This amazing. I've never seen so much imagery packed into what seems like a smallish crypt. You have to start from scratch with some of us and tell us about crypts. They are under the main church, right? Are they for burials mostly? There is at least one altar filled with amazing imagery, though I couldn't tell what it was except for the Agnus Dei. Might be good to stop at certain points and stay on images so we have a good look at what we are seeing - otherwise we only see the big picture and can't hone in on the fantastic artwork. You certainly have whetted my appetite for more!
I shall give the whole story. It's fascinating. The video clips here are only for additional views and to give an idea of what it is actually like to walk around in it. I took a zillion stills and closeups.
Crypts are associated in English with burials bcs in the middle ages the crypt or lower church was where you buried important people, royalty, bishops and abbots. But in fact, the crypt churches of medieval churches are usually the original church over top of which you build a new one (in the 11th and 12th centuries), incorporating the original as a kind of special, dedicated-to-the-saint lower church, where you either have the saint himself, in a sarcophagus under the altar, or his relics in a reliquary. In Norcia the crypt church under the Basilica of San Benedetto was especially important. It was the church that was made from the original 2nd c. BC family home of St. Benedict and Scolastica - I was received as an Oblate in the room the twins were born in. This is why it was so devastating when the basilica collapsed. The bell tower fell on the sanctuary of the upper church, and the weight made that collapse directly into the crypt church - the Benedict and Scolastica birthplace. The entire business was totally filled with the masonry of both the upper basilica and the bell tower.
There are a few churches in the US that have the old crypt idea. You can see it at the Basilica of the Immaculate Conception in DC.
In Romanesque churches of central Italy, as we've seen, the church is built around the older structure, so when they wanted to build a bigger church on the same spot as the old one, they wouldn't knock down the original. So this is why in Romanesque churches often the sanctuary where the liturgical actions are taken - the altar and tabernacle - is raised by several feet, and is essentially a platform built on top of the crypt, which is the original church or parts of it. The main nave and aisles of the new church will end at sets of stairs leading up to the sanctuary on either side and a few steps leading down into the crypt underneath. Very often the patron saint of the church, often the patron of the town or city, is laid to rest in a sarcophagus in the crypt.
This is utterly breathtaking, and even more so knowing they likely needed to grind their own pigments and mix their own paints, on top of all the color matching and surface prep and all of it. Truly a monumental task!
Thanks so much for this explanation. So when the earthquake hit the church in Norcia, was the special birthplace - obviously so dear to you and so many others - also destroyed?
well, sort of. It was completely buried in rubble including house-sized chunks of masonry. The house/crypt was stone, though, and because it was built by the Romans it was built mainly of ginormous blocks of stone, which tend to survive anything. So they've been able to dig it out now that the Basilica is being restored. It's not in the beautiful condition it was in before, not yet, but they're getting there.
I am glad to hear that. How fortunate it was made by the Romans - otherwise it would not be restorable at all... even though it will probably never be the same as the original, at least the holy space will be available again one day.
I visited Anagni in 2013 on pilgrimage to Rome on our day venturing outside of Rome to Anagni, Mass in Aquino, lunch at Roccasecca and Monte Cassino. The frescoes in the crypt of the church there, which served for a time as the Vatican outside of the Vatican, had a memorable one of the failed attempts to make a martyr of St. John the Evangelist, depicted being boiled in oil. The cosmatesque floors in the nave are spectacular, as well as the commanding views from the piazza to the surrounding valley.
Magnificent. Thank you.
This amazing. I've never seen so much imagery packed into what seems like a smallish crypt. You have to start from scratch with some of us and tell us about crypts. They are under the main church, right? Are they for burials mostly? There is at least one altar filled with amazing imagery, though I couldn't tell what it was except for the Agnus Dei. Might be good to stop at certain points and stay on images so we have a good look at what we are seeing - otherwise we only see the big picture and can't hone in on the fantastic artwork. You certainly have whetted my appetite for more!
I shall give the whole story. It's fascinating. The video clips here are only for additional views and to give an idea of what it is actually like to walk around in it. I took a zillion stills and closeups.
Crypts are associated in English with burials bcs in the middle ages the crypt or lower church was where you buried important people, royalty, bishops and abbots. But in fact, the crypt churches of medieval churches are usually the original church over top of which you build a new one (in the 11th and 12th centuries), incorporating the original as a kind of special, dedicated-to-the-saint lower church, where you either have the saint himself, in a sarcophagus under the altar, or his relics in a reliquary. In Norcia the crypt church under the Basilica of San Benedetto was especially important. It was the church that was made from the original 2nd c. BC family home of St. Benedict and Scolastica - I was received as an Oblate in the room the twins were born in. This is why it was so devastating when the basilica collapsed. The bell tower fell on the sanctuary of the upper church, and the weight made that collapse directly into the crypt church - the Benedict and Scolastica birthplace. The entire business was totally filled with the masonry of both the upper basilica and the bell tower.
There are a few churches in the US that have the old crypt idea. You can see it at the Basilica of the Immaculate Conception in DC.
In Romanesque churches of central Italy, as we've seen, the church is built around the older structure, so when they wanted to build a bigger church on the same spot as the old one, they wouldn't knock down the original. So this is why in Romanesque churches often the sanctuary where the liturgical actions are taken - the altar and tabernacle - is raised by several feet, and is essentially a platform built on top of the crypt, which is the original church or parts of it. The main nave and aisles of the new church will end at sets of stairs leading up to the sanctuary on either side and a few steps leading down into the crypt underneath. Very often the patron saint of the church, often the patron of the town or city, is laid to rest in a sarcophagus in the crypt.
This is utterly breathtaking, and even more so knowing they likely needed to grind their own pigments and mix their own paints, on top of all the color matching and surface prep and all of it. Truly a monumental task!
Beautiful and so easy to view given they're on a low ceiling. Thanks!
Thanks so much for this explanation. So when the earthquake hit the church in Norcia, was the special birthplace - obviously so dear to you and so many others - also destroyed?
well, sort of. It was completely buried in rubble including house-sized chunks of masonry. The house/crypt was stone, though, and because it was built by the Romans it was built mainly of ginormous blocks of stone, which tend to survive anything. So they've been able to dig it out now that the Basilica is being restored. It's not in the beautiful condition it was in before, not yet, but they're getting there.
I am glad to hear that. How fortunate it was made by the Romans - otherwise it would not be restorable at all... even though it will probably never be the same as the original, at least the holy space will be available again one day.
Oh, the Italians are very very good at their restoration work. I'm expecting miracles.
I visited Anagni in 2013 on pilgrimage to Rome on our day venturing outside of Rome to Anagni, Mass in Aquino, lunch at Roccasecca and Monte Cassino. The frescoes in the crypt of the church there, which served for a time as the Vatican outside of the Vatican, had a memorable one of the failed attempts to make a martyr of St. John the Evangelist, depicted being boiled in oil. The cosmatesque floors in the nave are spectacular, as well as the commanding views from the piazza to the surrounding valley.
Also, can you share photos of how that special place looked before the earthquake?
Sure. I've got some of my own, but there are better ones around the internet. Look for it on Notes later today.
Thank the good Lord! It makes my heart happy - it is such a special place.
It is, very, and moreso personally.
Yes, very much so. You will have to take us there when the time is right.