Basilica In Jerusalem

In history, understanding the past is key to foreseeing the future and understanding the roots of the present world. As such, understanding the beginnings of the early church gives us insight into the success of the Catholic Church today and its 1.2 billion followers. The major transformation of Catholicism today can be traced to its early days, in particular, the early first century AD. After the Ascension of Jesus into heaven, the apostles brought themselves to embrace the mission Jesus gave them, and in doing so, they began preaching the word of God to all nations. As Christianity was still developing, a man named Saul, once a persecutor of the early Christians, would experience a powerful vision of Jesus in heaven on the road to Damascus,

Ziggy Marley once said, “God is like the sun. When the sun shines, it shines for everyone. God is for everyone.” In the same way, Abbot Suger built the Basilica of St. Denis so that sunlight would flood throughout the building and symbolize the power of God inviting visitors into the cathedral. The Basilica of St. Denis was an artistic response to the rise of the Catholic Church’s power for it was modeled to be a physical representation of heaven, which the church heavily preached upon. (Thesis) As the basilica represented the shift from Romanesque architecture to Gothic, Abbot Suger introduced new techniques that transformed cathedrals to look more spacious and “heavenly”. (Map Statement #1-Art History) By allowing sunlight to come

Constantine is known to have claimed seeing a vision of the cross which was an indication of divine help. And if his soldiers were to paint the symbol of the cross on their shields then, victory would be granted. His victory over the Roman Empire begun what was to be the Christianization of the conquered territory. But it was during the rise of the Carolingian monarchy that seems to have changed the history of war rituals. Doris Bergen mentions three factors that contributed to this change. These were, interest in performance of liturgy, nature of warfare had changed and ambition of the new monarchy which believed that both their activities were divinely sanctioned and that the ruler bore personal responsibility for subjects’ minds and souls. The revival of liturgy credited to the Carolingians and the application of a different kind of warfare in the middle east by the warriors of the first crusade that resulted in great success, would later give birth to what Doris calls “A new kind of war, a crusade, and with it, the liturgical rites that

During the European Middle Ages, the Catholic Church rose to power. When the Western Roman Empire fell, there wasn’t a grounding figure or a group for security. The people, left without a certain direction, then turned to Catholicism. The religion had its own system of morals, political influence and history. It was and still is a culture. With the amount of donations and faith in their teachings, the Church had the funds to create these large and lavish spaces for group worship and self-guided meditation.

Religious spaces, characterized by Thomas Tweed, are “differentiated,” “interrelated,” and “kinetic.” As a sacred city with spiritual significance in three major religions, Jerusalem is depicted thoroughly in the Hebrew Bible and illustrated as one of the spaces Tweed defines. The Bible emphasizes that Jerusalem was chosen by God and honored by Israelites, which differentiates it as a special, singular space; the description of Solomon’s Temple shows that the Holy City was interrelated to economic power and involved in the judgment of civil cases. Moreover, the conquest, development and destruction of Jerusalem illustrate the city as a kinetic space, reflecting the unsettled history of the Iron Age. These characteristics all make Jerusalem a religious and political center from the ancient Near East time to present day, guiding the footsteps of believers around the world.

QUINTUS OCTAVIUS exited his litter, having just traversed the winding streets and narrow avenues of the Aventine, and hurried up the steps of the Basilica Julia. He had just concluded some business for his client Lollius Capito, leasing out some empty warehouses to a Sicilian merchant, whilst selling the deed of another to a vintner from Antium, liquidating some of Capito’s vacant properties. It was late afternoon and the Forum was bustling, for it was business as usual here in the great city of Rome; Octavius scarcely arrived at the proposed hour of his appointment for all the pedestrian hubbub and cart traffic afoot. Rome is ever the center of commerce and trade in the Empire, he thought wryly. Alexandria is but a small-time metropolis compared to our fabulous Eternal City!

When we look back at Christianity over the years, there are several people who are remembered for their impact on the religion. The first most important figure was Jesus Christ. However, if we travel forward a bit, into the 4th Century we come across Constantine. Historians agree that Constantine served as an important component in the spread of Christianity. Although he spread the religion in a massive way, others wonder if his methods were more harmful then anything. In this paper I will be discussing Constantine in his rise to power and his impact on Christianity. Constantine provided a mean for the word of God to be spread, which is a major benefit. However, He also used violence and hate as

Introduction: This report will investigate the design and structure of sacred places and the events and rituals that go on within them. The aim of this report is to analyse the sacred places in the Brisbane city Synagogue and the Brisbane Cathedral and the sacred events and procedures that go on inside of them.

A reflection on religious monuments and their implements in their connection to their faith and use of prayer. This reflection uses Christian, Islamic, and Jewish religions as examples of study in the Medieval era.

Using a comparative analysis of biblical texts and scholarly articles, this paper will discuss how a sacred space, specifically Jerusalem, manifests itself through God’s choosing. Therefore Jerusalem is the holy dwelling place of the divine, because God chose it through his application of multiple hierophanies and his establishment of axes mundi within the city’s walls.

Architecture comes with many significant meanings, including religious significance. The Pantheon, built from 118 to 125 CE in Rome, Italy, was a temple made to worship the Roman gods and goddesses. This temple is one of the most important buildings both in history and architecture, influencing many other monuments with its form, such as The Dome of the Rock. The Dome of the Rock, built from 687 to 692 CE, was the first great Islamic building. Located in Jerusalem, it is a shrine still very significant to many religions, such as Judaism and Christianity, today. Though not resembling each other in appearance, these buildings are extremely similar, in terms of religious meaning. The Pantheon and the Dome of the Rock, through their own distinctive form and similar location backgrounds, illuminate religion as the most important factor in each society, as these monuments symbolize a sense of unification throughout the city.

Before Constantine, Christian churches were often not much different than typical domestic architecture (Johnson, 282). After the legalization of Christianity in Rome, large churches known as basilicas sprung up in every major city of the Roman Empire. The basilicas were built with several parallel aisles separated by rows of columns, ending in a semicircular structure could often hold thousands of worshipers (Pollard, 286). Constantine himself was responsible for the construction of churches in Rome including the Church of St. Peter, and churches in the Holy Land including the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem, and in Bethlehem, the Church of the Nativity (Johnson,

St. Peter’s Basilica and La Sagrada Familia are structures with amazing architecture, but they are much more than just a structure. Both basilicas tell a story about not just the architects and their interests of certain architectural styles, but also about the history and story of Catholicism. La Sagrada Familia and St. Peter’s Basilica are not often compared due to the time in which they were built, as well as due to their different styles of art and architecture. However, despite their very different styles of architecture, they both serve Catholicism a similar purpose by uniting those believing in the Catholic faith in very similar ways by using these magnificent buildings as propaganda in a positive manner.

The Cathedral of Notre-Dame in Reims, northeast of Paris near Champagne was the coronation church of the kings of France and was an educational and cultural center. Also built of limestone, the architecture of the Reims Cathedral features Gothic style. It symbolizes an Early Gothic, Radiant Gothic and Flamboyant Gothic. The Reims Cathedral depicts a classic harmonic facade containing four levels. Its interior is defined by its towering heights and narrow proportions, and elaborate sculptural works. Because of the high quality of workmanship and materials used, Reims Cathedral features some of the most beautiful gothic art in existence. Five different cathedrals have been on the site on which Reims cathedral now sits since 401 CE. The current cathedral was built in 1211, after the previous cathedral had burned down. The new building was almost entirely finished by the end of the thirteenth century. 88 gargoyles were counted on the Reims Cathedral and are mainly used to drain off rainwater and are exceptional pieces of work, but do show the slight difference between Gothic and Romanesque styles. The stained glass windows are a beautiful part of Reims despite being damaged or ruined several times in the 18th century; the cathedral still has many 13th century stained glass windows, in the upper parts of the nave, choir and transept. On the opposite side of the great western portal, the Great Rose Window, dating from the end of the 13th century, represents “the Crowning

“The grandeur of the ancient city is evident in the remains uncovered by archaeologists, including the ruins of the Artemision, the civic agora, the temple of Domitian, gymnasiums, public baths, a theater with seating for 24,000, a library, and the commercial agora, as well as several streets and private residences” (Holman, np). This was a big city, full of culture, and full of ungodly people and activities. Among the many religious groups in the city, there were many Jews there who were brought the gospel right after Pentecost (Orr, np). Because of the pluralism of religions in the city, new Christians didn’t know exactly what to believe or how to worship. On top of this, the city was constantly bombarded with false teachers trying to tell people that salvation came from works, not faith (MacArthur, np).