Tomba di Rotari

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On the left the small entrance to the Tomba di Rotari , on the right the former apse of the no longer existing church of San Pietro in Monte Sant'Angelo.

The Tomba di Rotari , officially San Giovanni Battista in Tomba , is a somewhat enigmatic, tower-like building in the Apulian town of Monte Sant'Angelo . There is uncertainty about the exact function or the reason of the complex, although the more recent research tends towards a solution as a baptistery . The internal structure is also very unusual; it is still known for some medieval works of art.

Location and naming

San Pietro. Photo by Paolo Monti , 1965

The building is located in the historic old town of Monte Sant'Angelo, about 100 meters south of the world-famous grotto shrine of the Archangel Michael ( Santuario di San Michele Arcangelo ). The Tomba is part of a complex of three interconnected and partially nested buildings, including the remains of the Church of San Pietro and next to it the Church of Santa Maria Maggiore .

It got its name from an inscription that was both misread and unclearly interpreted in 1906, which is still in the building today. A name found there ( Rodelgrimi ) was read as the name of the Lombard king Rothari . Another word of the inscription is tumbam , which was interpreted as a burial place. This is misinterpreted to the extent that in Italian the word tumba also had vaults , hills and other meanings until the 16th century , only one of which was grave . Only later did the term tumba actually become a term that only meant grave. What is certain is that the tomba is much younger than the 7th century in which Rothari died and that he was never buried in it. The majority of research assumes, although it has not yet been fully clarified, that it was originally a baptistery. Functions as a bell tower or as a grave church for people other than the Rotharis are also being discussed; there are real indications for the latter. The tomba is dedicated to its original function after John the Baptist .

Exterior and ancillary developments

Access to the tomba is via a small portal. Only later, at an unknown point in time, were two reliefs , probably created around 1100, that were certainly not created for this building . The lower one, it serves as a door lintel, depicts the imprisonment of Jesus , he is already carrying the cross. Above this is another relief, about twice as high. On the left there is a depiction of the Descent from the Cross and on the right a depiction of the Risen Christ with the Three Marys . On the lower edge of this representation is chiseled: QPE TIS H , which is interpreted as: quod petis habebis . According to today's view, all representations are considered to be highly plastic and worked with great expressiveness, with regard to the latter as unique for the period of creation.

To the right of the portal is the former apse of the parish church of San Pietro from the end of the 12th century. It collapsed in 1894 and was never rebuilt. Some remains can still be seen, a portal has been added to the street as a demarcation. Above this portal, from the 18th century, is an enigmatic representation of four entwined sirens , which are inserted with bare chests in a round window with eight central spokes. The work dates from the 16th century. To the right behind the apse is the partially nested facade of Santa Maria Maggiore , a church from the second half of the 12th century with a somewhat younger facade from the late 12th century. The leftmost axis of the five-axis construction is covered by the remains of the apse.

The outer facades of the tomba itself are irregularly cubic in shape and do not reflect the inner structure of the building, even with the flat dome.

It is still unclear how the three buildings, i.e. the Tomba, San Pietro and Santa Maria Maggiore, can be explained in their nesting. According to one opinion, the numerous alterations and additions made in different centuries would have to be removed in order to find out how the original structural situation existed.

Interior

Interior and dome

Inside, the tomba is a single room that runs from the floor to the top of the dome. The floor plan of the lower part is square and was probably built in the 11th century. Nevertheless, it was changed a lot in later centuries, the staggered pointed arches here are Gothic . The second zone adjoins above a console frieze , it is designed on two floors with mono and bi-ore windows and undoubtedly comes from the Romanesque . The quasi-flowing transition from the square basement to the central zone with a warped octagon as the basic structure is absolutely rare ; in Western Europe such a construction was simply not known until then. Above the central zone, with another console frieze, follows the dome. Also very unusual, it is shaped as a raised ellipsoid . Only the campanile of the former Abbey of San Benedetto in Conversano still has such a dome design in Apulia . The height from the ground to the inner top of the dome is 22.80 meters.

