Adoration of the Magi token (BM 1973,0501.27)

Type: Portable Object
Tags: Adoration of the Magi, C5th-C6th, Christ, Cross, Late Antique, Magi, Pilgrimage Object, Portable Object, Qalat Seman, Syria, Terracotta, Token, Virgin Mary

Annunciation token (BM 1973,0501.2)

Type: Portable Object
Tags: Angel Gabriel, Annunciation, C5th-C6th, Cross, Late Antique, Pilgrimage Object, Portable Object, Terracotta, Token, Virgin Mary, Wool & Basket

Annunciation token (BM 1973,0501.1)

Type: Portable Object
Tags: Angel Gabriel, Annunciation, Cross, Late Antique, Pilgrimage Object, Portable Object, Terracotta, Token, Virgin Mary, Wool & Basket

Cross

This cross was painted as part of the first fresco cycle at some point between 1058 and 1095. It is located on the eastern spandrel in the south aisle of the church.

Type: Painting
Tags: An Nabk, C11th, Church, Cross, Deir Mar Musa, Deir Mar Musa al-Habashi, Fresco, Mar Musa al-Habashi, Monastery, Syria

Inside the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Jerusalem

Early sources reveal that Constantine’s church of the Holy Sepulchre was sumptuously decorated with fine marbled panels, columns and a coffered ceiling. A cross was set up on the rock of Golgotha to commemorate the exact site of the Crucifixion and was replaced over the following centuries with one decorated with gems, a golden cross and a simple wooden one in the seventh century. Christ’s tomb was in two parts: the first a porch that contained part of the stone that formed the door to the tomb and the second the tomb itself. It had a roof of silver and gold, outer walls made of marble and it was topped with a cross.

The modern church has been significantly modified and little of the Late Antique fabric has survived as much of it was rebuilt in the nineteenth and twentieth century following a fire and an earthquake that caused much damage.

Type: Architecture
Tags: Architecture, C12th, C19th-C20th, C2nd, C4th, Christ, Christian, Church, Constantine, Cross, Crucifixion, Crusades, Domed Basilica, Golgotha, Holy Sepulchre, Holy Site, Israel, Jerusalem, Joseph of Arimathea, Mosaic, Pilgrimage, Resurrection, St. Helena, Tomb

The Church of the Annunciation, Nazareth

In the mid-fourth century, a church was constructed around a grotto in the town of Nazareth that was said to be the Virgin Mary’s house and the place where the archangel Gabriel appeared to her during the Annunciation. This holy site was clearly well established as a place of worship towards the end of the fourth century as the pilgrim Egeria describes an altar within a grand and splendid grotto. The Piacenza pilgrim who journeyed to Nazareth in the late sixth century states that there is a basilica at the House of Mary that contains many garments that once belonged to the Virgin. Today, remnants of wall paintings, mosaics, and the architecture from this early church building are visible.

Type: Architecture
Tags: Annunciation, Architecture, C20th, C4th, C5th-C6th, Cave, Christ, Christian, Cross, Foliage, Fresco, Geometric Motif, Greek Inscription, Holy Site, Inscription, Israel, Mosaic, Nazareth, Pilgrimage, St. Gabriel, Staurogram, Virgin Mary

The Church of the Transfiguration, Mount Tabor

Mount Tabor is an isolated oval-shaped mountain in the Jezreel valley and is situated to the south-west of the Sea of Galilee. It is associated as the place of Christ’s Transfiguration before Peter, James and John in the presence of Elijah and Moses. Pilgrims who venerated the site in the fourth century describe three churches built on the summit of the mountain that were dedicated to Christ, Moses and Elijah. The mosaics photographed here are from this period. The Crusaders founded a Benedictine abbey on the site, remnants of which are visible today. The Franciscans built a new church in the twentieth century and the place of the Transfiguration is located in the crypt.

Type: Architecture
Tags: Architecture, Baptistery, C12th, C20th, C4th, Christ, Christian, Church, Cross, Geometric Motif, Holy Site, Israel, Jezreel Valley, Mosaic, Mount Tabor, Mountain, St. Elijah, St. James, St. John, St. Peter, Transfiguration

Kursi Chapel, Galilee

A small chapel is located on a hillside to the south of the church at Kursi and is thought to commemorate the exact spot where the Miracle of the Swine took place. Today, it is in a very ruinous state and consists of an apse built into the hillside as well as pillars and a stone bench. The floor was decorated with mosaics and there is evidence for at least two layers of different designs. The lower and earlier layer is simply decorated with a predominantly beige ground and is highlighted with a grey border. The above and later layer consists of crosses within a highly detailed geometric design. It is believed to date to the same period as the church below (late 5th – mid 6th Century).

Type: Mosaic
Tags: Architecture, Basalt, Bench, C5th-C6th, Chapel, Christ, Christian, Column, Cross, Foliage, Galilee, Geometric Motif, Holy Site, Israel, Kursi, Mosaic, Pilgrimage

Kursi Church, Galilee

The monastic complex of Kursi is located to the eastern shore of the Sea of Galilee and is identified as Gergessa or the Land of the Gadarenes of the New Testament where the Miracle of the Swine took place. The complex was built between the end of the 5th to the mid 6th Century and was fortified by a surrounding wall. It features a church with a large apse at the end of the nave, two side aisles and the later additions of a baptistery and crypt. The floors were paved with mosaics of geometric designs, floral motifs, fruits and birds. The large cistern, bath complex and oil press for the production of holy oil suggests that Kursi was once a popular Late Antique pilgrimage destination. It suffered much damage during the Persian invasion of the 7th Century.

Type: Architecture
Tags: Architecture, Baptismal Font, Baptistery, Basalt, Bath, Bird, Bread Basket, C5th-C6th, Christ, Christian, Church, Cistern, Column, Cross, Foliage, Fruit, Galilee, Geometric Motif, Greek Inscription, Holy Site, Israel, Kursi, Monastery, Mosaic, Oil Press, Pilgrimage, Wall

Kvemo Bolnisi

The C5th-C6th church at Kvemo Bolnisi has been recently, and sympathetically, restored. The extant building is the central nave of a building that originally had aisles to the north and south. However, these aisles were only accessible through one door to the north and two doors to the south - they were not open to the central nave with a columned arcade or piers. The apse of the south aisle is still extant and to the north, most of the northern aisle stands to shoulder height and above, but lacks a roof.

Type: Architecture
Tags: Architecture, Ascension, C5th-C6th, Church, Cross, Georgia, Kvemo Bolnisi, Kvemo Kartli, Three Church Basilica, Triple Basilica