DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.24719#0113
92
pagan temples converted into churches.
interdicted to tlie latter. In short, the ceremonies of divine worship, as prescribed by the rules
of the ancient Church, could not have been practised in this basilica; different arrangements
would have been made, had divine worship been celebrated there. Again, of what use
would have been the two circular buildings situated to the right and left of the basilica, had
it been a church ? We may also add that if the Turks, when they took possession of Pergamus,
found the ancient basilica converted into a church, they would immediately have turned it
into a mosque, as this was a right of conquest they never neglected.
Notwithstanding the activity of the magistrates appointed by the emperors to suppress
pagan ceremonies, many temples remained standing, and up to the 6th century the worship
of the gods of Rome was still practised in remote towns.
The temple of Philse, in Egypt, rebuilt by Diocletian, and dedicated to the gods Isis and
Osiris, existed until the time of Justinian. It wras destroyed by the Persian Narses,
according to the orders of the emperor; he put the priests in prison and sent the idols to
Constantinople.1
Under the Emperor Zeno, the temple of Serapis, at Alexandria, was destroyed, not without
lively opposition on the part of the pagans.
TIIE TEMPLES OE GREECE CONVERTED INTO CHURCHES.
IT is not astonishing that at Athens the worship of Minerva, the goddess and protectress of
the city, was continued for two centuries after Christian Byzantium was founded. The
Parthenon w7as at the commencement of the 6th century still open to the adherents of poly-
theism. Justinian, by an edict dated A.D. 529, ordered that it should be closed, and that the
statue of Minerva should be transported to Constantinople. The temple was converted into
a church, and dedicated to the Divine Wisdom, under the name of St. Sophia. This trans-
formation was the means of preserving the edifice, which, as a Christian church, lasted for
centuries. Of the Byzantine work little now remains; recent excavations have, however,
brought to light the primitive form of the building.
We have mentioned many temples the orientation of which was not changed when they
were appropriated as churches. The Christians of Athens were more exacting; the ancient
entrance, which was to the east, was built up, and another made in the wall of the posticum
to the west.
Perhaps the desire for exact orientation was not the only thing that produced the
change; a narthex was absolutely required, and probably the opisthoclomos was used as
such. Erom this apartment the nave, which was but little modified, was entered; however,
the walls of the pronaos, in which was the principal door, had been demolished to admit of
the construction of an apse pierced with windows, through which the light penetrated to the
nave.
Erom this we can understand the course taken by Wheler and Spon, who, when they
visited the Parthenon, entered at once the narthex of the church and from there went into
the nave — the cella of the former temple..
When the Turks took possession of Athens, they turned the Parthenon into a mosque,
demolished the mosaics that decorated the apse, and erected a minaret; for it is to be
remarked that at this period churches did not possess either bell-towers or bells; the offices
were announced by the sound of the semantra.
The exact method by which the ancient church was lighted is unknown. It is certain,
nevertheless, that windows were made for this purpose in the new apse, and in the pediment.
This plan was the same as that adopted at Ancyra, and we shall quote other similar examples
1 Procopius, de Bello persico, book i. ch. 19.
pagan temples converted into churches.
interdicted to tlie latter. In short, the ceremonies of divine worship, as prescribed by the rules
of the ancient Church, could not have been practised in this basilica; different arrangements
would have been made, had divine worship been celebrated there. Again, of what use
would have been the two circular buildings situated to the right and left of the basilica, had
it been a church ? We may also add that if the Turks, when they took possession of Pergamus,
found the ancient basilica converted into a church, they would immediately have turned it
into a mosque, as this was a right of conquest they never neglected.
Notwithstanding the activity of the magistrates appointed by the emperors to suppress
pagan ceremonies, many temples remained standing, and up to the 6th century the worship
of the gods of Rome was still practised in remote towns.
The temple of Philse, in Egypt, rebuilt by Diocletian, and dedicated to the gods Isis and
Osiris, existed until the time of Justinian. It wras destroyed by the Persian Narses,
according to the orders of the emperor; he put the priests in prison and sent the idols to
Constantinople.1
Under the Emperor Zeno, the temple of Serapis, at Alexandria, was destroyed, not without
lively opposition on the part of the pagans.
TIIE TEMPLES OE GREECE CONVERTED INTO CHURCHES.
IT is not astonishing that at Athens the worship of Minerva, the goddess and protectress of
the city, was continued for two centuries after Christian Byzantium was founded. The
Parthenon w7as at the commencement of the 6th century still open to the adherents of poly-
theism. Justinian, by an edict dated A.D. 529, ordered that it should be closed, and that the
statue of Minerva should be transported to Constantinople. The temple was converted into
a church, and dedicated to the Divine Wisdom, under the name of St. Sophia. This trans-
formation was the means of preserving the edifice, which, as a Christian church, lasted for
centuries. Of the Byzantine work little now remains; recent excavations have, however,
brought to light the primitive form of the building.
We have mentioned many temples the orientation of which was not changed when they
were appropriated as churches. The Christians of Athens were more exacting; the ancient
entrance, which was to the east, was built up, and another made in the wall of the posticum
to the west.
Perhaps the desire for exact orientation was not the only thing that produced the
change; a narthex was absolutely required, and probably the opisthoclomos was used as
such. Erom this apartment the nave, which was but little modified, was entered; however,
the walls of the pronaos, in which was the principal door, had been demolished to admit of
the construction of an apse pierced with windows, through which the light penetrated to the
nave.
Erom this we can understand the course taken by Wheler and Spon, who, when they
visited the Parthenon, entered at once the narthex of the church and from there went into
the nave — the cella of the former temple..
When the Turks took possession of Athens, they turned the Parthenon into a mosque,
demolished the mosaics that decorated the apse, and erected a minaret; for it is to be
remarked that at this period churches did not possess either bell-towers or bells; the offices
were announced by the sound of the semantra.
The exact method by which the ancient church was lighted is unknown. It is certain,
nevertheless, that windows were made for this purpose in the new apse, and in the pediment.
This plan was the same as that adopted at Ancyra, and we shall quote other similar examples
1 Procopius, de Bello persico, book i. ch. 19.