Other special features

The capitals of the basement and the representations on the upper console frieze are of particular importance . To the right of the entrance, the reliefs on the capitals initially depict the sacrifice of Isaac , typical of Monte Sant'Angelo with the intervention of the Archangel Michael . The last capital on this page depicts St. Catherine of Alexandria . Another figurative capital represents the appearance of the Archangel Michael at Balaam . The capitals of the later added western apse contain a representation of the announcement of the birth of Jesus to the shepherds . The different attitude of animals and humans is extraordinary. While the shepherds pause appropriately, the dogs accompanying them are shown in great excitement and movement. The margin above the capitals contains the well-known, taken from the Gospel of Luke : Ann [unci] o / nobis / gaudiu [m] magnu [m] - "I proclaim you a great joy".

The upper console frieze contains various representations, irregularly distributed. For example, a woman with a child in her arms , a woman with hair falling over her face , a figure siren in a snail shell and others are depicted . The figure woman with a snake is interpreted in different ways , the animal curls around the hand, the body and sucks on the breast. One opinion wants to see an embodiment of Eve , another an allegory of Luxuria .

From the entrance on the left, a small staircase leads to the upper floor. Underneath, in a small cavity, there was actually a grave, the remains are still recognizable. The mentioned inscription is attached to the stair portal, the wrong reading of which led to the name of the building. It reads: INCOLA MONTANI PARMENSIS PROLE PAGANI ET MONTIS NATVS RODELGRIMI VOCITATVS HANC FIERI TVMBAM IVSSERVNT HI DVO PVLCHRAM . According to Ekkehart Rotter: "that Paganus, who comes from Parma and lives in Monte (Sant'Angelo), and tobogganing grimus, who was born in Monte, had this beautiful structure built." The interpretation of Carl Willemsen is: "That an anonymous, who, born in Parma, had settled in Montepagano, not far from Téramo in the Abruzzo region, and a toboggan grimi, whose cradle was on the Monte Gargano, had this remarkable building built ".

To the right of the entrance, another staircase that had previously been buried was found and excavated in the 20th century. It leads flat with 8 steps of different heights to another room, directly under the apse of San Pietro. The round room contains 19 stone seats as well as two niches in the walls, possibly for pictures. Fragments in the middle of the room may have been an altar substructure . The room still contains remains of the baptismal font from San Pietro, but the meaning or function of this room is completely unclear.

literature

  • Ekkehart Rotter: Apulia . Trips to Byzantine grotto churches, Norman cathedrals, Hohenstaufen forts and baroque buildings in Lecce. (=  DuMont art travel guide ). 6th edition. Dumont Reise Verlag, Ostfildern 2012, ISBN 3-7701-4314-0 .
  • Rolf Legler: Apulia: 7000 years of history and art in the land of cathedrals, forts and trulli. DuMont Verlag, Cologne 1987, ISBN 3-7701-1986-X .
  • Carl Arnold Willemsen : Apulia - Cathedrals and castles. 2nd Edition. DuMont Schauberg, Cologne 1973, ISBN 3-7701-0581-8 .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Ekkehart Rotter: Apulia: Byzantine grotto churches, Norman cathedrals, Hohenstaufen forts and Lecceser baroque. P. 130.
  2. ^ A b Carl Arnold Willemsen: Apulia - cathedrals and forts. P. 61.
  3. ^ A b Carl Arnold Willemsen: Apulia - cathedrals and forts. P. 62.
  4. ↑ unsure, s. Carl Arnold Willemsen: Apulia - Cathedrals and castles. P. 62.
  5. ↑ Ekkehart Rotter: Apulia: Byzantine grotto churches, Norman cathedrals, Staufer forts and Lecceser baroque. P. 129.
  6. ^ Carl Arnold Willemsen: Apulia - cathedrals and forts. P. 298.
  7. ^ Carl Arnold Willemsen: Apulia - cathedrals and forts. P. 155.
  8. ↑ a b Ekkehart Rotter: Apulia: Byzantine grotto churches, Norman cathedrals, Hohenstaufen forts and Lecceser Baroque. P. 131.
  9. ↑ quoted from: Ekkehart Rotter: Apulia: Byzantine grotto churches, Norman cathedrals, Hohenstaufen forts and Lecceser Baroque , p. 131.
  10. ↑ quoted from: Carl Arnold Willemsen: Apulien - Kathedralen und Kastelle , p. 298.

Coordinates: 41 ° 42 ′ 26.5 ″  N , 15 ° 57 ′ 17.5 ″  E