Reportage.

Luogo: Cossoine.

 

Le immagini sono sconsigliate a chi è vegetariano e a chi ha lo stomaco debole.

 

L'uccisione del maiale è un rito antico, quasi sacrale, dove il rosso del sangue si mischia a quello del vino.

An X-ray of the Sacrum (Sacral Spine, Upper Tailbone) evaluates the bones of the sacrum. Parts of the lower lumbar spine are also seen. This test can detect fractures, infection and tumors of the sacral spine.

 

Yemaya Bath Salt - African Goddess of Surrender - A releasing blend for balancing the Sacral Chakra 10 oz

 

ingredients contains pacific ocean sea salt, dead sea salt, dry yarrow leaves and therapeutic grade essential oils of ylang ylang, tangerine, geranium and sandalwood

 

AncientOils.etsy.com

20-02-2017_VFC2689

Chinese water deer adult female

Budaörs

Kálvária / Calvary

 

"A 174 méter magas dombon 1821-ben kezdte el a római katolikus egyházközség a keresztút megépítését, melynek teljes befejezése 1851-ben történt meg. Kezdetben mindössze nyolc stációból állt a keresztút, a Kálvária domb tetejére pedig állítottak egy fakeresztet Szűz Mária, János és Mária Magdolna szobraival. 1945-től a második világháború és a németek elűzése után a kápolna köveit széthordták és csupán a fakereszt menekült meg, amely darabjai most a 2002-ben újjáépített Kálvária kápolnában láthatóak.

A Jézus Krisztus kínszenvedését és kereszthalálát megörökítő stációk fülkéiben egy-egy relief volt elhelyezve. Korábban minden év Nagypéntekén – Húsvét ünnepe előtt két nappal, Jézus kereszthalálára emlékezve – a templomból körmenet indult a Kálváriához, és innen járták végig a hívők a Keresztutat.

 

2000-ben széles városi összefogás eredményeként újra felszentelték a stációkat és a domb tetején álló keresztet. A stációk fülkéiben a keresztút egyes állomásait Molnár Göb Zoltán budaörsi művész ólomüvegképei díszítik, amelyek este kivilágítva is csodálatosan mutatnak. A helyreállítást követően ismét itt zajlik a nagypénteki keresztúti ájtatosság, valamint Húsvéthétfőn innen indul az úgynevezett Öröm útja is."

budaors.varosom.hu/latnivalok/vallasi-epuletek/Kalvaria-5...

czj flektogon 35 mm f2.4 crop

The second chakra, also known as the Sacral chakra, is located below the navel. This chakra is responsible for our sexual and creative energy. When this chakra is balanced, we feel confident and worthy of pleasure. We can let go of our inhibitions and healthily express our sexual desires. We also feel creative and productive.

 

When the Sacral chakra is out of balance, we may feel sexually frustrated or repressed. We may also struggle with addictions or feel creatively blocked. If you think your Sacral chakra might be out of balance, there are a few things you can do to restore balance. Examples include practicing yoga, meditating, and eating a balanced diet.

 

✅Meditation

✅Practicing yoga

✅Eating a balanced diet

 

#chakra #secondchakra #sacralchakra #sexualenergy #emotionalenergy #intuitiveenergy #meditaion #yoga

  

Là dove l’olivo s’arresta, finisce il Mediterraneo. Il confine non è solo geografico, ma costituisce lo spartiacque tra le abitudini alimentari dell’umanità. Sarà una questione di umbritudine ma ho sempre compatito le popolazioni costrette a far ricorso all’uso del burro e ritengo che non si tratti di una mera questione di bruschetta. L’olio d’oliva si ricollega ad un modo di pensare, agire, concepire il bello, il buono e il giusto –per dirla con Carlin Petrini – se è vero, come è vero, che l’ulivo richiama alla pace, alla fecondità, alla vittoria, alla purificazione e alla sacralità. Il suo valore non è meramente alimentare e simbolico, ma esistenziale. Non credo che gli Umbri avvertissero, al pari dei Greci, che nascere sotto un ulivo fosse caratteristica della progenitura divina, tuttavia dovettero giudicare quell’albero più utile del cavallo o della spada, se lo elessero a costante del loro territorio. Chi viaggia tra Assisi e Spoleto può constatare che le colline pedemontane sono ricoperte da una prateria di olivi che non lascia spazio alla coltura promiscua e rende unico il paesaggio. Né in Liguria, dove l’ulivo è disposto in terrazzamenti affacciati sul mare, né in Toscana dove le piante si susseguono in guisa di campicelli alternati alla vite, né nelle vicine Marche, dove sono state poste a dimora alla rinfusa, le piante assumono l’aspetto fitto e maestoso che si può osservare sui bordi calcarei della Valle Spoletana. A Spello, a Scandolaro, a Campello, sui precipizi di Pale o sulle coste di Trevi, l’effetto a reticolato degli uliveti è ancor più evidente. Qui le trame, fittissime, non hanno uguali nel paesaggio italiano. La sedimentazione delle colture arboree sembra avvenuta attorno alle mura medievali dei castelli, per poi procedere alla trasformazione dei declivi dissodati, secondo i precisi corollari di una agricoltura raccolta e diffidente, come il carattere degli umbri. In nessun posto come in Umbria la coltivazione dell’ulivo ha ricalcato le condizioni storiche e sociali della regione. E dove i fondi acquitrinosi della valle alluvionale - distanti dai borghi - non si prestavano all’allevamento delle piantagioni arboree, queste, per sopravvivere, da una parte rosicchiavano spazi alle selve e dall’altra, infittendosi, salivano di quota, per poi vincolarsi agli obblighi collettivi. E’ commovente scoprire con quanto amore il coltivatore di Bovara esegua la slupatura del tronco. E’ interessante osservare come i contadini di Cancellara separino le radici dai sassi o quelli di Spello realizzino i muretti di pietra che segnano i limiti della chiusa per proteggere la proprietà dagli sconfinamenti. Così è nato quel tappeto compatto, apparentemente impenetrabile, che si può osservare da Capitan Loreto ad Eggi e che rende il nostro paesaggio incomparabile e più accetto di quello toscano, così come più accetto è il prodotto eccellente che ne deriva. Ma l’olio umbro rapportato al mercato è una goccia in mezzo al mare, se si considera che l’intera produzione non soddisfa neppure la domanda locale. Non ci troviamo in Puglia, Calabria e Sicilia che convogliano da sole il 90% della coltivazione nazionale. Nonostante la predestinazione agraria, riferibile sia al terroir che alle cultivar presenti, i dati inducono a pensare che l’uliveto umbro può al massimo aspirare a fare da sfondo ai bei borghi che circonda. Per di più il brand è costretto a fare i conti con i guasti d’immagine derivanti dall’industria della raffinazione che si identifica, purtroppo, con l’intero comprensorio Spoletino. I quantitativi di olio umbro pesano poco più di una piuma sulla bilancia della produzione nazionale. Come del resto è trascurabile la produzione italiana rispetto a quella mondiale, considerato che il prodotto nazionale è stimato attorno ai 6,8 milioni di quintali, benchè da più parti si sostiene che il dato è di molto in eccesso (la stima più attendibile parla infatti di 4,2 milioni di quintali di extravergine) e che il consumo pro-capite italiano è di 13,5 annui, il più alto del mondo. Ecco che allora che il prezzo non è minimamente remunerativo dei costi di coltivazione e produzione dell’extravergine in genere, figuriamoci se lo è per l’olio DOP ed in particolare per il nostro, che tra i DOP/IGP è in assoluto il migliore. Per di più va considerata l’invasione delle autobotti provenienti - nella migliore delle ipotesi - da Kalamata o da Sparta o peggio ancora dal Maghreb, che risalita la Somma, scaricano negli oleifici spoletini, buona parte di quei 4 milioni di quintali di “quel non so cosa” che passa per l’Italia e finisce per ingrassare i nostri piatti e poi lo stomaco,la pancia, il ventre e l’epa. Ecco allora che l’oleografico mare d’ulivi si riduce a rigagnolo, a fattore meramente estetizzante di una politica agricola bugiarda e non più credibile, che non riesce a concepire la separazione dei propri brand, neppure quando questi gli vengo offerti sul piatto dorato della storia. In questi giorni è già iniziata la paziente brucatura delle olive, che da noi avviene a mano, baco per baco, come dicono a Trevi. Ma che cosa ha questo olio della Valle Umbra di tanto speciale per richiedere così duro lavoro? La stagione si presenta avara. Ma non c’è pericolo. Qualcuno provvederà ad annunciare ai quattro venti l’“habemus oleum”, dove il sostantivo non si concilia più con “olivae”, ma con l’aggettivo “lampante”, che in chimica è tutt’altra cosa: vale a dire rettificato, privo del contenuto tipico della vivacità e dei profumi dell’olio, che giunge da noi con i parametri fuori norma, per essere ripulito,deodorato, miscelato e immesso sul mercato come extravergine. Tutta altra cosa del sapido moraiolo, che si presenta grato ed innocuo, acuto ed amabile al tempo stesso, che va giù senza chiasso o rimorsi, da farci credere che l’ugola è li solo per ricevere una gabella di salutari sapori.

Giovanni Picuti

abcabc@cline.it

(Articolo apparso sul Corriere dell'UMbria del 13.10.2007)

 

The small medieval village of Pican is perched on a 350 meters high hill in the Istrian hinterland, 10km south east of Pazin.

 

Inhabited by the Histri tribe in early prehistoric times and later on by the Romans naming it Petina, Pican has lost its past importance and nowadays counts just 300 inhabitants.

 

WHY TO COME ?

 

Pican is interesting for people searching for relaxation in its old houses of interesting architecture surrounded by the charming countryside that offers numerous opportunities for hiking, cycling and other outdoors activities.

 

WHAT TO SEE

 

Unfortunately, the only visible evidence of the Roman presence is the inscription on the stone incorporated in the doorpost of the house facing the bell tower. Erected in 1872 this 48 meters high campanile that dominates the place is the third tallest in Istria.

 

In the Middle Ages, the town was encircled by defensive walls that are preserved partially because, over time, they were mutilated by houses built on top of them. However, the main town gate, constructed at the turn of the fourteenth into the fifteenth century and renovated in the 17th century is well conserved.

 

The fact that Pican was the administrative centre of central Istria as well as Bishopric seat confirms the significance it once had. The Diocese of Pican established in the fifth century by Byzantium was one of the oldest and smallest dioceses in the world that survived until the eighteenth century(1788). Although small, thanks to its role in the past Pican has conserved a couple of interesting sacral edifices.

 

CHURCH OF ST. ROCK

 

Before you enter the town on the left side of the main gate there is the small Church of St. Roch dedicated to the patron saint of people afflicted by the plague or other infectious diseases. Its foundation stone was laid in the beginning of the 17th century during one of the most severe plague epidemics.

 

The park in front of the main gate to Pićan hosts the sculpture of St. John Nepomucene built in 1714.

 

CHURCH of ST. MICHAEL

 

The tiny Romanesque Church of St. Michael from the 13th century is situated at the top of 365 meters high Calvary Hill (Kalvarija), next to the cemetery. The interior of this single-nave building is decorated with valuable Gothic frescoes from the first half of the 15th century that were enriched by the Glagolitic engravings during the 15th and 16th centuries. Being located on a hilltop, its natural viewpoint offers a spectacular view of the surrounding area. In addition, this beautiful view was embellished by the stone sculpture The Family by Nane Zavagno, who took part in the Mediterranean Sculpture Symposium at Dubrova near Labin.

 

THE CHURCH OF THE ANNOUNCIATION OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY

 

This parish church was built on the foundations of a former cathedral of St. Nikifor from the 14th century. The main nave of the old Medieval church was expanded in 1613 but it acquired its current external form after its thorough modification between 1753 and 1771. Its interior was also redecorated in baroque style and the main altar is adorned with a painting of The Annunciation by Valentin Metzinger. Tombs of the bishops of Pićan and other meritorious citizens of Pićan, decorated with relief and coats of arms, are placed under the church floor and the plateau in front of the church. Also, the notes of the “Pican's mess” celebrated in Old Church Slavon by the Glagolitic priests that is performed even nowadays are found there. Its bell tower stands separate from the church and offers a splendid view of the Istrian countryside.

 

BIRTHPLACE of Matko Brajša Rašan

 

Pican is also the birth place of Matko Brajsa Rasan (1859. – 1934.), choir master, recorder of old Istrian melodies whose birth home is located opposite the parish church. In 1912, he also composed the current official Istrian anthem Krasna zemljo after the lyrics of Ivan Cukon.

 

VIEWPOINTS

 

Whole Pican has beautiful views of the Istrian countryside but the most beautiful view is from the church of St. Michael.

 

The Franz Ferdinand's Viewpoint situated in front of the cathedral offers an unobstructed view over the undulating landscape of central Istria.

www.croatiaview.com/en/Pican/

-------------------------

 

Pican, Petina, Petinum, Pedena, Penna, Biben, Pyben, Piben, Piebn, Piebnn, Pitchann....

 

Što se krije u imenu? Ponekad nije jednostavno u povijesnim izvorima slijediti tragove Pićna jer se on krije pod najrazličitijim imenima. Porijeklo imena Petina neki pripisuju pretpostavci da je Pićanska biskupija bila peta po redu u svijetu pri čemu u riječi pet vide keltski korijen.

 

Pićan je zasigurno naseljen u dalekoj prapovijesti. Najstariji dijelovi histarske gradine nalazili su se na brdu Kalvarija (13), sjevernije od današnjeg naselja, a zatim se pretpostavlja da tu živi keltsko pleme Secusa. U rimsko se doba, vjerojatno na istom strateški dobro odabranom mjestu, nalazilo vojno uporište i naselje Petina.

