ΧΡΙΣΤΙΑΝΙΚΗ ΑΡΧΑΙΟΛΟΓΙΑ

In the basilica of St. Clemens in Rome, where it was known from tradition that Saint Cyril, a monk from Thessaloniki, who brought Christianity and made an alphabet for the Slavs, was buried, there is in the right aisle of the underground ancient church of the 4th century a fresco with the Resurrection of Christ and the portrait of a monk of the Eastern tradition. It has been dated to the second half of the 9th century, when Cyril died (+14/2/869). The whole setting shows that this is his burial place and his authentic portrait. He has a beard like the Eastern monks and holds a Gospel although he was not a clergyman since he was a preacher of Christianity. He wears a tunic of a deep blue color and the “koukoulion” on his head is white with red crosses on the top and sides and decorative band-stitches, as the tradition of Antony the Great of Egypt wants. +E. G . --------------------------------------------------- Στην βασιλική του Αγ. Κλήμεντος στην Ρώμη, όπου από την παράδοση ήταν...

In the famous Basilica of the Great Madonna in Rome (Santa Maria Maggiore), "sister" of the homonymous Great Madonna of Thessaloniki which is known today as "Acheropeitos", there is the inscription of Pope Sixtus III. During the days of his papacity (432-440 ) the building was finished and decorated with wonderful mosaics. Above the central arch of the Holy Altar is depicted the throne of Christ prepared for his Second Coming, as mentioned in the 4th chapter of the Revelation. To the right and left stand Peter and Paul, while behind the 4 symbolic animals of the Apocalypse appear. At the feet of the throne is the inscription with the name of the pope in Latin: XYSTUS EPISCOPUS PLEBI DEI (Sixtus Bishop of God’s people). The list of long-drawn-out titles of honor and glory that are preserved to this day among church leaders in East and West is a creation of later times. Antiquity had a simplicity. The Bishop of Rome considered himself only the Bishop of God's pe...

 At the time when the East was immersed in the strife of Iconoclasm, the free West enjoyed fine paintings, such as in the ancient Church of Santa Maria Antiqua in the Roman Forum, with the financial sponsorship of the Greek Pope John VII (705-707). Here, in an painting representation of the founders of the church, a priest in brown paenula and plain white sticharion presents to the Virgin carrying Christ in her arms two children, a boy and a girl, with square halos, a sign that they were alive when the representation was painted. The boy wears a plain brown knee-length coat with narrow sleeves and a white undershirt inside, while the girl wears a tunic with decorative stitched squares at the knees, a white mantle with patterns and pearls on the selvage. Magnificent earrings hang from her ears: large gold hoops with pearls and precious gems. In addition to the rich clothes, a beautiful detail of everyday life in the panel is the little flower that the little girl holds with her two ...

Christ's martyr Ariadne with the beautiful ancient Greek name lived in the first half of the 2nd century in the city of Prymnessos (also can find with one -s-) of the Roman province of Phrygea Salutaria (healthy, perhaps because it is a mountainous region) in Asia Minor. What one can read in her Vita is that she was a slave of a local lord and because she was a Christian her master chased her on the day of his son's birthday and she fell down one of the many steep cliffs in the area. Her memory is at September 18 according to the Greek Synaxaristes. The name of her city is quite strange because it seems to have something to do with the stern ( πρύμνη - prymne), the back of the ship. Perhaps related to the boats on the nearby Sangarius River. The city was an episcopal seat. It was located near the current village of Sülün in Afyon Karahisar. The relief of the area is frighteningly intense. + E . G . ------------------------- Η μάρτυς του Χριστού Αριάδνη με το ωραίο αρχαιοε...

While one would expect the finding of the True Cross of Christ by the Queen Mother Helena and its placement on Calvary Hill, the event would be solemnly celebrated throughout the Empire, Constantine seems not to have given excessive glory and honor, but was restrained. In the coins that were minted throughout his reign, the Christogram (XP) appears very few times and the Cross very rarely. In fact, in the gold solids, in the coin par excellence with which the army was paid, we have only one example with a very small Cross on one end together with a depiction of an idol of a god, the gold coin minted in the year 316 in Ticinum, today's Pavia, Italy. On one side, the emperor is depicted with a diadem and military breastplate, and on the other, Constantine's official patron god, Sol Invictus, with a crown of solar rays on his head, raising his right hand in a gesture of peace, while the left holds sphere. Lower right a star and lower left a small Cross. Inscribed: IMP(erator) CONS...

                                               After the 11th century, a special scene appears in art as part of the Birth of the Virgin Mary, the so-called PHILOSTORGY or otherwise AFFECTIONATE. Mary's parents, Joachim and Hanna, embrace and kiss her, showing their affection and joy. The Holy Bible does not record anything about the young life of the Virgin. The information is drawn from the apocryphal "Gospel of James", not from the original Greek text, but from the Syriac and Armenian translations. The human dimension of the holy persons always flattered the believers, especially the eastern peoples, Syrians and Armenians, who later created monophysitism, that is, theologically, the divine was decreased in Christ. In the art of the Empire, the icon appears along with others when the thought of our ancestors discovered humanism, not like the W...

In 2010 Israeli Archaeologists discovered a 5th century Byzantine church southwest of Jerusalem that they believe housed under the Altar the tomb of the Prophet Zacharias, father of John the Forerunner. In the "Paschal Chronicle" it is mentioned that the Prefect of Constantinople Ursus brought from Jerusalem on September 4, 415 to the capital city the relics of Saints Zacharias and Joseph of Egypt. The relics were deposited in the Chapel of St James the brother of Christ in the Church of Chalkoprateia, near Hagia Sophia. In the 9th century the emperor Leo V the Armenian sent as a gift to the Doge of Venice Agnello Partecipazio the relic of Zacharias for the new church he was building, since Leo as an iconoclast did not venerate the relics and icons of the saints. So by this move he expelled the relic from the city and at the same time sealed a friendship, since they needed the Venetians in the war against the Arabs in Sicily. At the photos a) the recently discovered Bas...