Confessio

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Rome, San Marco , main altar with Confessio

The Confessio in the sense of church architecture is a specific altar structure in a church that enables the faithful to access the relics of martyrs kept under the altar.

architecture

In architecture , the unchanged Latin word is a technical term for church construction . He refers to a prayer room in front of a holy grave under the altar of a church , if it from the middle of the nave is visible accessible via a staircase descent and from above. In the early Romanesque period , access was also possible via a ring crypt . Access via a staircase is usually highlighted with ornamental railings and oil lamps . A window ( fenestrella ) allows a view of the actual grave room, the crypt . This term was first found at the end of the 4th century in connection with the martyr's grave of Peter in St. Peter's Basilica . Confessio in this meaning is a loan term from the Greek martyrion , " martyr's grave and memorial".

literature

  • C. Peeters: De liturgical dispositie van het vroegchristelijk kerkgebouw . Assen 1989.
  • Stefan Heid : Altar and Church. Principles of Christian liturgy. Schnell & Steiner, Regensburg 2019, ISBN 978-3-7954-3425-0 , pp. 285-298.

Individual evidence

  1. Sible De Blaauw: Confessio. In: Lexicon for Theology and Church . 3rd edition, Vol. 2, Col. 1293-1294.