The spatiality of the Byzantine/Medieval rural church: landscape parallels from the Aegean and Cyprus (original) (raw)
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Landscape archaeology and sacred space in the Eastern Mediterranean: a glimpse from Cyprus
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This article aims to raise issues for discussion about the change in the use and concept of sacred landscapes, which were originally constructed in the era of the Cypriot kings (the basileis), but then continued to function in a new imperial environment, that of the rule of the Ptolemaic strategos and later of the Roman proconsul and the various Christian bishops. Our archaeological survey project in the Xeros river valley, titled 'Settled and Sacred Landscapes of Cyprus', reveals that these new politico-economic structures were also supported by the construction of symbolically charged sacred landscapes. Thus, while outlining the long history of the island as manifested from the diachronic study of Cypriot sacred landscapes, we identify three pivotal phases: first, the consolidation of the Cypriot polities and the establishment of a 'full' sacred landscape; second, the transition from segmented to unitary administration under the Ptolemaic and Roman imperial rule and the consolidation of a more 'unified sacred landscape'; and finally, the establishment of a number of Christian bishoprics on the island and the movement back to a 'full' sacred landscape. Moving beyond the discipline of Cypriot archaeology, this contribution aims to serve as a paradigm for the implications that the employment of the 'sacred landscapes' concept may have when addressing issues of socio-political and socioeconomic transformations. While it is very difficult to define or capture the concept of landscape in a pre-modern world, it offers a useful means by which to assess changing local conditions. We have also attempted to situate the term in archaeological thought, in order to allow the concept to become a more powerful investigative tool for approaching the past.
More than a Church: Late antique ecclesiastical complexes in Cyprus
2021
In Late Antiquity, Cyprus was a prosperous, independent island that was able to build its importance through diverse trade relations. Its socio-economic and cultural development was shaped by invasions and earthquakes, but also by trans-Mediterranean contact and the lively cult of saints from the earliest years of Christianity. As Christianity developed in the eastern Mediterranean, the Church established a great influence over the island, as evidenced by numerous large basilicas and the formation of many bishoprics. Within Cypriot localities, both rural and urban, a strong connection between religious and secular buildings can be traced, indicating a strong influence of the church on the local economy. From an archaeological point of view, this phenomenon takes numerous forms and transformations. Both civic and religious monuments have been given archaeological attention in the past, however, the relationships between production sites and economic structures located close to churches have been neglected. This dissertation is a comprehensive study of ecclesiastical monuments in relation to agricultural and industrial facilities from the 4th to 10th centuries. The particular focus is on the dynamics between economic spaces and sacred architecture, and is organised by the type of product or industrial activity. By bringing together the fields of architecture, ceramics, numismatics, and landscape archaeology, combined with a consideration of the island’s late antique history and vitality, the role of the church and its influence before and after the 7th century Arab invasions is comprehensively presented here for the first time.
Architecture and Visual Culture in the Late Antique and Medieval Mediterranean Studies in Honor of Robert G. Ousterhout , 2020
Using the carved interior, inscriptions, and painted decorations of Bezirana Kilisesi in Cappadocia as a case study, in light of recent theoretical discussions this paper aims to illustrate to what extent the making of sacred space in a remote region outside imperial territory – and under Islamic rule – can mimic the well-established patterns and symbol systems of Byzantium’s urban and cultural centers. A comprehensive investigation across the late medieval painted programs in Cappadocia from the perspective of Bezirana Kilise shows how the fashioning of sacred space involved forging close links between the deceased and the living (both clerics and laypeople), as well as between decoration, commemoration, and the idea of protection, thus replicating the construction process of Late Byzantine cultural identity. This systematic inquiry into the sacred character of these church spaces thereby challenges commonly accepted notions of center and periphery in the cultural production and communal identity of Cappadocia in opposition to the rest of the Byzantine Empire at this period. Although the carved, painted, and inscribed environment of Bezirana Kilisesi is a product of the ‘post-Byzantine’ social and cultural context, the result represents one the of the finest and most opulent Late Byzantine sacred spaces.
The architectural setting of pilgrimage in the Byzantine world: Learning from Cyprus
The Cambridge guide to the architecture of Christianity, 2 vols (Cambridge: CUP), 2023
The architectural layout of medieval Byzantine churches rarely betrays their function, be it congregational, monastic, private, or other. Yet a small group of monuments on Cyprus suggest that a type of ecclesiastical structure distinguished by the use of multiple domes over the nave became associated with and was erected for popular pilgrimage centers in the course of a short period at the very beginning of the second millennium. This was a strictly local phenomenon, a tradition elaborated and employed within the confines of the island. It constitutes a clear case of regionalism and shows a degree of vitality and inventiveness in ecclesiastical architecture that is usually equated with Constantinople, imperial capital and artistic center par excellence, rather than its provinces and a rather distant one at that. Cyprus hosted several pilgrimage shrines since Late Antiquity, which its position and role as a privileged stopover along the route to the Holy Land helped enhance and promote. Others flourished only in medieval times, a development linked with the growth of pilgrimage traffic during the period of the Crusades. Such is the mountaintop shrine of the True Cross at Stavrovouni, through which the above issues are investigated in this essay.
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