Lechaion Basilica
The Lechaion Basilica ( modern Greek Βασιλική Λεχαίου ) was an early Christian church in Lechaion , the western port of Corinth . It was probably dedicated to St. Leonidas of Trizina , which is why it is also called the Leonidas Basilica. It was the largest church in the world at the time. From 1956 to 1961 it was excavated by the Greek archaeologist Dimitrios I Pallas.
description
The Lechaion Basilica was built on a sandy area between the coast and the artificial harbor basin of Lechaion. The three-aisled church was 117.50 m long and 33.30 m wide. With the atrium to the west, the building complex had a total length of 179 m. The atrium was 35.50 m wide and 62 m long, with the north wall about 1 m longer than the south wall. The inner courtyard of 30.50 m by 21.90 m was surrounded by an open hall in the north, west and south. The north and west halls were 5.40 m wide, the south a width 5.70 m. In the middle of the western wall of the courtyard there was a gate construction about 4 m by 4 m. There were 8 m long water basins on both sides. Through the gate one reached a semicircular hall 5.70 m wide, which met the outer porch of the basilica in the north and south . In between there was another courtyard with a 9.10 m long and 4.10 m wide water basin. To the north and south of the outer porch stood a tower. Two doors led from the outer to the inner five-aisled vestibule. There was also a door to the outside in the north and south and one to the north and south side rooms. The northern elongated room was probably an incubation room and was used for healing sleep .
As usual for this type of building, the central nave of the basilica was higher and, at 17.50 m, about twice as wide as the side aisles. The ships were separated from each other by 23 pillars with barrier walls. In the eastern part the church expanded to 46.50 m and five naves. In the middle was the sanctuary with the altar . In the semicircle of the apse there were seats for the priests. The grave of Presbyter Thomas was also found here. At the north-west and south-west corner there was a square room each about 5 m by 5 m. In the northern room there were columns arranged in a square. A martyr's grave may have been located here . From the western end of the sanctuary, a 19 m long ramp led west into the central nave to an octagonal pulpit. The floors and walls were covered with white and black marble slabs. The columns, capitals and barriers were made of Prokonnesian marble from Marmara Island . This and the size and uniform arrangement suggest that the basilica was donated by the Roman state and was a bishop's church.
The north door in the inner vestibule led to the baptistery . One entered an elongated entrance hall 23 m long and 9.50 m wide with apses at both ends through a door in the south apse. To the north, a door to the east led to a clover-leaf apodyterion . In the south an eastern door led to the actual baptismal room. It was octagonal and had an apse to the east. In the middle there was a large baptismal font in which the person to be baptized was completely submerged . The floor plan corresponds to contemporary bathhouses, but also martyrdoms and graves in Italy and North Africa. It probably also served as the sanctuary of St. Leonidas.
history
In the middle of the 3rd century Leonidas and his companions are said to have suffered their martyrdom and were buried on the beach of Lechaion. A church was built over her grave. This church was replaced by the baptistery before the basilica was built. A coin of Markian (450–457) was found in the foundations of the basilica - construction of the building did not begin before 450. Another coin of Anastasios I (491-518) stands for the near completion of the basilica. The church seems to have survived the earthquake of 521/2 without major damage. Some coins of Emperor Justin I (518-527) were also unearthed. In his time - probably after the earthquake - the atrium was built. At that time the church had no floor or roof and was probably completed around 530. Even in the earthquake of 551/2, the Lechaion basilica remained undamaged. The grave of Presbyter Thomas, which is dated to around 600, was found under the collapsed walls of the apse. In addition, a coin of Constans II (641–668) was found in an undisturbed position, which shows that the basilica was in use until at least the middle of the 7th century.
Web links
- Peloponnese - Ancient Corinth, trading metropolis between the Ionian Sea and the Aegean Sea
- Newly Revealed Martyrs Leonidas and his Seven Companions
- Some thoughts on St. Leonidas and Baptism at Lechaion in Greece
literature
- Richard Speicher: Peloponnese. Art and travel guide with regional studies. Kohlhammer, Stuttgart 1980, ISBN 3-17-010031-9 , pp. 93-94.
- Guy DR Sanders, Jennifer Palinkas, Ioulia Tzonou-Herbst, James Herbst: Ancient Corinth: Site Guide , Athens 2018, pp. 172–174
- Amelia Robertson Brown: The City of Corinth and Urbanism in Late Antique Greece , Berkeley 2008, 171–172 ( online )
- Dimitrios I. Pallas: Ανασκαφαί εν Λέχαιω. Archaiologikon Deltion 16, Athens 1960: pp. 144–170 ( online )
- Dimitrios I. Pallas: Ανασκαφή της Bασιλικής του Λεχαίου , Πρακτικά Aρχαιολογικής Eταιρείας 1957, Athens 1962, pp. 95-104 ( online )
- Dimitrios I. Pallas: Ανασκαφή Bασιλικής Λεχαίου , Πρακτικά Aρχαιολογικής Eταιρείας 1959, Athens 1965, pp. 126-140 ( online )
Individual evidence
- ↑ E. Kolaitia, GA Papadopoulosb, C. Morhangec, M. Vacchid, I. Triantafylloub, ND Mourtzas: palaeoenvironmental evolution of the ancient harbor of Lechaion (Corinth Gulf, Greece): Were changes driven by human impacts and gradual coastal processes or catastrophic tsunamis? in Marine Geology , 392 (2017), pp. 105–121 ( online )
Coordinates: 37 ° 56 ′ 2.3 ″ N , 22 ° 53 ′ 4 ″ E