Mitteilungen zur Christlichen Archäologie, Band 30 (2024)

The Episcopal Basilica, located in the very heart of late antique Philippopolis, quickly became the main landmark of the city’s urban topography. This was due to its eminence as the largest basilica in the province of Thrace, and the diocese, but also due to the growing importance of the metropolitan in the religious and secular life of the metropolis Thraciae, and in the ecclesiastical life of this part of the empire as a whole. It is no coincidence that the main events of the mid-fourth century to the mid-sixth century found their firm expression in one form or another in the basilica, its architecture and interior decoration. These events may explain its distinct early architecture (which is more closely related to that found in Italy), the changes that took place in the church interior in the last quarter of the fourth to the beginning of the fifth century (expressed through the mosaic floors), and the close relationship between the liturgy, interior decoration, and the constituent parts of the basilica. The location of the basilica in the hinterland of Constantinople allowed events in the capital to find their direct expression in its form and decoration. It can also be assumed that the reverse took place and that to a certain extent Constantinople was influenced by the Thracian provinces, although this influence was often refracted through the prism of the metropolitan requirements and tastes. By studying Thrace and Philippopolis, the scholar is also studying Constantinople; the metropolitan basilica in Philippopolis can provide information about processes that took place in the imperial capital about which data is otherwise extremely scarce.

Keywords: Metropolitan basilica, Philippopolis, Thrace, Late Antiquity, mosaic pavements, liturgy

Since the early centuries of the Christian era springs were considered natural elements with a life-giving function. Their water was venerated as holymeans (sometimes associated with the figure of a saint, Christ or the Virgin Mary) and sanctified without door rituals that took place annually. In Armenia, the cult of water had strong pre-Christian roots, archaeological evidence of which is provided by stones called vishaps. With the emergence of Christianity in Late Antiquity, a growing devotion of water at specific natural places spread and these spots became famous pilgrimage sites, often visited by foreign pilgrims attracted by its curative power. Moreover, the sanctity of water also recalled for Armenians their conversion to Christianity, when St. Gregory the Illuminator blessed the water of the river Aratsani to baptize King Tiridates III. Considering the fundamental role that water played for Armenia, the present article aims to investigate the rise, development, and transformation of water cult in two different Armenian pilgrimage sites: Ayrivank/Geghard and Kobayr. Through the analysis of their architectural features, the framing of water and its embedding within the monastic structures, a particular emphasis will be given to understand how the cult of water was staged and what role the natural element might have had in framing the liturgical and devotional space.

Keywords: Armenia, holy water, early Christianity, Middle Byzantine times, pilgrimage sites

L’obiettivo di questo lavoro è di riconsiderare il dossier di testimonianze testuali e visive riconducibili alla cappella palatina della Theotokos del Faro, il più importante sito di custodia di reliquie della capitale bizantina fino all’avvento della Quarta Crociata. In particolare, la discussione si concentra sul suo titolo d’onore di Oἰκοκυρά / Domina Domus e su alcune questioni relative alla sua topografia, riguardanti in particolare l’oratorio dedicato al megalomartire tessalonicese Demetrio e la rotonda consacrata al profeta Elia. Oltre a ciò, questo contributo mira a fornire una nuova analisi della fonte che dovrebbe attestare la riconsacrazione del complesso del Faro all’epilogo dell’Iconoclasmo, vale a dire la decima omelia del patriarca Fozio. L’indagine proposta dimostra che la cappella del Faro è al cuore delle politiche di promozione della dinastia macedone, in particolare degli imperatori Basilio I e Leone VI, che si appropriano dello spazio, riscrivendone la storia, originariamente associata allo sviluppo della controversia iconoclasta. In particolare, sembra probabile che il titolo d’onore di Oἰκοκυρά / Domina Domus sia stato conferito alla cappella da Leone VI, il quale ne fonda lo spazio sussidiario dedicato al megalomartire Demetrio, investendolo di mistica nuziale. La rotonda dedicata al profeta Elia è invece un caso di appropriazione, da parte della propaganda postuma di Basilio I, di un edificio fondato dal suo predecessore Michele III. La decima omelia di Fozio parrebbe testimoniare che la dedicazione di questo spazio sussidiario della cappella palatina avvenne appunto durante il regno di Michele III, con la deposizione di una reliquia cristologica dallo status apparentemente controverso, vale a dire il perizonium, il “santo panno” composto da una o più fasce di lino avvolte attorno alla vita e annodate al fianco o sul fronte, indossato da Cristo sulla croce.

Keywords: Church of the Theotokos of the Pharos, Macedonian dynasty, perizonium, Virgin Chimeutē, Scepter of Leo VI, Chapel of St Demetrios, Rotunda of Elijah

The focus of the investigation is a group of late Roman bronze lamps, which come together through the almost identical shape of the handle or reflector. The three more or less completely preserved bilychnes in Leiden, Lyon and Strasbourg and an isolated handle, possibly found near Pécs, the ancient Sopianae, in the Hungarian National Museum in Budapest show an openwork disc depicting a crater with large S-shaped handles serving as a fountain. By comparing it with bronze lamps that were created at the same time, which have very similar, circular and openwork handles with crosses, Christograms or Christian acclamations, the author comes to the conviction that even for the type presented here, it is most likely an interpretation with reference to Christ should be favored.

Keywords: Late Roman bronze lamps, Christian iconography, fountains, Rome

Blindness refers to various conditions ranging from physical to metaphorical blindness. This often also expresses a special connection to the gods. The focus of this article is the healing of blind people by Jesus.

Keywords: Blindness, Early Christian Art