 

Ima autora koji su baš uz Pićan vezivali i naziv Pucinum kojim i Plinije i Ptolomej nazivaju utvrdu u unutrašnjosti Istre koja je i na rimskom dvoru bila poznata po posebno dobrom vinu. Žena cara Augusta, Livia, vjerovala je da svoju dugovječnost duguje baš činjenici da pije isključivo to vino. Jedini danas vidljivi trag rimske prisutnosti je natpis na kamenu ugrađen u dovratnik kuće nasuprot zvonika ( 4) koji spominje nekog Lucia Caonalia iz porodice Pupinia koju nalazimo i drugdje u Istri (Kringa, Pula, Poreč, Kopar, Trst).

U doba vladavine Bizanta Pićan je bio administrativno središte središnjeg dijela Istre. Od kasne antike pa sve do kraja XVIII stoljeća u Pićnu je sjedište istoimene biskupije, jedne od najstarijih ali i najmanjih u kršćanskom svijetu uopće.

 

Uz nastanak Pićanske biskupije i uz njenog zaštitnika Sv. Nicefora vezane su brojne međusobno isključive i često isprepletene legende. Snalaženje nam dodatno otežava činjenica da su sa Pićnom zapravo povezana dva Nicefora - Sv. Nicefor mučenik i Sv. Nicefor biskup.

 

Legenda o svetom Niceforu mučeniku kaže kako je rimski car car Konstantin Veliki (prvi koji je priznao i poticao kršćanstvo i koji je sagradio novo središte carstva - Konstantinopolj, kasnije Carigrad) dao tjelesne ostatke svetog Nicefora iz Antiohije postaviti na lađu u Carigradu i naredio da se na mjestu gdje se lađa sama zaustavi ima ovom svecu posvetiti crkva. Po proširenoj verziji je svečevo tijelo nakon pristajanja uz obalu Istre postavljeno na konja koji je pušten i zaustavio se baš - u Pićnu.

 

Legenda o svetom Niceforu biskupu i trnoplesarima -

Po toj je legendi Nicefor bio pićanski biskup (u nekim verzijama prvi pićanski biskup i osnivač biskupije) kojeg su Pićanci tužili akvilejskom patrijarhu zbog navodno nećudorednog života, jer je živio sa svojom nećakom. Kako bi ih odvratio od optužbi i dokazao svoje božje poslanje Nicefor im ponudi da udarcem štapa o neplodno i dračom obraslo tlo otvori izvor pitke vode. Pićanci to odbiju, pravdajući se da im je potrebnija drača koju kasnije koriste u svojim vinogradima. On na to uzvrati riječima: da Bog da bosi po trnju plesali zbog čega se za Pićance do dana današnjeg uvriježio naziv -trnoplesari. A umjesto u Pićnu, Nicefor na putu ka patrijarhu u Akvileju stvori izvore u Gračišću, Krbunama, Buzetu, Trstu i drugdje. Došavši pred patrijarha ne imade gdje objesiti svoj plašt, već ga zatakne o zraku sunca što je provirila u prostoriju i taj je znak bio dovoljan da ga se oslobodi svih optužbi.

Na povratku Nicefor umire, te mu se tjelesni ostaci čuvaju u Umagu sve do 1379. kada ih otimaju Genovežani. Ipak, po svečevoj želji, u znak oprosta je u Pićan poslana njegova desnica koja se i danas čuva u Katedrali.

Očito su pićanski biskupi i sami pokušali razriješiti proturječja oko svoja dva istoimena sveca, pa biskup Antonio Marenzi (1635-1646) piše o njihovom životu i knjigu. Prilikom rekonstrukcije katedrale su tako kipovi obojice svetaca postavljeni na njeno pročelje, a zajedno su prikazani i na slici na oltaru Sv. Nicefora, pri čemu Nicefor ranokršćanski mučenik i zaštitnik Pićanske biskupije u rukama drži maketu Pićna.

 

U srednjem vijeku, ne samo crkvenu, već i svjetovnu vlast u Pićnu imaju Akvilejski patrijarsi, nakon čega Pićan biva uključen u pazinski posjed kojim upravlja Majnard Črnogradski. Dok su se obalni istarski gradovi jedan po jedan postepeno priklanjali Veneciji, Pićan je zajedno s Pazinom i okolicom imao potpuno drugačiju sudbinu. Ženidbom Majnardove nasljednice grofice Matilde Pazinske za Goričkog grofa Engelberta Pićan postaje krajem XII stoljeća sastavnim djelom njihove Grafschaft Ysterreich koja 1374. pod imenom Pazinska knežija temeljem ugovora o naslijeđivanju postaje privatno vlasništvo porodice Habsburg. Oni čitavu knežiju najradije daju u kratkoročne zakupe sad jednom, sad drugom plemiću, u čije ime posjedom upravljaju kapetani, a Habsburzi (i) tim novcem financiraju svoj uspon na carsko prijestolje. Tužna polumilenijska podjela Istre na austrijski i venecijanski dio, prožeta čestim surovim sukobima dva svadljiva susjeda, upadima Turaka i epidemijama kuge, završila je tek padom Venecije i dolaskom Napoleona.

 

U parku pred ulazom u Pićan, baš kao i u susjednom Gračišću ili u Tinjanu nalazi se kip Sv. Ivana Nepomuka, češkog sveca, zaštitnika kraljica, mostova, ispovjednih tajni i zaštitnika protiv poplava, sagrađen 1714. Vjerojatno je i Pićan na ulazu u grad nekada imao pokretni most. Nedaleko njega spomenik je Pićancima nastradalima u II svjetskom ratu (10), a na nešto sniženom terenu uz park nalazi se crkvica Sv. Roka, zaštitnika od kuge (11) kojoj je kamen temeljac postavio biskup Gašpar Bobek (1631.-1634.) u jeku jedne od najvećih epidemija kuge. U stari dio Pićna ulazimo kroz monumentalna gradska vrata koja potječu iz 14. stoljeća, a obnovljena su 1613. za biskupa Antonia Zara (1601. -1621.). Zahvaljujući bliskoj vezi sa nadvojvodom Ferdinandom Zara je već sa 27 godina od običnog klerika postao biskup Pićna. U Pićnu je napisao svoje životno djelo, svojevrsnu filozofsku enciklopediju pod naslovom Anatomia ingeniorum et scientiarum sectionibus quattuor comprehensa koja je tiskana u Veneciji 1615. Ostati će zapamćen kao prvi talijanski mislilac koji se odvojio od skolastičke filozofije. Zara je obnovio i biskupsku palaču, a započeo je i gradnju nove katedrale. Međutim, već su 1653. i katedrala i biskupski dvor opustošeni u najvećoj buni kmetova u Istri. Pritisnuti novim davanima koja su uvedena zbog podmirivanja dugova Knežije prema Kranjskoj a naročito zbog surovosti predstavnika kranjske pokrajinske uprave Hanibala Bottoni-a, oko tri tisuće ljudi iz čitave Knežije se okupilo 06. srpnja u Gračišću i krenulo na Pićan pod vodstvom Mate Bolka. Razvalili su gradska vrata i provalili u katedralu, u biskupski dvor i kuće kanonika, te na licu mjesta presudili Bottoni-u i njegovom kancelaru.

  

Pićanski zvonik od bijelog vapnenca sagrađen je 1872. Osim što je sa svojih 48 metara među najvišima u Istri, mnogi ga drže i najljepšim. U podnožju zvonika i danas stoji kamena mjera kojom su se mjerila davanja podanika.

  

Župna crkva Navještenja Blažene Djevice Marije je današnji vanjski oblik dobila preuređenjem 1753., a unutrašnjost je barokizirana za vrijeme posljednjeg pićanskog biskupa Piccardia (1766 1784). Kao što i dolikuje katedrali, u vlasništvu crkve je brojni vrijedan inventar, a ističe se zlatom protkani biskupski plašt, poklon carice Marija Terezija. Reljefima i grbovima ukrašene grobnice pićanskih biskupa, ali i zaslužnih građana Pićna ugrađene su u pod crkve i u plato ispred crkve.

  

Vidikovac Franje Ferdinanda - Pogled sa ovog mjesta na brdovit krajolik središnje Istre, kao i poseban okus pićanskog vina koje mu je ponudio župnik, uvjerili su austrijskog prijestolonasljednika Franju Ferdinanda, da slijedeći put u Pićan mora doći u pratnji žene Sofije, strastvene slikarice, kako bi ovjekovječila prizor. Ta mu se želja na žalost nije ostvarila jer su oboje nedugo zatim nastradali u atentatu u Sarajevu 1914.

  

Nasuprot župne crkve nalazi se rodna kuća Matka Brajše Rašana zborovođe, zapisivača istarskih narodnih napjeva i skladatelja koji je 1912. na tekst Ivana Cukona skladao današnju službenu istarsku himnu Krasna zemljo. Manje je poznato da je još jedna važna muzička lićnost vezana uz Pićan. Radi se o slovencu Jurju Slatkonji osnivaču i voditelju Bečkog dvorskog orkestra i kasnijem prvom bečkom biskupu, koji se u Pićnu spominje od 1506. kao administrator biskupije, a 1513 kao biskup.

Od trga ispred crkve možemo nastaviti ulicom prema zapadu uz zgradu u kojoj je od 1914. do 1918. djelovala Narodna čitaonica. Kroz mali prolaz možemo izaći desno u vrtove kako bi vidjeli najsačuvaniji dio gradskih zidina.

Na suprotnom kraju Pićna preporučamo posjetiti vidikovac Svete Jelene nazvan po istoimenoj crkvici koja je nekada bila na tom mjestu. U tom dijelu naselja ima još napuštenih starih kuća zanimljive arhitekture, sa rustikalnim nadvratnicima i stepeništima ponekad uklesanim u živu stijenu, koje tek čekaju da im se udahne novi život.

Za kraj posjete Pićnu preporučamo jednobrodnu romaničku crkvicu Svetog Mihovila iz XIII stoljeća koja se nalazi na susjednom uzvišenju. Ona u svojoj unutrašnjosti krije vrijedne zidne slike iz prve polovine XV stoljeća, koje tek čekaju stručnu restauraciju. Nezaboravan pogled koji se pruža sa tog prirodnog vidikovca obogaćuje od 1999. kamena skulptura Obitelj talijanskog kipara Nane Zavagnea, sudionika Mediteranskog kiparskog simpozija u Dubrovi kraj Labina.

 

cit:

www.central-istria.com/hr/odredista-destinations/pican

 

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Church of St. Francis and St. Bernard, Vilnius (Šv. Pranciškaus Asyžiečio bažnyčia)

next to St. Anne's Church 1564 but remodelled many times

Adam Mickiewicz Monument - poet, dramatist, essayist, publicist, translator, National poet of Lithuania

Budapest - MOM művelődési központ - 2008

a panel painting from the former high altar at Okoličné, Liptov county, Slovakia

 

property of the East Slovak Museum in Košice

 

The master´s quality is manifested through the depiction of faces, introspective,

full of dignity and melancholic lyrism that is enhanced with a delicate sfumato.

 

for educational purpose only

 

please do not use without permission

a.k.a:

Master of the Historia Friderici et Maximiliani

Meister des Pulkauer Tafelbilder

Master of the Pulkau Altar

Historia-Meister

Meister der Historia Friderici et Maximiliani

 

On the reverse of this table painting is the scene of Finding the Grave of Saint Stephen the Protomartyr.

 

location: Slovak National Gallery

 

(please do not use without permission)

Pieta, stone, c 1400, sculptor from Bratislava or Vienna

 

mourning angels, mid-18th century, ascribed to Ľudovít Gode

 

for educational purpose only

 

please do not use without permission

 

AMDG

  

A cathedral without a bishop: St. Stephan in Vienna

In order to fully fulfill the function of a capital in its medieval understanding, Vienna lacked a decisive factor: Vienna was indeed a major city, but not the seat of a bishopric, but was subordinate to the Prince-Bishop of Passau in ecclesiastical matters. St. Stephen, the most important church in the city, had only the rank of a parish church.

Therefore, the first attempts to found a diocese in Vienna date back to the time of the Babenbergs. Also the under Ottokar II Přemysl after the fire of 1258 begun generous new building of the Saint Stephen's church in the late Romanesque style pursued this goal.

The Habsburgs' representational aspirations also focused on St. Stephen after they had taken control of Austria. Albrecht I began in 1304 with the construction of a new choir. The highlight, however, was reached under Duke Rudolf IV. This ambitious Habsburg wanted to turn Vienna into an important royal residence and St. Stephen as the "Capella regia Austriaca" into the court church of the Austrian sovereign princes, the sacral center of the country.

The background for this lay in the competition with the dynasty of Luxembourg: Emperor Charles IV was just about to expand his residence Prague to a metropolis of European importance. One of his measures was the elevation of Prague to the Archbishopric of 1344, which prompted the great expansion of St. Vitus' Cathedral on Prague's Hradcany.

Rudolf's plan to make St. Stephen the seat of a bishop failed because of the resistance of Passau, because the bishop rightly feared a reduction of his diocese. Nevertheless, Rudolf found a way to give St. Stephan a special rank. In 1359 he obtained the papal confirmation for the founding of a collegiate, an association of 24 dressed in cardinal red robes priests, which was headed by a provost in a bishop-like costume. By subordinating the collegiate directly to the Pope, it was beyond the Passau influence. Thanks to complicated ecclesiastical chess moves he finally succeeded in 1365 to transfer his foundation to St. Stephen, which increased the importance of the church.

