissance. Deswegen setzte die Kunstgeschichte den Beginn der Renaissance lange Zeit auf diesen Kuppelbau von 1420 bis 1436.
Gegen diese Sichtweise ist aber einiges einzuwenden. Die Kuppel war unzweifelhaft eine Glanzleistung, die von niemandem übertroffen worden ist, auch nicht von Michelangelo später am Petersdom in Rom. Aber in diesem Fall war Brunelleschi in erster Linie als Ingenieur gefordert, die in der Planung bereits festgelegte Vierungskuppel zu erbauen. „Das ganze Werk hat bezeichnenderweise ein spitzbogiges, gotisches Profil, denn es ist nach dem gotischen Prinzip der tragenden Rippen erbaut. Selbst wenn Brunelleschi die Kuppel des Pantheon studiert hat, um seine Technik zu vervollkommnen, haben die beiden Werke doch nichts miteinander gemein: die Kuppel des Pantheon ist eine echte Halbkugel, […], die von den riesigen Mauern getragen wird. […] Die Florentiner Kuppel ist ein ins Gigantische gesteigertes Spitzbogengewölbe, das als Kuppel getarnt ist. Nur in den untergeordneten Bauelementen erscheint der Stil Brunelleschis – und damit Renaissancekunst.“ Auch das Motiv des Kapellenkranzes, der sich um die Vierung herumlegt, kommt aus der nordeuropäischen Architektur, ist also Gotik (oder sogar Romanik) und keine Renaissance.
Das erste wirkliche Renaissance-Bauwerk Brunelleschis ist die nicht weit entfernte Kirche von San Lorenzo.
Es ist wahrscheinlich nicht so, dass sich Brunelleschi von Anfang an über alle Details der Konstruktion im Klaren war. Auf viele Ideen kam er erst während der 16-jährigen Bauzeit. Und der obere spätere Teil der Kuppel war der schwierigere, weil hier die Wölbung wesentlich stärker ist. Genaue Informationen über Brunelleschis Pläne und Phantasien sind nicht bekannt, weil er in dieser Hinsicht schweigsam war. Er befürchtete, dass andere ihm seine Ideen stehlen könnten. Deshalb informierte er nur seine nächsten Mitarbeiter über seine Pläne – und das auch nur spät. Brunelleschi ist in Sichtweite des Domes aufgewachsen, kannte von Kindesbeinen an die Probleme, die seine Vorgänger mit der Wölbung hatten, informierte sich jahrelang auch in Rom über antike Architektur und hatte mit Sicherheit diverse Pläne im Kopf, wie eine solche Kuppel zu konstruieren sei. Aber er wusste, dass er der einzige war, der so etwas konnte, und behielt sein Wissen möglichst bei sich. Wenn er für sich selbst Pläne aufzeichnete, bediente er sich einer Geheimschrift, die niemand anderer lesen konnte.
Eisenkette
So gibt es beispielsweise seit ewigen Zeiten Gerüchte über eine Eisenkette, die Brunelleschi angeblich zusätzlich zu den bekannten Steinketten um den Sockel der Kuppel hat legen lassen. Eine magnetische Untersuchung, die in den 1970er Jahren durchgeführt wurde, erbrachte keinen Beweis, dass diese Ketten tatsächlich existieren.
Holzkette
Was es aber außer den vier Steinketten wirklich gibt, ist eine 1424 hinzugefügte Holzkette 7½ Meter über der untersten Steinkette – bestehend aus Balken aus Kastanienholz von sechs Metern Länge und einem Querschnitt von 30 × 30 Zentimetern. Dieses Holz musste gefunden und sorgfältig mit einem speziellen Verfahren verarbeitet werden, was mehrere Jahre in Anspruch nahm. Dass man außer an Stein- auch an Holzketten dachte, hat damit zu tun, dass man eine solche Holzkonstruktion für widerstandsfähiger bei Erdbeben hielt. Bei der Hagia Sophia in Konstantinopel war man so vorgegangen und bei einigen anderen Bauten in den gefährdeten Gebieten beispielsweise in Persien. Und tatsächlich erlitt die cupola bei den Erdbeben von 1510, 1675 und 1895 keine Schäden. Die Holzkette musste übrigens im 18. Jahrhundert ausgetauscht werden, weil das Holz zu verrotten begann.
Baumaschinen
Zu Brunelleschis Glanzleistungen zählen unter anderem auch die Maschinen, die er entworfen hat, um mit ihnen die Steine in die Höhe zu ziehen. Hier waren Konstruktionen notwendig, die zur damaligen Zeit noch nicht existierten. Die Materialaufzüge und Kräne, die Filippo entwarf, wurden zu den meistbewunderten mechanischen Geräten der Renaissance. Das Seil für den Lastenaufzug wurde in Pisa bestellt, einer Hochburg des Schiffbaus. Aber auch die dortigen Fachleute sahen sich einer neuen Aufgabe gegenüber, denn es wurde das längste und schwerste Seil benötigt, das jemals angefertigt worden war: 180 Meter lang, mehr als sieben Zentimeter dick und mit einem Gewicht von nahezu einer halben Tonne. Dieser Aufzug bewegte täglich ca. 50 Mal die Steine in die Höhe, also ungefähr eine Fuhre alle zehn Minuten.
Bevor die einzelnen Steine in der Kuppel eingesetzt wurden, mussten sie natürlich genau zugehauen werden. Die Schablonen dafür wurden auf einem Grundstück hergestellt, das Brunelleschi im Sommer 1420 flussabwärts auf einem Uferbereich des Arno auf einer Fläche von 800 m² präpariert hatte. Dort wurde ein Plan der Kuppel im Verhältnis 1:1 in den Sand geritzt. Bei den gotischen Kathedralen Nordeuropas war man ähnlich vorgegangen. Diese Schablonen von über 2½ Metern Größe wurden anschließend am Mauerwerk der inneren Kuppelschale befestigt und dienten als Richtmaß.
Ziegel
Bei der Herstellung der Ziegel ging man ebenfalls von Schablonen aus, da nicht nur einheitliche Maße benutzt wurden, sondern auch außergewöhnliche – dreieckige Formen, Ziegel mit Verzahnungen oder mit hervorstehendem Rand, Ziegel, die genau in die Ecken passten etc. Aber bis es überhaupt so weit war, musste ein langer Weg zurückgelegt werden.
Die Brennöfen befanden sich nicht in der Stadt, sondern auf dem Land in der Nähe der Tongruben. Es war natürlich etwas anderes, ob man Ziegel brauchte für ein kleines Haus, die man im Bedarfsfalle leicht ersetzen konnte, oder ob es sich um Ziegel handelte für die Riesenkuppel von Florenz, wo ein kleiner Fehler massive Konsequenzen haben könnte. Jedenfalls gab es umfangreiche Regeln dafür, wie und wo und wann der Ton gewonnen werden sollte, wie lange er vor dem Brennen trocknen sollte – das konnte bis zu zwei Jahren dauern –, wie der Mörtel beschaffen sein sollte usw.
Der geknetete Ton wurde in entsprechenden Holzformen an der Luft getrocknet und vorgehärtet. Danach erfolgte das Brennen, das mehrere Tage dauerte. Da die Temperatur im Ofen um 1000 Grad Celsius betrug, ließ man die Ziegel zwei Wochen abkühlen, damit sie bruchfester wurden, bevor man sie zur Baustelle transportierte. Ein Brennofen konnte im Durchschnitt 20.000 Ziegel aufnehmen; wurde er alle drei Wochen befeuert, ergab dies eine jährliche Kapazität von mehr als 300.000 Ziegeln. Doch selbst bei dieser Leistung hätte es mit nur einem Brennofen mehr als 13 Jahre gedauert, die für den Bau der Kuppel erforderlichen vier Millionen Ziegel herzustellen.
Das Tempo der acht Maurermannschaften wurde durch das Abbinden des Mörtels im zuletzt gemauerten Horizontalring auf weniger als einen Ring pro Woche begrenzt. Die Kuppel wuchs somit jeden Monat um ungefähr 30 Zentimeter in die Höhe.
Trotz der schwierigen Arbeitsbedingungen soll während der 16-jährigen Bauzeit der Kuppel nur ein einziger Arbeiter ums Leben gekommen sein.
Loggia
Am Ansatz der Kuppel wurde 1508–12 versucht, eine Loggia anzubringen, die den gesamten Ostbau plastisch aufgelockert hätte und die auch zu Brunelleschis Plan gehörte. Aber deren Gestaltung ist zu zierlich geraten und – der Überlieferung nach – soll Michelangelo sich sehr abschätzig über diese Idee geäußert haben – sie sehe aus „wie ein Grillenkäfig“ –, weshalb der Plan nicht vollendet wurde.Quelle?
Risse
Insgesamt wiegt allein die Kuppel ca. 37.000 Tonnen und hat bis heute gehalten, trotz der insgesamt 1.500 Haarrisse, die mittlerweile aufgetreten sind. Das Phänomen der Risse ist an sich nicht neu. Angeblich sollen schon um 1500, also kurz nach Fertigstellung des Bauwerks, solche Risse aufgetreten sein. Jetzt scheinen die Risse so zahlreich zu werden, dass man überlegt, Maßnahmen zu ihrer Beseitigung zu ergreifen.
Man weiß nicht, wie Brunelleschi selber dieses Problem gesehen hat, denn er hat keinerlei Aufzeichnungen hinterlassen. Michelangelo hat bei der Konstruktion der Kuppel des Petersdomes in Rom eine schwere Eisenkette um deren Sockelzone vorgesehen. Als Grund für die jetzt zunehmend auftretenden Risse in Florenz werden von fachlicher Seite die normalen Temperaturschwankungen angegeben, die im Laufe der Jahrhunderte dem Mauerwerk langsam zugesetzt hätten. Eine Lösung des Problems ist trotz zahlreicher Kommissionen offenbar noch nicht in Sicht, deren erste bereits 1934 angetreten war. Aktuell wird die Kuppel durch ständiges Deformationsmonitoring überwacht, um kleinste Veränderungen sofort nachvollziehen zu können.
Andererseits gilt: „Da in der Regel schon beim Ausschalen des Gewölbes solche Spannungen auftreten und erste Risse provozieren, ist der gerissene Zustand als der normale anzusehen und das jeweilige Rißbild im Gewölbe Zeichen einer letztlich individuellen Statik.“
Treppensystem
Brunelleschi baute die Kuppel auf einem hohen Tambour in den besagten zwei Schalen, wobei die innere Schale die dickere ist. Die äußere dient lediglich der Bedachung. Zwischen beiden Schalen liegt ein Treppensystem, das über 463 Stufen begehbar ist und auf die Laterne an der Kuppelspitze in 106 Meter Höhe führt.
Nachwirkungen des Florentiner Kuppelbaus
Dieser gewaltige Kirchenbau, dessen Konzeption bereits 1367 festgelegt war, sollte Ausdruck des Stolzes einer Stadt sein, die damals ein außerordentliches Maß an Macht und Reichtum erworben hatte. Florenz zählte gegen Ende des 13. Jahrhunderts mit ungefähr 100.000 Einwohnern zu den größten Städten der damaligen Welt.
Von vergleichbarer Größe ist die ebenfalls doppelschalige Kuppel des Petersdoms (1590) mit 42,3 Metern Durchmesser, das größte freitragende Ziegelbauwerk der Erde, und das Pantheon (118) mit der größten in unbewehrtem Beton gegossenen Kuppel von 43,2 Metern, beide in Rom. Einen größeren Durchmesser hatte mit 108 Metern erst die zur Weltausstellung 1873 gebaute Rotunde in Wien aus Stahl, die 1937 einem Brand zum Opfer fiel.
(Wikipedia)
"The Roman Catholic parish church of Spitz is in the market town of Spitz in the Krems-Land district in Lower Austria. The parish church consecrated to St. Mauritius belongs to the Deanery Spitz in the diocese of St. Pölten. The church is a listed building.
The church consecrated to Saint Mauritius was originally also consecrated to Saint Godehard and is located in the eastern part of the village on Kirchenplatz. A chapel was mentioned in a document in 1163. It was incorporated into the St. Florian Monastery and until 1239 a branch of St. Michael in the Wachau. From 1222/25 onwards a parish church was named a pastor in a document. From 1238 to 1803 the parish church was the Niederaltaich monastery incorporated. The late Gothic hall church under a high gable roof with the main portal in the presented west tower has a long choir bent out of its axis under a slightly higher gable roof. A medieval, formerly fortified enclosure wall, partly as a lining wall with stepped supporting pillars and partly with large, uncut stone blocks, has been preserved.
The late Gothic church building consists of a nave and a retracted long choir with three-lane pointed arched windows with richly varied tracery and stepped buttresses. The four-storey west tower with a local stone structure has a steep hipped roof with a small roof house. The lower two tower floors are from the beginning of the 14th century with a presumably Romanesque wall core, in the bell floor there are two-lane tracery windows from the 16th century. A head sculpture is walled in over the beveled pointed arch portal of the tower. The main portal of the vestibule in the tower from the end of the 15th century is wicker-arched in an ogival shape richly profiled with pear rods, in the tympanum is a three-passport with crab decoration, the portal to the nave is a chamfered two-passportal. The tower ground floor is vaulted with ribs and a keystone with a profiled rosette and mask face from the beginning of the 14th century. On the north and south sides of the nave there is a late Gothic light house with a keel arch crown from around 1500. The retracted two-bay choir withThe five- eighth closure is from the 1st quarter of the 16th century, the southwest buttress is marked with H. Wilhelm Paldauv 1694, a buttress with 1547, has a stone cross on the ridge at the transition to the nave, a crypt window and a late Gothic niche between two buttresses Mesh rib vault. In the south of the tower is the donor and burial chapel of Wolfhard von der Au and Anna Murstetter, with a pent roof and pointed arch window, before 1395. In front of it is a niche gabled on the south side from the beginning of the 19th century with a crucifix from the beginning of the 18th century. To the north of the west wall is a shallow two-storey extension with small Gothic windows, a staircase and a former healing chamber. On the south side of the nave is a gable-independent staircase with small rectangular windows from the 15th century that extends to the eaves. On the south wall of the nave there are remains of a crucifix fresco and next to it a donor couple from the 1st third of the 16th century. There are gravestones Sigmundt Ler. 1603 with wife 1612, Niclas Zalbinger 1532, 1422, around 1500, Wolfgang Kernstockh 1521 and Martha 1521, Michel Ern 1486, Margret around 1500.
The richly structured three-aisled, four-bay late Gothic nave was built in several sections with the direction of construction from west to east from the 14th century to the 1st quarter of the 16th century. The cross-rib vaulted side aisles are open to the central nave with pointed arches. The central nave has a ribbed vault on octagonal pillars and relief keystones with the coats of arms of Spitz and Niederaltaich. The eastern three-aisled yoke is somewhat widened and not quite in the axis, it was built in the 15th century to 1517, is separated from the western nave and choir by retracted arches and has a parallel net rib vault in the northern nave yoke, a star rib vault with a coat of arms in the central nave yoke with 1517; the southern nave yoke, which is shortened because of the sacristy adjoining it to the east, has a warped, star-ribbed vault with a painted coat of arms in relief with crossed raft hooks; The square sacristy has a ribbed vault from the 2nd half of the 15th century. The three-aisled gallery building before 1438 is vaulted with cross ribs in the side aisles, in the central nave with mesh ribs vaulted has a richly structured parapet with tracery in double quadrangular shapes and a two-axis organ foot each, in the middle part there are blind niches with apostles' figures, some with keel arches. A two-lane tracery window from the 14th century leads to the upper floor of the sacristy. The square sacristy has a ribbed vault from the 2nd half of the 15th century. The three-aisled gallery building before 1438 is vaulted with cross ribs in the side aisles, in the central nave with mesh ribs vaulted has a richly structured parapet with tracery in double quadrangular shapes and a two-axis organ foot each, in the middle part there are blind niches with apostles' figures, some with keel arches. A two-lane tracery window from the 14th century leads to the upper floor of the sacristy. The square sacristy has a ribbed vault from the 2nd half of the 15th century. The three-aisled gallery building before 1438 is vaulted with cross ribs in the side aisles, in the central nave with mesh ribs vaulted has a richly structured parapet with tracery in double quadrangular shapes and a two-axis organ foot each, in the middle part there are blind niches with apostles' figures, some with keel arches.in the middle part there are blind niches with figures of apostles, some with keel arches.in the middle part there are blind niches with figures of apostles, some with keel arches.
