754 Items
The Church of Paulinus, Tyre
In his History of the Church, Eusebius of Caesarea devoted the tenth book to Bishop Paulinus of Tyre. In it Eusebius repeated the oration that he delivered on the occasion of the dedication of Paulinus' new church in Tyre. In the mid 1990s an Israeli bomb destroyed an apartment block in the centre of the city. When the rubble was cleared away evidence for an early church was discovered. Its unusual floorplan with the altar placed on a central platform in the nave suggested that the structure was constructed before church planning crystallised in the post-Constantinian era and led to speculation that this newly revealed site was in fact the church of Paulinus.
Type: Architecture
Tags: Architecture, Caesarea, Cathedral, Church, Eusebius, Lebanon, Paulinus, Sur, Tyre
Madrasa Halawiyeh
The madrasa is an Islamic school that was built by Nur al-Din (1118-1174) on the apse of the former Byzantine cathedral of Aleppo. The capitals are very close stylistically to those at Qalat Seman, suggesting that the church was originally built in the second half of the fifth century. Beside the steps down into the madrasa is a large basalt block inscribed with Christian symbols and some Syriac words. Its placement seems designed to underline Islamic supremacy over the former Christian owners of the site.
Type: Architecture
Tags: Aleppo, Architecture, Basalt, Byzantine, C12th, C5th, Capital, Cathedral, Church, Inscription, Madrasa, Madrasa Halawiyeh, Nur al-DIn, Qalat Seman, Sculpture, Syria, Syriac, Syriac Inscription
The Church of the Nativity, Bethlehem
The town of Bethlehem is located to the south of Jerusalem in the West Bank. Since the second century, pilgrims have flocked to the site traditionally associated as the place of Christ’s birth, a cave to the east of the town. In the fourth century, Helena, the Emperor Constantine’s mother, supposedly rediscovered the cave and had her son build a church to commemorate it. This church featured an octagonal structure at the eastern end that was positioned directly over the cave of the Nativity. At the centre of this octagon was a wide, circular opening to allow pilgrims to glimpse at the holy site. It was badly damaged during a Samaritan revolt in 529 AD and was rebuilt by the Emperor Justinian in the mid-sixth century. Much of this church has survived and is largely what is seen today. There were later modifications during the time of the Crusades, largely with the fresco painting on the nave columns. It is thus considered the oldest church in use.
Type: Architecture
Tags: Bethlehem, C12th, C2nd, C4th, C6th, Cave, Christ, Christian, Church, Column, Constantine, Corinthian, Crusades, Fresco, Geometric Motif, Holy Site, Icon, Justinian, Mosaic, Nativity, Octagonal, Pilgrimage, St. Helena, West Bank
Views of the Sea of Galilee
Type: Landscape
Tags: Christ, Christian, Galilee, Holy Site, Israel, Lake, Landscape, Pilgrimage, St. Peter, The Apostles
The Temple of Mercury (also known as the Temple of Bacchus), Baalbek
The temple believed to have been dedicated to Mercury also possesses imagery linked to Bacchus, in addition to the presence of symbols such as the caduceus belonging Mercury. This has led to the temple being referred to in conjunction with both deities.
Type: Architecture
Tags: Architecture, Baalbek, Bacchus, Lebanon, Mercury, Pagan, Roman, Sculpture, Temple
Baalbek
Views over the modern town beside the temple complex.
The Temple of Jupiter, Baalbek
These photographs show changes that were made to the temple in order to fortify it in the medieval Islamic era.
Type: Architecture
Tags: Architecture, Baalbek, Islam, Jupiter, Lebanon, Middle Ages, Sculpture, Temple
The Temple of Jupiter, Baalbek
The largest of the three temples at the site, the temple of Jupiter is perhaps most famous for the presence of the trilithon, three stones in the podium of the temple that are amongst the largest ever utilised by man.
Type: Architecture
Tags: Architecture, Baalbek, Capital, Column, Jupiter, Lebanon, Pagan, Roman, Temple, Trilithon
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
The Primacy of Peter, Tabgha
Situated on the north-western shoreline of the Sea of Galilee, a short distance from the church of the Multiplication, is a modern church built on the site Christ reinstated Peter as the head of the Apostles. Little of the original Late Antique church remains, thought its foundations have been incorporated into the new church. A projection of limestone rock lies at its eastern end, before the altar. This is believed to be the Mensa Christi (table of Christ) upon which Christ and the Disciples ate, following the miraculous catch.
Type: Architecture
Tags: C20th, Christ, Christian, Galilee, Holy Site, Israel, Landscape, Late Antique, Limestone, Pilgrimage, Rock-cut, St. Peter, Tabgha