This was also reflected in the structural design of the church. In 1359 Rudolf IV began with a large-scale expansion, which was to bear all the symbols of a ruling church: a princely gallery above the west portal was framed by two-storey Duke's chapels, in which the relic treasure was kept. A princely tomb was erected as the tomb of the rulers of the country and finally four towers were planned, which was actually a building prerogative of a bishop's church. By integrating parts of the late Romanesque predecessor building (the main portal and the westwork called "Giant Gate") into his concept, Rudolf gave his building program historical depth.

With the death of Rudolf, the interest of the Habsburgs in St. Stephen palpably came to an end, and the citizens of Vienna took the initiative for the further expansion of the church. Only with Frederick III., who saw his example in Rudolf IV, did a Habsburg take part in the expansion of the church. Friedrich ordered the beginning of the work on the north tower. However, his high tomb in the Apostle Choir of the Dome, which is another notable example of the dynastic program of the Habsburgs in the late Middle Ages, is particularly reminiscent of this Habsburg.

Frederick III. finally managed to bring the prestige matter of his ancestor Rudolf to a successful end: 1469 Frederick III succeeded in to bring about the Pope to elevate Vienna to a diocese. Although the Viennese diocese initially had only a minimal extension - it was smaller than the current urban area - but the Habsburgs had imposed their own will: The Cathedral of St. Stephen had finally a bishop.

 

Eine Kathedrale ohne Bischof: St. Stephan in Wien

Um im mittelalterlichen Verständnis die Funktion einer Hauptstadt vollends zu erfüllen, fehlte Wien eine entscheidende Sache: Wien war zwar eine bedeutende Großstadt, aber nicht Sitz eines Bistums, sondern unterstand in kirchlichen Belangen dem Fürstbischof von Passau. St. Stephan, die wichtigste Kirche der Stadt, hatte nur den Rang einer Pfarrkirche.

Daher datieren die ersten Versuche einer Bistumsgründung in Wien bereits in die Zeit der Babenberger. Auch der unter Ottokar II. Přemysl nach dem Brand von 1258 begonnene großzügige Neubau der Stephanskirche im spätromanischen Stil verfolgte dieses Ziel.

Auf St. Stephan konzentrierten sich auch die Repräsentationsbestrebungen der Habsburger, nachdem sie die Herrschaft in Österreich übernommen hatten. Albrecht I. begann bereits 1304 mit dem Bau eines neuen Chores. Der Höhepunkt wurde jedoch unter Herzog Rudolf IV. erreicht. Dieser ehrgeizige Habsburger wollte Wien zu einer bedeutenden Residenzstadt und St. Stephan als “Capella regia Austriaca”, als Hofkirche der österreichischen Landesfürsten, zum sakralen Zentrum des Landes machen.

Der Hintergrund dafür lag in der Konkurrenz mit der Dynastie der Luxemburger: Kaiser Karl IV. war gerade dabei, seine Residenz Prag zu einer Metropole europäischer Geltung auszubauen. Eine seiner Maßnahmen war die Erhebung Prags zum Erzbistum 1344, was den Anstoß gab für den großartigen Ausbau des Veitsdomes am Prager Hradschin.

Rudolfs Plan, St. Stephan zum Sitz eines Bischofs zu machen, scheiterte zwar am Widerstand Passaus, denn der Bischof fürchtete zu Recht eine Verkleinerung seiner Diözese. Dennoch fand Rudolf einen Weg, St. Stephan einen besonderen Rang zu verleihen. 1359 erwirkte er die päpstliche Bestätigung für die Gründung eines Kollegiatstiftes, einer Vereinigung von 24 in kardinalsrote Gewänder gekleideten Priestern, denen ein Probst in bischofsähnlicher Tracht vorstand. Indem er das Kollegiat direkt dem Papst unterstellte, war es dem Passauer Einfluss entzogen. Dank komplizierter kirchenrechtlicher Schachzüge gelang es ihm schließlich 1365 seine Stiftung auf St. Stephan zu übertragen, was die Bedeutung des Gotteshauses erhöhte.

Dies schlug sich auch in der baulichen Gestalt der Kirche nieder. 1359 begann Rudolf IV. mit einem groß angelegten Ausbau, der alle Symbole einer Herrscherkirche tragen sollte: Eine Fürstenempore über dem Westportal wurde von doppelstöckigen Herzogskapellen eingerahmt, in denen der Reliquienschatz verwahrt wurde. Eine Fürstengruft als Grablege der Herrscher des Landes wurde angelegt und schließlich waren vier Türme geplant, was eigentlich ein bauliches Vorrecht einer Bischofskirche war. Indem Rudolf Teile des spätromanischen Vorgängerbaues (das als “Riesentor” bezeichnete Hauptportal und das Westwerk) in sein Konzept integrieren ließ, gab er seinem Bauprogramm historische Tiefe.

Mit dem Tod Rudolfs erlosch das Interesse der Habsburger an St. Stephan spürbar, die Wiener Bürgerschaft übernahm die Initiative für den weiteren Ausbau der Kirche. Erst mit Friedrich III., der in Rudolf IV. sein Vorbild sah, beteiligte sich wieder ein Habsburger am Ausbau der Kirche. Friedrich veranlasste den Beginn der Arbeiten am Nordturm. An diesen Habsburger erinnert vor allem jedoch sein Hochgrab im Apostelchor des Domes, ein weiteres bemerkenswertes Beispiel für das dynastische Programm der Habsburger im Spätmittelalter.

Friedrich III. gelang es schließlich auch, die Prestigeangelegenheit seines Ahnen Rudolf zu einem erfolgreichen Ende zu bringen: 1469 erreichte Friedrich III. beim Papst die Erhebung Wiens zum Bistum. Die Wiener Diözese hatte zwar zunächst nur eine minimale Ausdehung – sie war kleiner als das heutige Stadtgebiet – aber die Habsburger hatten ihren Willen durchgesetzt: Der Dom zu St. Stephan hatte endlich einen Bischof.

Martin Mutschlechner

www.habsburger.net/de/kapitel/eine-kathedrale-ohne-bischo...

Snakes are elongated, limbless, carnivorous reptiles of the suborder Serpentes Like all other squamates, snakes are ectothermic, amniote vertebrates covered in overlapping scales. Many species of snakes have skulls with several more joints than their lizard ancestors, enabling them to swallow prey much larger than their heads (cranial kinesis). To accommodate their narrow bodies, snakes' paired organs (such as kidneys) appear one in front of the other instead of side by side, and most have only one functional lung. Some species retain a pelvic girdle with a pair of vestigial claws on either side of the cloaca. Lizards have independently evolved elongate bodies without limbs or with greatly reduced limbs at least twenty-five times via convergent evolution, leading to many lineages of legless lizards. These resemble snakes, but several common groups of legless lizards have eyelids and external ears, which snakes lack, although this rule is not universal (see Amphisbaenia, Dibamidae, and Pygopodidae).

 

Living snakes are found on every continent except Antarctica, and on most smaller land masses; exceptions include some large islands, such as Ireland, Iceland, Greenland, the Hawaiian archipelago, and the islands of New Zealand, as well as many small islands of the Atlantic and central Pacific oceans. Additionally, sea snakes are widespread throughout the Indian and Pacific oceans. Around thirty families are currently recognized, comprising about 520 genera and about 3,900 species. They range in size from the tiny, 10.4 cm-long (4.1 in) Barbados threadsnake to the reticulated python of 6.95 meters (22.8 ft) in length. The fossil species Titanoboa cerrejonensis was 12.8 meters (42 ft) long. Snakes are thought to have evolved from either burrowing or aquatic lizards, perhaps during the Jurassic period, with the earliest known fossils dating to between 143 and 167 Ma ago. The diversity of modern snakes appeared during the Paleocene epoch (c. 66 to 56 Ma ago, after the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event). The oldest preserved descriptions of snakes can be found in the Brooklyn Papyrus.

 

Most species of snake are nonvenomous and those that have venom use it primarily to kill and subdue prey rather than for self-defense. Some possess venom that is potent enough to cause painful injury or death to humans. Nonvenomous snakes either swallow prey alive or kill by constriction.

 

Etymology

The English word snake comes from Old English snaca, itself from Proto-Germanic *snak-an- (cf. Germanic Schnake 'ring snake', Swedish snok 'grass snake'), from Proto-Indo-European root *(s)nēg-o- 'to crawl to creep', which also gave sneak as well as Sanskrit nāgá 'snake'. The word ousted adder, as adder went on to narrow in meaning, though in Old English næddre was the general word for snake. The other term, serpent, is from French, ultimately from Indo-European *serp- 'to creep', which also gave Ancient Greek ἕρπω (hérpō) 'I crawl' and Sanskrit sarpá ‘snake’.

 

The fossil record of snakes is relatively poor because snake skeletons are typically small and fragile making fossilization uncommon. Fossils readily identifiable as snakes (though often retaining hind limbs) first appear in the fossil record during the Cretaceous period. The earliest known true snake fossils (members of the crown group Serpentes) come from the marine simoliophiids, the oldest of which is the Late Cretaceous (Cenomanian age) Haasiophis terrasanctus from the West Bank, dated to between 112 and 94 million years old.

 

Based on comparative anatomy, there is consensus that snakes descended from lizards. Pythons and boas—primitive groups among modern snakes—have vestigial hind limbs: tiny, clawed digits known as anal spurs, which are used to grasp during mating The families Leptotyphlopidae and Typhlopidae also possess remnants of the pelvic girdle, appearing as horny projections when visible.

 

Front limbs are nonexistent in all known snakes. This is caused by the evolution of their Hox genes, controlling limb morphogenesis. The axial skeleton of the snakes' common ancestor, like most other tetrapods, had regional specializations consisting of cervical (neck), thoracic (chest), lumbar (lower back), sacral (pelvic), and caudal (tail) vertebrae. Early in snake evolution, the Hox gene expression in the axial skeleton responsible for the development of the thorax became dominant. As a result, the vertebrae anterior to the hindlimb buds (when present) all have the same thoracic-like identity (except from the atlas, axis, and 1–3 neck vertebrae). In other words, most of a snake's skeleton is an extremely extended thorax. Ribs are found exclusively on the thoracic vertebrae. Neck, lumbar and pelvic vertebrae are very reduced in number (only 2–10 lumbar and pelvic vertebrae are present), while only a short tail remains of the caudal vertebrae. However, the tail is still long enough to be of important use in many species, and is modified in some aquatic and tree-dwelling species.

 

Many modern snake groups originated during the Paleocene, alongside the adaptive radiation of mammals following the extinction of (non-avian) dinosaurs. The expansion of grasslands in North America also led to an explosive radiation among snakes. Previously, snakes were a minor component of the North American fauna, but during the Miocene, the number of species and their prevalence increased dramatically with the first appearances of vipers and elapids in North America and the significant diversification of Colubridae (including the origin of many modern genera such as Nerodia, Lampropeltis, Pituophis, and Pantherophis).

 

Fossils

There is fossil evidence to suggest that snakes may have evolved from burrowing lizards, during the Cretaceous Period. An early fossil snake relative, Najash rionegrina, was a two-legged burrowing animal with a sacrum, and was fully terrestrial. One extant analog of these putative ancestors is the earless monitor Lanthanotus of Borneo (though it also is semiaquatic). Subterranean species evolved bodies streamlined for burrowing, and eventually lost their limbs. According to this hypothesis, features such as the transparent, fused eyelids (brille) and loss of external ears evolved to cope with fossorial difficulties, such as scratched corneas and dirt in the ears. Some primitive snakes are known to have possessed hindlimbs, but their pelvic bones lacked a direct connection to the vertebrae. These include fossil species like Haasiophis, Pachyrhachis and Eupodophis, which are slightly older than Najash.

 

This hypothesis was strengthened in 2015 by the discovery of a 113-million-year-old fossil of a four-legged snake in Brazil that has been named Tetrapodophis amplectus. It has many snake-like features, is adapted for burrowing and its stomach indicates that it was preying on other animals. It is currently uncertain if Tetrapodophis is a snake or another species, in the squamate order, as a snake-like body has independently evolved at least 26 times. Tetrapodophis does not have distinctive snake features in its spine and skull. A study in 2021 places the animal in a group of extinct marine lizards from the Cretaceous period known as dolichosaurs and not directly related to snakes.

 

An alternative hypothesis, based on morphology, suggests the ancestors of snakes were related to mosasaurs—extinct aquatic reptiles from the Cretaceous—forming the clade Pythonomorpha. According to this hypothesis, the fused, transparent eyelids of snakes are thought to have evolved to combat marine conditions (corneal water loss through osmosis), and the external ears were lost through disuse in an aquatic environment. This ultimately led to an animal similar to today's sea snakes. In the Late Cretaceous, snakes recolonized land, and continued to diversify into today's snakes. Fossilized snake remains are known from early Late Cretaceous marine sediments, which is consistent with this hypothesis; particularly so, as they are older than the terrestrial Najash rionegrina. Similar skull structure, reduced or absent limbs, and other anatomical features found in both mosasaurs and snakes lead to a positive cladistical correlation, although some of these features are shared with varanids.

 

Genetic studies in recent years have indicated snakes are not as closely related to monitor lizards as was once believed—and therefore not to mosasaurs, the proposed ancestor in the aquatic scenario of their evolution. However, more evidence links mosasaurs to snakes than to varanids. Fragmented remains found from the Jurassic and Early Cretaceous indicate deeper fossil records for these groups, which may potentially refute either hypothesis.

 

Genetic basis of snake evolution

Main article: Limb development

Both fossils and phylogenetic studies demonstrate that snakes evolved from lizards, hence the question became which genetic changes led to limb loss in the snake ancestor. Limb loss is actually very common in extant reptiles and has happened dozens of times within skinks, anguids, and other lizards.

