Round church

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Ny Kirke , Bornholm

The round church is a special feature of church building history, in which the interior, in contrast to the longitudinal building or the cross-shaped church, has an essentially circular floor plan .

The round church is a form of the simple central building . It used to be used as a baptismal , burial or fortified church . Any additions such as apses , portico (vestibule), side chapels or sacristy are not part of the actual church space and do not significantly change the character of the round church.

Chambon-sur-Lac cemetery chapel , F, 10th and 12th century
Church of Solna , Sweden

Prehistory and History

Europe and Levant

The oldest round buildings are open Neolithic temples, as they are known from Göbekli Tepe and were found in Jerf el Ahmar in the Levant ; also Stonehenge , its wooden predecessor and other megalithic stone circles ( cromlechs ) are circular buildings. The idea of ​​the round temple disappeared for a while, only to reappear, for example, as Clava Cairn or Tholos . Often only foundations can be found, as in Agrigento in Sicily as well as in Sardinia and the Balearic Islands . From the Bronze Age , the remains are a little more extensive. Round buildings such as the Irish duns or the Scottish wheelhouses are evidence of the continued existence of the idea, as do the Sardinian nuraghi . During the Iron Age, the beehive huts and the Swedish fortresses were added. In Rome the Temple of Vesta was built on the Tiber .

It can be assumed that the idea of ​​the round church emerged as a formal takeover of pre-Christian cult structures such as the Tholoi and Monopteroi . Especially in early Christian times and in the Middle Ages, this design was occasionally able to hold its own against the Christian cross basilica . The oldest Christian round church is said to be the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem (c. 335 AD). In the following years, Christian round churches appear mainly in the form of country, baptismal, fortified and grave churches or palace chapels. The church of Sv. Donat in Zadar dates from the 9th century.

Reconstruction drawing of the Georgian Cathedral in Bana by Anatoly Kalgyn, 1907

Georgia and Armenia

There are some outstanding examples of four- conch and six-conch buildings in medieval Georgian and Armenian church architecture , in which the corresponding number of semicircular apses are arranged around a central domed hall. Outside it is surrounded by a circular gallery. The Armenian cathedral of Zvartnots from the 7th century and the Georgian round church of Bana , built around 900, have been preserved in ruins . Armenian round churches in Ani date from the 10th and 11th centuries.

Ethiopia

Typical round church in Ethiopia

In Ethiopia the round church has prevailed since the 16th century and is today the characteristic form of church construction. On the outside, these churches look like large tukuls (classic round huts), inside they are usually divided into three areas: The Kene Mahalet , the Mäkdas and the Kedus Kedusan .

The Kene Mahalet is a tour in the outer area, which is separated from the two inner sections by a wall. It can be entered by anyone, the floor is covered with carpets and there are chairs for the elderly and children in the entrance area (the Ethiopian Orthodox service is celebrated standing). In the second area, the Mäkdas , only the priests are allowed to enter through doors. The church drums ( kebero ) and sistras for worship are kept there. The floor is also covered with carpets. The Kedus Kedusan is the holy of holies. It is rectangular and includes the altar and tabot , a replica of the ark made of wood. All walls are painted with ornaments and images of saints.

Related terms

Rotunda

Rotunda is the name for a building with a circular floor plan or for a round architectural element. It is also the name for early round church buildings in Italy, France, Bohemia and Moravia, up to around the 12th century. A rotunda either stands alone ( central building ) or is part of a non-rounded overall concept ( St. Peter's Basilica ).

In some cases, large, especially baroque central buildings are not referred to as round churches if they are not of the baptismal, burial or fortified church type.

Examples:

Oval churches

Church buildings with an oval floor plan are often referred to as round churches .

Examples

Octagons

an octagon

Well-known octagons (such as Aachen Cathedral ) are sometimes incorrectly referred to as round churches.

Constantine I began building the first octagonal church, the Domus Aurea, in Antioch in AD 327 . There are architectural encyclopedias that expressly allow the designation "round church" in these cases.

Octagonal round churches:

Dodecagonal buildings

La Vera Cruz in Segovia

Churches with a twelve-sided floor plan are also in the tradition of the round church.

Three icon system

The Dreifaltigkeitskirche Kappl in Waldsassen has a triangular floor plan (triangular arrangement ) .

Vierpasskirche

The Jesus Chapel in Odorheiu Seguiesc ( Oderhellen ) in Transylvania, probably from the 13th century, has a floor plan of four circles (Vierpass) .

Round churches in the narrower sense

San Michele Arcangelo , Perugia

Early Christian time

middle Ages

Bulgaria

Germany

No longer preserved or are in ruins:

England

Orphir Round Church ruins , Orkney

Examples of medieval round churches that are not in the fortified church tradition can be found in England:

Italy

Rotonda di San Tomè

Italy has a large number of round churches (see web links)

Austria

Scandinavia

Thorsager Church

In the Scandinavian round churches , especially on Bornholm , the basic architectural type is very instructive.

Czech Republic

Holy Cross Rotunda, Prague

In Bohemia and Moravia some round churches (mostly rotundas) have survived, three of them in Prague .

Hungary

Round church of Öskü

There are some well-preserved round churches (rotundas) in Hungary .

16th to 19th century

Germany

Luxembourg

  • Ehnen , 1826, the only round church in Luxembourg

Switzerland

Hungary

Modern

The following buildings build on the old tradition architecturally, but not functionally:

  • Church of the Resurrection, Essen

  • Friedenskirche, Gelsenkirchen

  • Round Church at Burt, Donegal

  • St. Vinzenz, Hamburg-Eißendorf

  • Madonna della Lacrime , Syracuse

See also

literature

  • Matthias Untermann: The central building in the Middle Ages. Form - function - diffusion . Darmstadt 1989, ISBN 978-3-534-10267-9 .
  • Denis Boniver: The central area. Studies of Nature and History . Stuttgart 1937

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Journal of Christian Archeology and Art 1.1856: About medieval art in Bohemia and Moravia; Page 146ff
  2. ↑ Hungarian Körtemplom , from koer 'circle, round' and templom 'church, temple'

Web links

Commons : Rundkirchen  - Collection of images, videos and audio files
Wiktionary: Rundkirche  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations