25 Items
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
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 house of St. Peter, Capernaum
Capernaum is an ancient fishing village situated on the northern shores of the Sea of Galilee. Within an insula of this village are a number of rooms that are traditionally associated with the house of Peter the Apostle. A simple, square room within this complex was given particular attention by the Christian community in the years immediately following his death. In the fourth century, this room became a Domus Ecclesia (a house church) and was the place for Christian prayer and gatherings. The numerous inscriptions on the painted plaster of this place suggest that it was a prominent centre of pilgrimage, even by this early period. In the fifth century, an octagonal church was built over the house church. It consisted of an inner octagon that was directly over the venerated room, a larger concentric octagon and an outer semi-octagon.
Type: Architecture
Tags: Architecture, Basalt, C1st-C2nd, C20th, C4th, C5th, Capernaum, Centrally-Planned, Christ, Christian, Church, Domus Ecclesia (house church), Galilee, Geometric Motif, Holy Site, Inscription, Israel, Mosaic, Octagonal, Pilgrimage, St. Peter, Wall
The Church of the Multiplication, Tabgha
The place of the miracle of the Multiplication of the Loaves and Fishes is located on the north-western shores of the Sea of Galilee. The first church constructed on the site was built in the mid-fourth century. It was small, its altar was formed from the rock upon which Christ laid the bread and fish and it was not oriented to the east. In the late-fifth Century, it was enlarged to accommodate the growing number of pilgrims who visited the site, it was given an eastern orientation and was laid with mosaics of flora and fauna. The modern church built on the site follows the plans of the later church.
Type: Mosaic
Tags: Animal, Bird, Bread Basket, C20th, C4th, C5th-C6th, Christ, Christian, Church, Fish, Foliage, Galilee, Geometric Motif, Holy Site, Israel, Mosaic, Pilgrimage, Tabgha, Via Maris
Shinsharah
Shinsharah is near the modern settlement of Hass and has also been called Khirbet Hass in the past. The church dates back to the C4th, but is in an extremely damaged state with so much fallen masonry that it is difficult to discern the original floor plan.
Type: Architecture
Tags: Architecture, C4th, Church, Jebel Zawiyeh, Khirbet Hass, Limestone Massif, Shinsharah, Syria
Faferteen
The church in Faferteen lies beside a road in the middle of the village. The stone has been stolen from the site so that, somewhat incongruously, only the apse remains. The church was previously dated 372, making it extremely early, but so little remained in 1997 that it was impossible to verify the date.
Type: Architecture
Tags: Architecture, Bema, C4th, Church, Faferteen, Jebel Seman, Limestone Massif, Syria
Kharab Shams
The church of Kharab Shams was built in the C4th and is generally well preserved, however it was altered in the early Islamic period when the apse area was turned into a small fortress. Today the small settlement is completely abandoned except by shepherds and goatherds who use the wells around the site.
Type: Architecture
Tags: Architecture, Bema, C4th, Church, Early Islamic, Fortress, Jebel Seman, Kharab Shams, Limestone Massif, Syria
Kafar Nabo
Kafar Nabo is on Jebel Seman about halfway between Burj Heidar and Brad and in 1997 it was accessible only by walking. The settlement was sacred to the god Nabo in antiquity and in the C4th a large church was built on the site of the pagan temple. Elements of this temple were incorporated in the church, which also possessed a double-size bema. Scattered around the site were the remains of a ciborium, an earlier Latin inscription, two Roman statues (one male, one female) and a Greek inscription on a door lintel.
Type: Architecture
Tags: Architecture, Bema, C4th, Church, Ciborium, Figure, Greek, Greek Inscription, Jebel Seman, Kafar Nabo, Latin, Latin Inscription, Limestone Massif, Nabo, Pagan, Sculpture, Syria, Temple
Batuta
Batuta is on Jebel Seman and in 1997 was not connected to the road network. The church is very damaged on its northern side but the bema is still clearly visible.
Type: Architecture
Tags: Batuta, Bema, C4th, Church, Jebel Seman, Limestone Massif, Syria
Burj Heidar
Burj Heidar is on Jebel Seman and was one of the sites that had changed the most since being visited by Tchalenko in the 1940s. The church had been incorporated into a smallholding and the arcades stood in a field, with only the side apse to the south still extant to the east. No evidence of the bema remained when these pictures were taken in 1997.
The slides were developed in Syria and scuffed in the process and the hazy quality of some of the black and white images is due to the fact that this site was reached late in the afternoon, which affected the light quality.
Type: Architecture
Tags: Architecture, Bema, Burj Heidar, C4th, Church, Jebel Seman, Limestone Massif, Syria