Everything about Arch And Tomb Of Galerius totally explained
The
Arch of Galerius (
Modern Greek: τόξο του Γαλερίου
or Aψίδα του Γαλερίου) and the
Tomb of Galerius (Τάφος του Γαλερίου) are neighboring monuments in the city of
Thessaloniki, in the province of
Central Macedonia in northern
Greece. The Tomb of Galerius is better known as the
Rotunda, the
Church of Agios Georgios or (in English) the
Rotunda of St. George.
History
The
4th century Roman Emperor Galerius commissioned these two structures as elements of an imperial precinct linked to his Thessaloniki palace, substantial remains of which were found to the southwest. These three monuments were connected by a road that ran through the arch, which also straddled the major east-west road of the city. By sitting at the crux of these major axes, the Arch of Galerius emphasized the power of the emperor and linked his assembly of monumental structures with the fabric of 4th century Thessaloniki. The arch was composed of a masonry core faced with marble sculptural panels celebrating a victory over the
Sassanid Persians. Less than half of the arch is preserved. The Rotunda was a massive circular structure with a masonry core that had an
oculus like the
Pantheon in Rome. It has gone through multiple periods of use and modification as a polytheist temple, a Christian basilica, a Muslim mosque, and again a Christian church (and archaeological site). A minaret is preserved from its use as a mosque, and there are ancient remains exposed on its southern side.
Arch of Galerius
Location and description of the Arch
The Arch of Galerius, (Modern Greek: Καμάρα) stands on what is now Dimitrios Gounari Street. The arch was built in 298 to 299 CE and dedicated in
303 CE to celebrate the victory of the
tetrarch Galerius over the
Sassanid Persians and capture of their capital
Ctesiphon in 298. The structure was an octopylon (eight-pillared gateway) forming a tripe arch that was built of a rubble masonry core faced first with brick and then with marble panels with sculptural relief. The central arched opening was 9.7 m wide and 12.5 m high and the secondary openings on other side were 4.8 m wide and 6.5 m high. The central arch spanned the portion of the
Via Egnatia (primary east-west Roman road from Dyrrhacium to
Byzantium) that passed through the city as a
Decumanus (east-west major street). A road connecting the Rotunda (125m northeast) with the Palace complex (235m southwest) passed through the arch along its long axis.
At present, only the northwestern three of the eight pillars and parts of the
masonry cores of the arches above survive: for example the entire eastern side (4 pillars) and the southernmost one of the western pillars are lost. Extensive consolidation with modern brick has been performed on the exposed masonry cores to protect the monument. The two pillars flanking the central arched passageway retain their sculpted
marble slabs, which depict the wars of Galerius against the Persians in broadly panegyric terms.
Sculptural program of the Arch
Understanding of the sculptural program of the arch is necessarily limited by the loss of the majority of the marble panels, but what remains gives an impression of the whole. There were four vertically stacked registers of sculpted decoration on each pillar, each separated by elaborate moldings. The presence of a label for the
Tigris river indicates that there were likely labels on others representations as the builders deemed necessary. It is clear that a certain degree of artistic license was taken in the representations, since the Caesar Galerius is shown in personal combat with the Sassanid Shah Narses in one of the panels; in fact, they never met in battle. The panel on the arch has a mounted Galerius attacking a similarly mounted Narses with a lance as an eagle flies down upon Galerius bearing a victory wreath in its talons. The Caesar sits securely on his rearing horse, while the Persian king appears at the point of being unhorsed. Terrified Persians cower under the hooves of the Caesar’s horse in the chaos of battle. The message of the panel is a competence and power of the Caesar Galerius.
The relief of the imperial family conjoined in a sacrifice of thanksgiving owes its distant prototype to the Augustan reliefs on the
Ara Pacis in Rome. The presence at his side of Galerius' wife, Diocletian's daughter Valeria, served to authenticate his links to his predessor. Here as elsewhere all the faces have been carefully chiselled off, whether as
damnatio memoriae or in Christian intolerance of images.
In another panel, the tetrarchs are all arrayed in the toga as a
Victoria holds a victory wreath out to the heads of the two
Augusti. A third panel celebrates the unity and strength of the
tetrarchy with a depiction of the tetrarchs standing in unison; the depersonalized manner in which the tetrarchs are portrayed is reminiscent of the schematic statues of the tetrarchs in porphyry at
St. Mark's Basilica in Venice. In this instance, only Galerius is dressed in armor, and he makes the offering upon the altar.
More than simply depicting the victory of the Caesar Galerius, what remains of the arch asserts the glory of the tetrarchy and the prominence of Galerius within that system. The arch celebrates the relevance to the Roman Empire as a whole of Galerius’ victory over the Sassanid king.
Rotunda of Galerius
Location and description of the Rotunda
The Rotunda of Galerius is 125m northeast of the Arch of Galerius at 40°37'59.77"N, 22°57'9.77"E. It is now the
Greek Orthodox Church of
Agios Georgios, better known as the Church of the Rotunda (or simply
The Rotunda). The cylindrical structure was built in
306 on the orders of the tetrarch Galerius, who was thought to have intended it to be his
mausoleum. It was more likely intended as a temple; it isn't known to what god it would have been dedicated.
The Rotunda has a diameter of 24.5 m. Its walls are more than 6 m thick, which is one reason why it has withstood Thessalonika's earthquakes. The walls are interrupted by eight rectangular bays, with the south bay forming the entrance. A flat brick dome, 30 m high at the peak, crowns the cylindrical structure. In its original design, the dome of the Rotunda had an oculus like the
Pantheon in Rome.
Uses of the Rotunda
After Galerius's death in
311 (he was buried at Gamzigrad/Felix Romuliana near Zajecar), however, the structure stood empty until the Emperor
Constantine I ordered it converted into a Christian church in the 4th century. The church was embellished with very high artistic quality mosaics. Only fragments survived of the original decoration, for example a band depicting saints with hands raised in prayer, in front of complex architectural phantasies.
The building functioned as a church for over 1,200 years until the city fell to the
Ottomans. In
1590 it was then converted into a
mosque, the Mosque of Suleyman Hortaji Effendi, and a
minaret was added to the structure. It remained a mosque until
1912, when the Greeks captured the city during the
Balkan War. It was then formally re-consecrated into a church, but the minaret wasn't demolished. The structure was damaged during an earthquake in
1978 but was subsequently restored.
As of 2004, the minaret was still being stabilized with scaffolding. The building is now a historical monument under the
Ephorate of Byzantine Antiquities of the
Greek Ministry of Culture though the Greek Orthodox Church tries to reclaim it back for Orthodoxy every so often.
The Rotunda is the oldest of Thessalonika's churches, and some publications in Greece claim that it's the oldest Christian church in the world, although there are a number of other claimants to that title. It is certainly the most important surviving example of a church from the early Christian period of the Greek-speaking part of the Roman Empire.
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