The Lombards in Italy, places of power (568 to 774 AD)

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The Lombards in Italy. Places of Power (568 to 774 AD)

The Longobards in Italy. Places of the power (568-774 DC)

UNESCO world heritage UNESCO World Heritage Emblem

Cividale, tempietto longobardo 01.JPG
Tempietto Longobardo in Cividale
National territory: ItalyItaly Italy
Type: Culture
Criteria : (ii) (iii) (vi)
Reference No .: 1318
UNESCO region : Europe and North America
History of enrollment
Enrollment: 2011  (session 35)

The Lombards in Italy, Places of Power (568 to 774 AD) is the official German name of UNESCO for seven groups of important buildings (including fortresses, churches and monasteries) on the Italian peninsula that were added to the list in June 2011 of the UNESCO World Heritage .

The reasoning states that the sites testified to the high achievements of the Germanic people of the Lombards , who immigrated from northern Europe to Italy, where they developed their own specific culture from the 6th to the 8th centuries. It is also said that the Lombard synthesis of architectural styles marks the transition from antiquity to the European Middle Ages, following on from the legacy of ancient Rome, Christian spirituality, Byzantine art and that of Germanic Northern Europe. The seven groups testified to the important role of the Lombards in the intellectual and cultural development of medieval European Christianity , in particular by strengthening the monastic movement.

Sites

Overview:

The Gastaldaga Area and the Episcopal Complex (Cividale del Friuli)

Gastalgada area with episcopal complex

The "Tempietto Longobardo" is one of the most complex and original structures of the late Lombard period. It illustrates the refined and consummate level that has been achieved in artistic production. The rich decorative apparatus of the Tempietto with the mosaics in the vaults, with refined frescoes, figurative and ornamental stucco work (especially the three-dimensional figures of the saints) make the Tempietto one of the most radiant and ambitious of all commissioned works of the eighth century. The Tempietto belonged with several other buildings to the religious area of ​​the city at that time. It bordered, together with the palace church of San Giovanni at the royal court, on what was then the early Christian center of Santa Maria. This became the episcopal church of the place in the late Lombard times . The Episcopal Complex, renewed by the Patriarch Callisto, consists of three buildings: the Basilica , the Baptistery of San Giovanni Battista and the Patriarch's Palace. Two of the most important works of Lombard sculpture that can be seen today in the “Museo Cristiano” and in the cathedral treasury come from the baptistery: the “Tegurio of Callisto”, an octagonal aedicula that covered the baptismal font, and the altar by Ratchis, the only one Piece from the time of the Lombards depicting a narrative biblical theme.

The monastery complex of San Salvatore - Santa Giulia and the Capitolium (Brescia)

The complex of San Salvatore - Santa Giulia, today the seat of the city museum, is an extraordinary architectural testimony to individual successive building phases from different eras in one place. It housed the women's monastery that Desiderius the Duke of Brescia built in 753 before he became king. The Church of San Salvatore is one of the most important examples of early medieval sacred architecture, the original structure of which has been preserved: with a transept with three apses, it is divided into three naves. These are emphasized by pillars with capitals, some of which are from ancient times or are of Byzantine origin, and others were created especially for the church. The ornamental apparatus, with its stucco work and the frescoes incorporated into the stucco work, together with that of the Tempietto in Cividale, is one of the richest and best preserved of the High Middle Ages. The monastery , also intended for the reception of pilgrims and the reception of the poor, spread to the east with apartments, burial places and production facilities. The traces of this expansion, which covered or incorporated the remains of cultic buildings from antiquity , such as the “Capitolium” from the first century AD and the Roman theater, are still visible in the large archaeological area nearby.

The castrum of Castelseprio and the tower of Torba with the church of Santa Maria foris portas (Castelseprio Torba)

From the castle castrum Seprium in Castelseprio an imposing wall ring, a network of housing complexes and the main cult complex of San Giovanni Evangelista with basilica and an octagonal baptistery have been preserved. Originally the castle was integrated into the mountain fortifications of the late Roman period. It was later reused by the Lombards. In the seventh century it was completely restructured and used both inside and outside for the burials of the most important people of the place. At the end of the thirteenth century it was completely destroyed by the Visconti , with the exception of the religious buildings. A significant example of military architecture is the “Torrione of Torba”, which was used as a convent in the late Lombard era. The church of Santa Maria foris portas, on the other hand, was outside the city walls, where the early medieval village settled. It was built as a private aristocratic building with a cemetery area and contains one of the best picturesque testimonies of the early Middle Ages with scenes dedicated to the childhood of Jesus Christ. Said paintings are located in the central apse of the small church, which has a rich three-chamber arrangement with a paviment with marble inlay.