A retracted pointed arch triumphal arch with 1406 and 1506 forms the transition to the choir, which is also raised in the floor, with a sharp bend to the north. The choir is vaulted with net ribs with painted coats of arms Zollern, Kirchberger, with colored head sculptures at the intersections of the ribs, the pierced, partially crossed ribs rest on bundled services. The services are presented with statue canopies with crossed keel arches as well as pinnacles and crab ornaments, the consoles have lush branches and foliage. The session is in a richly profiled arched niche. Under the choir is a lower church with vaulted rooms.
A shoulder-arched south portal is walled up at the donor's chapel south of the tower. The two oblong yokes have cross ribbed vaults on consoles around the change from the 14th to the 15th century. There is a rectangular sacrament niche with an original wrought iron door. There are remains of a wall painting Crucifixion, St. Christophorus from the 2nd third of the 14th century on the previously unobstructed south side of the tower, now visible in the attic of the Stifterkapelle.
Remains of ornamental panes are preserved in the sacristy window (grisaille) from the 2nd half of the 14th century. The church's colored figural stained glass was created between 1910 and 1916.
The high altar from the end of the 17th century was transferred from Niederaltaich in 1718 and consecrated and renovated in 1724 and designated 1735. The aedicule structure has a split gable, the extension is framed with twisted columns and a segmented gable, with rich acanthus decor. The altarpiece of the Martyrdom of St. Mauritius is named Martin Johann Schmidt, 1799. The figures of angels, putti, St. Michael are from the end of the 17th century, in the pillared pedestals are the figurines of Saints Ulrich and Urban from around 1730. The three-part tabernacle from the 1st quarter of the 18th century has niche figurines with holy bishops. On both sides of the pillars are sacrificial portals with foliage decoration from around 1700.
The left Marian altar from the 2nd quarter of the 18th century has a structure with inclined pillars and columns on pedestals, has fragments of entablature and a scroll framed excerpt. The altar figures are Saints Joseph and Zacharias, angels, putti, and in the central niche Maria Immaculata are from the 2nd half of the 16th century. The upper image of St. Joseph with child is from the 2nd quarter of the 18th century.
The right St. Nicholas altar from the 2nd quarter of the 18th century is a foundation of the rafters, the structure is as on the left. The altar figures are the saints Florian and Maria Magdalena, putti, in the excerpt the figure of St. Johannes Nepomuk, altarpiece St. Nicholas over the village of Spitzby the painter Ferdinand Mory from 1744. There are two further side altars on the nave pillars with the same structure from 1744, reredos with volute struts on the sides and excerpts flanked by valutes. The left Sebastian altar has the figures of Saints Karl Borromeo and Rochus from the workshop of Matthias Schwanthaler, the altarpiece Apotheosis of St. Sebastian and the essay picture St. Thekla was painted by the painter Wolf Körner in the middle of the 18th century. The right altar of Catherine has the altar figures of Saints Maria Madgalena and Margareta, the altarpiece Mystical Marriage of St. In 1751 Katharina painted Anton Hamel, the top picture St. Religious is from the 2nd quarter of the 18th century. In the choir there are console figures of Saints Benedict and Scholastica from the 4th quarter of the 17th century, the 4 evangelists from the 1st.Quarter of the 18th century, in the nave the console figures of Saints Sebastian and Joseph from the 1st quarter of the 18th century. There is the figure Risen Christ as a gardener around 1500.
The wooden figures of Christ and the 12 apostles in the blind niches in the middle of the gallery parapet from the 4th quarter of the 14th century are painted in color. In niches on the gallery pillars are two stone figures of Saints Benedikt and Godehard, from Niederaltaich around 1500.
In the chapel is a monumental crucifix from around 1520 with the figures of Saints Mary and John from the early 17th century. There are three images of fasting, the crucifixion by Martin Johann Schmidt from the end of the 18th century, the coronation of thorns and the flagellation from the 18th century. The 14 Stations of the Cross were created around 1800. Behind the high altar is a wall paneling with structure in the manner of choir stalls with panel paintings with mainly Old Testament scenes from the 1st quarter of the 17th century. There are late Gothic iron plate doors with vine tendrils from the beginning of the 16th century.
The pulpit from the middle of the 18th century has a curved basket with volute struts, putti and evangelist symbols with the church fathers as a relief, the sound cover with volute top has St. Mauritius. The choir stalls are from the middle of the 17th century, the communion bench was built around 1730. The pews and vestry cupboards are from the 3rd quarter of the 18th century. The holy water font with a bowl is from the beginning of the 16th century.
The organ case from the 2nd quarter of the 19th century is partly in neo-Gothic form and provided with gold-plated rocailles, today's organ was built by Friedrich Heftner in 1981/82.
Spitz an der Donau is a market town in the district of Krems-Land in the Austrian state of Lower Austria, in the midst of the UNESCO World Heritage area Wachau, further down from Willendorf on the left bank of the Danube. The ferry across the Danube here is interesting in that it has no motor or sail: it is powered by rudder set against the river current, anchored to a cable above the river. The ferry carries passengers, bicycles, motorcycles, and automobiles.
Occupied since Celtic times, it was first mentioned in 830. A hill "Tausendeimerberg" (the "Hill of a Thousand Buckets") is so named because of the many grapes that grow there, for the Wachau valley, for which Spitz is in, is famous for them. The Late Gothic church to St. Maurice is famous for its Apostles (1380) and an altarpiece by Kremser Schmidt. To the south of Spitz is the famous fortress of Hinterhaus.
In February 2008, Spitz made an appearance in domestic news following the poisoning of then–mayor Dr. Hannes Hirtzberger.
Spitz lies on the left bank of the Danube in the Waldviertel in Lower Austria. The area of the market town covers 23.83 square kilometers. 69.21 percent of the area is forested. In Spitz, the Spitzer stream flows into the Danube.
The Wachau (German pronunciation: [vaˈxaʊ]) is an Austrian valley with a picturesque landscape formed by the Danube river. It is one of the most prominent tourist destinations of Lower Austria, located midway between the towns of Melk and Krems that also attracts "connoisseurs and epicureans" for its high-quality wines. It is 36 kilometres (22 mi) in length and was already settled in prehistoric times. A well-known place and tourist attraction is Dürnstein, where King Richard the Lionhearted of England was held captive by Duke Leopold V. The architectural elegance of its ancient monasteries (Melk Abbey and Göttweig Abbey), castles and ruins combined with the urban architecture of its towns and villages, and the cultivation of vines as an important agricultural produce are the dominant features of the valley.
The Wachau was inscribed as "Wachau Cultural Landscape" in the UNESCO List of World Heritage Sites in recognition of its architectural and agricultural history, in December 2000." - info from Wikipedia.
Summer 2019 I did a solo cycling tour across Europe through 12 countries over the course of 3 months. I began my adventure in Edinburgh, Scotland and finished in Florence, Italy cycling 8,816 km. During my trip I took 47,000 photos.
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Catholic parish church of Saint Peter and Paul
Object ID: 61433, Bleiburg
Cadastral Community: Bleiburg
Parish church Bleiburg
The Roman Catholic parish church of Bleiburg is consecrated to Saints Peter and Paul (Peter and Paul, June 29). In addition to the parish church belong to the parish, the branch churches Aich/Dob, Einersdorf /Nonča Vas, Holy Sepulcher/Humec/Heiligengrab, Oberloibach/Zgornje Libuče, St. Margarethen at the Kömmel/Šmarjeta, St. Georgen/Šentjur and Unterloibach/Spodnje Libuče.
History
Originally in Bleiburg was a chapel consecrated to St. Paul. A church is first mentioned in Bleiburg in 1241. The parish seat was St. Michael ob Bleiburg. In 1332/1335 the counts Auffenstein built a church, which was badly damaged during the siege of Bleiburg in 1368. In 1461 Bleiburg received its own pastoral care. Before the Turkish danger - Turks invaded Carinthia in 1473, 1476 and 1478 - the pastor of St. Michael ob Bleiburg sought protection in the better protected Bleiburg. Even then remained a permanent vicar in Bleiburg, which was partially supplied by the parish of St. Michael.
Building
The two-nave church with a northern aisle is a late Gothic building from the 15th century or from the beginning of the 16th century. The west facade with a neo-gothic biaxial arcade porch dates from the 19th century. The church walls are supported at the choirs and the nave by three-level buttresses. The tower with twin windows and onion helmet stands on the choir's south side. To the east of it, an entrance hall to the choir with trefoil arch portal and a sacristy annex connect. Another trefoil arch portal is located on the longhouse's south side. On the outer wall of the church two aristocratic graves from the end of the 18th century are walled in. On the north side is the tombstone of an "urban trader" from 1705. On a buttress there is an epitaph for Margarete Ratsburger from 1612.
In the four-bay main nave rises a ribbed vault on polygonal pilasters with round compound piers. The biaxial, three-bay west gallery is underlain by star ribs based on bundled round compound piers. The northern yokes are caught at the top of the wall. The tracery on the gallery parapet is painted. A broad, almost round-arched triumphal arch connects the nave to the main choir extension which is designated with the year number 1512. Above this equal-width, four-bay choir with three-eighth-extension, a ribbed vault stretches on pilasters with placed in front round compound piers. In the third yoke, an arch opens the choir south wall to the older ribbed vaulted vestibule. In this are two corbel portals, the western one leads to the ground floor of the tower, the eastern one in the sacristy. In the northern aisle rests a ribbed vault on round compound piers. In the western one is a uniaxial, one bay gallery retracted. The two bay side choir with three-eighth-extension is vault ribbed and opened by a diaphragm arch towards the main choir.
The two glass paintings in the main choir extension windows with the representation of the Holies Barbara and Katharina were manufactured 1884 in the Glasmalereianstalt (Studio for Stained Glass) Innsbruck. Karel Vouk designed six long house windows with motifs from the life of Saint Hemma. In the second yoke of the main choir there is a painted epitaph with a donor kneeling before the crucifix from 1580. The Coronation of the Virgin in the fourth choir yoke was painted in 1680.
Katholische Pfarrkirche Heilige Petrus und Paulus
Objekt ID: 61433, Bleiburg
Katastralgemeinde: Bleiburg
Pfarrkirche Bleiburg
Die römisch katholische Pfarrkirche Bleiburg ist den Heiligen Petrus und Paulus (Peter und Paul, 29. Juni) geweiht. Neben der Pfarrkirche gehören zur Pfarrei auch die Filialkirchen Aich/Dob, Einersdorf/Nonča vas, Heiligengrab/Humec, Oberloibach/Zgornje Libuče, St. Margarethen am Kömmel/Šmarjeta, St. Georgen/Šentjur und Unterloibach/Spodnje Libuče.
Geschichte
Ursprünglich stand in Bleiburg eine dem heiligen Paulus geweihte Kapelle. Eine Kirche wird in Bleiburg erstmals 1241 erwähnt. Der Pfarrsitz war St. Michael ob Bleiburg. 1332/1335 erbauten die Grafen Auffenstein eine Kirche, die während der Belagerung Bleiburgs 1368 arg in Mitleidenschaft gezogen wurde. 1461 erhielt Bleiburg eine eigene Seelsorge. Vor der Türkengefahr - 1473, 1476 und 1478 fielen Türken in Kärnten ein - suchte der Pfarrer von St. Michael ob Bleiburg Schutz im besser geschützten Bleiburg. Auch danach blieb ein ständiger Vikar in Bleiburg, der teilweise von der Pfarrei St. Michael versorgt wurde.
Bauwerk
Die zweischiffige Kirche mit einem nördlichen Seitenschiff ist ein spätgotischer Bau aus dem 15. Jahrhundert bzw. vom Anfang des 16. Jahrhunderts. Die Westfassade mit einem neugotischen zweiachsigen Arkadenvorbau stammt aus dem 19. Jahrhundert. Die Kirchenmauern werden an den Chören und am Langhaus von dreistufigen Strebepfeilern gestützt. Der Turm mit Zwillingsfenstern und Zwiebelhelm steht an der Chorsüdseite. Östlich davon schließen eine Eingangshalle zum Chor mit Schulterbogenportal und ein Sakristeianbau an. Ein weiteres Schulterbogenportal befindet sich an der Langhaussüdseite. An der Kirchenaußenwand sind zwei Adelsgrabsteine vom Ende des 18. Jahrhunderts eingemauert. An der Nordseite befindet sich der Grabstein eines „städtischen Händlers“ von 1705. An einem Strebepfeiler findet sich ein Epitaph für Margarete Ratsburger von 1612.
Im vierjochigem Hauptschiff erhebt sich ein Sternrippengewölbe über polygonale Wandpfeilern mit Runddiensten. Die zweiachsige, dreijochige Westempore wird mit Sternrippen unterwölbt, die sich auf gebündelte Runddienste stützen. Die nördlichen Joche werden im Scheitel von der Mauer abgefangen. Das Maßwerk an der Emporenbrüstung ist gemalt. Ein breiter, fast rundbogiger Triumphbogen verbindet das Hauptschiff mit dem im Chorschluss mit 1512 bezeichneten Hauptchor. Über diesem gleich breiten, vierjochigen Chor mit Dreiachtelschluss spannt sich ein Netzrippengewölbe auf Wandpfeilern mit vorgelegten Runddiensten. Im dritten Joch öffnet ein Bogen die Chorsüdwand zur älteren kreuzrippengewölbten Vorhalle. In dieser befinden sich zwei Kragsteinportale, das westliche führt ins Turmerdgeschoß, das östliche in die Sakristei. Im nördlichen Seitenschiff ruht ein Netzrippengewölbe auf Runddiensten. Im Western ist eine einachsige, einjochige Empore eingestellt. Der zweijochige Nebenchor mit Dreiachtelschluss ist netzrippengewölbt und durch einen Scheidbogen zum Hauptchor hin geöffnet.
Die beiden Glasgemälde in den Hauptchorschlussfenstern mit der Darstellung der Heiligen Barbara und Katharina wurden 1884 in der Glasmalereianstalt Innsbruck gefertigt. Karel Vouk gestaltete sechs Langhausfenster mit Motiven aus dem Leben der heiligen Hemma. Im zweiten Joch des Hauptchores ist ein gemaltes Epitaph mit einem vor dem Kruzifix knienden Stifter aus dem Jahre 1580 zu sehen. Die Marienkrönung im vierten Chorjoch wurde 1680 gemalt.
Rochester Cathedral, formally the Cathedral Church of Christ and the Blessed Virgin Mary, is an English church of Norman architecture in Rochester, Kent.
The church is the cathedral of the Diocese of Rochester in the Church of England and the seat of the Bishop of Rochester, the second oldest bishopric in England after that of the Archbishop of Canterbury. The edifice is a Grade I listed building
The first mention of a Cathedral in Rochester was when King Ethelbert founded the Cathedral in 604A.D. The Cathedral was consecrated by St. Augustine and was blessed to St. Andrew who was the Patron Saint of Monasteries, where St. Augustine was from.
The first Bishop of Rochester was Justus in 604 A.D. The original Cathedral has since vanished through the re building of the present day Cathedral. However, in 1889, work on the Cathedral uncovered the foundations of the original building under the west end.
The foundations were about 1.5m (5 feet) deep and what was left of the walls were 70 cms (2' 4") thick. The walls were made of stone and Roman brick. The original Cathedral had a round end named an 'Apse.' The length was about 14 metres (46' 6") and the width was about 8.8 metres (29' 6") when the Normans invaded England in 1066, Gundulf became the Bishop of Rochester in 1077.
Gundulf also built the Castle opposite the Cathedral and the Tower of London. Gundulf started to design the new Cathedral for Rochester. In 1115, Ernulf was inaugurated as the Bishop of Rochester. In 1137 and in 1179, a fire engulfed the Cathedral and it was badly damaged. In 1215 the Cathedral was looted, first by King John and then in 1264 by Simon de Montfort’s men when they laid siege on the City.
It is traditionally thought that King Henry VIII met Anne of Cleves in the cloisters of Rochester Cathedral.
Unfortunately, in the 1800's Rochester had became one of the poorest Dioceses in the country. Again it was robbed of its treasures by unruly soldiers.
Unbelievably, the Cathedral became a place of ill repute, where often gambling and drinking took place. Samuel Pepys described it as a 'Shabby place.' Through the 1800's, the Cathedral had gone through a number of restoration processes, and finally in 1880, Gilbert Scott restored the Cathedral to its present day appearance.
The large tree outside (conveniently hiding a crowd going in to the building!) is a Catalpa tree, sometimes called the American Indian Bean Tree, is not a common species in Britain and is over 100 years old.
There is a lot about this picture that is not right like the car park, but I have left it in rather than cut it to show the Cathderal in it's 21st Century setting!!!
