The Story of the Church

Author: Robert [USA]
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-01-01
Features: The Story of Churches is one of the large-scale social science and picture book series Mystery Journey / Stories of World Architecture and Humanities. The series World Architecture and Humanities aims to explore the historical figures and stories hidden within world-class buildings through scanning of these architectural wonders, providing readers with a systematic understanding of the historical backgrounds of famous buildings worldwide, and experiencing the pain and glory of historical civilizations. The primary target audience includes: architecture art enthusiasts, archaeologists, history lovers, social knowledge youth, and college students. The Story of Churches vividly tells the historical and human stories attached to 27 world-famous churches with detailed materials and delicate brushwork. In addition to the basic introduction to the historical background and structural forms of the buildings, it focuses on narrating the historical background and cultural implications of the buildings, emphasizing the exploration of historical figures, historical events, and religious legends related to them. The historical span of the 27 church stories ranges from the 11th to the 19th century, involving numerous historical events and figures. Through these stories, readers can not only understand the historical evolution of church architecture but also discover the vivid and little-known historical stories hidden within the churches, while also experiencing the mysterious power brought by Christian culture. The Story of Churches is not just a popular science book. With its popular and fluent text, exquisite and elegant images (each accompanied by interpretive text rich in historical depth), and dense historical information, it showcases the religious mystery, historical depth, and cultural allure of church architecture.
Preface The rise of church architecture is closely related to the social and religious history of medieval Europe. When Western European civilization entered a new historical stage in the 6th century, church architecture began to appear in this era with an original form. The Crusades of the 11th century triggered a religious frenzy that swept across Europe. Enthusiastic feudal lords, with extraordinary passion and determination, built magnificent churches and monasteries on their lands, a spiritually significant movement that reached its peak during the Renaissance and then gradually became rational. Thus, churches were fixed in the world's historical map and classic art history as a specific cultural model. Almost no other building, like a church, presents its mysterious touch to the world with such rich connotations, solemnly declaring its eternal existence in a dignified manner. As magnificent and spiritual temples, churches have witnessed Europe's social changes and personnel turnover. As symbols of both religious and secular power, churches have carried centuries of political dust and humanistic historical information. They speak to us with an open attitude about the little-known people and events attached to them. The stories of churches are magnificent historical records, from the "Via Dolorosa" of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem to the "Mystery of the Three Kings" in Cologne Cathedral, Germany; from the "Eye-Stealing Blood Drama" of Saint Basil's Cathedral in Russia to the secrets of the Zagwe Dynasty in the African Monolithic Church, these church stories contain rich humanistic information and historical knowledge, and it is believed that many of these stories are the first time you've heard of them. Whether you've heard of them for the first time or are already familiar with them, they will once again move you.
Excerpt A new city in Lalibela decided to make his birthplace, Roha, the capital, but he did not forget his 25 years of residence in the Holy City of Jerusalem— he tried to recreate many features of Jerusalem in Roha: he renamed the river flowing through Roha as the "Jordan River," and later called a small hill near Roha "Debra Zeit" (meaning "Mount of Olives"), symbolizing the place where Christ was arrested. The most extraordinary move was to build a large group of churches in the rock formations underground on the Lasta Plateau, requiring no mortar or other adhesive materials, but rather chiseling them out with hammers and chisels. He ordered the recruitment of about 5,000 top craftsmen nationwide and appointed the architect Sidi Mesquere to oversee the project. The construction of the monolithic church was extremely challenging. First, a thick layer of soil covering the rock layers had to be cleared. Then, vertical grooves were cut into the rock layers from all sides to carve out massive stones 12 to 15 meters deep. Finally, the outer and inner surfaces of the stones were shaped. The excavation work was carried out in stages: some people were responsible for carving the monoliths to separate them from the surrounding rocks, while others shaped the stones, and rubble was transported through windows and doors. Without the help of mechanical equipment, using simple tools like hammers, it was a formidable task to chisel out massive stones one by one and then carve from the vaults, ceilings, arches, and upper windows at the top down to the floors, doors, and foundations at the bottom—the difficulty of this is self-evident. To ensure that the heavy summer rains affecting Lalibela could drain smoothly, the horizontal surfaces of the church were slightly sloped, and the extent of the protrusions of the building's exterior parts, including the roof, eaves, beams, and window sills, varied depending on the direction of the rain. It is clear that the church architects once devoted great effort to this. Legends say that mysterious "white people" participated in the construction of the monolithic church during its construction. In the early 16th century, Father Francisco álvarez of Portugal recorded this legend for the first time. Some speculate that these were the Knights of the Temple who accompanied Lalibela back to Roha—they were all outstanding architects. After 25 years of arduous work by the craftsmen, 11 unique monolithic churches in red volcanic tuff were finally visible on the Lasta Plateau. From then on, this small city was named after King Lalibela. The completion of the monolithic church symbolizes the prosperity of Christian civilization in Ethiopia from the 12th to the 13th centuries. Due to the Muslim conquest of North Africa in the 13th century, which interrupted the path for African pilgrims to the Christian holy city of Jerusalem, the saint was deeply moved and praised Lalibela for building a "new Jerusalem" in the city of Roha. Lalibela was a genius in politics, and during his more than 30 years in office, whether in terms of diplomatic and domestic strategies or in architectural expression and spiritual development, he represented the peak of power and achievements of the Zagwe Dynasty. In 1221, Lalibela passed away, and the Zagwe Dynasty declined rapidly. In 1270, his grandson, Naquto Laab, was finally forced to abdicate the throne to Yekuno Amlak, the descendant of Solomon. After the end of the Zagwe Dynasty, the city of Lalibela was gradually abandoned, and people seemed to forget that beneath the plateau there lay one of the greatest buildings in the world.