The basilica of San Salvatore (Spoleto)

The Basilica of San Salvatore

The basilica of San Salvatore in Spoleto is an extraordinary building due to the Roman classical form in which it was designed. On the facade and inside, in addition to the ancient architectural fragments themselves, the decorative elements were used to emulate the classic pieces. These elements were carved with great craftsmanship by the medieval stone masons . The building, which was probably also used as a burial complex, is basilically tiered with its three naves and has a three-part presbytery , which is covered in the center by a winding structure on an octagonal base. The interior is characterized by a rich entablature with a Doric frieze placed on Doric columns in the nave and Corinthian in the presbytery. Its decoration in painting and stucco has been almost completely lost. The rich decoration of the facade was emphasized by dazzling columns and divided into two sections by a cornice. the cornice itself probably ended with a triangular pediment. The cornices of the windows and three portals with elaborate classical motifs are left of the facade. These were also executed with the best craftsmanship.

The Tempietto sul Clitunno (Campello sul Clitunno)

The extraordinary stonemasons of San Salvatore of Spoleto and those of the "Tempietto del Clitunno" shared the same preference for the resumption of Spolia. The Tempietto is a small sanctuary in the form of a temple with four Corinthian columns in antis and two small side arches. The facade is characterized by splendid columns covered with leaves and an architrave in which Roman square capital letters are carved with great skill. The engraved text contains requests addressed to God that must have been complementary to those on the side arches. The inscription thus represents one of the very rare examples of classical epigraphy on a monument from the early Middle Ages. Inside the Tempietto, paintings of such remarkable quality have been preserved on the walls that they are already in relation to those in the presbytery in Santa Maria Antiqua in Rome were set. The paintings frame the small marble aedicula of the apse. Overall, the decor is the result of an assembly of reused Roman elements and decorations that were specially made for it.

The Santa Sofia Complex (Benevento)

The Church of Santa Sofia is one of the most complex and best preserved buildings from the Lombard era. It was built within the year 760 AD as a personal chapel and national sanctuary of Arichis II , the Duke of Benevento for the redemption of his soul in the afterlife and for the salvation of his people. The externally decagonal central building is emphasized in the inner area by columns and pilasters . These are set up in such a way that they form a space in the form of a concentric hexagon within. The columns themselves took up the capitals of the classical period. however, some chapters were also reversed and used as basic elements. In the two smaller apses, the most important parts of the pictorial cycle, which was dedicated to the life of Christ and which must have covered the entire ceiling of the church, have been preserved. They are a testimony to the pittura beneventana of the highest order. This was an art movement that took place at the same time as the phenomenon of scriptura beneventana , the national script of the Lombards from southern Italy. These two special forms in writing and images were also used in the monasteries for the transcription of ancient works. A monastery was later added to the church, which is now the seat of the "Museo del Sannio" and whose cloister, which was reconstructed in the Romanesque period, takes up some elements from the original Lombard architecture.

The San Michele Sanctuary (Monte Sant'Angelo)

Cave church of San Michele inside

The Duchy of Benevento included the Gargan region after 560 AD , where the Archangel Michael has been venerated since the 5th century . The Lombards must have felt the characteristics of the pagan " Wodan " to be the same , as they recognized the cult of Michael in the worship rites of Wotan. Wodan was the supreme god of war, the guide of souls and the protector of heroes and warriors. From the seventh century, the church became the national shrine of the Lombards and the most important place of the cult of Michael. From it spread the worship of Saint Michael throughout the East and it became the model for numerous other churches built in the rest of Europe, including the famous Mont-Saint-Michel in Normandy . The leading Lombard dynasties, as evidenced by the inscriptions that have remained in place, initiated the restructuring of the sanctuary. They made it easier to access the pristine grotto and at the same time provided more space to accommodate the pilgrims. As one of the last stages on the way to the Holy Land, the sanctuary became one of the most important places of Christian worship and the destination of international pilgrimage. That is why the street itself was given the name Via Sacra Langobardorum in southern Italy .

literature

UNESCO World Heritage List Nomination Format, The Longobards in Italy. Places of the power (568-774 AD), Spoleto 2010

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. World Heritage List of the German UNESCO Commission
  2. ^ World Heritage List