Moses Chapel (Sinai)
The Moses Chapel (also: Chapel of the Holy Trinity ) is a Greek Orthodox chapel on the summit of Mount Sinai in Egypt .
history
In the 6th century, was commissioned by the Byzantine Emperor I. Justinian on the summit of Sinai, 700 meters above the St. Catherine monastery one the prophet Moses consecrated three-aisled basilica with narthex (vestibule) with the dimensions of 12 x 22 m built. This place was considered to be the place where Moses is said to have received the Ten Commandments . On the foundation walls of the choir of this basilica, a small chapel, also consecrated to Moses, with an apse closed on the inside and on three sides, was built in the course of the Middle Ages. On its north side, on the foundation walls of the aisle of the basilica, there was a small side chapel dedicated to the Archangel Michael . Felix Fabri wrote in his travelogue around 1480 that monks lived near the chapel. Francesco Quaresmio reported in the 17th century that mass in one of the chapels was allowed to be read in the Latin rite.
This sacred building existed until the 20th century. Due to the poor state of construction, it was decided to close the chapel. In 1934, the new Moses Chapel, which is present today, was built, which was also dedicated to the Holy Trinity . Their dimensions are 10 × 5.3 m.
literature
- Denys Pringle: The Churches of the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem , Volume 2: L – Z (excluding Tire) . Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 1998, pp. 49f.
Coordinates: 28 ° 32 ' N , 33 ° 58' E