 

In 2016, two studies reported that limb loss in snakes is associated with DNA mutations in the Zone of Polarizing Activity Regulatory Sequence (ZRS), a regulatory region of the sonic hedgehog gene which is critically required for limb development. More advanced snakes have no remnants of limbs, but basal snakes such as pythons and boas do have traces of highly reduced, vestigial hind limbs. Python embryos even have fully developed hind limb buds, but their later development is stopped by the DNA mutations in the ZRS.

 

Distribution

There are about 3,900 species of snakes, ranging as far northward as the Arctic Circle in Scandinavia and southward through Australia. Snakes can be found on every continent except Antarctica, as well as in the sea, and as high as 16,000 feet (4,900 m) in the Himalayan Mountains of Asia. There are numerous islands from which snakes are absent, such as Ireland, Iceland, and New Zealand (although New Zealand's northern waters are infrequently visited by the yellow-bellied sea snake and the banded sea krait).

 

Taxonomy

All modern snakes are grouped within the suborder Serpentes in Linnean taxonomy, part of the order Squamata, though their precise placement within squamates remains controversial.

 

The two infraorders of Serpentes are Alethinophidia and Scolecophidia. This separation is based on morphological characteristics and mitochondrial DNA sequence similarity. Alethinophidia is sometimes split into Henophidia and Caenophidia, with the latter consisting of "colubroid" snakes (colubrids, vipers, elapids, hydrophiids, and atractaspids) and acrochordids, while the other alethinophidian families comprise Henophidia. While not extant today, the Madtsoiidae, a family of giant, primitive, python-like snakes, was around until 50,000 years ago in Australia, represented by genera such as Wonambi.

 

There are numerous debates in the systematics within the group. For instance, many sources classify Boidae and Pythonidae as one family, while some keep the Elapidae and Hydrophiidae (sea snakes) separate for practical reasons despite their extremely close relation.

 

Recent molecular studies support the monophyly of the clades of modern snakes, scolecophidians, typhlopids + anomalepidids, alethinophidians, core alethinophidians, uropeltids (Cylindrophis, Anomochilus, uropeltines), macrostomatans, booids, boids, pythonids and caenophidians.

 

Legless lizards

Main article: Legless lizard

While snakes are limbless reptiles, evolved from (and grouped with) lizards, there are many other species of lizards that have lost their limbs independently but which superficially look similar to snakes. These include the slowworm and glass snake.

 

Other serpentine tetrapods that are unrelated to snakes include caecilians (amphibians), amphisbaenians (near-lizard squamates), and the extinct aistopods (amphibians).

 

Biology

The now extinct Titanoboa cerrejonensis was 12.8 m (42 ft) in length. By comparison, the largest extant snakes are the reticulated python, measuring about 6.95 m (22.8 ft) long, and the green anaconda, which measures about 5.21 m (17.1 ft) long and is considered the heaviest snake on Earth at 97.5 kg (215 lb).

 

At the other end of the scale, the smallest extant snake is Leptotyphlops carlae, with a length of about 10.4 cm (4.1 in). Most snakes are fairly small animals, approximately 1 m (3.3 ft) in length.

 

Perception

Pit vipers, pythons, and some boas have infrared-sensitive receptors in deep grooves on the snout, allowing them to "see" the radiated heat of warm-blooded prey. In pit vipers, the grooves are located between the nostril and the eye in a large "pit" on each side of the head. Other infrared-sensitive snakes have multiple, smaller labial pits lining the upper lip, just below the nostrils.

 

A snake tracks its prey using smell, collecting airborne particles with its forked tongue, then passing them to the vomeronasal organ or Jacobson's organ in the mouth for examination. The fork in the tongue provides a sort of directional sense of smell and taste simultaneously. The snake's tongue is constantly in motion, sampling particles from the air, ground, and water, analyzing the chemicals found, and determining the presence of prey or predators in the local environment. In water-dwelling snakes, such as the anaconda, the tongue functions efficiently underwater.

 

The underside of a snake is very sensitive to vibration, allowing the snake to detect approaching animals by sensing faint vibrations in the ground. Despite the lack of outer ears, they are also able to detect airborne sounds.

 

Snake vision varies greatly between species. Some have keen eyesight and others are only able to distinguish light from dark, but the important trend is that a snake's visual perception is adequate enough to track movements. Generally, vision is best in tree-dwelling snakes and weakest in burrowing snakes. Some have binocular vision, where both eyes are capable of focusing on the same point, an example of this being the Asian vine snake. Most snakes focus by moving the lens back and forth in relation to the retina. Diurnal snakes have round pupils and many nocturnal snakes have slit pupils. Most species possess three visual pigments and are probably able to see two primary colors in daylight. The annulated sea snake and the genus Helicops appears to have regained much of their color vision as an adaption to the marine environment they live in. It has been concluded that the last common ancestors of all snakes had UV-sensitive vision, but most snakes that depend on their eyesight to hunt in daylight have evolved lenses that act like sunglasses for filtering out the UV-light, which probably also sharpens their vision by improving the contrast.

 

Skin

The skin of a snake is covered in scales. Contrary to the popular notion of snakes being slimy (because of possible confusion of snakes with worms), snakeskin has a smooth, dry texture. Most snakes use specialized belly scales to travel, allowing them to grip surfaces. The body scales may be smooth, keeled, or granular. The eyelids of a snake are transparent "spectacle" scales, also known as brille, which remain permanently closed.

 

The shedding of scales is called ecdysis (or in normal usage, molting or sloughing). Snakes shed the complete outer layer of skin in one piece. Snake scales are not discrete, but extensions of the epidermis—hence they are not shed separately but as a complete outer layer during each molt, akin to a sock being turned inside out.

 

Snakes have a wide diversity of skin coloration patterns which are often related to behavior, such as the tendency to have to flee from predators. Snakes that are at a high risk of predation tend to be plain, or have longitudinal stripes, providing few reference points to predators, thus allowing the snake to escape without being noticed. Plain snakes usually adopt active hunting strategies, as their pattern allows them to send little information to prey about motion. Blotched snakes usually use ambush-based strategies, likely because it helps them blend into an environment with irregularly shaped objects, like sticks or rocks. Spotted patterning can similarly help snakes to blend into their environment.

 

The shape and number of scales on the head, back, and belly are often characteristic and used for taxonomic purposes. Scales are named mainly according to their positions on the body. In "advanced" (Caenophidian) snakes, the broad belly scales and rows of dorsal scales correspond to the vertebrae, allowing these to be counted without the need for dissection.

 

Molting

Molting (or "ecdysis") serves a number of purposes. It allows old, worn skin to be replaced and it can remove parasites such as mites and ticks that live in the skin. It has also been observed in snakes that molting can be synced to mating cycles. Shedding skin can release pheromones and revitalize color and patterns of the skin to increase attraction of mates. Renewal of the skin by molting supposedly allows growth in some animals such as insects, but this has been disputed in the case of snakes.

 

Molting occurs periodically throughout the life of a snake. Before each molt, the snake stops eating and often hides or moves to a safe place. Just before shedding, the skin becomes dull and dry looking and the snake's eyes turn cloudy or blue-colored. The inner surface of the old skin liquefies, causing it to separate from the new skin beneath it. After a few days, the eyes become clear and the snake "crawls" out of its old skin, which splits close to the snake's mouth. The snake rubs its body against rough surfaces to aid in the shedding of its old skin. In many cases, the cast skin peels backward over the body from head to tail in one piece, like pulling a sock off inside-out, revealing a new, larger, brighter layer of skin which has formed underneath.

 

A young snake that is still growing may shed its skin up to four times a year, but an older snake may shed only once or twice a year. The discarded skin carries a perfect imprint of the scale pattern, so it is usually possible to identify the snake from the cast skin if it is reasonably intact. This periodic renewal has led to the snake being a symbol of healing and medicine, as pictured in the Rod of Asclepius.

 

Scale counts can sometimes be used to identify the sex of a snake when the species is not distinctly sexually dimorphic. A probe is fully inserted into the cloaca, marked at the point where it stops, then removed and measured against the subcaudal scales. The scalation count determines whether the snake is a male or female, as the hemipenes of a male will probe to a different depth (usually longer) than the cloaca of a female.

 

Skeleton

The skeletons of snakes are radically different from those of most other reptiles (as compared with the turtle here, for example), consisting almost entirely of an extended ribcage.

The skeleton of most snakes consists solely of the skull, hyoid, vertebral column, and ribs, though henophidian snakes retain vestiges of the pelvis and rear limbs.

 

The skull consists of a solid and complete neurocranium, to which many of the other bones are only loosely attached, particularly the highly mobile jaw bones, which facilitate manipulation and ingestion of large prey items. The left and right sides of the lower jaw are joined only by a flexible ligament at the anterior tips, allowing them to separate widely, and the posterior end of the lower jaw bones articulate with a quadrate bone, allowing further mobility. The mandible and quadrate bones can pick up ground-borne vibrations; because the sides of the lower jaw can move independently of one another, a snake resting its jaw on a surface has sensitive stereo auditory perception, used for detecting the position of prey. The jaw–quadrate–stapes pathway is capable of detecting vibrations on the angstrom scale, despite the absence of an outer ear and the lack of an impedance matching mechanism—provided by the ossicles in other vertebrates—for receiving vibrations from the air.

 

The hyoid is a small bone located posterior and ventral to the skull, in the 'neck' region, which serves as an attachment for the muscles of the snake's tongue, as it does in all other tetrapods.

 

The vertebral column consists of between 200 and 400 vertebrae, or sometimes more. The body vertebrae each have two ribs articulating with them. The tail vertebrae are comparatively few in number (often less than 20% of the total) and lack ribs. The vertebrae have projections that allow for strong muscle attachment, enabling locomotion without limbs.

 

Caudal autotomy (self-amputation of the tail), a feature found in some lizards, is absent in most snakes. In the rare cases where it does exist in snakes, caudal autotomy is intervertebral (meaning the separation of adjacent vertebrae), unlike that in lizards, which is intravertebral, i.e. the break happens along a predefined fracture plane present on a vertebra.

 

In some snakes, most notably boas and pythons, there are vestiges of the hindlimbs in the form of a pair of pelvic spurs. These small, claw-like protrusions on each side of the cloaca are the external portion of the vestigial hindlimb skeleton, which includes the remains of an ilium and femur.

 

Snakes are polyphyodonts with teeth that are continuously replaced

 

Snakes and other non-archosaur (crocodilians, dinosaurs + birds and allies) reptiles have a three-chambered heart that controls the circulatory system via the left and right atrium, and one ventricle. Internally, the ventricle is divided into three interconnected cavities: the cavum arteriosum, the cavum pulmonale, and the cavum venosum. The cavum venosum receives deoxygenated blood from the right atrium and the cavum arteriosum receives oxygenated blood from the left atrium. Located beneath the cavum venosum is the cavum pulmonale, which pumps blood to the pulmonary trunk.

 

The snake's heart is encased in a sac, called the pericardium, located at the bifurcation of the bronchi. The heart is able to move around, owing to the lack of a diaphragm; this adjustment protects the heart from potential damage when large ingested prey is passed through the esophagus. The spleen is attached to the gall bladder and pancreas and filters the blood. The thymus, located in fatty tissue above the heart, is responsible for the generation of immune cells in the blood. The cardiovascular system of snakes is unique for the presence of a renal portal system in which the blood from the snake's tail passes through the kidneys before returning to the heart.

 

The vestigial left lung is often small or sometimes even absent, as snakes' tubular bodies require all of their organs to be long and thin.[71] In the majority of species, only one lung is functional. This lung contains a vascularized anterior portion and a posterior portion that does not function in gas exchange. This 'saccular lung' is used for hydrostatic purposes to adjust buoyancy in some aquatic snakes and its function remains unknown in terrestrial species. Many organs that are paired, such as kidneys or reproductive organs, are staggered within the body, one located ahead of the other.

 

Snakes have no lymph nodes.

 

Venom

Cobras, vipers, and closely related species use venom to immobilize, injure, or kill their prey. The venom is modified saliva, delivered through fangs. The fangs of 'advanced' venomous snakes like viperids and elapids are hollow, allowing venom to be injected more effectively, and the fangs of rear-fanged snakes such as the boomslang simply have a groove on the posterior edge to channel venom into the wound. Snake venoms are often prey-specific, and their role in self-defense is secondary.

 

Venom, like all salivary secretions, is a predigestant that initiates the breakdown of food into soluble compounds, facilitating proper digestion. Even nonvenomous snakebites (like any animal bite) cause tissue damage.

 

Certain birds, mammals, and other snakes (such as kingsnakes) that prey on venomous snakes have developed resistance and even immunity to certain venoms.Venomous snakes include three families of snakes, and do not constitute a formal taxonomic classification group.

 

The colloquial term "poisonous snake" is generally an incorrect label for snakes. A poison is inhaled or ingested, whereas venom produced by snakes is injected into its victim via fangs. There are, however, two exceptions: Rhabdophis sequesters toxins from the toads it eats, then secretes them from nuchal glands to ward off predators; and a small unusual population of garter snakes in the US state of Oregon retains enough toxins in their livers from ingested newts to be effectively poisonous to small local predators (such as crows and foxes).

 

Snake venoms are complex mixtures of proteins, and are stored in venom glands at the back of the head. In all venomous snakes, these glands open through ducts into grooved or hollow teeth in the upper jaw. The proteins can potentially be a mix of neurotoxins (which attack the nervous system), hemotoxins (which attack the circulatory system), cytotoxins (which attack the cells directly), bungarotoxins (related to neurotoxins, but also directly affect muscle tissue), and many other toxins that affect the body in different ways. Almost all snake venom contains hyaluronidase, an enzyme that ensures rapid diffusion of the venom.

