Ruvo Cathedral, Ruvo di Puglia, Bari, Apulia, Italy, Europe
Ruvo Cathedral is a Roman Catholic cathedral in Ruvo di Puglia, a city in Apulia, southern Italy, dedicated to the Assumption of the Virgin Mary. Formerly the episcopal seat of the Diocese of Ruvo, it is now a co-cathedral in the Diocese of Molfetta-Ruvo-Giovinazzo-Terlizzi. The building is an important example of late Apulian Romanesque architecture, built between the 12th and 13th centuries, with several later alterations. The current exterior is the result of early 20th-century restoration works which removed the Baroque additions. The church has a sloped façade with three portals: the central and larger one, flanked by two columns standing on lions and surmounted by griphons, has internal reliefs which were once part of an earlier construction. They depict Christ with the Twelve Apostles, other scenes of the Redeemer's life and plant motifs. The smaller ones, at the sides, have a simpler shape, with two semi-columns supporting ogival arches; they also belonged to previous buildings. Above the portal is a double mullioned window with a bas-relief of the Archangel Michael Defeating the Devil, and above it, a 16th-century rose window with twelve radiating columns. This is in turn surmounted by the Sedente (Sitting One), an enigmatic figure which has been variously identified as Robert III of Loritello (who funded the construction), while at the top of façade is a statue of the Redeemer. The bell tower, in a different style, most likely formed part of the medieval city's walls. The interior is divided into a nave and two aisles, ending into three apses, with an orthogonal transept. The nave, like the transept, features a trussed ceiling and, at its sides, has a fake passageway (matroneum) under which are corbels with human, animal or bestial depictions. It stands on two rows of piers, which are each different from another. Some are cruciform, while others are squared; some capitals are sculpted with elements taken from the Christian or medieval mythology, while others feature simpler plant or abstract motifs. The aisles are cross vaulted. At the end of the nave is a 19th-century ciborium, inspired by that in the Basilica of San Nicola at Bari. Of the chapels added in Baroque or later styles, only two survive: the Chapel of the Sacred Heart (19th-century) and the Chapel of the Holy Sacrament. Artworks include the wooden statue of Saint Blaise, Ruvo's patron saint (16th-century), the silver relic case of the same saint, a panel of the Virgin of Constantinople and a 16th-century wooden crucifix. There are also traces of frescoes, executed by Marco Pino's workshop, depicting the Flagellation of Christ. The church's subterranean rooms include the remains of a Palaeo-Christian church (5th-6th centuries) and Roman and Peucetian tombs.
Cathedral of Our Lady of the Assumption - Molfetta, Bari
Cathedral of Our Lady of the Assumption - Molfetta, Bari
Italy
History of Roman and Byzantine domes | Wikipedia audio article
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History of Roman and Byzantine domes
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- Socrates
SUMMARY
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The History of Roman and Byzantine domes traces the architecture of domes throughout the ancient Roman Empire and its medieval continuation, today called the Byzantine Empire. Domes were important architectural elements in both periods and had widespread influence on contemporary and later styles, from Russian and Ottoman architecture to the Italian Renaissance and modern revivals. The domes were customarily hemispherical, although octagonal and segmented shapes are also known, and they developed in form, use, and structure over the centuries. Early examples rested directly on the rotunda walls of round rooms and featured a central oculus for ventilation and light. Pendentives became common in the Byzantine period, provided support for domes over square spaces.
Early wooden domes are known only from a literary source, but the use of wooden formwork, concrete, and unskilled labor enabled domes of monumental size in the late Republic and early Imperial period, such as the so-called Temple of Mercury bath hall at Baiae. Nero introduced the dome into Roman palace architecture in the 1st century and such rooms served as state banqueting halls, audience rooms, or throne rooms. The Pantheon's dome, the largest and most famous example, was built of concrete in the 2nd century and may have served as an audience hall for Hadrian. Imperial mausolea, such as the Mausoleum of Diocletian, were domed beginning in the 3rd century. Some smaller domes were built with a technique of using ceramic tubes in place of a wooden centering for concrete, or as a permanent structure embedded in the concrete, but light brick became the preferred building material over the course of the 4th and 5th centuries. Brick ribs allowed for a thinner structure and facilitated the use of windows in the supporting walls, replacing the need for an oculus as a light source.
Christian baptisteries and shrines were domed in the 4th century, such as the Lateran Baptistery and the likely wooden dome over the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. Constantine's octagonal palace church in Antioch may have been the precedent for similar buildings for centuries afterward. The first domed basilica may have been built in the 5th century, with a church in southern Turkey being the earliest proposed example, but the 6th century architecture of Justinian made domed church architecture standard throughout the Roman east. His Hagia Sophia and Church of the Holy Apostles inspired copies in later centuries.
Cruciform churches with domes at their crossings, such as the churches of Hagia Sophia in Thessaloniki and St. Nicholas at Myra, were typical of 7th and 8th century architecture and bracing a dome with barrel vaults on four sides became the standard structural system. Domes over windowed drums of cylindrical or polygonal shape were standard after the 9th century. In the empire's later period, smaller churches were built with smaller diameter domes, normally less than 6 meters (20 ft) after the 10th century. Exceptions include the 11th century domed-octagons of Hosios Loukas and Nea Moni, and the 12th century Chora Church, among others. The cross-in-square plan, with a single dome at the crossing or five domes in a quincunx pattern, as at the Church of St. Panteleimon, was the most popular type from the 10th century until the fall of Constantinople in 1453.
Midnight Mass at St. Francis
last part of opening procession of Midnight Mass at St. Francis, Hoboken, NJ