Aquileia Basilica

Exterior view

The Romanesque Basilica of Aquileia or Basilica of Santa Maria Assunta of Aquileia is the former patriarchal basilica of the Patriarchate of Aquileia and the main church of the Italian city ​​of Aquileia . It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and has the ecclesiastical title of a minor basilica .

history

The building was erected in the 11th century. The German Patriarch Poppo brought architecture from Lower Saxony to Italy as a model for the church. The basilica of Aquileia was built in 1021–31 based on the model of the Michaeliskirche in Hildesheim , which was built 1010–33, so it is only ten years older. There is, however, a decisive difference to the German model: St. Michael in Hildesheim is a double-choir complex with an east and west choir , which gives the whole building a majestic symmetry. Apparently this did not correspond to the Italian sense of form; possibly there was no liturgical need for a western apse either. There is no west choir in Aquileia. A campanile was built for this.

architecture

Bell tower of the Basilica of Aquileia

The porch dates back to the 9th century. It was a connection to the early Christian baptistery from the 5th century. The facade is in the Romanesque-Gothic style. The interior consists of a main and two side aisles . The nave shows the typical Romanesque elevation, but here with particularly small windows. The dimensions of the basilica with a length of 65.50 m, a width of 30 m and a height of 23 m are remarkable for the construction time.

The mosaics date from the 4th century, the frescoes from different eras, from the early Christian period to the 12th century, while the wooden ceiling can be dated to 1526.

The mosaics

View into the main nave

Aquileia is particularly famous for its mosaic floors , which come from different time periods and are laid out in several layers. The largest area dates from the time of Bishop Theodorus around 300, which is why they are called the "Theodoric mosaics". The later buildings of the 11th century were still placed over these theodoric mosaics.

The now slightly wavy underground area of ​​the campanile, which was exposed together with the mosaics, can be viewed on glass walkways.

Early Christian floor mosaics

The north hall at the Campanile had a 645 m² mosaic floor with geometrical shapes and animals in an emphatically calm posture, which was supposed to symbolize the character of peaceful coexistence in the spirit of the new Christian religion. The specialist literature discusses very carefully which meanings could be concentrated in these forms, because early Christianity did not always have sufficient sources for the meanings of images.

For example, in the north hall there is an octagon depicting a fight between a turtle and a rooster, which is supposed to symbolize the eternal struggle between light (rooster) and shadow (turtle). The trophy above the column should be the winning prize. The cup was also preferred in pagan religions, where the clear understandability of the symbols was valued.

mosaic

The newer mosaic floor works with a purely geometrical-ornamental design of the post-Theodoric phase, which cannot be precisely dated. Theodorus had acquired a Roman villa around 300 AD in order to build his halls on this site. The mosaic floor of the Roman period was covered with earth and has therefore been preserved. It can only be seen here in a few places because the early Christian mosaic lies above it. But it is probably still largely present under this. Outside the church area on the other side of today's street, however, you can still see Roman mosaics.

The most important mosaic of the whole complex is in the main nave and covers the entire floor of the basilica. These Christian mosaics were not uncovered until 1909-12, when the entire church floor was lowered. In the 11th century, when the basilica was built, earth had also been backfilled and the new system was built on this approximately half a meter thick layer. One can see from the pillars of the central nave that they stand on square pedestals. The previous floor was lower by this amount.

The columns are spolia that were not specially made for this building, but taken from an older Roman building.

The floor mosaic extends over an area of ​​750 m² and is divided into a total of nine fields that belong together. The individual stones are not colored, but selected according to their natural color.

In the middle on the right is the Victoria christiana , the symbol for victorious Christianity. It depicts a blonde girl who is holding a laurel wreath with her right hand. It has blue wings and is holding a palm branch in its left hand. The girl is surrounded by donations: flowers, fruits and grapes. The classic goddess of victory, Nike or Victoria, was transformed into a Christian interpretation. This process of Christian re-stamping of ancient motifs can also be observed in Ravenna and many other early Christian sites.

The central theme of the mosaic are excerpts from the legend of Jonas . The statement of this story refers to the christological motifs death, (swallowing of Jonas), resurrection (spitting out of Jonas) and ascension (dream of Jonas). It is framed by ancient fishing scenes: Twelve angels fish from a sea of ​​lifelike fish that are ascribed to the master of the sea.

Inscription for Theodorus

In the center left is a replica of a tombstone that covered the tomb of Patriarch Poppo, who died in 1042. Obviously, the existing mosaic floor here has been broken open. In the middle of the right margin you can see an inscription crowned by the Constantinian monogram of Christ. The inscription reminds us that this whole work was created under Bishop Theodorus. Translated it reads: “Hail, Theodorus! With the help of the Almighty and the flock entrusted to you by heaven you have carried out everything happily and gloriously inaugurated. ”The text suggests that the inscription was applied after Theodorus' death in 319. For historians, this is the first document from an organized Christian community consisting of a bishop and believers in Aquileia.

In the right aisle there is a "box organ" from the late 19th century, which was manufactured by the Viennese organ building company Johann Kauffmann .

The Maxentische Crypt

Hermagoras is in the presence of Mark by Simon Peter the bishop consecrated.

This "Maxentische Crypt " was built in the 9th century at the request of the Patriarch Maxentius. The walls of the semicircular crypt are divided by arcades on half- columns, which divide the room with three aisles with six free-standing columns.

On behalf of Patriarch Ulrich II , the entire room was decorated with masterfully executed frescoes around 1180 . They are executed by a workshop with fresco painters with heterogeneous training in the Byzantine-Venetian style. Stylistically, the execution is closely linked to the mosaic art of St. Mark's Basilica in Venice. The themes depicted are the sufferings of Christ and the story of St. Hermagoras , the first martyr of Aquileia.

The state of preservation of these frescoes is exceptionally good. The Byzantine influence cannot be overlooked, especially in the scene of the Descent from the Cross.

literature

• Luigi Marcuzzi: Aquileia and its art treasures. Sacile 1985
• Giandomenico Romanelli (Ed.): Venice. Art and architecture. 2 vol. Cologne 1997, p. 59 ff.

Web links

Commons : Basilica of Aquileia  - Album with pictures, videos and audio files

• Entry on the UNESCO World Heritage Center website ( English and French ).

Individual evidence

1. ^ Basilica di S. Maria Assunta in Cielo e SS. Ermagora e Fortunato on gcatholic.org
2. ^ Graydon F. Snyder: Ante Pacem: Archaeological Evidence of Church Life Before Constantine. Mercer University Press, 2003, ISBN 978-0-86-554895-4 , p. 137
3. ^ Annalisa Giovannini, Paola Ventura, Marzia Vidulli Torlo: Aquileia - History Art Archeology. Trieste (I). Page 107f.

Coordinates: 45 ° 46 ′ 11.1 ″  N , 13 ° 22 ′ 16.2 ″  E