 

Venomous snakes that use hemotoxins usually have fangs in the front of their mouths, making it easier for them to inject the venom into their victims. Some snakes that use neurotoxins (such as the mangrove snake) have fangs in the back of their mouths, with the fangs curled backwards. This makes it difficult both for the snake to use its venom and for scientists to milk them. Elapids, however, such as cobras and kraits are proteroglyphous—they possess hollow fangs that cannot be erected toward the front of their mouths, and cannot "stab" like a viper. They must actually bite the victim.

 

It has been suggested that all snakes may be venomous to a certain degree, with harmless snakes having weak venom and no fangs. According to this theory, most snakes that are labelled "nonvenomous" would be considered harmless because they either lack a venom delivery method or are incapable of delivering enough to endanger a human. The theory postulates that snakes may have evolved from a common lizard ancestor that was venomous, and also that venomous lizards like the gila monster, beaded lizard, monitor lizards, and the now-extinct mosasaurs, may have derived from this same common ancestor. They share this "venom clade" with various other saurian species.

 

Venomous snakes are classified in two taxonomic families:

Elapids – cobras including king cobras, kraits, mambas, Australian copperheads, sea snakes, and coral snakes.

Viperids – vipers, rattlesnakes, copperheads/cottonmouths, and bushmasters.

There is a third family containing the opistoglyphous (rear-fanged) snakes (as well as the majority of other snake species):

 

Colubrids – boomslangs, tree snakes, vine snakes, cat snakes, although not all colubrids are venomous.

 

Reproduction

Although a wide range of reproductive modes are used by snakes, all employ internal fertilization. This is accomplished by means of paired, forked hemipenes, which are stored, inverted, in the male's tail. The hemipenes are often grooved, hooked, or spined—designed to grip the walls of the female's cloaca. The clitoris of the female snake consists of two structures located between the cloaca and the scent glands.

 

Most species of snakes lay eggs which they abandon shortly after laying. However, a few species (such as the king cobra) construct nests and stay in the vicinity of the hatchlings after incubation. Most pythons coil around their egg-clutches and remain with them until they hatch. A female python will not leave the eggs, except to occasionally bask in the sun or drink water. She will even "shiver" to generate heat to incubate the eggs.

 

Some species of snake are ovoviviparous and retain the eggs within their bodies until they are almost ready to hatch. Several species of snake, such as the boa constrictor and green anaconda, are fully viviparous, nourishing their young through a placenta as well as a yolk sac; this is highly unusual among reptiles, and normally found in requiem sharks or placental mammals. Retention of eggs and live birth are most often associated with colder environments.

 

Sexual selection in snakes is demonstrated by the 3,000 species that each use different tactics in acquiring mates. Ritual combat between males for the females they want to mate with includes topping, a behavior exhibited by most viperids in which one male will twist around the vertically elevated fore body of its opponent and force it downward. It is common for neck-biting to occur while the snakes are entwined.

 

Facultative parthenogenesis

Parthenogenesis is a natural form of reproduction in which growth and development of embryos occur without fertilization. Agkistrodon contortrix (copperhead) and Agkistrodon piscivorus (cottonmouth) can reproduce by facultative parthenogenesis, meaning that they are capable of switching from a sexual mode of reproduction to an asexual mode. The most likely type of parthenogenesis to occur is automixis with terminal fusion, a process in which two terminal products from the same meiosis fuse to form a diploid zygote. This process leads to genome-wide homozygosity, expression of deleterious recessive alleles, and often to developmental abnormalities. Both captive-born and wild-born copperheads and cottonmouths appear to be capable of this form of parthenogenesis.

 

Reproduction in squamate reptiles is almost exclusively sexual. Males ordinarily have a ZZ pair of sex-determining chromosomes, and females a ZW pair. However, the Colombian Rainbow boa (Epicrates maurus) can also reproduce by facultative parthenogenesis, resulting in production of WW female progeny. The WW females are likely produced by terminal automixis.

 

Embryonic Development

Snake embryonic development initially follows similar steps as any vertebrate embryo. The snake embryo begins as a zygote, undergoes rapid cell division, forms a germinal disc, also called a blastodisc, then undergoes gastrulation, neurulation, and organogenesis. Cell division and proliferation continues until an early snake embryo develops and the typical body shape of a snake can be observed. Multiple features differentiate the embryologic development of snakes from other vertebrates, two significant factors being the elongation of the body and the lack of limb development.

 

The elongation in snake body is accompanied by a significant increase in vertebra count (mice have 60 vertebrae, whereas snakes may have over 300). This increase in vertebrae is due to an increase in somites during embryogenesis, leading to an increased number of vertebrae which develop. Somites are formed at the presomitic mesoderm due to a set of oscillatory genes that direct the somitogenesis clock. The snake somitogenesis clock operates at a frequency 4 times that of a mouse (after correction for developmental time), creating more somites, and therefore creating more vertebrae. This difference in clock speed is believed to be caused by differences in Lunatic fringe gene expression, a gene involved in the somitogenesis clock.

 

There is ample literature focusing on the limb development/lack of development in snake embryos and the gene expression associated with the different stages. In basal snakes, such as the python, embryos in early development exhibit a hind limb bud that develops with some cartilage and a cartilaginous pelvic element, however this degenerates before hatching. This presence of vestigial development suggests that some snakes are still undergoing hind limb reduction before they are eliminated. There is no evidence in basal snakes of forelimb rudiments and no examples of snake forelimb bud initiation in embryo, so little is known regarding the loss of this trait. Recent studies suggests that hind limb reduction could be due to mutations in enhancers for the SSH gene, however other studies suggested that mutations within the Hox Genes or their enhancers could contribute to snake limblessness. Since multiple studies have found evidence suggesting different genes played a role in the loss of limbs in snakes, it is likely that multiple gene mutations had an additive effect leading to limb loss in snakes.

 

Behavior

Snake coiled on a stick in Oklahoma. It was brumating in a large pile of wood chips, found by this landscaper after he bulldozed the pile in late autumn 2018.

In regions where winters are too cold for snakes to tolerate while remaining active, local species will enter a period of brumation. Unlike hibernation, in which the dormant mammals are actually asleep, brumating reptiles are awake but inactive. Individual snakes may brumate in burrows, under rock piles, or inside fallen trees, or large numbers of snakes may clump together in hibernacula.

 

Feeding and diet

All snakes are strictly carnivorous, preying on small animals including lizards, frogs, other snakes, small mammals, birds, eggs, fish, snails, worms, and insects. Snakes cannot bite or tear their food to pieces so must swallow their prey whole. The eating habits of a snake are largely influenced by body size; smaller snakes eat smaller prey. Juvenile pythons might start out feeding on lizards or mice and graduate to small deer or antelope as an adult, for example.

 

The snake's jaw is a complex structure. Contrary to the popular belief that snakes can dislocate their jaws, they have an extremely flexible lower jaw, the two halves of which are not rigidly attached, and numerous other joints in the skull, which allow the snake to open its mouth wide enough to swallow prey whole, even if it is larger in diameter than the snake itself. For example, the African egg-eating snake has flexible jaws adapted for eating eggs much larger than the diameter of its head.  This snake has no teeth, but does have bony protrusions on the inside edge of its spine, which it uses to break the shell when eating eggs.

 

The majority of snakes eat a variety of prey animals, but there is some specialization in certain species. King cobras and the Australian bandy-bandy consume other snakes. Species of the family Pareidae have more teeth on the right side of their mouths than on the left, as they mostly prey on snails and the shells usually spiral clockwise.

 

Some snakes have a venomous bite, which they use to kill their prey before eating it. Other snakes kill their prey by constriction, while some swallow their prey when it is still alive.

 

After eating, snakes become dormant to allow the process of digestion to take place; this is an intense activity, especially after consumption of large prey. In species that feed only sporadically, the entire intestine enters a reduced state between meals to conserve energy. The digestive system is then 'up-regulated' to full capacity within 48 hours of prey consumption. Being ectothermic ("cold-blooded"), the surrounding temperature plays an important role in the digestion process. The ideal temperature for snakes to digest food is 30 °C (86 °F). There is a huge amount of metabolic energy involved in a snake's digestion, for example the surface body temperature of the South American rattlesnake (Crotalus durissus) increases by as much as 1.2 °C (2.2 °F) during the digestive process. If a snake is disturbed after having eaten recently, it will often regurgitate its prey to be able to escape the perceived threat. When undisturbed, the digestive process is highly efficient; the snake's digestive enzymes dissolve and absorb everything but the prey's hair (or feathers) and claws, which are excreted along with waste.

 

Hooding and spitting

Hooding (expansion of the neck area) is a visual deterrent, mostly seen in cobras (elapids), and is primarily controlled by rib muscles.[98] Hooding can be accompanied by spitting venom towards the threatening object,[99] and producing a specialized sound; hissing. Studies on captive cobras showed that 13 to 22% of the body length is raised during hooding.

 

Locomotion

The lack of limbs does not impede the movement of snakes. They have developed several different modes of locomotion to deal with particular environments. Unlike the gaits of limbed animals, which form a continuum, each mode of snake locomotion is discrete and distinct from the others; transitions between modes are abrupt.

 

Lateral undulation

Lateral undulation is the sole mode of aquatic locomotion, and the most common mode of terrestrial locomotion In this mode, the body of the snake alternately flexes to the left and right, resulting in a series of rearward-moving "waves". While this movement appears rapid, snakes have rarely been documented moving faster than two body-lengths per second, often much less. This mode of movement has the same net cost of transport (calories burned per meter moved) as running in lizards of the same mass.

 

Terrestrial lateral undulation is the most common mode of terrestrial locomotion for most snake species. In this mode, the posteriorly moving waves push against contact points in the environment, such as rocks, twigs, irregularities in the soil, etc. Each of these environmental objects, in turn, generates a reaction force directed forward and towards the midline of the snake, resulting in forward thrust while the lateral components cancel out. The speed of this movement depends upon the density of push-points in the environment, with a medium density of about 8[clarification needed] along the snake's length being ideal. The wave speed is precisely the same as the snake speed, and as a result, every point on the snake's body follows the path of the point ahead of it, allowing snakes to move through very dense vegetation and small openings.

 

When swimming, the waves become larger as they move down the snake's body, and the wave travels backwards faster than the snake moves forwards. Thrust is generated by pushing their body against the water, resulting in the observed slip. In spite of overall similarities, studies show that the pattern of muscle activation is different in aquatic versus terrestrial lateral undulation, which justifies calling them separate modes. All snakes can laterally undulate forward (with backward-moving waves), but only sea snakes have been observed reversing the motion (moving backwards with forward-moving waves).

 

Sidewinding

Most often employed by colubroid snakes (colubrids, elapids, and vipers) when the snake must move in an environment that lacks irregularities to push against (rendering lateral undulation impossible), such as a slick mud flat, or a sand dune, sidewinding is a modified form of lateral undulation in which all of the body segments oriented in one direction remain in contact with the ground, while the other segments are lifted up, resulting in a peculiar "rolling" motion. This mode of locomotion overcomes the slippery nature of sand or mud by pushing off with only static portions on the body, thereby minimizing slipping. The static nature of the contact points can be shown from the tracks of a sidewinding snake, which show each belly scale imprint, without any smearing. This mode of locomotion has very low caloric cost, less than 1⁄3 of the cost for a lizard to move the same distance. Contrary to popular belief, there is no evidence that sidewinding is associated with the sand being hot.

 

Concertina

When push-points are absent, but there is not enough space to use sidewinding because of lateral constraints, such as in tunnels, snakes rely on concertina locomotion. In this mode, the snake braces the posterior portion of its body against the tunnel wall while the front of the snake extends and straightens. The front portion then flexes and forms an anchor point, and the posterior is straightened and pulled forwards. This mode of locomotion is slow and very demanding, up to seven times the cost of laterally undulating over the same distance. This high cost is due to the repeated stops and starts of portions of the body as well as the necessity of using active muscular effort to brace against the tunnel walls.

 

Arboreal

The movement of snakes in arboreal habitats has only recently been studied. While on tree branches, snakes use several modes of locomotion depending on species and bark texture. In general, snakes will use a modified form of concertina locomotion on smooth branches, but will laterally undulate if contact points are available. Snakes move faster on small branches and when contact points are present, in contrast to limbed animals, which do better on large branches with little 'clutter'.

 

Gliding snakes (Chrysopelea) of Southeast Asia launch themselves from branch tips, spreading their ribs and laterally undulating as they glide between trees. These snakes can perform a controlled glide for hundreds of feet depending upon launch altitude and can even turn in midair.

 

Rectilinear

The slowest mode of snake locomotion is rectilinear locomotion, which is also the only one where the snake does not need to bend its body laterally, though it may do so when turning. In this mode, the belly scales are lifted and pulled forward before being placed down and the body pulled over them. Waves of movement and stasis pass posteriorly, resulting in a series of ripples in the skin. The ribs of the snake do not move in this mode of locomotion and this method is most often used by large pythons, boas, and vipers when stalking prey across open ground as the snake's movements are subtle and harder to detect by their prey in this manner.

 

Interactions with humans

Snakes do not ordinarily prey on humans. Unless startled or injured, most snakes prefer to avoid contact and will not attack humans. With the exception of large constrictors, nonvenomous snakes are not a threat to humans. The bite of a nonvenomous snake is usually harmless; their teeth are not adapted for tearing or inflicting a deep puncture wound, but rather grabbing and holding. Although the possibility of infection and tissue damage is present in the bite of a nonvenomous snake, venomous snakes present far greater hazard to humans.  The World Health Organization (WHO) lists snakebite under the "other neglected conditions" category.

