126 Items
The Church of the Entrance of the Theotokos in the Temple, Hama
This church dates back to the C5th, but has been damaged and rebuilt many times over its history. Before the current civil war, it was last rebuilt in the 1990s having sustained damage in the 1982 offensive by the Syrian government against the Muslim Brotherhood in the city. Elements of the earliest structure do survive and it is particularly interesting for being a transverse-nave church, a type more usually found in the Tur Abdin region of Turkey.
Although Hama, then known as Epiphania, was an important Christian centre in late antiquity, more recently it had one of the smallest Christian communities in a major city. For that reason this entry is linked to nearby Homs, rather than treating Hama as a separate collection of data.
Type: Architecture
Tags: Architecture, C20th, C5th, Church, Hama, Syria, The Entrance of the Theotokos in the Temple, Transverse nave, Tur Abdin, Turkey
Hagia Sophia/Aya Sofya, Istanbul
Without doubt the greatest and most enduring legacy of the reign of the Emperor Justinian, the Basilica of Hagia Sophia (Divine Wisdom) is an engineering marvel and is testament to the ingenuity of the engineers who designed it.
Type: Architecture
Tags: Basilica, C6th, Justinian, Mosque, Procopius, Turkey
The Church of the Virgin Mary, Ephesus
This building started life in the 2nd century AD as an important school of higher education known as a Museion. It was converted into a Christian Basilica in the 4th century AD and significantly modified and added to as part of the repurposing. This church was where the important Ecumenical Council of Ephesus was held in 431 AD. The church was further modified during the reign of Justinian.
Type: Architecture
Tags: Basilica, Church, Church Council, Ephesus, Justinian, Late Antique, Turkey
The Cave of the Seven Sleepers, Ephesus
Associated with the legend of the "Seven Sleepers" where seven Christian men miraculously slept for 200 years in a cave thereby avoiding persecution. Seen as a miracle of God the men were revered and when they died they were buried here and a church was erected above. Many graves are to be found at the site likely as so many wanted to buried near to the miracle men. The excavations here concluded that the Church and the graves appeared to be from the 5th and 6th centuries.
Type: Architecture
Tags: Church, Ephesus, Late Antique, Tomb, Turkey
Basilica of St. John, Ephesus
Remains of the 6th century AD Basilica to St. John reportedly built upon the saints' tomb and commissioned by the Emperor Justinian. Attacks on Ephesus in the 7th and 8th centuries prompted the fortification of the area immediately surrounding the Basilica The basilica has been extensively excavated and restored since the 1920's.
Type: Architecture
Tags: Basilica, Church, Ephesus, Justinian, Late Antique, Turkey
Serapeum/The Red Basilica, Pergamum
The Serapeum was a vast temple and associated complex built at the foot of the acropolis of Pergamum during the reign of the Roman Emperor Hadrian. The temple was dedicated to the worship of the Greaco-Egyptian god Serapis and to the Egyptian goddess Isis. The temple complex was huge and had to cross the nearby Selinus river supported by two very large vaulted tunnels which channel the waters to this day. The majority of the courtyard lies under the modern town buildings to the west of the temple. Originally covered with marble facings only the red brick superstructure of the temple remains. During the late Roman/early Byzantine period a church dedicated to St John was built inside the main temple. The church is in poor preservation when compared to the surrounding temple. However due to the instability of the remaining structure of the temple it is not possible to enter it and view the church remains. The temple is flanked by two contempraneous rotunda, one of which is a functioning mosque while the other is open to the general public.
Type: Architecture
Tags: Church, Pergamum, Roman, Temple, Turkey
Late Antique City Walls, Pergamum
Late Antique portion of the city walls on the south west edge of the Lower Agora on the acropolis. Much like many other Late Antique defences these fortifications are made up of significant amounts of spolia that was robbed from nearby dilapidated or ruined buildings. These walls were likely built as the city contracted in Late Antiquity.
Type: Architecture
Tags: Late Antique, Military Architecture, Pergamum, Turkey
Upper Citadel and Arsenal, Pergamum
The most northerly fortified section of the acropolis of Pergamum immediately north of the Temple of Trajan. Within this part of the fortifications lie several warehouses or arsenals believed to be for the storage of provisions, weapons and ammunition. Excavations have recovered significant numbers and varying sizes of stone shot for catapults.
Type: Architecture
Tags: Late Antique, Military Architecture, Pergamum, Roman, Turkey
Views towards Antakya from Syria
These views look down from the Syrian Limestone Massif at Baqirha towards Antakya and the Mediterranean coast.
Type: Landscape
Tags: Antakya, Antioch, Baqirha, Jebel Barisha, Landscape, Limestone Massif, Syria, Turkey
Church, Al Bara
This C6th church is unusual for having a nave that is almost transverse. Although this type of floorpan is a known element of churches in the Tur Abdin region of south eastern Turkey, it is very unusual to find this design this far south.
Type: Architecture
Tags: Al Bara, Architecture, C6th, Church, Jebel Zawiyeh, Limestone Massif, Syria, Tur Abdin, Turkey