MY THANKS TO ALL WHO VISIT AND COMMENT IT IS APPRECIATED.
A nymphaeum or nymphaion (Ancient Greek: νυμφαῖον), in ancient Greece and Rome, was a monument consecrated to the nymphs, especially those of springs.
These monuments were originally natural grottoes, which tradition assigned as habitations to the local nymphs. They were sometimes so arranged as to furnish a supply of water, as at Pamphylian Side. A nymphaeum dedicated to a local water nymph, Coventina, was built along Hadrian's Wall, in the northernmost reach of the Roman Empire. Subsequently, artificial grottoes took the place of natural ones
www.sagalassos.be/en/virtual_antonine_nymphaeum
Unesco Tentative List;
whc.unesco.org/en/tentativelists/5409/
The archaeological site of Sagalassos is located in southwest Turkey, near the present town of Ağlasun (Burdur province); roughly 110 km to the north of the well-known port and holiday resort of Antalya. The ancient city was founded on the south facing slopes of the Taurus mountain range and was the metropolis of the Roman province of Pisidia. Next to its mountainous landscape, a series of lakes form another typical feature of the regional geography. Today this region is known as the Lake District.
The first traces of hunter/gatherers in the territory of Sagalassos date back to some 12 000 years BP. During the eighth millennium BC, farmers settled along, the shores of Lake Burdur. During the Bronze Age, territorial "chiefdoms" developed in the region, whereas Sagalassos itself was most probably not yet occupied. This may have changed by the 14th century BC, when the mountain site of Salawassa was mentioned in Hittite documents, possibly to be identified with the later Sagalassos. Under Phrygian and Lydian domination the site gradually developed into an urban centre. During the Persian period, Pisidia became known for its warlike and rebellious factions; a reputation to which the region certainly lived up in 332 BC, when Alexander the Great experienced fierce resistance at Sagalassos while conquering the region as part of his conquest of the Persian kingdom.
Pisidia changed hands many times among the successors of Alexander, being incorporated into the kingdom Antigonos Monopthalmos (321-301 BC), perhaps regaining its autonomy under Lysimachos of Thrace (301-281 BC), and then being conquered again by the Seleucids of Syria (281-189 BC) and later given to Attalids of Pergamon (189-133 BC). The use of Greek, the development of Municipal institutions and material culture of Greek origin seem to testify to fairly quick Hellenisation, but the recent discovery at Tepe Düzen of an indigenous city, with a possible Hellenistic date makes clear that Hellenisation must have been a complex process. After the Attalids bequeathed their kingdom to Rome, Pisidia at first became part of the newly created Roman province of Asia, then, around 100 BC of the coastal province of Cilicia and once more of Asia around the middle of that century.
Sagalassos and its territory turned into dependable and very prospering Roman partners. In fact, the control of an extremely fertile territory with a surplus production of grain and olives, as well as the presence of excellent clay beds allowing an industrial production of high quality table ware ("Sagalassos red slip ware"), made the export of local products possible. Rapidly, under Roman Imperial rule, Sagalassos became the metropolis of Pisidia. Trouble only started around 400 AD, when the town had to fortify its civic centre against, among others, rebellious Isaurian tribes. Sagalassos seems to have remained rather prosperous even under these conditions. After the earthquake around 500 AD, it was restored with a great sense of monumentality.
As a result of recurring epidemics after the middle of the 6th century and related general decline of the economic system in Asia Minor, the city started to lose population. Large parts of the town were abandoned and the urban life was replaced by a more rural way of living.
In the 7th century AD, the situation had further aggravated due to continuous Arab raids and new epidemics when the city was struck once more with a heavy earthquake, most probably around 590 AD. Despite this disaster, recent research has proven that the city remained occupied until the 13th century in the form of isolated and well-defended hamlets, located on some promontories which maintained the name of the former ancient city. One of these hamlets found on the Alexander's Hill of Sagalassos was destroyed in mid 13th century, by which time Seljuk's had already build a bath and a caravanserai in the village in the valley (Ağlasun).
The abandoned ancient city was then rapidly covered under vegetation and erosion layers. As a result of its remote location, Sagalassos was not really looted in later periods and remained to be one of the best preserved ancient cities in the Mediterranean.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sagalassos
Sagalassos (Greek: Σαγαλασσός) is an archaeological site in southwestern Turkey, about 100 km north of Antalya (ancient Attaleia), and 30 km from Burdur and Isparta. The ancient ruins of Sagalassos are 7 km from Ağlasun (as well as being its namesake) in the province of Burdur, on Mount Akdağ, in the Western Taurus mountains range, at an altitude of 1450–1700 metres. In Roman Imperial times, the town was known as the "first city of Pisidia", a region in the western Taurus mountains, currently known as the Turkish Lakes Region. During the Hellenistic period it was already one of the major Pisidian towns.
Gertrude Bell: 1907 Photos:
Cormac's Chapel begun 1127, (consecrated 1134) for
Cormac Mac Cárthaigh, king of Desmond (South Munster), , sandstone (Romanesque), Rock of Cashel, County Tipperary, Ireland
Palatine Chapel, Aachen, begun c. 792, consecrated 805 (thought to have been designed by Odo of Metz), significant changes to the architectural fabric 14–17th centuries (Gothic apse, c. 1355; dome rebuilt and raised in the 17th century, etc), mosaics and revetment scream 19th century, and are indeed 19th century, columns were looted by French troops in the 18th century though many were later returned, they were added back without knowledge as to their original locations in the 19th century. Finally, the structure was also heavily damaged by allied bombing during WWII and significantly restored again in the second half of the twentieth century.
Christ's Resurrection Basiilica (Lithuanian: Kauno mūsų Viešpaties Jėzaus Kristaus Prisikėlimo bazilika) in Lithuania's second city, Kaunas, was consecrated in 2004 and finished in 2005. It is located on a hill immediately to the north of the city centre and is on a monumental scale, with the main tower rising to 70 metres.
After Lithuania regained independence in 1918, the concept of a new church that would express gratitude to God for its regained freedom arose. A committee led by president Antanas Smetona was established in 1926 to oversee its construction. The City of Kaunas was chosen as its site, since the historic capital of Lithuania, Vilnius, was part of Poland between 1920 and 1939. A design competition was held in 1928 and the proposal drawn up by Karolis Reisonas was chosen for the church as the best. Due to the technical difficulties arising from the grand scope of the design, and dramatic escalation of its cost estimates, the final design was not approved until 1933.
The first cornerstone for the church was brought from Jerusalem's Mount Olive in 1934, marking the church's first symbolic milestone. Funds for the construction were raised in Lithuania and abroad. The prominent Lithuanian parson Feliksas Kapočius was particularly involved not only in the details of the building project, but also in its funding. He traveled through the United States, where many Lithuanian émigrés were living, to enlist support. The construction underwent several setbacks, and at times was suspended for lack of funding.
In 1936 certain Czechoslovak architects from Prague said that the church will become a masterpiece of modern architecture in the Baltics.[2] In 1938 the walls and roof of the church were completed, and by 1940 it was largely finished; at this point around one million litas had been spent, most of it from individual donations. Further work on the church was suspended during World War II. The Nazi occupational authorities used the church as a storeroom; during the Soviet period of Lithuanian history, the building was confiscated by the government. In 1952 Stalin decreed that it be used as a factory; the cross atop the tower was demolished, as was the chapel.
The church structure was used as a radio factory until the Lithuanian national awakening in 1988. Soon thereafter, control of the church was returned to a newly founded council. During the 1990s, its rehabilitation met with further obstacles; church and state had been officially separated, and Lithuanian citizens struggled with economic downturns during the transition to a market economy. In any event, the work continued. Funding was provided by both private sources and the Lithuanian government, and the church was consecrated in 2004.
In 2015 the church received the minor basilica title from Pope Francis.
This description incorporates text from the English Wikipedia.
The Oude Kerk (English: Old Church) is a Reformed church in Amsterdam, Netherlands, being the oldest parish church of the city. The oldest structure in Amsterdam, the building was founded about 1213 and consecrated in 1306 by the bishop of Utrecht with Saint Nicolas as its patron saint. After the Reformation in 1578, it became a Reformed (Calvinist) church, which it remains today. It is located in De Wallen and since 2012, includes an art exhibit within its structure. The square surrounding the church is the Oudekerksplein.
History
By around 1213, a wooden chapel had been erected at the location of today's Oude Kerk. Over time, this structure was replaced by a stone church that was consecrated in 1306.
The church has seen a number of renovations performed by 15 generations of Amsterdam citizens. The church stood for only a half-century before the first alterations were made; the aisles were lengthened and wrapped around the choir in a half circle to support the structure. Not long after the turn of the 15th century, north and south transepts were added to the church creating a cross formation. Work on these renovations was completed in 1460, though it is likely that progress was largely interrupted by the great fires that besieged the city in 1421 and 1452. This delayed the building for almost 1 year.
Before the Alteratie, or Reformation in Amsterdam of 1578, the Oude Kerk was Roman Catholic. Following William the Silent's defeat of the Spanish in the Dutch Revolt, the church was taken over by the Calvinist Dutch Reformed Church. Throughout the 16th-century battles, the church was looted and defaced on numerous occasions, first in the Beeldenstorm of 1566, when a mob destroyed most of the church art and fittings, including an altarpiece with a central panel by Jan van Scorel and side panels painted on both sides by Maarten van Heemskerck. Only the paintings on the ceiling, which were unreachable, were spared.
Locals would gather in the church to gossip, peddlers sold their goods, and beggars sought shelter. This was not tolerated by the Calvinists, however, and the homeless were expelled. In 1681, the choir was closed-off with an oak screen. Above the screen is the text, The prolonged misuse of God's church, were here undone again in the year seventy-eight, referring to the Reformation of 1578.
In that same year, the Oude Kerk became home to the registry of marriages. It was also used as the city archives; the most important documents were locked in a chest covered with iron plates and painted with the city's coat of arms. The chest was kept safe in the iron chapel.
Rembrandt was a frequent visitor to the Oude Kerk and his children were all christened here. It is the only building in Amsterdam that remains in its original state since Rembrandt walked its halls.[citation needed] In the Holy Sepulchre is a small Rembrandt exhibition, a shrine to his wife Saskia van Uylenburgh who was buried here in 1642. Each year on 9 March (8 March in leap years), at 8:39 am, the early morning sun briefly illuminates her tomb. An early spring breakfast event is held annually.
Structure
The church covers an area of some 3,300 m2 (36,000 sq ft). The foundations were set on an artificial mound, thought to be the most solid ground of the settlement in this marshy province.
The ceiling of the Oude Kerk is the largest medieval wooden vault in Europe. The Estonian oak planks date to 1390 and boast some of the best acoustics in Europe.
The Oude Kerk contains 12 misericords, leaning posts installed under the folding seats of the choir stalls.
Graves
The floor consists entirely of gravestones. The reason for this is that the church was built on a cemetery. Local citizens continued to be buried on the site within the confines of the church until 1865. There are 2,500 gravestones in the Oude Kerk, under which are buried 60,000 Amsterdam citizens, including:
Jacob van Heemskerck, naval hero
Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck, composer and organist
Adriaen Block, trader and explorer
Catharina Questiers, poet and dramatist
Jacob de Graeff Dircksz., Amsterdam regent
Andries de Graeff, Amsterdam regent
Cornelis de Graeff, Amsterdam regent
Catharina Hooft, woman of the Dutch golden age
Pieter Lastman, painter
Willem van der Zaan, Admiral
Laurens Bake, poet
Abraham van der Hulst, Admiral
Saskia van Uylenburgh, Wife of Rembrandt
Cornelis Hooft, statesman
Jan Jacobszoon Hinlopen, merchant
Kiliaen van Rensselaer, owner of the only successful patroonship in New Netherland, Rensselaerswyck.
Frans Banninck Cocq, burgomaster (mayor) of Amsterdam and central figure in Rembrandts masterpiece The Night Watch
Nicasius de Sille, Ambassador
Caspar Commelijn, botanist
Jan van der Heyden, painter and print maker
Johannes Hudde, burgomaster of Amsterdam and mathematician
Lucretia Wilhelmina van Merken, dramatist and poet
Jacob Beeldsnyder, the ony enslaved person so far identified
Organs
The Oude Kerk holds four pipe organs, the old church organ built in 1658 and the cabinet organ built in 1767. The third was built by the German Christian Vater in 1724 and is regarded as one of the finest Baroque organs in Europe. It was acknowledged by the church Commissioners as "perfect". The organ was dismantled whilst renovations were made to the church tower in 1738, and upon reassembling it, Casper Müller made alterations to give the organ more force. It became known as the Vater-Müller organ, to acknowledge the improvement of sound. The organ underwent a complete restoration between 2014 and 2019. The fourth was constructed for the church by Organi Puccini of Pisa in 2010.
A bust of the organist and composer Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck (1562–1621) celebrates the lifetime he spent playing in the church. His early career began at the age of fifteen when he succeeded his deceased father Pieter Swybertszoon as the Oude Kerk's organist. He went on to compose music for all 150 Psalms and secured an international reputation as a leading Dutch composer. His music would also be played over the city from the church's bell tower. He is buried in the church.
Today
Oude Kerk holds church services on the Lord's Day (Sunday) at 11 am, as well as vespers at 6:30 pm.
The Oude Kerk includes a centre for contemporary art and heritage. Artists including Nicolas Jaar, Marinus Boezem, Christian Boltanski, Janet Cardiff and George Bures Miller were commissioned by the Oude Kerk to create site-specific installations. The church also has a permanent exhibit on its history and that of the city of Amsterdam.
In mid-March each year, Catholics arrive at the Oude Kerk to celebrate the "Miracle of Amsterdam" that occurred in 1345. After taking communion, a dying man vomited the Host. When his vomit was thrown into a fire, the Host did not burn and was proclaimed a miracle. The Host was put in a chest and installed at the Oude Kerk; however, it disappeared during the Reformation.
(Wikipedia)
Die Oude Kerk (deutsch Alte Kirche) ist ein protestantisches Kirchengebäude und das älteste erhaltene Bauwerk in der niederländischen Hauptstadt Amsterdam. Sie befindet sich im Amsterdamer Rotlichtviertel (De Wallen). Die Kirche wurde vorreformatorisch im Jahre 1306 dem Patrozinium des heiligen Nikolaus anvertraut. Neben Gottesdiensten finden Ausstellungen und Konzerte in der Kirche statt.
Geschichte
Am Standort der Oude Kerk befand sich im 13. Jahrhundert eine kleine hölzerne Kapelle mit Friedhof. Mutterkirche war die Kirche von Ouderkerk, doch wuchs die Kirche in Amsterdam schnell und wurde 1334 selbständige Pfarrkirche, die zu Ehren des heiligen Nikolaus geweiht war. Zu Beginn des 15. Jahrhunderts wurde von dieser die am städtischen Hauptplatz Dam gelegene Nieuwe Kerk (Neue Kirche) abgepfarrt, woher sich die jeweiligen Bezeichnungen ableiten.
Der hölzerne Ursprungsbau der Kirche war in der 2. Hälfte des 13. Jahrhunderts durch einen steinernen Saalbau ersetzt worden. Nach 1300 erfolgte der Bau einer dreischiffigen Hallenkirche, die vermutlich die erste Hallenkirche der Niederlande war. Um 1330 erhielt die Kirche einen neuen Chor, zwischen 1330 und 1350 wurden breitere Seitenschiffe angefügt. In späterer Zeit wurde die Kirche nach Osten vergrößert und ein fünfseitiger Chorumgang gebaut. 1380–1412 erfolgte im Norden der Anbau der Georgskapelle, 1450–1460 im Süden der Anbau der Sebastianskapelle. Im 16. Jahrhundert wurde das Kirchenschiff erhöht und der Turm vergrößert.
Im Mittelalter war die Kirche, zeitweise nur teilweise, mit Buntglasfenstern ausgestattet, die die Kirche in unterschiedlichen Farbvarianten belichteten. Die drei Buntglasfenster links im Frauenchor sind die einzigen Fenster aus der vorreformatorischen Zeit. Die zwei östlichen Fenster wurden restauriert. Auf dem linken ist Maria auf ihrem Sterbebett mit den umstehenden Aposteln abgebildet. 1566 fiel die mittelalterliche Ausstattung dem Reformatorischen Bildersturm zum Opfer, nach 1578 erfolgte eine Neugestaltung für den protestantischen Gottesdienst. Von 1584 bis 1611 diente die Kirche auch als Börse.
1951 musste die Kirche wegen Einsturzgefahr geschlossen werden und wurde 24 Jahre lang restauriert. Eine erneute Renovierung fand 1994–1998 statt.
