St. John's Cathedral (Byblos)
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The St. John's Cathedral is a former episcopal church in Byblos in today's Lebanon . It was built by the Crusaders and dedicated to St. John the Baptist . Today the church is the parish church.
history
In 1104 Byblos was conquered by the Crusaders, led by Raymond of Saint-Gilles , with the support of a Genoese fleet . The crusaders called the city Gibelet. The construction of the cathedral began around 1115, but the sources do not give exact information about the start of construction. On June 29, 1170, the city was badly hit by an earthquake and the cathedral was seriously affected. The destruction was so severe that a decision was made to only partially rebuild it. As part of this construction work, the western three bays of the six bays of the three-aisled nave were completely laid down, thus shortening the cathedral by half.
The cathedral closes in the east with three apses, which are lined up on a narrow three-part choir bay, which connects to the three nave bays. The Chorjoch protrudes slightly over the side apses in the south and north and thus has the character of a transept. The middle main apse protrudes only slightly to the east over the two side apses. The three bays of the main nave are vaulted with a pointed barrel, the side aisles have groined vaults. The decoration of the apses is similar to that of the Beirut Cathedral .
Baptistery
On the north side of the first western yoke is the most important part of the cathedral in terms of art history, the baptistery . It was built and decorated before the earthquake of 1170 and, like the three apses, was not significantly affected by it. The baptistery arches over a square floor plan to form a pendentive dome, supported by three wide pointed arches. The arches on all three sides show a different decor and relationship with the cornice of the apses. The keystone of the eastern arch shows the Maltese cross .
literature
- Adrian J. Boas: Crusader Archeology. The Material Culture of the Latin East. Routledge, London et al. 1999, ISBN 0-415-17361-2 .
- Paul Deschamps: Romanesque in the Holy Land. Castles and churches of the crusaders. Echter et al., Würzburg 1992, ISBN 3-429-01435-2 .
Web links
Coordinates: 34 ° 7 '17.3 " N , 35 ° 38' 42.7" E