 

Documented deaths resulting from snake bites are uncommon. Nonfatal bites from venomous snakes may result in the need for amputation of a limb or part thereof. Of the roughly 725 species of venomous snakes worldwide, only 250 are able to kill a human with one bite. Australia averages only one fatal snake bite per year. In India, 250,000 snakebites are recorded in a single year, with as many as 50,000 recorded initial deaths. The WHO estimates that on the order of 100,000 people die each year as a result of snake bites, and around three times as many amputations and other permanent disabilities are caused by snakebites annually.

 

The treatment for a snakebite is as variable as the bite itself. The most common and effective method is through antivenom (or antivenin), a serum made from the venom of the snake. Some antivenom is species-specific (monovalent) while some is made for use with multiple species in mind (polyvalent). In the United States for example, all species of venomous snakes are pit vipers, with the exception of the coral snake. To produce antivenom, a mixture of the venoms of the different species of rattlesnakes, copperheads, and cottonmouths is injected into the body of a horse in ever-increasing dosages until the horse is immunized. Blood is then extracted from the immunized horse. The serum is separated and further purified and freeze-dried. It is reconstituted with sterile water and becomes antivenom. For this reason, people who are allergic to horses are more likely to have an allergic reaction to antivenom. Antivenom for the more dangerous species (such as mambas, taipans, and cobras) is made in a similar manner in South Africa, Australia , and India, although these antivenoms are species-specific.

 

Snake charmers

In some parts of the world, especially in India, snake charming is a roadside show performed by a charmer. In such a show, the snake charmer carries a basket containing a snake that he seemingly charms by playing tunes with his flutelike musical instrument, to which the snake responds. The snake is in fact responding to the movement of the flute, not the sound it makes, as snakes lack external ears (though they do have internal ears).

 

The Wildlife Protection Act of 1972 in India technically prohibits snake charming on the grounds of reducing animal cruelty. Other types of snake charmers use a snake and mongoose show, where the two animals have a mock fight; however, this is not very common, as the animals may be seriously injured or killed. Snake charming as a profession is dying out in India because of competition from modern forms of entertainment and environment laws proscribing the practice. Many Indians have never seen snake charming and it is becoming a folktale of the past.

 

Trapping

The Irulas tribe of Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu in India have been hunter-gatherers in the hot, dry plains forests, and have practiced the art of snake catching for generations. They have a vast knowledge of snakes in the field. They generally catch the snakes with the help of a simple stick. Earlier, the Irulas caught thousands of snakes for the snake-skin industry. After the complete ban of the snake-skin industry in India and protection of all snakes under the Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act 1972, they formed the Irula Snake Catcher's Cooperative and switched to catching snakes for removal of venom, releasing them in the wild after four extractions. The venom so collected is used for producing life-saving antivenom, biomedical research and for other medicinal products. The Irulas are also known to eat some of the snakes they catch and are very useful in rat extermination in the villages.

 

Despite the existence of snake charmers, there have also been professional snake catchers or wranglers. Modern-day snake trapping involves a herpetologist using a long stick with a V-shaped end. Some television show hosts, like Bill Haast, Austin Stevens, Steve Irwin, and Jeff Corwin, prefer to catch them using bare hands.

 

Consumption

Although snakes are not commonly thought of as food, their consumption is acceptable in some cultures and may even be considered a delicacy. Snake soup is popular in Cantonese cuisine, consumed by locals in the autumn to warm their bodies. Western cultures document the consumption of snakes only under extreme circumstances of hunger, with the exception of cooked rattlesnake meat, which is commonly consumed in Texas and parts of the Midwestern United States.

 

In Asian countries such as China, Taiwan, Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam, and Cambodia, drinking the blood of a snake—particularly the cobra—is believed to increase sexual virility. When possible, the blood is drained while the cobra is still alive, and it is usually mixed with some form of liquor to improve the taste.

 

The use of snakes in alcohol is accepted in some Asian countries. In such cases, one or more snakes are left to steep in a jar or container of liquor, as this is claimed to make the liquor stronger (as well as more expensive). One example of this is the Habu snake, which is sometimes placed in the Okinawan liqueur Habushu (ハブ酒), also known as "Habu Sake".

 

Snake wine (蛇酒) is an alcoholic beverage produced by infusing whole snakes in rice wine or grain alcohol. First recorded as being consumed in China during the Western Zhou dynasty, this drink is considered an important curative and is believed to reinvigorate a person according to traditional Chinese medicine

 

Pets

In the Western world, some snakes are kept as pets, especially docile species such as the ball python and corn snake. To meet the demand, a captive breeding industry has developed. Snakes bred in captivity are considered preferable to specimens caught in the wild and tend to make better pets. Compared with more traditional types of companion animal, snakes can be very low-maintenance pets; they require minimal space, as most common species do not exceed 5 feet (1.5 m) in length, and can be fed relatively infrequently—usually once every five to 14 days. Certain snakes have a lifespan of more than 40 years if given proper care.

 

Symbolism

In ancient Mesopotamia, Nirah, the messenger god of Ištaran, was represented as a serpent on kudurrus, or boundary stones. Representations of two intertwined serpents are common in Sumerian art and Neo-Sumerian artwork and still appear sporadically on cylinder seals and amulets until as late as the thirteenth century BC. The horned viper (Cerastes cerastes) appears in Kassite and Neo-Assyrian kudurrus and is invoked in Assyrian texts as a magical protective entity. A dragon-like creature with horns, the body and neck of a snake, the forelegs of a lion, and the hind-legs of a bird appears in Mesopotamian art from the Akkadian Period until the Hellenistic Period (323 BC–31 BC). This creature, known in Akkadian as the mušḫuššu, meaning "furious serpent", was used as a symbol for particular deities and also as a general protective emblem. It seems to have originally been the attendant of the Underworld god Ninazu, but later became the attendant to the Hurrian storm-god Tishpak, as well as, later, Ninazu's son Ningishzida, the Babylonian national god Marduk, the scribal god Nabu, and the Assyrian national god Ashur.

 

In Egyptian history, the snake occupies a primary role with the Nile cobra adorning the crown of the pharaoh in ancient times. It was worshipped as one of the gods and was also used for sinister purposes: murder of an adversary and ritual suicide (Cleopatra). The ouroboros was a well-known ancient Egyptian symbol of a serpent swallowing its own tail. The precursor to the ouroboros was the "Many-Faced", a serpent with five heads, who, according to the Amduat, the oldest surviving Book of the Afterlife, was said to coil around the corpse of the sun god Ra protectively. The earliest surviving depiction of a "true" ouroboros comes from the gilded shrines in the tomb of Tutankhamun. In the early centuries AD, the ouroboros was adopted as a symbol by Gnostic Christians and chapter 136 of the Pistis Sophia, an early Gnostic text, describes "a great dragon whose tail is in its mouth". In medieval alchemy, the ouroboros became a typical western dragon with wings, legs, and a tail.

 

In the Bible, King Nahash of Ammon, whose name means "Snake", is depicted very negatively, as a particularly cruel and despicable enemy of the ancient Hebrews.

 

The ancient Greeks used the Gorgoneion, a depiction of a hideous face with serpents for hair, as an apotropaic symbol to ward off evil. In a Greek myth described by Pseudo-Apollodorus in his Bibliotheca, Medusa was a Gorgon with serpents for hair whose gaze turned all those who looked at her to stone and was slain by the hero Perseus. In the Roman poet Ovid's Metamorphoses, Medusa is said to have once been a beautiful priestess of Athena, whom Athena turned into a serpent-haired monster after she was raped by the god Poseidon in Athena's temple. In another myth referenced by the Boeotian poet Hesiod and described in detail by Pseudo-Apollodorus, the hero Heracles is said to have slain the Lernaean Hydra, a multiple-headed serpent which dwelt in the swamps of Lerna.

 

The legendary account of the foundation of Thebes mentioned a monster snake guarding the spring from which the new settlement was to draw its water. In fighting and killing the snake, the companions of the founder Cadmus all perished – leading to the term "Cadmean victory" (i.e. a victory involving one's own ruin).

 

Three medical symbols involving snakes that are still used today are Bowl of Hygieia, symbolizing pharmacy, and the Caduceus and Rod of Asclepius, which are symbols denoting medicine in general.

 

One of the etymologies proposed for the common female first name Linda is that it might derive from Old German Lindi or Linda, meaning a serpent.

 

India is often called the land of snakes and is steeped in tradition regarding snakes. Snakes are worshipped as gods even today with many women pouring milk on snake pits (despite snakes' aversion for milk). The cobra is seen on the neck of Shiva and Vishnu is depicted often as sleeping on a seven-headed snake or within the coils of a serpent. There are also several temples in India solely for cobras sometimes called Nagraj (King of Snakes) and it is believed that snakes are symbols of fertility. There is a Hindu festival called Nag Panchami each year on which day snakes are venerated and prayed to. See also Nāga.

 

In India there is another mythology about snakes. Commonly known in Hindi as "Ichchhadhari" snakes. Such snakes can take the form of any living creature, but prefer human form. These mythical snakes possess a valuable gem called "Mani", which is more brilliant than diamond. There are many stories in India about greedy people trying to possess this gem and ending up getting killed.

 

The snake is one of the 12 celestial animals of Chinese zodiac, in the Chinese calendar.

 

Many ancient Peruvian cultures worshipped nature. They emphasized animals and often depicted snakes in their art.

 

Religion

Snakes are used in Hinduism as a part of ritual worship. In the annual Nag Panchami festival, participants worship either live cobras or images of Nāgas. Lord Shiva is depicted in most images with a snake coiled around his neck. Puranic literature includes various stories associated with snakes, for example Shesha is said to hold all the planets of the Universe on his hoods and to constantly sing the glories of Vishnu from all his mouths. Other notable snakes in Hinduism are Vasuki, Takshaka, Karkotaka, and Pingala. The term Nāga is used to refer to entities that take the form of large snakes in Hinduism and Buddhism.

 

Snakes have been widely revered in many cultures, such as in ancient Greece where the serpent was seen as a healer.[148] Asclepius carried a serpent wound around his wand, a symbol seen today on many ambulances. In Judaism, the snake of brass is also a symbol of healing, of one's life being saved from imminent death.

 

In religious terms, the snake and jaguar were arguably the most important animals in ancient Mesoamerica. "In states of ecstasy, lords dance a serpent dance; great descending snakes adorn and support buildings from Chichen Itza to Tenochtitlan, and the Nahuatl word coatl meaning serpent or twin, forms part of primary deities such as Mixcoatl, Quetzalcoatl, and Coatlicue." In the Maya and Aztec calendars, the fifth day of the week was known as Snake Day.

 

In some parts of Christianity, the redemptive work of Jesus Christ is compared to saving one's life through beholding the Nehushtan (serpent of brass). Snake handlers use snakes as an integral part of church worship, to demonstrate their faith in divine protection. However, more commonly in Christianity, the serpent has been depicted as a representative of evil and sly plotting, as seen in the description in Genesis of a snake tempting Eve in the Garden of Eden. Saint Patrick is purported to have expelled all snakes from Ireland while converting the country to Christianity in the 5th century, thus explaining the absence of snakes there.

 

In Christianity and Judaism, the snake makes its infamous appearance in the first book of the Bible when a serpent appears before Adam and Eve and tempts them with the forbidden fruit from the Tree of Knowledge. The snake returns in the Book of Exodus when Moses turns his staff into a snake as a sign of God's power, and later when he makes the Nehushtan, a bronze snake on a pole that when looked at cured the people of bites from the snakes that plagued them in the desert. The serpent makes its final appearance symbolizing Satan in the Book of Revelation: "And he laid hold on the dragon the old serpent, which is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years."

 

In Neo-Paganism and Wicca, the snake is seen as a symbol of wisdom and knowledge. Additionally, snakes are sometimes associated with Hecate, the Greek goddess of witchcraft.

 

Medicine

Several compounds from snake venoms are being researched as potential treatments or preventatives for pain, cancers, arthritis, stroke, heart disease, hemophilia, and hypertension, and to control bleeding (e.g. during surgery).

The door to the right as you enter the basilica leads to the crypt, a series of eerie vaults at the bottom of 50 steps, with tombs guarded by monoliths representing Mourning and Eternity. Among those at rest here are Cardinal József Mindszenty.

An immersive wire mesh structure echoing an ethereal cathedral nave.

HDR from 3 images taken without tripod - it was so ugly weather that I found experimenting as the only way how to make something interesting :)

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Rimavské Brezovo, like many other municipalities in the region, is associated with mining history. The originally early Gothic church, towering over the silhouette of low village houses, used to be dedicated to the Birth of the Virgin Mary before the Reformation. The name of the village was given according to the first written historical reference from the year 1334 as Brezou and, for some time, it was also the county seat of Malohont. The single-nave church was probably built in the first half of the 14th century with a square-ended chancel and a rib vault. Due to the population increase connected with the establishment of iron works facility in the village at the end of the 18th century, the church capacity was insufficient. Therefore, the largest reconstruction of the temple was undertaken in 1893. The original sacristy on the northern side was demolished, the entrance was walled and the nave was extended southwards. The older chancel thus lost its role and started to be used as a sitting space. Thanks to this reconstruction, medieval murals were found under layers of lime paint and their restoration was then devoted to I. Möller and I. Huszek. Unfortunately the work was not always done in the most sparing way. Quality interior paintings in the original Gothic section are probably the work of artists from the workshop of the Master of Ochtiná chancel. The most striking element is Christ in Glory, the figure of the blessing Christ in the shining circle with the Sun and the Moon, depicted in the eastern part of the vault. The winged lion and the golden-winged eagle on the sides symbolize the evangelists Mark and John. Opposite to them are an angel and a winged bull as Matthew and Luke. The Marian theme is elaborated in two bands around the perimeter of the entire chancel. The lower band of the northern wall belongs to the depiction of the Death of the Virgin Mary, above this composition we find a quite unique, for this region, Italian-Byzantine motif of the Assumption with the figure of Christ in the mandorla. A small child stands on his knees as the soul of the Virgin Mary, the whole scene is held by four stylized angels. Beneath the Marian cycle, the entire perimeter of the walls is painted with a template ornament, into which the strip of four-leaf-shaped medallions with heads of prophets is inserted. This part of the paintings appears to be the least affected by the re-paintings and is preserved in a very good condition and in the original colours. On the walls of the nave, due to various building modifications, the frescoes were preserved only in fragments. The most intact frescoes are on the southern part of the triumphal arch: the Christ in a mandorla, a blessing angel, or St. Bartholomew, who was skinned alive, he carries the skin on a stick. Remnants of the Christological Cycle, such as the Christ carrying the cross or the Crucifixion, were preserved on the northern wall of the nave. The southern wall was largely destroyed during the redevelopment. However, research has revealed a depiction of St. Anne as a madonna with a child in her arms, with women carrying gifts in baskets walking into her direction. They also carry young pigeons to prepare a traditional strengthening soup for the fresh mother. This scene is very likely utterly unique on the territory of Slovakia. Comprehensive restoration and research were carried out in successive stages from 2005 till 2019, and the original approximately 700-year-old paving in the chancel was a valuable discovery as well. The restoration of the chancel was awarded by the main prize of the Cultural monument of the year 2012, the artworks were renewed by M. Janšto and R. Boroš. The church logo symbolically depicts a fresco of a young maiden attacked by devils in the hell from the church nave

The church in Ochtiná was formerly dedicated to St. Nicholas and is one of the oldest and most interesting landmarks of the Gemer countryside. The name of the village is most likely derived from the old German expression for the number eight: ocht, as an evidence of the area settled by German guests in the second half of the 13th century. According to historical sources, original eight German families established here a prosperous settlement founded on mining of iron ore located in the nearby Hrádok hill.

 

However, the layout of the church point to an older settlement which could have been destroyed during a Mongol invasion. This is indicated by a document from the king Belo IV, from 1243, by which he donates a large part of an area of the Slaná river valley for faithful services to Detrik and Filip Bubek. In 1318, Ochtiná was mentioned as a property of the Štítnik branch of the Bubek family, that certainly supported the construction of the local church and later its murals as well.

 

The Gothic church, built possibly on the site of a ruined Romanesque structure is a single-nave church with a polygonal-shaped chancel including a northern sacristy. Around the mid-14th century, the interiors were painted with figural wall paintings which were done by fresco technique. Research has shown that the tower had been built later, probably in second half of 15th century. Romanesque windows on the tower are secondarily used from other church in the area. At the beginning of the 16th century, the relatively small space of the church was extended with a northern side nave having a star-shaped vault.

 

In the first third of the 17th century, when the church was already Lutheran, medieval frescos were hidden under a white lime paint and, during the 18th century, the church was given a new Prussian vault over the nave.

gotickacesta.sk/en/ochtina/

Bisogna dedicarsi con cura ai dettagli perchè anche i gesti più semplici nascondono una loro sacralità

Galleria d'arte Mirada

Via Mazzini n.83, Ravenna

Dal 22 dicembre 2006 al 14 gennaio 2007

 

L'apertura della nuova sede dell'ufficio giovani artisti in via Mazzini 83 a Ravenna ha costituito di certo un salto di qualità nella promozione dell'arte giovane in città. La creazione di uno spazio espositivo in pieno centro, in una strada che potrebbe diventare grazie alla presenza di ben quattro luoghi espositivi dedicati ai collezionisti d'arte, la via artistica della nostra città, è un ulteriore passo per valorizzare la vocazione culturale di Ravenna.

La mostra dell'artista ravennate Sara Guberti, che inaugura il 22 dicembre alle 18 , costituisce il primo appuntamento volto a presentare i migliori artisti vincitori e selezionati dal concorso RAM nei suoi anni di attività. L'artista è stata difatti selezionata nella prima edizione del concorso giovani artisti del Comune di Ravenna nel 1999.

 

Nata nel 1971, si è ugualmente dedicata in questi anni di attività artistica sia al mosaico che alla pittura. Per la visionarietà delle sue creazioni e grazie anche al substrato di ricerca quasi mistica sui materiali, ha collaborato con le compagnie Fanny e Alexander e Teatrino Clandestino nella realizzazione di scenografie teatrali.

Ma il suo lavoro indubbiamente più importante è l'opera eseguita negli ultimi anni per la Sacred World Foundation di New Delhi, ovvero il Time Line Mural per il Gandhi Multimedia Museum. Per la medesima istituzione pubblica indiana ha inoltre eseguito due mosaici sull'iconizzazione di Gandhi, realizzati per il museo itinerante.

Si tratta di due importantissime commissioni per uno dei più grandi Paesi asiatici e del mondo, al quale l'artista ravennate è fortemente legata: la sua ricerca pittorica e visiva, della quale presenterà un saggio nella mostra in Galleria Mirada, trae spunto dai numerosi viaggi da lei compiuti in questo Paese. Il progetto pittorico, la cui analisi è affidata alla critica d'arte Sabina Ghinassi , è la naturale continuazione del tema con il quale si è diplomata all'Accademia d'Arte di Bologna con Concetto Pozzati, ovvero la ripetitività della preghiera e la condensazione del suono in simbolo visivo. Affrancata da qualsiasi aura catechizzatrice, la pittrice Guberti ricerca l'unitarietà, i punti di incontro e gli incroci tra le forme di credo maggiormente seguite nel mondo (Cristianesimo, Islam, Ebraismo, Induismo...), affidandosi nella ricerca di materiali simbolici alla guida dei maestri spirituali delle varie confessioni e agli artigiani locali. L'attenta valutazione e scelta dei materiali, tratti da sostanze naturali e da colorazioni tradizionali, rendono i quadri di notevole impatto visivo e particolarmente suggestivi.

Una ricerca artistica che acquista un significato particolare in un momento di crisi e profonda lacerazione quale quella attuale, in cui sembrano prevalere le differenze e non le somiglianze: un modo intenso per interpretare le ricorrenze festive.

 

Sara Guberti

Opere Recenti

 

La presenza del Sacro nell'arte attuale si manifesta più attraverso un'assenza o, a volte una nostalgia, che attraverso un'immanenza o un palesamento. Nella sua ricognizione dell'essere umano contemporaneo la comunicazione artistica registra le cifre più intime di una crisi che con un respiro più ampio e definito segna il culmine della secolarizzazione contemporanea. Questo avviene soprattutto in Occidente, dove, al di là di richiami all'ordine e a radici cristiane, ciò che resta è una confusa, dogmatica e banalizzata religione da mass media, che siede in prima fila, banalmente, nel salotto televisivo di turno. Per questo appare un po' controcorrente la scelta poetica di un'artista come Sara Guberti, che sceglie deliberatamente per la sua pittura un'indagine iconografica sulla sacralità, nella quale, grazie ad uno sguardo che annulla le distanze, si percepisce un approccio sincretico, altamente simbolico e, in ultima analisi, assai " religioso". Se con religioso intendiamo la vera accezione, cioè qualcosa che evoca il carattere sacro, cioè la potenza, ed insieme lo scrupolo e la separazione, la profondità.

Per cui Sara, già forte di trascorsi pittorici arcaicizzanti, si è orientata sul filo di una fascinazione tutta personale sulle orme dei miti, dei simboli e delle leggende che collegano ad un'unica radice Oriente ed Occidente: le Madonne nere, oggetto di culti molto diffusi anche nella nostra Europa informatizzata.

"Nigra sum sed formosa" diceva la Sposa del Cantico dei Cantici, il meraviglioso poema sacrale-erotico dell'antichità cristiana, e sulla nigritudo della Madonna si è, nel corso dei secoli steso ufficialmente un velo iconografico, interrotto soltanto dalla devozione alle centinaia(solo in Italia ci sono più di quaranta Santuari) di Madonne Nere sparse per l'Europa.

Sara con le sue ultime opere parte di qui, da un'immagine che si ricollega al mito femminile della Grande Madre Terra, passando dalle stratificazioni che uniscono in una sola immagine Iside, Kali, Ishtar, Cibele, Maria, contaminando di nessi simbolici le varie iconografie: le stelle e il manto azzurro di Iside Faria che passano in Maria Stella Maris, e il bimbo in braccio, Horus-Gesù, Kali che unisce l'aspetto sanguinario di purificatrice a quello di fecondità e insieme Cibele, l'altra Dea nera, dolcissima e crudele.

Così la sua pittura racconta questa avventura interiore, fatta di curiosità, di affetto, sentimentale forse, avventura che racconta un eterno femminino Porta d'Oriente e insieme d'Occidente, filo invisibile che riannoda il sangue ed il passato, che permette di individuare e fors'anche raccontare il presente.

Così insieme alle Marie Nere si aprono la strada altre immagini che allo stesso modo delle precedenti si contaminano ed arrivano a comprendere i segni dei quattro evangelisti, raccolti da un bassorilievo medievale o da un incisore indiano: buoi, leoni, aquile, agnelli.

Sara usa timbri che fa costruire appositamente da artigiani su suo progetto. E intende la sua pittura come una sorta di tatuaggio sulla pelle della tela che, se da una parte evoca l'astrazione del rituale, dall'altra si apre alla fisicità corporea, ad una materia cromatica che non è rarefatta, ma carnea, luminosa e preziosa.

Una materia fatta di terra insomma, di immancabile e seduttiva assenza di rigore.

E nel far questo la sua deliberata serialità scandisce un ritmo ed evoca il suono ipnotico di una preghiera.

"Il timbro sta alla visione come il mantra sta al suono", spiega l'artista.

E se la sua operazione di partenza si pone in un'ottica concettuale di ripetizione, il punto di arrivo disegna un'affascinante imperfezione, nella delicata e amorosa sbavatura sulla superficie pittorica, animata da un gesto fluido e percorsa da grafie e arabeschi: una parola ripetuta che contiene le impercettibili modificazioni del respiro, le pause, le sospensioni, i sussurri e li traduce per lo sguardo.

Ogni immagine così diventa diversa da quella precedenti, esattamente come ogni istante è diverso da quello che l'ha preceduto: non basta il profilo a segnare una definizione che forse esiste solo per essere superata, oltrepassata gentilmente.

La sua è una metodologia formale che acquista una valenza tutta interiore e diventa altro da sé, diventa un rosario cristiano, un Japa Mala induista, un Misbaha musulmano di visioni che si rincorrono in echi sempre differenti, raccolti da un gesto che da pittorico si fa affettivo e svela, dolcemente, il sentimento e la vastità bellissima del nostro mondo.

 

Sabina Ghinassi

Ravenna, dicembre

 

www.mirada.it

The monastery of the Benedictine Order at Pannonhalma was founded in 996 in Western Hungary and had a major role in the diffusion of Christianity in medieval Central Europe. The monastery shows a stratification of different architectural styles and various buildings.

 

Among these buildings: a school (the first ever school founded in the country), the monastic complex – home to the monks whose life is still based on St. Benedict’s Rule ‘Ora et labora’ -, the tourist welcome points and hospitality facilities, the Chapel of Our Lady, the Millennium Chapel and the botanical and herbal gardens.

 

www.comece.eu/christian-artworks-benedictine-archabbey-of...

Abu Dhabi - Dec 8, 2018. Sheikh Zayed Mosque (Grand Mosque) of Abu Dhabi, UAE. The Mosque is Abu Dhabi star attraction, also one of the world favorite landmarks.

Somewhere in Bulgaria

property of the Archdiocesan Museum in Krakow, Poland

 

for educational purpose only

 

please do not use without permission

 

AMDG

The Monastery at Lébény was established between 1199 and 1203, by a nobleman, for private worship. The complex was dedicated to the Apostle Saint James the Great. Though the existing charter for approving the donations and construction was signed by Andreas II (1208), one of the walls of the church had “1206” engraved in them, which may indicate that the church was already built at that time. It is also mentioned in the RegestrumVaradiense (an important language memorial), which was made in the late cathedral chapter of the present Oradea (Nagyvárad) in the 13th century. The monastery of Lébény was attacked and burnt down several times; the first by Mongols, then the second by King Ottokar I of Bohemia; and thereafter by the Turks, which was probably in 1529 and definitely in 1683. The monastery was taken back from the Turks by the arch-abbot of Pannonhalma in 1540. He named a new abbot, though the title only existed on paper for a little bit longer than two decades. In 1563 the monastery was burnt down again for the third time and was left devoured. Presently, the only part of the complex that is still standing is the iconic three-nave Romanesque church in the middle of Lébény village. This church is one of the most important Romanesque style buildings of Hungary, which was most probably restored in the 17th century by the Jesuits, and it was the first ever Hungarian monument that was restored in the second half of the 19th century. In addition, the Romanesque church is also operating as a parish of the village.

 

www.viabenedictina.eu/sk/monastery-p43

The exploitation rights for this text are the property of the Vienna Tourist Board. This text may be reprinted free of charge until further notice, even partially and in edited form. Forward sample copy to: Vienna Tourist Board, Media Management, Invalidenstraße 6, 1030 Vienna; media.rel@wien.info. All information in this text without guarantee.

