Martyrion
The Martyrion , even martyrdom (gr., Lat., Plural Martyria , dt. Torment certificate) is a building or part of a building in a place of the life or the relic of a martyr was or is closely related. These places can be tombs , burial churches , crypts and mausoleums . They are mainly located in Palestine , Syria , Armenia , Asia Minor and other areas of the Christian West . Among the most famous Martyria include the Church of the Nativity of Christ in Bethlehem , the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem and the St. Peter's Basilica in Rome .
buildings
The term Martyrion cannot be assigned to a uniform type of building, but in early Christian architecture there are primarily free-standing central buildings or central buildings attached to basilicas, in the middle of which is the actual place of worship, prominent examples of this are the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem or the tomb of the Apostle Phillip in Hierapolis ( Asia Minor). In medieval churches there is often a crypt under the choir , in the west wall of which one or more safe-like niches are cut out under the choir stairs, which were or are still to be closed with bars. In the choir steps one can often find slot-like openings through which one could or can see into these niches. In the Middle Ages these niches contained the relics of the church, valuable objects for the celebration of church services and also sculptures of saints. These niches or the entire crypt formed the Martyrion. Candles were always burning in it, and the faithful could venerate the saints directly in the crypt. When the crypt was locked for security reasons, the faithful could contact the relics through the openings in the stairs.
Examples can be found in the French churches of Notre-Dame d'Orcival , St-Saturnin (Puy-de-Dôme) , St-Austremoine d'Issoire and Notre-Dame-du-Port de Clermont-Ferrand .
The choir apse was also very rarely the martyrion. In such cases there was a " fenestella " in the wall , a small opening through which the believers could be close to the relics that were displayed in the apse. See the church of Civaux .
Notre-Dame d'Orcival , crypt, martyrion
St-Austremoine d'Issoire , crypt, floor plan
Civaux , choir, formerly "fenestella"
literature
- Beat Näf : Cities and their martyrs. The cult of the Theban Legion (Munich 2011)
- Carl Andresen: Introduction to Christian Archeology (1971) pp. B23-25
- Richard Krautheimer: Early Christian and Byzantine Architecture (London 1965)