Begräbnisstätte
In der Oude Kerk befinden sich an die 2.500 Gräber, in denen etwa 10.000 Amsterdamer Bürger beigesetzt sind, darunter:
Jacob van Heemskerck, Admiral von Holland
Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck, niederländischer Organist an der Oude Kerk und Komponist
Adriaen Block, Händler und Kartograph
Jakob Dircksz de Graeff, Regent von Amsterdam
Cornelis de Graeff, niederländischer Politiker und Regent von Amsterdam
Andries de Graeff, niederländischer Politiker und Regent von Amsterdam
Pieter Lastman, Künstler
Willem van der Zaan, niederländischer Admiral
Laurens Bake, Poet und Dichter
Abraham van der Hulst, niederländischer Admiral
Saskia van Uylenburgh, Ehefrau von Rembrandt van Rijn
Andries Bicker, niederländischer Politiker und Regent von Amsterdam
Cornelis Hooft, Regent von Amsterdam
Jan Jacobszoon Hinlopen, Kaufmann, Regent von Amsterdam
Kiliaen van Rensselaer, einer der Gründer von Neu Amsterdam in Manhattan, heutzutage als New York bekannt.
Frans Banning Cocq, Kapitän in Rembrandt van Rijns Gemälde Die Nachtwache
Johann Gottlieb Plüschke, deutscher Theologe und Direktor des theologischen Seminars zu Amsterdam
Orgeln
Große Orgel
Die heutige große Orgel wurde 1724 bis 1726 von Christian Vater, einem Schüler von Arp Schnitger, mit 45 Registern in norddeutscher Tradition gebaut. Sie ersetzte das Instrument von Hendrik Niehoff, an dem Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck 44 Jahre Organist war. Nicht geklärt ist, wie Vater den Auftrag für den Neubau in Amsterdam erhielt. Möglicherweise stellte sein Mitarbeiter Matthias Schultze die Verbindung her. Johann Caspar Müller, ein jüngerer Bruder von Christian Müller, erweiterte die Orgel 1742 um neun Register. Änderungen erfolgten 1869/1870 und 1879 durch Christian Gottlieb Friedrich Witte, der die Klaviaturen und die Traktur erneuerte sowie einige Register im romantischen Stil umdisponierte. Die Firma S. F. Blank rekonstruierte 1979 die Bälge und 1987 die Klaviaturen. In den Jahren 2015–2019 führte Orgelmakerij Reil eine umfassende Restaurierung des gewachsenen Zustands durch, wobei möglichst wenig Eingriffe in die Intonation vorgenommen wurden.
Kleine Orgel
Im Jahr 1544 baute Niehoff eine kleine Orgel (II/P/13) im Querschiff, die 1658 von Hans Wolff Schonat ersetzt wurde. Orgelbauer J. C. Friedrichs verwendete das Pfeifenwerk 1823 für die Orgel in der Zuiderkerk, während das Gehäuse in der Oude Kerk verblieb. Im 19. Jahrhundert führten Umdisponierungen zu einer Veränderung des Klangbilds. Als die Zuiderkerk 1929 geschlossen wurde, erwarb die Oosterkerk in Aalten die Orgel. Dort wurde 1977 die Friedrichs-Orgel rekonstruiert. Das Schonat-Pfeifenwerk gelangte 1975 an die Groene of Willibrordkerk in Oegstgeest. In der Oude Kerk rekonstruierten Ahrend & Brunzema 1965 die Schonat-Orgel anhand der 1773 von Joachim Hess überlieferten Disposition, ergänzt um ein Gemshoorn 2′, hinter dem alten Gehäuse von Schonat. Die gleichstufige Stimmung wurde im Jahr 2002 in eine mitteltönige Stimmung verändert. Die Pfeifen der Octaaf 2′ wurden eingekürzt und für ein Sifflet 1 1⁄3′ wiederverwendet und die Quint 3′ zu einer Fluit 4′ umgearbeitet.
Glocken und Carillon
In der Glockenstube hängen vier Glocken: Glaube (b0, ≈3.700 kg, ø 1.750 mm), Hoffnung (d1, ø 1.400 mm), Liebe (f1, ø 1.170 mm) und Freiheit (b1, ø 870 mm). Die Glocken hängen an verkröpften Jochen und werden seit jeher von Hand geläutet. In der unteren Laterne des Turmhelms hängt ein Carillon, das ursprünglich im Jahre 1658 von François Hemony gegossen wurde.[4] Die Tonfolge reicht von b0 (≈3.400 kg), c1, d1 chromatisch bis b4. Von den ursprünglichen 35 Hemony-Glocken sind heute nur noch die größten 14 erhalten (b0 bis cis2), die anderen sind von Eijsbouts. Das Glockenspiel ist in mitteltöniger Stimmung gestimmt. Der Stokkenspieltisch wurde 1991 von der Glockengießerei Eijsbouts gebaut.
In der darüberliegenden Turmlaterne befindet sich eine Uhrschlagglocke aus dem Jahre 1505. Im Dachreiter über der Vierung hängt seit 2006 anstelle einer Vorgängerin wieder eine Angelusglocke (ø 770 mm) aus der Glockengießerei Eijsbouts, die zum Vaterunser geläutet wird.
(Wikipedia)
Kirillo-Belozersky Monastery (Russian: Кирилло-Белозерский монастырь), translated into English as White Lake [translation of the town name of Beloozero] St. Cyril's Monastery, used to be the largest monastery in Northern Russia. The monastery was consecrated to the Feast of the Dormition of the Theotokos, for which cause it was sometimes referred to as the Dormition Monastery of St. Cyril. By the 20th century, the town of Kirillov had grown nearby.
The monastery was founded in 1397 on the bank of Lake Siverskoye, to the south from the town of Beloozero, in the present-day Vologda Oblast. Its founder, St. Cyril or Kirill of Beloozero, following the advice of his teacher, St. Sergius of Radonezh, first dug a cave here, then built a wooden Dormition chapel and a loghouse for other monks. Shortly before the creation of the monastery, the area fell under control of the Grand Duchy of Moscow.
Being a member of the influential Velyaminov clan of boyars, Kirill relinquished the office of father superior of the greatest cloister in medieval Moscow—the Simonov monastery. His ties with the ruling elite were still close, however, as his letters to sons of Dmitri Donskoi clearly demonstrate. It seems that the Muscovite rulers regarded Kirill's monastery as an important strategic point, both for Northern trade and in their struggle with the Novgorod Republic. By 1427, when Kirill died, the prince of Belozersk-Mozhaisk (subject to the Grand Prince of Moscow) was the monastery's patron and the monastery was administratively subordinate to the Archbishop of Rostov. Under Hegumen Trifon (1434/5–1447/8), social and administrative reforms were undertaken, including the adoption of an Athonite cenobitic rule. A Byzantine-style secondary school was established at which translations of textbooks on grammar, semantics, geography, and history were used. A lasting legacy of the school were bibliographical studies, exemplified by the elder Yefrosin, and text critical studies, exemplified by Nil Sorsky (1433–1508). Nil also founded a skete on the Sora River near the monastery.
In the 16th century, the monastery was the second richest landowner in Russia, after its model, the Trinity Monastery near Moscow. Ivan the Terrible not only had his own cell in the cloister, but also planned to take monastic vows here. The cloister was also important as a political prison. Among the Muscovite politicians exiled to Kirillov were Vassian Patrikeyev, Tsar Simeon Bekbulatovich, Patriarch Nikon, and the prime minister Boris Morozov. In December 1612, the monastery was besieged by Polish-Lithuanian vagabonds, the Lisowczycy, who failed to capture it.
The vast walled area of the monastery comprises two separate priories with eleven churches, most of them dating to the 16th century. Of these, nine belong to the Uspensky (Dormition, the Orthodox equivalent of the Catholic holiday known as the Assumption of Mary) priory by the lake. The Dormition cathedral, erected by Rostov masters in 1497, was the largest monastery church built in Russia up to that date. Its 17th-century iconostasis features many ancient icons, arranged in five tiers above a silver heaven gate endowed by Tsar Alexis in 1645. A lot of valuable objects kept in the sacristy are personal gifts of the tsars who visited the monastery.
The smaller Ivanovsky priory is dedicated to St. John the Precursor, the patron saint of Ivan the Terrible. The oldest church of the priory was commissioned by Ivan's father, for the benefit of the "mendicant brethren", soon after his visit to the monastery in 1528. Subsequently, the monks incurred the tsar's displeasure by constructing St. Vladimir's Chapel over the grave of the exiled Prince Vorotynsky. Although the tsar chastised them for having broken canonical requirements, the chapel — which became the first family mausoleum in Russia — survived Ivan's reign and was expanded to its present form in 1623.
The monastery walls, 732 meters long and 7 meters thick, were constructed in 1654-80. They incorporate parts of the earlier citadel, which helped to withstand the Polish siege in 1612. At first construction works were supervised by Jean de Gron, a French military engineer known in Russian sources as Anton Granovsky. After the monastic authorities denigrated his Western-style design as alien to Russian traditions, Granovsky was replaced by a team of native masters. The fortress was the largest erected in Muscovy after the Time of Troubles; its walls feature numerous towers, each built to a particular design. The most remarkable are the Chasuble, the Tent-like, the Vologda, and the Smithy towers.
The Lala Mustafa Paşa Mosque, originally known as the Cathedral of Saint Nicholas and later as the Saint Sophia Mosque of Mağusa, is the largest medieval building in Famagusta. Built between 1298 and 1400, it was consecrated as a Catholic cathedral in 1328. The cathedral was converted into a mosque after the Ottoman Empire captured Famagusta in 1571 and it remains a mosque to this day. From 1954 the building has taken its name from Lala Mustafa Pasha, the Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire from Sokolovići in Bosnia, who served Murat III and led Ottoman forces against the Venetians in Cyprus. The building originally had twin towers but earthquakes and the Ottoman bombardments of Famagusta in 1571 destroyed them.
The newly consecrated National Cathedral of the Romanian Orthodox Church, still under construction in Bucharest
Orthodox Patriarchs of Constantinople and Bucharest consecrate Cathedral
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romanian_People%27s_Salvation_Cathe...
The Cathedral was consecrated on 25 November 2018 by the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople Bartholomew I, Patriarch Daniel of Romania and Metropolitan Chrysostomos (gr) of Patras from the Greek Orthodox Church.
The newly consecrated National Cathedral of the Romanian Orthodox Church, still under construction in Bucharest
Orthodox Patriarchs of Constantinople and Bucharest consecrate Cathedral
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romanian_People%27s_Salvation_Cathe...
The Cathedral was consecrated on 25 November 2018 by the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople Bartholomew I, Patriarch Daniel of Romania and Metropolitan Chrysostomos (gr) of Patras from the Greek Orthodox Church.
"Jesus raised his eyes to heaven and said:
‘Holy Father,
keep those you have given me true to your name,
so that they may be one like us.
While I was with them,
I kept those you had given me true to your name.
I have watched over them
and not one is lost
except the one who chose to be lost,
and this was to fulfil the scriptures.
But now I am coming to you
and while still in the world I say these things
to share my joy with them to the full.
I passed your word on to them,
and the world hated them,
because they belong to the world
no more than I belong to the world.
I am not asking you to remove them from the world,
but to protect them from the evil one.
They do not belong to the world
any more than I belong to the world.
Consecrate them in the truth;
your word is truth.
As you sent me into the world,
I have sent them into the world,
and for their sake I consecrate myself
so that they too may be consecrated in truth.’"
– John 7:11-19, which is today's Gospel for the 7th Sunday of Easter.
My sermon for today can be read here.
Stained glass window from St Mary's church in Norwich.
St Mark's Basilica
Basilica di San Marco
The Patriarchal Cathedral Basilica of Saint Mark
Basilica Cattedrale Patriarcale di San Marco
Location: Venice, Italy
Denomination: Catholic Church
Consecrated: 8 October 1094
Titular saint: Mark the Evangelist
Designation: Cathedral (minor basilica)
1807–present
Episcopal see: Patriarchate of Venice
Prior status
Designation: Ducal chapel
c. 836–1797
Tutelage: Doge of Venice
Built: c. 829–c. 836
Rebuilt: c. 1063–1094
Styles: Byzantine, Romanesque, Gothic
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_Mark%27s_Basilica
www.basilicasanmarco.it/?lang=en
.
music:
Old Roman chant - Qui habitat in adiutorio altissimi (Part II)
youtu.be/X5xoJfXT1LU?si=Tjj5luVnwdwjuoB_
~ Psalm 90 ~
Latin:
Qui habitat in adiutorio Altissimi, in protectione Dei caeli commorabitur. Dicet Domino: Susceptor meus es, et refugium meum, Deus meus: sperabo in eum. Quoniam ipse liberavit me de laqueo venantium, et a verbo aspero. Scapulis suis obumbrabit tibi, et sub pennis eius sperabis. Scuto circumdabit te veritas eius: non timebis a timore nocturno. A sagitta volante per diem, a negotio perambulante in tenebris, a ruina et daemonio meridiano. Cadent a latere tuo mille, et decem millia a dextris tuis: tibi autem non appropinquabit. Quoniam Angelis suis mandavit de te, ut custodiant te in omnibus viis tuis. In manibus portabunt te, ne unquam offendas ad lapidem pedem tuum. Super aspidem et basiliscum ambulabis, et conculcabis leonem et draconem. Quoniam in me speravit, liberabo eum: protegam eum, quoniam cognovit nomen meum. Invocabit me, et ego exaudiam eum: cum ipso sum in tribulatione. Eripiam eum, et glorificabo eum: longitudine dierum adimplebo eum, et ostendam illi salutare meum.
Greek:
Ο κατοικῶν ἐν βοηθείᾳ τοῦ ῾Υψίστου, ἐν σκέπῃ τοῦ Θεοῦ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ αὐλισθήσεται. Ερεῖ τῷ Κυρίῳ· αντιλήπτωρ μου εἶ καὶ καταφυγή μου, ὁ Θεός μου, καὶ ἐλπιῶ ἐπ᾿ αὐτόν, ὅτι αὐτὸς ρύσεταί σε ἐκ παγίδος θηρευτῶν καὶ απὸ λόγου ταραχώδους. Εν τοῖς μεταφρένοις αὐτοῦ ἐπισκιάσει σοι,καὶ ὑπὸ τὰς πτέρυγας αὐτοῦ ἐλπιεῖς· ὅπλῳ κυκλώσει σε ἡ αλήθεια αὐτοῦ. Οὐ φοβηθήσῃ απὸ φόβου νυκτερινοῦ, απὸ βέλους πετομένου ἡμέρας, απὸ πράγματος ἐν σκότει διαπορευομένου, απὸ συμπτώματος καὶ δαιμονίου μεσημβρινοῦ. Πεσεῖται ἐκ τοῦ κλίτους σου χιλιὰς καὶ μυριὰς ἐκ δεξιῶν σου, πρὸς σὲ δὲ οὐκ ἐγγιεῖ· πλὴν τοῖς ὀφθαλμοῖς σου κατανοήσεις καὶ ανταπόδοσιν ἁμαρτωλῶν ὄψει. Ότι σύ, Κύριε, ἡ ἐλπίς μου· τὸν ῞Υψιστον ἔθου καταφυγήν σου. Οὐ προσελεύσεται πρὸς σὲ κακά, καὶ μάστιξ οὐκ ἐγγιεῖ ἐν τῷ σκηνώματί σου. Ότι τοῖς αγγέλοις αὐτοῦ ἐντελεῖται περὶ σοῦ τοῦ διαφυλάξαι σε ἐν πάσαις ταῖς ὁδοῖς σου· ἐπὶ χειρῶν άροῦσί σε, μήποτε προσκόψῃς πρὸς λίθον τὸν πόδα σου· επὶ ασπίδα καὶ βασιλίσκον ἐπιβήσῃ καὶ καταπατήσεις λέοντα καὶ δράκοντα. Ότι ἐπ᾿ ἐμὲ ἤλπισε, καὶ ρύσομαι αὐτόν· σκεπάσω αὐτόν, ὅτι ἔγνω τὸ ὄνομά μου. Κεκράξεται πρός με, καὶ ἐπακούσομαι αὐτοῦ, μετ᾿ αὐτοῦ εἰμι ἐν θλίψει· ἐξελοῦμαι αὐτόν, καὶ δοξάσω αὐτόν. Μακρότητα ἡμερῶν ἐμπλήσω αὐτὸν καὶ δείξω αὐτῷ τὸ σωτήριόν μου.
