DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.29899#0057
Bk. II. Ch. IX. LATER CHURCHES IX PALESTINE.
37
540. East End of Church at Lydda. (From De Yogüé.)
that it would be difficult to find anywhere a more perfect example of
the style. As it now stands it is very much simpler and plainer than
any Northern example of the same age would be ; but it originally
depended on painting for its decoration, and traces of this may still be
seen on its desecrated walls. It is now used as a cattle-shed. The
church at Ramleh is
one of the largest, and
must originally have
been one of the finest,
of these Syrianchurch.es.
It is now used as a
mosque, and the con-
sequent alteration of
its arrangement, with
plaster and whitewash,
have done much to
destroy its architectural
effect.
At Sebaste there is
one as large as that at
Ramleh -—-160 ft. by
80 ft.—and showing a
more completely developed Gothic style than those at Jerusalem. At
Lydda there is another very similar in detail to that last mentioned.
Though now only a fragment, it is one of singular elegance, and shows
a purity of detail and arrangement not usual in Rorthern churches of
that age. De Yogüé is of opinion that both the last-named churches
must have been completed before the year 1187. It is hard, however,
to believe that an Italian Gothic style
could have attained that degree of
perfection so early, and if the date
assigned is correct, it is evident that
the pointed style was developed earlier
in the East than in the West, a cir-
cumstance which, from our knowledge
of what had happened in Armenia and
elsewhere, is by no means improbable.
The date assigned to these churches is rendered more probable by
the existence of a Gothic building, certainly as advanced as any of
those mentioned, within the enclosure of the mosque at Hebron. If
this was a work of the Crusaders it must have been built before 1187,
since the Christians never had access to the place after their defeat
at Tiberias. If not erected by them, we are forced to assume that
the Moslems, after recovering possession of the sepulchres of the
Patriarchs, employed some Christian renegades or slaves to erect a
Apse of Church at Lydda.
Scale 50 ft. to 1 in.
37
540. East End of Church at Lydda. (From De Yogüé.)
that it would be difficult to find anywhere a more perfect example of
the style. As it now stands it is very much simpler and plainer than
any Northern example of the same age would be ; but it originally
depended on painting for its decoration, and traces of this may still be
seen on its desecrated walls. It is now used as a cattle-shed. The
church at Ramleh is
one of the largest, and
must originally have
been one of the finest,
of these Syrianchurch.es.
It is now used as a
mosque, and the con-
sequent alteration of
its arrangement, with
plaster and whitewash,
have done much to
destroy its architectural
effect.
At Sebaste there is
one as large as that at
Ramleh -—-160 ft. by
80 ft.—and showing a
more completely developed Gothic style than those at Jerusalem. At
Lydda there is another very similar in detail to that last mentioned.
Though now only a fragment, it is one of singular elegance, and shows
a purity of detail and arrangement not usual in Rorthern churches of
that age. De Yogüé is of opinion that both the last-named churches
must have been completed before the year 1187. It is hard, however,
to believe that an Italian Gothic style
could have attained that degree of
perfection so early, and if the date
assigned is correct, it is evident that
the pointed style was developed earlier
in the East than in the West, a cir-
cumstance which, from our knowledge
of what had happened in Armenia and
elsewhere, is by no means improbable.
The date assigned to these churches is rendered more probable by
the existence of a Gothic building, certainly as advanced as any of
those mentioned, within the enclosure of the mosque at Hebron. If
this was a work of the Crusaders it must have been built before 1187,
since the Christians never had access to the place after their defeat
at Tiberias. If not erected by them, we are forced to assume that
the Moslems, after recovering possession of the sepulchres of the
Patriarchs, employed some Christian renegades or slaves to erect a
Apse of Church at Lydda.
Scale 50 ft. to 1 in.