Author: Andreas Nierhaus, Curator of Architecture/Wien Museum

Last updated January 2014

Architecture in Vienna

Vienna's 2,000-year history is present in a unique density in the cityscape. The layout of the center dates back to the Roman city and medieval road network. Romanesque and Gothic churches characterize the streets and squares as well as palaces and mansions of the baroque city of residence. The ring road is an expression of the modern city of the 19th century, in the 20th century extensive housing developments set accents in the outer districts. Currently, large-scale urban development measures are implemented; distinctive buildings of international star architects complement the silhouette of the city.

Due to its function as residence of the emperor and European power center, Vienna for centuries stood in the focus of international attention, but it was well aware of that too. As a result, developed an outstanding building culture, and still today on a worldwide scale only a few cities can come up with a comparable density of high-quality architecture. For several years now, Vienna has increased its efforts to connect with its historical highlights and is drawing attention to itself with some spectacular new buildings. The fastest growing city in the German-speaking world today most of all in residential construction is setting standards. Constants of the Viennese architecture are respect for existing structures, the palpability of historical layers and the dialogue between old and new.

Culmination of medieval architecture: the Stephansdom

The oldest architectural landmark of the city is St. Stephen's Cathedral. Under the rule of the Habsburgs, defining the face of the city from the late 13th century until 1918 in a decisive way, the cathedral was upgraded into the sacral monument of the political ambitions of the ruling house. The 1433 completed, 137 meters high southern tower, by the Viennese people affectionately named "Steffl", is a masterpiece of late Gothic architecture in Europe. For decades he was the tallest stone structure in Europe, until today he is the undisputed center of the city.

The baroque residence

Vienna's ascension into the ranks of the great European capitals began in Baroque. Among the most important architects are Johann Bernhard Fischer von Erlach and Johann Lucas von Hildebrandt. Outside the city walls arose a chain of summer palaces, including the garden Palais Schwarzenberg (1697-1704) as well as the Upper and Lower Belvedere of Prince Eugene of Savoy (1714-22). Among the most important city palaces are the Winter Palace of Prince Eugene (1695-1724, now a branch of the Belvedere) and the Palais Daun-Kinsky (auction house in Kinsky 1713-19). The emperor himself the Hofburg had complemented by buildings such as the Imperial Library (1722-26) and the Winter Riding School (1729-34). More important, however, for the Habsburgs was the foundation of churches and monasteries. Thus arose before the city walls Fischer von Erlach's Karlskirche (1714-39), which with its formal and thematic complex show façade belongs to the major works of European Baroque. In colored interior rooms like that of St. Peter's Church (1701-22), the contemporary efforts for the synthesis of architecture, painting and sculpture becomes visible.

Upgrading into metropolis: the ring road time (Ringstraßenzeit)

Since the Baroque, reflections on extension of the hopelessly overcrowed city were made, but only Emperor Franz Joseph ordered in 1857 the demolition of the fortifications and the connection of the inner city with the suburbs. 1865, the Ring Road was opened. It is as the most important boulevard of Europe an architectural and in terms of urban development achievement of the highest rank. The original building structure is almost completely preserved and thus conveys the authentic image of a metropolis of the 19th century. The public representational buildings speak, reflecting accurately the historicism, by their style: The Greek Antique forms of Theophil Hansen's Parliament (1871-83) stood for democracy, the Renaissance of the by Heinrich Ferstel built University (1873-84) for the flourishing of humanism, the Gothic of the Town Hall (1872-83) by Friedrich Schmidt for the medieval civic pride.

Dominating remained the buildings of the imperial family: Eduard van der Nüll's and August Sicardsburg's Opera House (1863-69), Gottfried Semper's and Carl Hasenauer's Burgtheater (1874-88), their Museum of Art History and Museum of Natural History (1871-91) and the Neue (New) Hofburg (1881-1918 ). At the same time the ring road was the preferred residential area of mostly Jewish haute bourgeoisie. With luxurious palaces the families Ephrussi, Epstein or Todesco made it clear that they had taken over the cultural leadership role in Viennese society. In the framework of the World Exhibition of 1873, the new Vienna presented itself an international audience. At the ring road many hotels were opened, among them the Hotel Imperial and today's Palais Hansen Kempinski.

Laboratory of modernity: Vienna around 1900

Otto Wagner's Postal Savings Bank (1903-06) was one of the last buildings in the Ring road area Otto Wagner's Postal Savings Bank (1903-06), which with it façade, liberated of ornament, and only decorated with "functional" aluminum buttons and the glass banking hall now is one of the icons of modern architecture. Like no other stood Otto Wagner for the dawn into the 20th century: His Metropolitan Railway buildings made ​​the public transport of the city a topic of architecture, the church of the Psychiatric hospital at Steinhofgründe (1904-07) is considered the first modern church.

With his consistent focus on the function of a building ("Something impractical can not be beautiful"), Wagner marked a whole generation of architects and made Vienna the laboratory of modernity: in addition to Joseph Maria Olbrich, the builder of the Secession (1897-98) and Josef Hoffmann, the architect of the at the western outskirts located Purkersdorf Sanatorium (1904) and founder of the Vienna Workshop (Wiener Werkstätte, 1903) is mainly to mention Adolf Loos, with the Loos House at the square Michaelerplatz (1909-11) making architectural history. The extravagant marble cladding of the business zone stands in maximal contrast, derived from the building function, to the unadorned facade above, whereby its "nudity" became even more obvious - a provocation, as well as his culture-critical texts ("Ornament and Crime"), with which he had greatest impact on the architecture of the 20th century. Public contracts Loos remained denied. His major works therefore include villas, apartment facilities and premises as the still in original state preserved Tailor salon Knize at Graben (1910-13) and the restored Loos Bar (1908-09) near the Kärntner Straße (passageway Kärntner Durchgang).

Between the Wars: International Modern Age and social housing

After the collapse of the monarchy in 1918, Vienna became capital of the newly formed small country of Austria. In the heart of the city, the architects Theiss & Jaksch built 1931-32 the first skyscraper in Vienna as an exclusive residential address (Herrengasse - alley 6-8). To combat the housing shortage for the general population, the social democratic city government in a globally unique building program within a few years 60,000 apartments in hundreds of apartment buildings throughout the city area had built, including the famous Karl Marx-Hof by Karl Ehn (1925-30). An alternative to the multi-storey buildings with the 1932 opened International Werkbundsiedlung was presented, which was attended by 31 architects from Austria, Germany, France, Holland and the USA and showed models for affordable housing in greenfield areas. With buildings of Adolf Loos, André Lurçat, Richard Neutra, Gerrit Rietveld, the Werkbundsiedlung, which currently is being restored at great expense, is one of the most important documents of modern architecture in Austria.

Modernism was also expressed in significant Villa buildings: The House Beer (1929-31) by Josef Frank exemplifies the refined Wiener living culture of the interwar period, while the house Stonborough-Wittgenstein (1926-28, today Bulgarian Cultural Institute), built by the philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein together with the architect Paul Engelmann for his sister Margarete, by its aesthetic radicalism and mathematical rigor represents a special case within contemporary architecture.

Expulsion, war and reconstruction

After the "Anschluss (Annexation)" to the German Reich in 1938, numerous Jewish builders, architects (female and male ones), who had been largely responsible for the high level of Viennese architecture, have been expelled from Austria. During the Nazi era, Vienna remained largely unaffected by structural transformations, apart from the six flak towers built for air defense of Friedrich Tamms (1942-45), made ​​of solid reinforced concrete which today are present as memorials in the cityscape.

The years after the end of World War II were characterized by the reconstruction of the by bombs heavily damaged city. The architecture of those times was marked by aesthetic pragmatism, but also by the attempt to connect with the period before 1938 and pick up on current international trends. Among the most important buildings of the 1950s are Roland Rainer's City Hall (1952-58), the by Oswald Haerdtl erected Wien Museum at Karlsplatz (1954-59) and the 21er Haus of Karl Schwanzer (1958-62).

The youngsters come

Since the 1960s, a young generation was looking for alternatives to the moderate modernism of the reconstruction years. With visionary designs, conceptual, experimental and above all temporary architectures, interventions and installations, Raimund Abraham, Günther Domenig, Eilfried Huth, Hans Hollein, Walter Pichler and the groups Coop Himmelb(l)au, Haus-Rucker-Co and Missing Link rapidly got international attention. Although for the time being it was more designed than built, was the influence on the postmodern and deconstructivist trends of the 1970s and 1980s also outside Austria great. Hollein's futuristic "Retti" candle shop at Charcoal Market/Kohlmarkt (1964-65) and Domenig's biomorphic building of the Central Savings Bank in Favoriten (10th district of Vienna - 1975-79) are among the earliest examples, later Hollein's Haas-Haus (1985-90), the loft conversion Falkestraße (1987/88) by Coop Himmelb(l)au or Domenig's T Center (2002-04) were added. Especially Domenig, Hollein, Coop Himmelb(l)au and the architects Ortner & Ortner (ancient members of Haus-Rucker-Co) ​​by orders from abroad the new Austrian and Viennese architecture made a fixed international concept.

MuseumQuarter and Gasometer

Since the 1980s, the focus of building in Vienna lies on the compaction of the historic urban fabric that now as urban habitat of high quality no longer is put in question. Among the internationally best known projects is the by Ortner & Ortner planned MuseumsQuartier in the former imperial stables (competition 1987, 1998-2001), which with institutions such as the MUMOK - Museum of Modern Art Foundation Ludwig, the Leopold Museum, the Kunsthalle Wien, the Architecture Center Vienna and the Zoom Children's Museum on a wordwide scale is under the largest cultural complexes. After controversies in the planning phase, here an architectural compromise between old and new has been achieved at the end, whose success as an urban stage with four million visitors (2012) is overwhelming.

The dialogue between old and new, which has to stand on the agenda of building culture of a city that is so strongly influenced by history, also features the reconstruction of the Gasometer in Simmering by Coop Himmelb(l)au, Wilhelm Holzbauer, Jean Nouvel and Manfred Wehdorn (1999-2001). Here was not only created new housing, but also a historical industrial monument reinterpreted into a signal in the urban development area.

New Neighborhood

In recent years, the major railway stations and their surroundings moved into the focus of planning. Here not only necessary infrastructural measures were taken, but at the same time opened up spacious inner-city residential areas and business districts. Among the prestigious projects are included the construction of the new Vienna Central Station, started in 2010 with the surrounding office towers of the Quartier Belvedere and the residential and school buildings of the Midsummer quarter (Sonnwendviertel). Europe's largest wooden tower invites here for a spectacular view to the construction site and the entire city. On the site of the former North Station are currently being built 10,000 homes and 20,000 jobs, on that of the Aspangbahn station is being built at Europe's greatest Passive House settlement "Euro Gate", the area of ​​the North Western Railway Station is expected to be developed from 2020 for living and working. The largest currently under construction residential project but can be found in the north-eastern outskirts, where in Seaside Town Aspern till 2028 living and working space for 40,000 people will be created.

In one of the "green lungs" of Vienna, the Prater, 2013, the WU campus was opened for the largest University of Economics of Europe. Around the central square spectacular buildings of an international architect team from Great Britain, Japan, Spain and Austria are gathered that seem to lead a sometimes very loud conversation about the status quo of contemporary architecture (Hitoshi Abe, BUSarchitektur, Peter Cook, Zaha Hadid, NO MAD Arquitectos, Carme Pinós).

Flying high

International is also the number of architects who have inscribed themselves in the last few years with high-rise buildings in the skyline of Vienna and make St. Stephen's a not always unproblematic competition. Visible from afar is Massimiliano Fuksas' 138 and 127 meters high elegant Twin Tower at Wienerberg (1999-2001). The monolithic, 75-meter-high tower of the Hotel Sofitel at the Danube Canal by Jean Nouvel (2007-10), on the other hand, reacts to the particular urban situation and stages in its top floor new perspectives to the historical center on the other side.

Also at the water stands Dominique Perrault's DC Tower (2010-13) in the Danube City - those high-rise city, in which since the start of construction in 1996, the expansion of the city north of the Danube is condensed symbolically. Even in this environment, the slim and at the same time striking vertically folded tower of Perrault is beyond all known dimensions; from its Sky Bar, from spring 2014 on you are able to enjoy the highest view of Vienna. With 250 meters, the tower is the tallest building of Austria and almost twice as high as the St. Stephen's Cathedral. Vienna, thus, has acquired a new architectural landmark which cannot be overlooked - whether it also has the potential to become a landmark of the new Vienna, only time will tell. The architectural history of Vienna, where European history is presence and new buildings enter into an exciting and not always conflict-free dialogue with a great and outstanding architectural heritage, in any case has yet to offer exciting chapters.

Info: The folder "Architecture: From Art Nouveau to the Presence" is available at the Vienna Tourist Board and can be downloaded on www.wien.info/media/files/guide-architecture-in-wien.pdf.

High altar of the Holy Cross: panel paintings and predella reliefs by anonymous master from 1450-1460, over life size crucifixion (one of the best in Slovakia) by Master Paul of Levoča from around 1510, Virgin Mary by an unknown Kežmarok carver from the beginning of the 16th century (headwear is a later addition), St John and Mary Magdalene are from 17th century.

 

for educational purpose only

 

please do not use without permission

 

AMDG

location: St. Elizabeth Cathedral, Košice, Slovakia

 

panel paintings: unknown from Spiš county, dated 1516

 

wooden statues: unknown from Košice, Bratislava or Vienna, 1474-1477 or later

 

height of the statues in the shrine: 159 & 164 cm

 

for educational purpose only

 

please do not use without permission

 

AMDG

 

dôležitá informácia v Profile

The door to the right as you enter the basilica leads to the crypt, a series of eerie vaults at the bottom of 50 steps, with tombs guarded by monoliths representing Mourning and Eternity. Among those at rest here are Cardinal József Mindszenty.