English:
He that dwells in the help of the Highest, shall sojourn under the shelter of the God of heaven. He shall say to the Lord, Thou art my helper and my refuge: my God; I will hope in him. For he shall deliver thee from the snare of the hunters, from [every] troublesome matter. He shall overshadow thee with his shoulders, and thou shalt trust under his wings: his truth shall cover thee with a shield. Thou shalt not be afraid of terror by night; nor of the arrow flying by day; [nor] of the [evil] thing that walks in darkness; [nor] of calamity, and the evil spirit at noon-day. A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee. Only with thine eyes shalt thou observe and see the reward of sinners. For thou, O Lord, art my hope: thou, my soul, hast made the Most High thy refuge. No evils shall come upon thee, and no scourge shall draw night to the dwelling. For he shall give his angels charge concerning thee, to keep thee in all thy ways. They shall bear thee up on their hands, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone. Thou shalt tread on the asp and basilisk: and thou shalt trample on the lion and dragon. For he has hoped in me, and I will deliver him: I will protect him, because he has known my name. He shall call upon me, and I will hearken to him: I am with him in affliction; and I will deliver him, and glorify him. I will satisfy him with length of days, and shew him my salvation.
"O God, who consecrated that abundant first fruits of the Roman Church by the blood of the Martyrs, grant, we pray, that with firm courage we may together draw strength from so great a struggle and ever rejoice at the triumph of faithful love. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever."
– Collect for the feast of the First Martyrs of the Church of Rome (30 June).
This monumental painting by Léon-François Benouville was completed in 1855, and it is now displayed in the Musée d'Orsay in Paris. I was quite mesmerised by this painting, and stood before it for some time, contemplating the fortitude of the Martyrs, and thinking of the bravery and charity that we need as Christians in a world that often opposes the Gospel.
The Church of the Holy Sepulchre is a church in the Christian Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem. According to traditions dating back to the 4th century, it contains the two holiest sites in Christianity: the site where Jesus was crucified, at a place known as Calvary or Golgotha, and Jesus's empty tomb, where he is believed by Christians to have been buried and resurrected. Each time the church was rebuilt, some of the antiquities from the preceding structure were used in the newer renovation. The tomb itself is enclosed by a 19th-century shrine called the Aedicule. The Status Quo, an understanding between religious communities dating to 1757, applies to the site.
Within the church proper are the last four stations of the Cross of the Via Dolorosa, representing the final episodes of the Passion of Jesus. The church has been a major Christian pilgrimage destination since its creation in the 4th century, as the traditional site of the resurrection of Christ, thus its original Greek name, Church of the Anastasis ('Resurrection').
Control of the church itself is shared, a simultaneum, among several Christian denominations and secular entities in complicated arrangements essentially unchanged for over 160 years, and some for much longer. The main denominations sharing property over parts of the church are the Roman Catholic, Greek Orthodox and Armenian Apostolic, and to a lesser degree the Coptic, Syriac, and Ethiopian Orthodox churches.
Following the siege of Jerusalem in AD 70 during the First Jewish–Roman War, Jerusalem had been reduced to ruins. In AD 130, the Roman emperor Hadrian began the building of a Roman colony, the new city of Aelia Capitolina, on the site. Circa AD 135, he ordered that a cave containing a rock-cut tomb be filled in to create a flat foundation for a temple dedicated to Jupiter or Venus. The temple remained until the early 4th century.
After allegedly seeing a vision of a cross in the sky in 312, Constantine the Great began to favor Christianity, signed the Edict of Milan legalising the religion, and sent his mother, Helena, to Jerusalem to look for Christ's tomb. With the help of Bishop of Caesarea Eusebius and Bishop of Jerusalem Macarius, three crosses were found near a tomb; one which allegedly cured people of death was presumed to be the True Cross Jesus was crucified on, leading the Romans to believe that they had found Calvary. Constantine ordered in about 326 that the temple to Jupiter/Venus be replaced by a church. After the temple was torn down and its ruins removed, the soil was removed from the cave, revealing a rock-cut tomb that Helena and Macarius identified as the burial site of Jesus. A shrine was built, enclosing the rock tomb walls within its own.
In 327, Constantine and Helena separately commissioned the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem to commemorate the birth of Jesus.
The Church of the Holy Sepulchre, planned by the architect Zenobius, was built as separate constructs over the two holy sites: a rotunda called the Anastasis ("Resurrection"), where Helena and Macarius believed Jesus to have been buried, and across a courtyard to the east, the great basilica, an enclosed colonnaded atrium (the Triportico, sometimes called the Martyrium) with the traditional site of Calvary in one corner. The church was consecrated on 13 September 335. The Church Of The Holy Sepulchre site has been recognized since early in the 4th century as the place where Jesus was crucified, buried, and rose from the dead.
This building was destroyed by a fire in May of AD 614, when the Sassanid Empire, under Khosrau II, invaded Jerusalem and captured the True Cross. In 630, the Emperor Heraclius rebuilt the church after recapturing the city. After Jerusalem came under Islamic rule, it remained a Christian church, with the early Muslim rulers protecting the city's Christian sites, prohibiting their destruction or use as living quarters. A story reports that the caliph Umar ibn al-Khattab visited the church and stopped to pray on the balcony, but at the time of prayer, turned away from the church and prayed outside. He feared that future generations would misinterpret this gesture, taking it as a pretext to turn the church into a mosque. Eutychius of Alexandria adds that Umar wrote a decree saying that Muslims would not inhabit this location. The building suffered severe damage from an earthquake in 746.
Early in the 9th century, another earthquake damaged the dome of the Anastasis. The damage was repaired in 810 by Patriarch Thomas I. In 841, the church suffered a fire. In 935, the Christians prevented the construction of a Muslim mosque adjacent to 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, a riot broke out, which was followed by reprisals. The basilica was burned again. The doors and roof were burnt, and Patriarch John VII was murdered.
On 18 October 1009, Fatimid caliph al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah ordered the complete destruction of the church as part of a more general campaign against Christian places of worship in Palestine and Egypt. The damage was extensive, with few parts of the early church remaining, and the roof of the rock-cut tomb damaged; the original shrine was destroyed. Some partial repairs followed. Christian Europe reacted with shock and expulsions of Jews, serving as an impetus to later Crusades.
In wide-ranging negotiations between the Fatimids and the Byzantine Empire in 1027–28, an agreement was reached whereby the new Caliph Ali az-Zahir (al-Hakim's son) agreed to allow the rebuilding and redecoration of the church. The rebuilding was finally completed during the tenures of Emperor Constantine IX Monomachos and Patriarch Nicephorus of Constantinople in 1048. As a concession, the mosque in Constantinople was reopened and the khutba sermons were to be pronounced in az-Zahir's name. Muslim sources say a by-product of the agreement was the renunciation of Islam by many Christians who had been forced to convert under al-Hakim's persecutions. In addition, the Byzantines, while releasing 5,000 Muslim prisoners, made demands for the restoration of other churches destroyed by al-Hakim and the reestablishment of a patriarch in Jerusalem. Contemporary sources credit the emperor with spending vast sums in an effort to restore the Church of the Holy Sepulchre after this agreement was made. Still, "a total replacement was far beyond available resources. The new construction was concentrated on the rotunda and its surrounding buildings: the great basilica remained in ruins."
The rebuilt church site consisted of "a court open to the sky, with five small chapels attached to it." The chapels were east of the court of resurrection (when reconstructed, the location of the tomb was under open sky), where the western wall of the great basilica had been. They commemorated scenes from the passion, such as the location of the prison of Christ and his flagellation, and presumably were so placed because of the difficulties of free movement among shrines in the city streets. The dedication of these chapels indicates the importance of the pilgrims' devotion to the suffering of Christ. They have been described as 'a sort of Via Dolorosa in miniature'... since little or no rebuilding took place on the site of the great basilica. Western pilgrims to Jerusalem during the 11th century found much of the sacred site in ruins." Control of Jerusalem, and thereby the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, continued to change hands several times between the Fatimids and the Seljuk Turks (loyal to the Abbasid caliph in Baghdad) until the Crusaders' arrival in 1099.
Many historians maintain that the main concern of Pope Urban II, when calling for the First Crusade, was the threat to Constantinople from the Turkish invasion of Asia Minor in response to the appeal of Byzantine Emperor Alexios I Komnenos. Historians agree that the fate of Jerusalem and thereby the Church of the Holy Sepulchre was also of concern, if not the immediate goal of papal policy in 1095. The idea of taking Jerusalem gained more focus as the Crusade was underway. The rebuilt church site was taken from the Fatimids (who had recently taken it from the Abassids) by the knights of the First Crusade on 15 July 1099.
The First Crusade was envisioned as an armed pilgrimage, and no crusader could consider his journey complete unless he had prayed as a pilgrim at the Holy Sepulchre. The classical theory is that Crusader leader Godfrey of Bouillon, who became the first Latin ruler of Jerusalem, decided not to use the title "king" during his lifetime, and declared himself Advocatus Sancti Sepulchri ("Protector [or Defender] of the Holy Sepulchre"). By the Crusader period, a cistern under the former basilica was rumoured to have been where Helena had found the True Cross, and began to be venerated as such; the cistern later became the Chapel of the Invention of the Cross, but there is no evidence of the site's identification before the 11th century, and modern archaeological investigation has now dated the cistern to 11th-century repairs by Monomachos.
According to the German priest and pilgrim Ludolf von Sudheim, the keys of the Chapel of the Holy Sepulchre were in hands of the "ancient Georgians", and the food, alms, candles and oil for lamps were given to them by the pilgrims at the south door of the church.
Eight 11th- and 12th-century Crusader leaders (Godfrey, Baldwin I, Baldwin II, Fulk, Baldwin III, Amalric, Baldwin IV and Baldwin V — the first eight rulers of the Kingdom of Jerusalem) were buried in the south transept and inside the Chapel of Adam. The royal tombs were destroyed by the Greeks in 1809–1810. It is unclear if the remains of those men were exhumed; some researchers hypothesize that some of them may still be in unmarked pits under the church.
William of Tyre, chronicler of the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem, reports on the renovation of the Church in the mid-12th century. The Crusaders investigated the eastern ruins on the site, occasionally excavating through the rubble, and while attempting to reach the cistern, they discovered part of the original ground level of Hadrian's temple enclosure; they transformed this space into a chapel dedicated to Helena, widening their original excavation tunnel into a proper staircase. The Crusaders began to refurnish the church in Romanesque style and added a bell tower. These renovations unified the small chapels on the site and were completed during the reign of Queen Melisende in 1149, placing all the holy places under one roof for the first time. The church became the seat of the first Latin patriarchs and the site of the kingdom's scriptorium. It was lost to Saladin, along with the rest of the city, in 1187, although the treaty established after the Third Crusade allowed Christian pilgrims to visit the site. Emperor Frederick II (r. 1220–50) regained the city and the church by treaty in the 13th century while under a ban of excommunication, with the curious consequence that the holiest church in Christianity was laid under interdict. The church seems to have been largely in the hands of Greek Orthodox patriarch Athanasius II of Jerusalem (c. 1231–47) during the Latin control of Jerusalem. Both city and church were captured by the Khwarezmians in 1244.
There was certainly a recognisable Nestorian (Church of the East) presence at the Holy Sepulchre from the years 1348 through 1575, as contemporary Franciscan accounts indicate. The Franciscan friars renovated the church in 1555, as it had been neglected despite increased numbers of pilgrims. The Franciscans rebuilt the Aedicule, extending the structure to create an antechamber. A marble shrine commissioned by Friar Boniface of Ragusa was placed to envelop the remains of Christ's tomb, probably to prevent pilgrims from touching the original rock or taking small pieces as souvenirs. A marble slab was placed over the limestone burial bed where Jesus's body is believed to have lain.
After the renovation of 1555, control of the church oscillated between the Franciscans and the Orthodox, depending on which community could obtain a favorable firman from the "Sublime Porte" at a particular time, often through outright bribery. Violent clashes were not uncommon. There was no agreement about this question, although it was discussed at the negotiations to the Treaty of Karlowitz in 1699. During the Holy Week of 1757, Orthodox Christians reportedly took over some of the Franciscan-controlled church. This may have been the cause of the sultan's firman (decree) later developed into the Status Quo.
A fire severely damaged the structure again in 1808, causing the dome of the Rotunda to collapse and smashing the Aedicule's exterior decoration. The Rotunda and the Aedicule's exterior were rebuilt in 1809–10 by architect Nikolaos Ch. Komnenos of Mytilene in the contemporary Ottoman Baroque style.[citation needed] The interior of the antechamber, now known as the Chapel of the Angel, was partly rebuilt to a square ground plan in place of the previously semicircular western end.
Another decree in 1853 from the sultan solidified the existing territorial division among the communities and solidified the Status Quo for arrangements to "remain in their present state", requiring consensus to make even minor changes.
The dome was restored by Catholics, Greeks and Turks in 1868, being made of iron ever since.
By the time of the British Mandate for Palestine following the end of World War I, the cladding of red marble applied to the Aedicule by Komnenos had deteriorated badly and was detaching from the underlying structure; from 1947 until restoration work in 2016–17, it was held in place with an exterior scaffolding of iron girders installed by the British authorities.
In 1948, Jerusalem was divided between Israel and Jordan and the Old City with the church were made part of Jordan. In 1967, Israeli forces captured East Jerusalem in the Six Day War, and that area has remained under Israeli control ever since. Under Israeli rule, legal arrangements relating to the churches of East Jerusalem were maintained in coordination with the Jordanian government. The dome at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre was restored again in 1994–97 as part of extensive modern renovations that have been ongoing since 1959. During the 1970–78 restoration works and excavations inside the building, and under the nearby Muristan bazaar, it was found that the area was originally a quarry, from which white meleke limestone was struck.
East of the Chapel of Saint Helena, the excavators discovered a void containing a second-century[dubious – discuss] drawing of a Roman pilgrim ship, two low walls supporting the platform of Hadrian's second-century temple, and a higher fourth-century wall built to support Constantine's basilica. After the excavations of the early 1970s, the Armenian authorities converted this archaeological space into the Chapel of Saint Vartan, and created an artificial walkway over the quarry on the north of the chapel, so that the new chapel could be accessed (by permission) from the Chapel of Saint Helena.
After seven decades of being held together by steel girders, the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) declared the visibly deteriorating Aedicule structure unsafe. A restoration of the Aedicule was agreed upon and executed from May 2016 to March 2017. Much of the $4 million project was funded by the World Monuments Fund, as well as $1.3 million from Mica Ertegun and a significant sum from King Abdullah II of Jordan. The existence of the original limestone cave walls within the Aedicule was confirmed, and a window was created to view this from the inside. The presence of moisture led to the discovery of an underground shaft resembling an escape tunnel carved into the bedrock, seeming to lead from the tomb. For the first time since at least 1555, on 26 October 2016, marble cladding that protects the supposed burial bed of Jesus was removed. Members of the National Technical University of Athens were present. Initially, only a layer of debris was visible. This was cleared in the next day, and a partially broken marble slab with a Crusader-style cross carved was revealed. By the night of 28 October, the original limestone burial bed was shown to be intact. The tomb was resealed shortly thereafter. Mortar from just above the burial bed was later dated to the mid-fourth century.
On 25 March 2020, Israeli health officials ordered the site closed to the public due to the COVID-19 pandemic. According to the keeper of the keys, it was the first such closure since 1349, during the Black Death. Clerics continued regular prayers inside the building, and it reopened to visitors two months later, on 24 May.
During church renovations in 2022, a stone slab covered in modern graffiti was moved from a wall, revealing Cosmatesque-style decoration on one face. According to an IAA archaeologist, the decoration was once inlaid with pieces of glass and fine marble; it indicates that the relic was the front of the church's high altar from the Crusader era (c. 1149), which was later used by the Greek Orthodox until being damaged in the 1808 fire.
The courtyard facing the entrance to the church is known as the parvis. Two streets open into the parvis: St Helena Road (west) and Suq ed-Dabbagha (east). Around the parvis are a few smaller structures.
South of the parvis, opposite the church:
Broken columns—once forming part of an arcade—stand opposite the church, at the top of a short descending staircase stretching over the entire breadth of the parvis. In the 13th century, the tops of the columns were removed and sent to Mecca by the Khwarezmids.
The Gethsemane Metochion, a small Greek Orthodox monastery (metochion).
On the eastern side of the parvis, south to north:
The Monastery of St Abraham (Greek Orthodox), next to the Suq ed-Dabbagha entrance to the parvis.
The Chapel of St John the Evangelist (Armenian Orthodox)
The Chapel of St Michael and the Chapel of the Four Living Creatures (both are disputed between the Copts and Ethiopians), giving access to Deir es-Sultan (also disputed), a rooftop monastery surrounding the dome of the Chapel of St Helena.
