DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.24719#0085
G6
THE BYZANTINE CHURCH AND ITS CEREMONIES.
speak of it as being situated between the am,bo and bema. “ The emperor crossed the sole a in
order to reach the patriarch, who was placed before the barriers of the bema."" All this part of the
temple was paved with precious materials, and therefore was not to be trodden upon by every one.
We shall gain a perfect idea of the parabema if we imagine an altar placed against the wall and
low seats around it. These seats were not the stalls of the choir, which were constructed with
some degree of art, but simple benches for the lower ranks of clergy. The seats of the church
were of two sorts — fixed and moveable — the latter were only to be used by those who belonged
to the church.
In some temples the altar of prothesis was separated by a barrier from the chief altar;
but more frequently this was not the case.
The women were placed in the grjnccconitis or in the narthex; in small churches, that did
not possess these, they were placed to the left and the men to the right. The men entered
by the principal doorway opposite the bema; and places of honour, reserved for the most
distinguished noble families, were to the right on entering, facing the iconostasis.
Such is the valuable information contained in the letters of Leo Allatius, entitled De Forma
et Arnbitu Veteris Fcclesice. It is impossible to describe thoroughly the primitive Byzantine
churches without having carefully studied them; and it is for the want of this study that the
writers of the present day have made so many mistakes when writing about the character of
Byzantine architecture.
THE BYZANTINE CHURCH AND ITS CEREMONIES.
speak of it as being situated between the am,bo and bema. “ The emperor crossed the sole a in
order to reach the patriarch, who was placed before the barriers of the bema."" All this part of the
temple was paved with precious materials, and therefore was not to be trodden upon by every one.
We shall gain a perfect idea of the parabema if we imagine an altar placed against the wall and
low seats around it. These seats were not the stalls of the choir, which were constructed with
some degree of art, but simple benches for the lower ranks of clergy. The seats of the church
were of two sorts — fixed and moveable — the latter were only to be used by those who belonged
to the church.
In some temples the altar of prothesis was separated by a barrier from the chief altar;
but more frequently this was not the case.
The women were placed in the grjnccconitis or in the narthex; in small churches, that did
not possess these, they were placed to the left and the men to the right. The men entered
by the principal doorway opposite the bema; and places of honour, reserved for the most
distinguished noble families, were to the right on entering, facing the iconostasis.
Such is the valuable information contained in the letters of Leo Allatius, entitled De Forma
et Arnbitu Veteris Fcclesice. It is impossible to describe thoroughly the primitive Byzantine
churches without having carefully studied them; and it is for the want of this study that the
writers of the present day have made so many mistakes when writing about the character of
Byzantine architecture.