North of the parvis, in front of the church façade or against it:
Chapel of the Franks (Chapel of Our Lady of Sorrows): a blue-domed Roman Catholic Crusader chapel dedicated to Our Lady of Sorrows, which once provided exclusive access to Calvary. The chapel marks the 10th Station of the Cross (the stripping of Jesus's garments).
Oratory of St. Mary of Egypt: a Greek Orthodox oratory and chapel, directly beneath the Chapel of the Franks, dedicated to St. Mary of Egypt.
The tomb (including a ledgerstone) of Philip d'Aubigny aka Philip Daubeney (died 1236), a knight, tutor, and royal councilor to Henry III of England and signer of the Magna Carta—is placed in front of, and between, the church's two original entrance doors, of which the eastern one is walled up. It is one of the few tombs of crusaders and other Europeans not removed from the Church after the Khwarizmian capture of Jerusalem in 1244. In the 1900s, during a fight between the Greeks and Latins, some monks damaged the tomb by throwing stones from the roof. A stone marker[clarification needed] was placed on his tomb in 1925, sheltered by a wooden trapdoor that hides it from view.[citation needed]
A group of three chapels borders the parvis on its west side. They originally formed the baptistery complex of the Constantinian church. The southernmost chapel was the vestibule, the middle chapel the baptistery, and the north chapel the chamber in which the patriarch chrismated the newly baptized before leading them into the rotunda north of this complex. Now they are dedicated as (from south to north)
The Chapel of St. James the Just (Greek Orthodox),
The Chapel of St. John the Baptist (Greek Orthodox),
The Chapel of the Forty Martyrs of Sebaste (Greek Orthodox; at the base of the bell tower).
The 12th-century Crusader bell tower is just south of the Rotunda, to the left of the entrance. Its upper level was lost in a 1545 collapse. In 1719, another two storeys were lost.
The wooden doors that compose the main entrance are the original, highly carved arched doors. Today, only the left-hand entrance is currently accessible, as the right doorway has long since been bricked up. The entrance to the church leads to the south transept, through the crusader façade in the parvis of a larger courtyard. This is found past a group of streets winding through the outer Via Dolorosa by way of a souq in the Muristan. This narrow way of access to such a large structure has proven to be hazardous at times. For example, when a fire broke out in 1840, dozens of pilgrims were trampled to death.
According to their own family lore, the Muslim Nuseibeh family has been responsible for opening the door as an impartial party to the church's denominations already since the seventh century. However, they themselves admit that the documents held by various Christian denominations only mention their role since the 12th century, in the time of Saladin, which is the date more generally accepted. After retaking Jerusalem from the Crusaders in 1187, Saladin entrusted the Joudeh family with the key to the church, which is made of iron and 30 centimetres (12 in) long; the Nuseibehs either became or remained its doorkeepers.
The 'immovable ladder' stands beneath a window on the façade.
Just inside the church entrance is a stairway leading up to Calvary (Golgotha), traditionally regarded as the site of Jesus's crucifixion and the most lavishly decorated part of the church. The exit is via another stairway opposite the first, leading down to the ambulatory. Golgotha and its chapels are just south of the main altar of the catholicon.
Calvary is split into two chapels: one Greek Orthodox and one Catholic, each with its own altar. On the left (north) side, the Greek Orthodox chapel's altar is placed over the supposed rock of Calvary (the 12th Station of the Cross), which can be touched through a hole in the floor beneath the altar. The rock can be seen under protective glass on both sides of the altar. The softer surrounding stone was removed when the church was built. The Roman Catholic (Franciscan) Chapel of the Nailing of the Cross (the 11th Station of the Cross) stretches to the south. Between the Catholic Altar of the Nailing to the Cross and the Orthodox altar is the Catholic Altar of the Stabat Mater, which has a statue of Mary with an 18th-century bust; this middle altar marks the 13th Station of the Cross.
On the ground floor, just underneath the Golgotha chapel, is the Chapel of Adam. According to tradition, Jesus was crucified over the place where Adam's skull was buried. According to some, the blood of Christ ran down the cross and through the rocks to fill Adam's skull. Through a window at the back of the 11th-century apse, the rock of Calvary can be seen with a crack traditionally held to be caused by the earthquake that followed Jesus's death;[78] some scholars claim it is the result of quarrying against a natural flaw in the rock.
Behind the Chapel of Adam is the Greek Treasury (Treasury of the Greek Patriarch). Some of its relics, such as a 12th-century crystal mitre, were transferred to the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate Museum (the Patriarchal Museum) on Greek Orthodox Patriarchate Street.
Just inside the entrance to the church is the Stone of Anointing (also Stone of the Anointing or Stone of Unction), which tradition holds to be where Jesus's body was prepared for burial by Joseph of Arimathea, though this tradition is only attested since the crusader era (notably by the Italian Dominican pilgrim Riccoldo da Monte di Croce in 1288), and the present stone was only added in the 1810 reconstruction.
The wall behind the stone is defined by its striking blue balconies and taphos symbol-bearing red banners (depicting the insignia of the Brotherhood of the Holy Sepulchre), and is decorated with lamps. The modern mosaic along the wall depicts the anointing of Jesus's body, preceded on the right by the Descent from the Cross, and succeeded on the left by the Burial of Jesus.
The wall was a temporary addition to support the arch above it, which had been weakened after the damage in the 1808 fire; it blocks the view of the rotunda, separates the entrance from the catholicon, sits on top of four of the now empty and desecrated Crusader graves and is no longer structurally necessary. Opinions differ as to whether it is to be seen as the 13th Station of the Cross, which others identify as the lowering of Jesus from the cross and located between the 11th and 12th stations on Calvary.
The lamps that hang over the Stone of Unction, adorned with cross-bearing chain links, are contributed by Armenians, Copts, Greeks and Latins.
Immediately inside and to the left of the entrance is a bench (formerly a divan) that has traditionally been used by the church's Muslim doorkeepers, along with some Christian clergy, as well as electrical wiring. To the right of the entrance is a wall along the ambulatory containing the staircase leading to Golgotha. Further along the same wall is the entrance to the Chapel of Adam.
The rotunda is the building of the larger dome located on the far west side. In the centre of the rotunda is a small chapel called the Aedicule in English, from the Latin aedicula, in reference to a small shrine. The Aedicule has two rooms: the first holds a relic called the Angel's Stone, which is believed to be a fragment of the large stone that sealed the tomb; the second, smaller room contains the tomb of Jesus. Possibly to prevent pilgrims from removing bits of the original rock as souvenirs, by 1555, a surface of marble cladding was placed on the tomb to prevent further damage to the tomb. In October 2016, the top slab was pulled back to reveal an older, partially broken marble slab with a Crusader-style cross carved in it. Beneath it, the limestone burial bed was revealed to be intact.
Under the Status Quo, the Eastern Orthodox, Roman Catholic, and Armenian Apostolic Churches all have rights to the interior of the tomb, and all three communities celebrate the Divine Liturgy or Holy Mass there daily. It is also used for other ceremonies on special occasions, such as the Holy Saturday ceremony of the Holy Fire led by the Greek Orthodox patriarch (with the participation of the Coptic and Armenian patriarchs). To its rear, in the Coptic Chapel, constructed of iron latticework, lies the altar used by the Coptic Orthodox. Historically, the Georgians also retained the key to the Aedicule.
To the right of the sepulchre on the northwestern edge of the Rotunda is the Chapel of the Apparition, which is reserved for Roman Catholic use.
In the central nave of the Crusader-era church, just east of the larger rotunda, is the Crusader structure housing the main altar of the Church, today the Greek Orthodox catholicon. Its dome is 19.8 metres (65 ft) in diameter, and is set directly over the centre of the transept crossing of the choir where the compas is situated, an omphalos ("navel") stone once thought to be the center of the world and still venerated as such by Orthodox Christians (associated with the site of the Crucifixion and the Resurrection).
Since 1996 this dome is topped by the monumental Golgotha Crucifix, which the Greek Patriarch Diodoros I of Jerusalem consecrated. It was at the initiative of Israeli professor Gustav Kühnel to erect a new crucifix at the church that would not only be worthy of the singularity of the site, but that would also become a symbol of the efforts of unity in the community of Christian faith.
The catholicon's iconostasis demarcates the Orthodox sanctuary behind it, to its east. The iconostasis is flanked to the front by two episcopal thrones: the southern seat (cathedra) is the patriarchal throne of the Greek Orthodox patriarch of Jerusalem, and the northern seat is for an archbishop or bishop. (There is also a popular claim that both are patriarchal thrones, with the northern one being for the patriarch of Antioch — which has been described as a misstatement, however.)
South of the Aedicule is the "Place of the Three Marys", marked by a stone canopy (the Station of the Holy Women) and a large modern wall mosaic. From here one can enter the Armenian monastery, which stretches over the ground and first upper floor of the church's southeastern part.
West of the Aedicule, to the rear of the Rotunda, is the Syriac Chapel with the Tomb of Joseph of Arimathea, located in a Constantinian apse and containing an opening to an ancient Jewish rock-cut tomb. This chapel is where the Syriac Orthodox celebrate their Liturgy on Sundays.
The Syriac Orthodox Chapel of Saint Joseph of Arimathea and Saint Nicodemus. On Sundays and feast days it is furnished for the celebration of Mass. It is accessed from the Rotunda, by a door west of the Aedicule.
On the far side of the chapel is the low entrance to an almost complete first-century Jewish tomb, initially holding six kokh-type funeral shafts radiating from a central chamber, two of which are still exposed. Although this space was discovered relatively recently and contains no identifying marks, some believe that Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus were buried here. Since Jews always buried their dead outside the city, the presence of this tomb seems to prove that the Holy Sepulchre site was outside the city walls at the time of the crucifixion.
The Franciscan Chapel of St. Mary Magdalene – The chapel, an open area, indicates the place where Mary Magdalene met Jesus after his resurrection.
The Franciscan Chapel of the Apparition (Chapel of the Blessed Sacrament), directly north of the above – in memory of Jesus's meeting with his mother after the Resurrection, a non-scriptural tradition. Here stands a piece of an ancient column, allegedly part of the one Jesus was tied to during his scourging.
The Arches of the Virgin are seven arches (an arcade) at the northern end of the north transept, which is to the catholicon's north. Disputed by the Orthodox and the Latin, the area is used to store ladders.
In the northeast side of the complex, there is the Prison of Christ, alleged to be where Jesus was held. The Greek Orthodox are showing pilgrims yet another place where Jesus was allegedly held, the similarly named Prison of Christ in their Monastery of the Praetorium, located near the Church of Ecce Homo, between the Second and Third Stations of the Via Dolorosa. The Armenians regard a recess in the Monastery of the Flagellation at the Second Station of the Via Dolorosa as the Prison of Christ. A cistern among the ruins beneath the Church of St. Peter in Gallicantu on Mount Zion is also alleged to have been the Prison of Christ. To reconcile the traditions, some allege that Jesus was held in the Mount Zion cell in connection with his trial by the Jewish high priest, at the Praetorium in connection with his trial by the Roman governor Pilate, and near the Golgotha before crucifixion.
The chapels in the ambulatory are, from north to south: the Greek Chapel of Saint Longinus (named after Longinus), the Armenian Chapel of the Division of Robes, the entrance to the Chapel of Saint Helena, and the Greek Chapel of the Derision.
Chapel of Saint Helena – between the Chapel of the Division of Robes and the Greek Chapel of the Derision are stairs descending to the Chapel of Saint Helena. The Armenians, who own it, call it the Chapel of St. Gregory the Illuminator, after the saint who brought Christianity to the Armenians.
Chapel of St Vartan (or Vardan) Mamikonian – on the north side of the Chapel of Saint Helena is an ornate wrought iron door, beyond which a raised artificial platform affords views of the quarry, and which leads to the Chapel of Saint Vartan. The latter chapel contains archaeological remains from Hadrian's temple and Constantine's basilica. These areas are open only on request.
Chapel of the Invention of the Cross (named for the Invention (Finding) of the Holy Cross) – another set of 22 stairs from the Chapel of Saint Helena leads down to the Roman Catholic Chapel of the Invention of the Holy Cross, believed to be the place where the True Cross was found.
An Ottoman decree of 1757 helped establish a status quo upholding the state of affairs for various Holy Land sites. The status quo was upheld in Sultan Abdülmecid I's firman (decree) of 1852/3, which pinned down the now-permanent statutes of property and the regulations concerning the roles of the different denominations and other custodians.
The primary custodians are the Roman Catholic, Greek Orthodox and Armenian Apostolic churches. The Greek Orthodox act through the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate as well as through the Brotherhood of the Holy Sepulchre. Roman Catholics act through the Franciscan Custody of the Holy Land. In the 19th century, the Coptic Orthodox, the Ethiopian Orthodox and the Syriac Orthodox also acquired lesser responsibilities, which include shrines and other structures in and around the building.
None of these controls the main entrance. In 1192, Saladin assigned door-keeping responsibilities to the Muslim Nusaybah family. The wooden doors that compose the main entrance are the original, highly carved doors. The Joudeh al-Goudia (al-Ghodayya) family were entrusted as custodian to the keys of the Holy Sepulchre by Saladin in 1187. Despite occasional disagreements, religious services take place in the Church with regularity and coexistence is generally peaceful. An example of concord between the Church custodians is the full restoration of the Aedicule from 2016 to 2017.
The establishment of the modern Status Quo in 1853 did not halt controversy and occasional violence. In 1902, 18 friars were hospitalized and some monks were jailed after the Franciscans and Greeks disagreed over who could clean the lowest step of the Chapel of the Franks. In the aftermath, the Greek patriarch, Franciscan custos, Ottoman governor and French consul general signed a convention that both denominations could sweep it. On a hot summer day in 2002, a Coptic monk moved his chair from its agreed spot into the shade. This was interpreted as a hostile move by the Ethiopians and eleven were hospitalized after the resulting fight. In another incident in 2004, during Orthodox celebrations of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, a door to the Franciscan chapel was left open. This was taken as a sign of disrespect by the Orthodox and a fistfight broke out. Some people were arrested, but no one was seriously injured.
On Palm Sunday, in April 2008, a brawl broke out when a Greek monk was ejected from the building by a rival faction. Police were called to the scene but were also attacked by the enraged brawlers. On Sunday, 9 November 2008, a clash erupted between Armenian and Greek monks during celebrations for the Feast of the Cross.
In February 2018, the church was closed following a tax dispute over 152 million euros of uncollected taxes on church properties. The city hall stressed that the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and all other churches are exempt from the taxes, with the changes only affecting establishments like "hotels, halls and businesses" owned by the churches. NPR had reported that the Greek Orthodox Church calls itself the second-largest landowner in Israel, after the Israeli government.
There was a lock-in protest against an Israeli legislative proposal which would expropriate church lands that had been sold to private companies since 2010, a measure which church leaders assert constitutes a serious violation of their property rights and the Status Quo. In a joint official statement the church authorities protested what they considered to be the peak of a systematic campaign in:
a discriminatory and racist bill that targets solely the properties of the Christian community in the Holy Land ... This reminds us all of laws of a similar nature which were enacted against the Jews during dark periods in Europe.
The 2018 taxation affair does not cover any church buildings or religious related facilities (because they are exempt by law), but commercial facilities such as the Notre Dame Hotel which was not paying the municipal property tax, and any land which is owned and used as a commercial land. The church holds the rights to land where private homes have been constructed, and some of the disagreement had been raised after the Knesset had proposed a bill that will make it harder for a private company not to extend a lease for land used by homeowners. The church leaders have said that such a bill will make it harder for them to sell church-owned lands. According to The Jerusalem Post:
The stated aim of the bill is to protect homeowners against the possibility that private companies will not extend their leases of land on which their houses or apartments stand.
In June 2019, a number of Christian denominations in Jerusalem raised their voice against the Supreme Court's decision to uphold the sale of three properties by the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate to Ateret Cohanim – an organization that seeks to increase the number of Jews living in the Old City and East Jerusalem. The church leaders warned that if the organization gets to control the sites, Christians could lose access to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. In June 2022, the Supreme Court upheld the sale and ended the legal battle.
The site of the church had been a temple to Jupiter or Venus built by Hadrian before Constantine's edifice was built. Hadrian's temple had been located there because it was the junction of the main north–south road with one of the two main east–west roads and directly adjacent to the forum (now the location of the Muristan, which is smaller than the former forum). The forum itself had been placed, as is traditional in Roman towns, at the junction of the main north–south road with the other main east–west road (which is now El-Bazar/David Street). The temple and forum together took up the entire space between the two main east–west roads (a few above-ground remains of the east end of the temple precinct still survive in the Alexander Nevsky Church complex of the Russian Mission in Exile).
From the archaeological excavations in the 1970s, it is clear that construction took over most of the site of the earlier temple enclosure and that the Triportico and Rotunda roughly overlapped with the temple building itself; the excavations indicate that the temple extended at least as far back as the Aedicule, and the temple enclosure would have reached back slightly further. Virgilio Canio Corbo, a Franciscan priest and archaeologist, who was present at the excavations, estimated from the archaeological evidence that the western retaining wall of the temple itself would have passed extremely close to the east side of the supposed tomb; if the wall had been any further west any tomb would have been crushed under the weight of the wall (which would be immediately above it) if it had not already been destroyed when foundations for the wall were made.
Other archaeologists have criticized Corbo's reconstructions. Dan Bahat, the former city archaeologist of Jerusalem, regards them as unsatisfactory, as there is no known temple of Aphrodite (Venus) matching Corbo's design, and no archaeological evidence for Corbo's suggestion that the temple building was on a platform raised high enough to avoid including anything sited where the Aedicule is now; indeed Bahat notes that many temples to Aphrodite have a rotunda-like design, and argues that there is no archaeological reason to assume that the present rotunda was not based on a rotunda in the temple previously on the site.
The New Testament describes Jesus's tomb as being outside the city wall,[l] as was normal for burials across the ancient world, which were regarded as unclean. Today, the site of the Church is within the current walls of the old city of Jerusalem. It has been well documented by archaeologists that in the time of Jesus, the walled city was smaller and the wall then was to the east of the current site of the Church. In other words, the city had been much narrower in Jesus's time, with the site then having been outside the walls; since Herod Agrippa (41–44) is recorded by history as extending the city to the north (beyond the present northern walls), the required repositioning of the western wall is traditionally attributed to him as well.
The area immediately to the south and east of the sepulchre was a quarry and outside the city during the early first century as excavations under the Lutheran Church of the Redeemer across the street demonstrated.[citation needed]
The church is a part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site Old City of Jerusalem.
The Christian Quarter and the (also Christian) Armenian Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem are both located in the northwestern and western part of the Old City, due to the fact that the Holy Sepulchre is located close to the northwestern corner of the walled city. The adjacent neighbourhood within the Christian Quarter is called the Muristan, a term derived from the Persian word for hospital – Christian pilgrim hospices have been maintained in this area near the Holy Sepulchre since at least the time of Charlemagne.
From the ninth century onward, the construction of churches inspired by the Anastasis was extended across Europe. One example is Santo Stefano in Bologna, Italy, an agglomeration of seven churches recreating shrines of Jerusalem.
Several churches and monasteries in Europe, for instance, in Germany and Russia, and at least one church in the United States have been wholly or partially modeled on the Church of the Resurrection, some even reproducing other holy places for the benefit of pilgrims who could not travel to the Holy Land. They include the Heiliges Grab ("Holy Tomb") of Görlitz, constructed between 1481 and 1504, the New Jerusalem Monastery in Moscow Oblast, constructed by Patriarch Nikon between 1656 and 1666, and Mount St. Sepulchre Franciscan Monastery built by the Franciscans in Washington, DC in 1898.
Author Andrew Holt writes that the church is the most important in all Christendom.
Jerusalem is an ancient city in West Asia, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the oldest cities in the world, and is considered holy to the three major Abrahamic religions—Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Both Israel and Palestine claim Jerusalem as their capital; Israel maintains its primary governmental institutions there, and the State of Palestine ultimately foresees it as its seat of power. Neither claim, however, is widely recognized internationally.
Throughout its long history, Jerusalem has been destroyed at least twice, besieged 23 times, captured and recaptured 44 times, and attacked 52 times. The part of Jerusalem called the City of David shows first signs of settlement in the 4th millennium BCE, in the shape of encampments of nomadic shepherds. During the Canaanite period (14th century BCE), Jerusalem was named as Urusalim on ancient Egyptian tablets, probably meaning "City of Shalem" after a Canaanite deity. During the Israelite period, significant construction activity in Jerusalem began in the 10th century BCE (Iron Age II), and by the 9th century BCE, the city had developed into the religious and administrative centre of the Kingdom of Judah. In 1538, the city walls were rebuilt for a last time around Jerusalem under Suleiman the Magnificent of the Ottoman Empire. Today those walls define the Old City, which since the 19th century has been divided into four quarters – 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. Since 1860, Jerusalem has grown far beyond the Old City's boundaries. In 2022, Jerusalem had a population of some 971,800 residents, of which almost 60% were Jews and almost 40% Palestinians. In 2020, the population was 951,100, of which Jews comprised 570,100 (59.9%), Muslims 353,800 (37.2%), Christians 16,300 (1.7%), and 10,800 unclassified (1.1%).
According to the Hebrew Bible, King David conquered the city from the Jebusites and established it as the capital of the United Kingdom of Israel, and his son, King Solomon, commissioned the building of the First Temple. Modern scholars argue that Jews branched out of the Canaanite peoples and culture through the development of a distinct monolatrous—and later monotheistic—religion centred on El/Yahweh. These foundational events, straddling the dawn of the 1st millennium BCE, assumed central symbolic importance for the Jewish people. The sobriquet of holy city (Hebrew: עיר הקודש, romanized: 'Ir ha-Qodesh) was probably attached to Jerusalem in post-exilic times. The holiness of Jerusalem in Christianity, conserved in the Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible, which Christians adopted as their own "Old Testament", was reinforced by the New Testament account of Jesus's crucifixion and resurrection there. In Sunni Islam, Jerusalem is the third-holiest city, after Mecca and Medina. The city was the first qibla, the standard direction for Muslim prayers (salah), and in Islamic tradition, Muhammad made his Night Journey there in 621, ascending to heaven where he speaks to God, according to the Quran. As a result, despite having an area of only 0.9 km2 (3⁄8 sq mi), the Old City is home to many sites of seminal religious importance, among them the Temple Mount with its Western Wall, Dome of the Rock and al-Aqsa Mosque, and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.
Today, the status of Jerusalem remains one of the core issues in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. During the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, West Jerusalem was among the areas captured and later annexed by Israel while East Jerusalem, including the Old City, was captured and later annexed by Jordan. Israel captured East Jerusalem from Jordan during the 1967 Six-Day War and subsequently effectively annexed it into Jerusalem, together with additional surrounding territory.[note 6] One of Israel's Basic Laws, the 1980 Jerusalem Law, refers to Jerusalem as the country's undivided capital. All branches of the Israeli government are located in Jerusalem, including the Knesset (Israel's parliament), the residences of the Prime Minister (Beit Aghion) and President (Beit HaNassi), and the Supreme Court. The international community rejects the annexation as illegal and regards East Jerusalem as Palestinian territory occupied by Israel.
Etymology
The name "Jerusalem" is variously etymologized to mean "foundation (Semitic yry' 'to found, to lay a cornerstone') of the pagan god Shalem"; the god Shalem was thus the original tutelary deity of the Bronze Age city.
Shalim or Shalem was the name of the god of dusk in the Canaanite religion, whose name is based on the same root S-L-M from which the Hebrew word for "peace" is derived (Shalom in Hebrew, cognate with Arabic Salam). The name thus offered itself to etymologizations such as "The City of Peace", "Abode of Peace", "Dwelling of Peace" ("founded in safety"), or "Vision of Peace" in some Christian authors.
The ending -ayim indicates the dual, thus leading to the suggestion that the name Yerushalayim refers to the fact that the city initially sat on two hills.
Ancient Egyptian sources
The Execration Texts of the Middle Kingdom of Egypt (c. 19th century BCE), which refer to a city called rwšꜣlmm or ꜣwšꜣmm, variously transcribed as Rušalimum, or Urušalimum, may indicate Jerusalem. Alternatively, the Amarna letters of Abdi-Heba (1330s BCE), which reference an Úrušalim, may be the earliest mention of the city.
Hebrew Bible and Jewish sources
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 two names united by God, Yireh ("the abiding place", the name given by Abraham to the place where he planned to sacrifice his son) and Shalem ("Place of Peace", the name given by high priest Shem).
Oldest written mention of Jerusalem
One of 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: "Yahweh is the God of the whole earth. The mountains of Judah belong to him, to the God of Jerusalem". An older example on papyrus is known from the previous century.
In extra-biblical inscriptions, the earliest known example of the -ayim ending was discovered on a column about 3 km west of ancient Jerusalem, dated to the first century BCE.
Jebus, Zion, City of David
An ancient settlement of Jerusalem, founded as early as the Bronze Age on the hill above the Gihon Spring, was, according to the Bible, named Jebus. Called the "Fortress of Zion" (metsudat Zion), it was renamed as the "City of David", and was known by this name in antiquity. Another name, "Zion", initially referred to a distinct part of the city, but later came to signify the city as a whole, and afterwards to represent the whole biblical Land of Israel.
Greek, Roman and Byzantine names
In Greek and Latin, the city's name was transliterated Hierosolyma (Greek: Ἱεροσόλυμα; in Greek hieròs, ἱερός, means holy), although the city was renamed Aelia Capitolina for part of the Roman period of its history.
Salem
The Aramaic Apocryphon of Genesis of the Dead Sea Scrolls (1QapGen 22:13) equates Jerusalem with the earlier "Salem" (שלם), said to be the kingdom of Melchizedek in Genesis 14. Other early Hebrew sources, early Christian renderings of the verse and targumim, however, put Salem in Northern Israel near Shechem (Sichem), now Nablus, a city of some importance in early sacred Hebrew writing. Possibly the redactor of the Apocryphon of Genesis wanted to dissociate Melchizedek from the area of Shechem, which at the time was in possession of the Samaritans. However that may be, later Rabbinic sources also equate Salem with Jerusalem, mainly to link Melchizedek to later Temple traditions.
Arabic names
In Arabic, Jerusalem is most commonly known as القُدس, transliterated as al-Quds and meaning "the holy" or "the holy sanctuary", cognate with Hebrew: הקדש, romanized: ha-qodesh. The name is possibly a shortened form of مدينة القُدس Madīnat al-Quds "city of the holy sanctuary" after the Hebrew nickname with the same meaning, Ir ha-Qodesh (עיר הקדש). The ق (Q) is pronounced either with a voiceless uvular plosive (/q/), as in Classical Arabic, or with a glottal stop (ʔ) as in Levantine Arabic. Official Israeli government policy mandates that أُورُشَلِيمَ, transliterated as Ūrušalīm, which is the name frequently used in Christian translations of the Bible into Arabic, be used as the Arabic language name for the city in conjunction with القُدس, giving أُورُشَلِيمَ-القُدس, Ūrušalīm-al-Quds. Palestinian Arab families who hail from this city are often called "Qudsi" (قُدسي) or "Maqdasi" (مقدسي), while Palestinian Muslim Jerusalemites may use these terms as a demonym.
Given the city's central position in both Jewish nationalism (Zionism) and Palestinian nationalism, the selectivity required to summarize some 5,000 years of inhabited history is often influenced by ideological bias or background. Israeli or Jewish nationalists claim a right to the city based on Jewish indigeneity to the land, particularly their origins in and descent from the Israelites, for whom Jerusalem is their capital, and their yearning for return. In contrast, Palestinian nationalists claim the right to the city based on modern Palestinians' longstanding presence and descent from many different peoples who have settled or lived in the region over the centuries. Both sides claim the history of the city has been politicized by the other in order to strengthen their relative claims to the city, and that this is borne out by the different focuses the different writers place on the various events and eras in the city's history.
Prehistory
The first archaeological evidence of human presence in the area comes in the form of flints dated to between 6000 and 7000 years ago, with ceramic remains appearing during the Chalcolithic period, and the first signs of permanent settlement appearing in the Early Bronze Age in 3000–2800 BCE.
Bronze and Iron Ages
The earliest evidence of city fortifications appear in the Mid to Late Bronze Age and could date to around the 18th century BCE. By around 1550–1200 BCE, Jerusalem was the capital of an Egyptian vassal city-state, a modest settlement governing a few outlying villages and pastoral areas, with a small Egyptian garrison and ruled by appointees such as king Abdi-Heba. At the time of Seti I (r. 1290–1279 BCE) and Ramesses II (r. 1279–1213 BCE), major construction took place as prosperity increased. The city's inhabitants at this time were Canaanites, who are believed by scholars to have evolved into the Israelites via the development of a distinct Yahweh-centric monotheistic belief system.
Archaeological remains from the ancient Israelite period include the Siloam Tunnel, an aqueduct built by Judahite king Hezekiah and once containing an ancient Hebrew inscription, known as the Siloam Inscription; the so-called Broad Wall, a defensive fortification built in the 8th century BCE, also by Hezekiah; the Silwan necropolis (9th–7th c. BCE) with the Monolith of Silwan and the Tomb of the Royal Steward, which were decorated with monumental Hebrew inscriptions; and the so-called Israelite Tower, remnants of ancient fortifications, built from large, sturdy rocks with carved cornerstones. A huge water reservoir dating from this period was discovered in 2012 near Robinson's Arch, indicating the existence of a densely built-up quarter across the area west of the Temple Mount during the Kingdom of Judah.
When the Assyrians conquered the Kingdom of Israel in 722 BCE, Jerusalem was strengthened by a great influx of refugees from the northern kingdom. When Hezekiah ruled, Jerusalem had no fewer than 25,000 inhabitants and covered 25 acres (10 hectares).
In 587–586 BCE, Nebuchadnezzar II of the Neo-Babylonian Empire conquered Jerusalem after a prolonged siege, and then systematically destroyed the city, including Solomon's Temple. The Kingdom of Judah was abolished and many were exiled to Babylon. These events mark the end of the First Temple period.
Biblical account
This period, when Canaan formed part of the Egyptian empire, corresponds in biblical accounts to Joshua's invasion, but almost all scholars agree that the Book of Joshua holds little historical value for early Israel.
In the Bible, Jerusalem is defined as lying within territory allocated to the tribe of Benjamin though still inhabited by Jebusites. David is said to have conquered these in the siege of Jebus, and transferred his capital from Hebron to Jerusalem which then became the capital of a United Kingdom of Israel, and one of its several religious centres. The choice was perhaps dictated by the fact that Jerusalem did not form part of Israel's tribal system, and was thus suited to serve as the centre of its confederation. Opinion is divided over whether the so-called Large Stone Structure and the nearby Stepped Stone Structure may be identified with King David's palace, or dates to a later period.
According to the Bible, King David reigned for 40 years and was succeeded by his son Solomon, who built the Holy Temple on Mount Moriah. Solomon's Temple (later known as the First Temple), went on to play a pivotal role in Jewish religion as the repository of the Ark of the Covenant. On Solomon's death, ten of the northern tribes of Israel broke with the United Monarchy to form their own nation, with its kings, prophets, priests, traditions relating to religion, capitals and temples in northern Israel. The southern tribes, together with the Aaronid priesthood, remained in Jerusalem, with the city becoming the capital of the Kingdom of Judah.
Classical antiquity
In 538 BCE, the Achaemenid King Cyrus the Great invited the Jews of Babylon to return to Judah to rebuild the Temple. Construction of the Second Temple was completed in 516 BCE, during the reign of Darius the Great, 70 years after the destruction of the First Temple.
Sometime soon after 485 BCE Jerusalem was besieged, conquered and largely destroyed by a coalition of neighbouring states. In about 445 BCE, King Artaxerxes I of Persia issued a decree allowing the city (including its walls) to be rebuilt. Jerusalem resumed its role as capital of Judah and centre of Jewish worship.
Many Jewish tombs from the Second Temple period have been unearthed in Jerusalem. One example, discovered north of the Old City, contains human remains in a 1st-century CE ossuary decorated with the Aramaic inscription "Simon the Temple Builder". The Tomb of Abba, also located north of the Old City, bears an Aramaic inscription with Paleo-Hebrew letters reading: "I, Abba, son of the priest Eleaz(ar), son of Aaron the high (priest), Abba, the oppressed and the persecuted, who was born in Jerusalem, and went into exile into Babylonia and brought (back to Jerusalem) Mattathi(ah), son of Jud(ah), and buried him in a cave which I bought by deed." The Tomb of Benei Hezir located in Kidron Valley is decorated by monumental Doric columns and Hebrew inscription, identifying it as the burial site of Second Temple priests. The Tombs of the Sanhedrin, an underground complex of 63 rock-cut tombs, is located in a public park in the northern Jerusalem neighbourhood of Sanhedria. These tombs, probably reserved for members of the Sanhedrin and inscribed by ancient Hebrew and Aramaic writings, are dated to between 100 BCE and 100 CE.
When Alexander the Great conquered the Achaemenid Empire, Jerusalem and Judea came under Macedonian control, eventually falling to the Ptolemaic dynasty under Ptolemy I. In 198 BCE, Ptolemy V Epiphanes lost Jerusalem and Judea to the Seleucids under Antiochus III. The Seleucid attempt to recast Jerusalem as a Hellenized city-state came to a head in 168 BCE with the successful Maccabean revolt of Mattathias and his five sons against Antiochus IV Epiphanes, and their establishment of the Hasmonean Kingdom in 152 BCE with Jerusalem as its capital.
In 63 BCE, Pompey the Great intervened in a struggle for the Hasmonean throne and captured Jerusalem, extending the influence of the Roman Republic over Judea. Following a short invasion by Parthians, backing the rival Hasmonean rulers, Judea became a scene of struggle between pro-Roman and pro-Parthian forces, eventually leading to the emergence of an Edomite named Herod. As Rome became stronger, it installed Herod as a client king of the Jews. Herod the Great, as he was known, devoted himself to developing and beautifying the city. He built walls, towers and palaces, and expanded the Temple Mount, buttressing the courtyard with blocks of stone weighing up to 100 tons. Under Herod, the area of the Temple Mount doubled in size. Shortly after Herod's death, in 6 CE Judea came under direct Roman rule as the Iudaea Province, although the Herodian dynasty through Agrippa II remained client kings of neighbouring territories until 96 CE.
Roman rule over Jerusalem and Judea was challenged in the First Jewish–Roman War (66–73 CE), which ended with a Roman victory. Early on, the city was devastated by a brutal civil war between several Jewish factions fighting for control of the city. In 70 CE, the Romans destroyed Jerusalem and the Second Temple. The contemporary Jewish historian Josephus wrote that the city "was so thoroughly razed to the ground by those that demolished it to its foundations, that nothing was left that could ever persuade visitors that it had once been a place of habitation." Of the 600,000 (Tacitus) or 1,000,000 (Josephus) Jews of Jerusalem, all of them either died of starvation, were killed or were sold into slavery. Roman rule was again challenged during the Bar Kokhba revolt, beginning in 132 CE and suppressed by the Romans in 135 CE. More recent research indicates that the Romans had founded Aelia Capitolina before the outbreak of the revolt, and found no evidence for Bar Kokhba ever managing to hold the city.
Jerusalem reached a peak in size and population at the end of the Second Temple Period, when the city covered two km2 (3⁄4 sq mi) and had a population of 200,000.
Late Antiquity
Following the Bar Kokhba revolt, Emperor Hadrian combined Iudaea Province with neighbouring provinces under the new name of Syria Palaestina, replacing the name of Judea. The city was renamed Aelia Capitolina, and rebuilt it in the style of a typical Roman town. Jews were prohibited from entering the city on pain of death, except for one day each year, during the holiday of Tisha B'Av. Taken together, these measures (which also affected Jewish Christians) essentially "secularized" the city. Historical sources and archaeological evidence indicate that the rebuilt city was now inhabited by veterans of the Roman military and immigrants from the western parts of the empire.
The ban against Jews was maintained until the 7th century, though Christians would soon be granted an exemption: during the 4th century, the Roman emperor Constantine I ordered the construction of Christian holy sites in the city, including the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. Burial remains from the Byzantine period are exclusively Christian, suggesting that the population of Jerusalem in Byzantine times probably consisted only of Christians.
Jerusalem.
In the 5th century, the eastern continuation of the Roman Empire, ruled from the recently renamed Constantinople, maintained control of the city. Within the span of a few decades, Jerusalem shifted from Byzantine to Persian rule, then back to Roman-Byzantine dominion. Following Sassanid Khosrau II's early 7th century push through Syria, his generals Shahrbaraz and Shahin attacked Jerusalem (Persian: Dej Houdkh) aided by the Jews of Palaestina Prima, who had risen up against the Byzantines.
In the Siege of Jerusalem of 614, after 21 days of relentless siege warfare, Jerusalem was captured. Byzantine chronicles relate that the Sassanids and Jews slaughtered tens of thousands of Christians in the city, many at the Mamilla Pool, and destroyed their monuments and churches, including the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. This episode has been the subject of much debate between historians. The conquered city would remain in Sassanid hands for some fifteen years until the Byzantine emperor Heraclius reconquered it in 629.
Middle Ages
After the Muslim conquest of the Levant, Byzantine Jerusalem was taken by Umar ibn al-Khattab in 638 CE. Among the first Muslims, it was referred to as Madinat bayt al-Maqdis ("City of the Temple"), a name restricted to the Temple Mount. The rest of the city "was called Iliya, reflecting the Roman name given the city following the destruction of 70 CE: Aelia Capitolina". Later the Temple Mount became known as al-Haram al-Sharif, "The Noble Sanctuary", while the city around it became known as Bayt al-Maqdis, and later still, al-Quds al-Sharif "The Holy, Noble". The Islamization of Jerusalem began in the first year A.H. (623 CE), when Muslims were instructed to face the city while performing their daily prostrations and, according to Muslim religious tradition, Muhammad's night journey and ascension to heaven took place. After 13 years, the direction of prayer was changed to Mecca. In 638 CE the Islamic Caliphate extended its dominion to Jerusalem. With the Muslim conquest, Jews were allowed back into the city. The Rashidun caliph Umar ibn al-Khattab signed a treaty with Christian Patriarch of Jerusalem Sophronius, assuring him that Jerusalem's Christian holy places and population would be protected under Muslim rule. Christian-Arab tradition records that, when led to pray at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, one of the holiest sites for Christians, the caliph Umar refused to pray in the church so that Muslims would not request conversion of the church to a mosque. He prayed outside the church, where the Mosque of Umar (Omar) stands to this day, opposite the entrance to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. According to the Gaullic bishop Arculf, who lived in Jerusalem from 679 to 688, the Mosque of Umar was a rectangular wooden structure built over ruins which could accommodate 3,000 worshipers.
When the Arab armies under Umar went to Bayt Al-Maq
Civil War Battlefield, Gettysburg.
The Gettysburg casualties over 3 days made it the bloodiest battle in the American Civil War. The two armies suffered combined casualties of between 45,000 and 51,000.
Union casualties numbered 23,040 (3,155 killed, 14,530 wounded and 5,365 missing). Confederate casualties are tougher to measure and estimates have ranged as high as 28,000.
To read more about the American Civil War: www.brotherswar.com/intro.htm
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"Your own proud land's heroic soil
must be your fitter grave:
She claims from war his richest spoil,
the ashes of the brave.
The muffled drum's sad roll has beat the
soldiers last tattoo.
No more on life's parade shall meet
that brave and fallen few.
On fame's eternal camping-ground,
their silent tents are spread,
and glory guards with solemn round,
the bivouac of the dead.
Rest on embalmed and sainted dead,
dear as the blood ye gave.
No impious footstep here shall tread
the herbage of your grave.
The neighing troop, the flashing blade,
the bugle's stirring blast,
the charge, the dreadful cannonade,
the din and shout are past.
NO rumor of the foe's advance now
sweeps upon the wind.
No troubled thought at midnight haunts
of loved ones left behind.
No vision of the morrow's strife the
warrior's dream alarms.
No braying horn nor screaming fife at
dawn shall call to arms."
*author unknown: words viewed @ the National cemetery, Gettysburg
Consecrated in 1273, this church is an excellent example of the transition from Romanesque to German Gothic styles. Originally built as a Romanesque basilica with two choirs, it was re-modeled during the 14th century. During this, aisles and the soaring western choir were added. The two towers were completed in the 15th century. The church was very badly damaged during the Second World War and has been completely restored. In places it was decided to add new features to replace those which could not be repaired. The images of the two main doorways show an original carving and a new one added during the restoration. The interior is probably the finest in Nuremberg.
The nave and west choir are late Romanesque, with a narrow chancel containing a simple altar and an ancient bronze baptismal font. The larger east choir, consecrated in 1379, is Gothic and contains the church’s most important treasures. Just behind the altar is the elaborate shrine of St. Sebald, whose remains are encased in a monument cast in brass by Peter Vischer in 1519. It’s supported by an array of snails and dolphins and adorned with a host of statuettes. The nave of the church also holds several important works of art, including 14th-century statues of St. Catherine and St. Sebald and the Madonna with a Halo (1440).
In this chapel newly consecrated to the Climats, terroirs of Burgundy and regional gastronomic traditions, it was necessary to celebrate this beverage that fills the glasses and frees the spirit.
This moving form, composed of a single face that rises towards the vault, is a very particular mathematical object, the Möbius spiral, a sign of infinity, recalling the divine dimension of wine.
This artist's installation is also reminiscent of the shape of a wine glass, the fragrant wisps that escape from it, the explosion of flavours in the mouth.
A tribute to the intoxication of the senses.
Chapel of Climats and Terroirs
International City of Gastronomy and Wine
Dijon
Burgundy
(France)
Dans cette chapelle désormais consacrée aux Climats du vignoble de Bourgogne et à la gastronomie régionale, il fallait célébrer ce breuvage qui remplit les verres et libère l'esprit.
Cette forme mouvante composée d'une seule face qui monte vers la voûte est un objet mathématique très particulier, la spirale de Möbius, un signe d'infini, rappelant la dimension divine du vin.
Cette installation d'artiste rappelle aussi la forme d'un verre de vin, les volutes odorantes qui s'en échappent, l'explosion des saveurs en bouche.
Un hommage à l'ivresse des sens.
Chapelle des Climats et des Terroirs
Cité Internationale de la gastronomie et du vin
Dijon
Bourgogne
(France)
Mosfellskirkja (Mosfell Church) is located in historic Mosfellsdal (Mosfell Valley) and was constructed and consecrated on April 4, 1965 . Mosfell church was the gift of Stefán Þorláksson, a man who believed the best use for his fortune was to build a church. The church is located near the site of several historic Churches build in the early days of Iceland.
Mosfellsdal was the location of early Viking settlements and farms. The valley is featured in historical writings of the12th and 13th century.
Writings such as Egil’s Saga, Gunnlaug’s Saga and Hallfred’s Saga and well as the information held in the Book of the Icelanders (Islendingabók) touch on the people who lived here. Some of the famous stories from the valley are the death scene of Egil Skallagrimson and a murder described in The Saga of Gunlaug Serpent-Tongue. Egill Skallagrímsson was a Viking poet and warrior who is supposedly buried in the valley along with his silver treasure.The writings mention an early church in the valley at Hrísbrú on Grím’s farmstead and how it was later pulled down in order to be moved. In the last 50 years archaeologists have succeeded in not only excavating the first church, but also the second, rebuilt church, located 500 m to the east. These archeological areas lie nearby the present day church.
The farm where Mosfellskirkja (Mosfell Church) is located was the boyhood home of Nobel Prize winner Halldór Laxness. He is the only Icelander to ever win the Noble Prize. In his later years, the author wrote the book úninu heima (Home in the Hayfield), in which he described his childhood experiences at his home in the Mosfellsdalur (Mosfell Valley).
Palatine Chapel, Aachen, begun c. 792, consecrated 805 (thought to have been designed by Odo of Metz), significant changes to the architectural fabric 14–17th centuries (Gothic apse, c. 1355; dome rebuilt and raised in the 17th century, etc), mosaics and revetment scream 19th century, and are indeed 19th century, columns were looted by French troops in the 18th century though many were later returned, they were added back without knowledge as to their original locations in the 19th century. Finally, the structure was also heavily damaged by allied bombing during WWII and significantly restored again in the second half of the twentieth century.
Eyjafjarðarsveit county.
The church was commissioned by farmer Magnus Sigurdsson and consecrated in 1905. Magnus cut the glass in the church himself. The head smith of the church was Asmundur Bjarnason. The church is indeed the largest of all churches commissioned by farmers in Iceland.
Built in 1886-1889 and consecrated in 1913, this Gothic Revival-style church was designed by William Schickel and Company to house the congregation of St. Louis Roman Catholic Church, which was founded in 1829, and was the first Catholic Parish to be created in Buffalo. The church stands on land donated by French nobleman Louis Stephen LeCouteulx de Caumont, and replaced a previous structure built of brick on the same site in 1843, which burned down in 1885. The building is laid out in a latin cross plan with a rusticated red medina sandstone exterior, a tall steeple with an open stone spire, gothic arched stained glass windows with tracery, octagonal towers flanking the main bell tower, buttresses with multiple pinnacles, entrance doors on the front facade with decorative portal surrounds, a clock by Seth Thomas on the front of the tower, cross gabled roof, a rear apse, low side aisles flanking the nave with shed roofs, stained glass rose windows on the ends of the transepts featuring tracery, and an undercroft. The church is one of the most distinctive in Buffalo, and continues to serve as a major Catholic parish church. The building is a contributing structure in the Allentown Historic District, listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.
A dominating feature of Reykjavik's skyline is the Hallgrímskirkja (Church of Iceland).
State Architect Guðjón Samúelsson's design of the church was commissioned in 1937. He is said to have designed it to resemble the basalt lava flows of Iceland's landscape.
It took 41 years to build the church. Construction work began in 1945 and ended in 1986, the landmark tower being completed long before the church's actual completion.
The crypt beneath the choir was consecrated in 1948, the steeple and wings were completed in 1974, and the nave was consecrated in 1986.
Situated in the centre of Reykjavík, it is one of the city's best-known landmarks and is visible throughout the city.
The Sainte-Chapelle (French pronunciation: [sɛ̃t ʃapɛl], Holy Chapel) is a royal chapel in the Gothic style, within the medieval Palais de la Cité, the residence of the Kings of France until the 14th century, on the Île de la Cité in the River Seine in Paris, France.
Construction began sometime after 1238 and the chapel was consecrated on 26 April 1248. The Sainte-Chapelle is considered among the highest achievements of the Rayonnant period of Gothic architecture. It was commissioned by King Louis IX of France to house his collection of Passion relics, including Christ's Crown of Thorns – one of the most important relics in medieval Christendom, later hosted in the nearby Notre-Dame Cathedral until the 2019 fire, which it survived.
Along with the Conciergerie, the Sainte-Chapelle is one of the earliest surviving buildings of the Capetian royal palace on the Île de la Cité. Although damaged during the French Revolution and restored in the 19th century, it has one of the most extensive 13th-century stained glass collections anywhere in the world.
The village church of Wust is a flat-roofed brick building consecrated between 1191 and 1206. The church consists of a nave and a semicircular apse. The tower dates from the Baroque period and consists of a massive substructure and a two-story half-timbered tower from 1727.
Adjacent to the apse in the east is the baroque crypt of the von Katte family from 1708. The lieutenant Hans Hermann von Katte is buried in this crypt.
Hermann von Katte was a lieutenant in the Prussian army and a close friend of the young Frederick II. Both were interested in playing the flute and in poetry. In the spring of 1730, during a maneuver, the crown prince got into a heated argument with his father, Frederick William I. Frederick revealed to his friend his plan to flee to France to escape the educational power of his strict and sometimes brutal father. Katte tried to dissuade him, but eventually supported him. Frederick tried unsuccessfully to escape on August 5, 1730, while Katte kept in touch in Potsdam. A compromising letter exposed Hermann von Katte as an accomplice and he was arrested a short time later.
The king threatened to have the crown prince and Katte executed for desertion. Finally, Frederick William I ordered Katte's execution by beheading. The king is said to have forced his son to watch the execution of his friend.
The present building was begun in 1118, consecrated in 1238 and the structure of the building remains essentially as it was on completion. Most significantly the original wooden ceiling survives in the nave, the only one of its type in this country and one of only four wooden ceilings of this period surviving in the whole of Europe, having been completed between 1230 and 1250. It has been over-painted twice, but retains its original style and pattern.
The main beams and roof bosses of the tower date back to the 1370s and those of the Presbytery to 1500. The renewal of the Presbytery roof coincided with an extensive building programme which included the processional route provided by extending the East End of the church. This 'New Building' is an excellent example of late Perpendicular work with fine fan vaulting probably designed by John Wastell, who went on to work on Kings College Chapel in Cambridge.
In 1539 the great abbey of Peterborough was closed and its lands and properties confiscated by the king. However to increase his control over the church in this area he created a new bishop and Peterborough Abbey church became a Cathedral.
Two queens were buried in the Cathedral during the Tudor period. Katherine of Aragon's grave is in the North Aisle near the High Altar, whilst Mary Queen of Scots was buried on the opposite side of the altar, though her grave is now empty (she was re-buried in Westminster in 1612).