Santa Costanza

Santa Costanza is a 4th-century church in Rome, Italy, on the Via Nomentana, which runs
north-east out of the city. According to the traditional view, it was built under Constantine Ias
a mausoleum for his daughter Constantina (also known as Constantia or Costanza) who died in
354 AD.
[1]
His other daughter Helena, wife of Julian, who died in 360 AD, was also buried here.
In the Middle Ages it was dedicated as a church to Santa Costanza (Saint Constance), who was
regarded as a saint.
[2]
It was built next to, and in connection with, the 4th century Basilica of
Santa Agnese (Saint Agnes).
[3]
Both buildings were constructed over the earlier catacombs in
which Saint Agnes is believed to be buried.
Location
Santa Costanza is located a minute's walk to the side of the Via Nomentana, a short way
outside the ancient walls of Rome. The road follows the ancient Roman route which runs north-
east from Rome to Nomentum or Mentana. The area was an Imperial family estate, and the
bodies of the sisters were both brought considerable distances to be buried
there:Ammianus records that Constantina's body was brought back from Bithynia, and Helena's
from Gaul (History XIV: 11, 6).
Santa Costanza is a circular, centralized structure, with a circular ambulatory ringing a high
central space topped by a shallow dome, which is raised on a round drum, as can be seen from
the exterior. It is built of brick-faced concrete and its structure is basically two rings supported by
columns placed around a vertical central axis. The upper ring sits on the columns while the
"lower ring encloses a circular ambulatory whose space flows between the columns into the
axial cylinder."
[11]
This design essentially creates two spaces or two worlds, that of the
ambulatory and that of the upper dome. The screens of the ambulatory and inner ring create a
dark contrast to the bright upper space of the dome. This contrast of light can be seen in the
picture of the main interior. The single door, flanked by two arched niches, would originally have
been an internal arch or doorway leading straight into the Constaninian basilica or funerary hall,
half-way along its length. There is a short vestibule inside the door, opening to the ambulatory.



OLD ST PETERS BASILICA

Old St. Peter's Basilica was the building that stood, from the 4th to 16th centuries, on the spot
where the St. Peter's Basilica stands today in Vatican City. Construction of the basilica, built
over the historical site of the Circus of Nero, began during the reign of Emperor Constantine I.
The name "Old St. Peter's Basilica" has been used since the construction of the current basilica
to distinguish the two buildings.
Construction began by orders of the Roman Emperor Constantine I between 318 and 322,
[2]
and
took about 30 years to complete. Over the next twelve centuries, the church gradually gained
importance, eventually becoming a major place of pilgrimage in Rome.

The design was a typical basilica form
[7]
with the plan and elevation resembling those of Roman
basilicas and audience halls, such as the Basilica Ulpia in Trajan's Forum and Constantine's
own Aula Palatina at Trier, rather than the design of any Greco-Roman temple.






The Church of the Holy Sepulchre (in Arabic amay'iQ la tassinak ) also
called the Basilica of the Holy Sepulchre, or the Church of the Resurrection by Eastern
Christians, is a church within the Christian Quarter of the walled Old City of Jerusalem. It is a
few steps away from the Muristan.
The site is venerated as Calvary (Golgotha),
[1]
where Jesus was crucified,
[2]
and also contains
the place where Jesus is said to have been buried. The church has been an important Christian
pilgrimage destination since at least the 4th century as the purported site of the resurrection of
Jesus.
Today it also serves as the headquarters of the Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem, while
control of the building is shared between several Christian churches and secular entities in
complicated arrangements essentially unchanged for centuries. Today, the church is home to
branches of Eastern Orthodoxy and Oriental Orthodoxy as well as to Roman
Catholicism. Anglicans andProtestants have no permanent presence in the Church
[3]
and some
have regarded the Garden Tomb, elsewhere in Jerusalem, as the true place of Jesus's
crucifixion and resurrection.

CONSTRUCTION
According to Eusebius, the Roman emperor Hadrian in the 2nd century built a temple dedicated
to the Roman goddess Venus in order to bury the cave in which Jesus had been buried.
[4][5]
The
first Christian Emperor, Flavius Constantinus, ordered in about 325/326 that the temple be
replaced by a church.
[6]
During the building of the Church, Constantine's mother, Helena, is
believed to have rediscovered the True Cross, and a tomb (although there are some
discrepancies among authors).
[7]


Golgotha altar
Constantine's church was built as two connected churches over the two different holy sites,
including a great basilica (the Martyrium visited by Egeria in the 380s), an
enclosed colonnaded atrium(the Triportico) with the traditional site of Golgotha in one corner,
and a rotunda, called the Anastasis ("Resurrection"), which contained the remains of a rock-cut
room that Helena and Macariusidentified as the burial site of Jesus.
According to tradition, Constantine arranged for the rockface to be removed from around the
tomb, without harming it, in order to isolate the tomb; in the centre of the rotunda is a small
building called (in Greek) the Kouvouklion
[8]
or (in Latin) the Aedicule,
[9]
which supposedly
encloses this tomb.
Each year, the Eastern Orthodox Church celebrates the anniversary of the consecration of the
Church of the Resurrection (Holy Sepulchre) on 13 September.




The Church of the Nativity is a basilica located in Bethlehem, Palestine. The church was
originally commissioned in 327 AD by Constantine and his mother Helena over the site that is
stilltraditionally considered to be located over the cave that marks the birthplace of Jesus of
Nazareth. The Church of the Nativity site's original basilica was completed in 339 AD and
destroyed by fire during the Samaritan Revolts in the sixth century AD. A new basilica was built
565 AD by Justinian, the Byzantine Emperor, restoring the architectural tone of the
original.
[2]
The site of the Church of the Nativity has had numerous additions since this second
construction, including its prominent bell towers. Due to its cultural and geographical history, the
site holds a prominent religious significance to those of both the Christian and Muslim faiths.
The site of the Church of the Nativity is a World Heritage Site, and was the first to be listed
under Palestine by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural
Organization (UNESCO).
[3]
The site is also on UNESCO's List of World Heritage Sites in
Danger.
[4]


The main Basilica of the Nativity is maintained by the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of
Jerusalem. It is designed like a typical Roman basilica, with five aisles (formed by Corinthian
columns) and an apse in the eastern end, where the sanctuary is. The church features
golden mosaics covering the side walls, which are now largely decayed. The basilica is
entered through a very low door, called the "Door of Humility." The original Roman style
floor has since been covered over, but there is a trap door in the modern floor which opens
up to reveal a portion of the original mosaic floor. The church also features a large
gilded iconostasis, and a complex array of lamps throughout the entire building. The
wooden rafters were donated by King Edward IV of England. The same king also donated
lead to cover the roof; however, this lead was later taken by the Ottoman Turks, who melted
it down for ammunition to use in war against Venice. Stairways on either side of the
Sanctuary lead down by winding stairs to the Grotto.







ARCHBASILICA OF ST JOHN LATERAN

The Papal Archbasilica of St. John Lateran (Italian: Arcibasilica Papale di San Giovanni in
Laterano), commonly known as St. John Lateran's Archbasilica, St. John Lateran's
Basilica, and just The Lateran Basilica, is the cathedral church of the Diocese of Rome and
the official ecclesiastical seat of the Bishop of Rome, who is the Pope.
It is the oldest and ranks first among the four Papal Basilicas or major basilicas of Rome (having
the cathedra of the Bishop of Rome), and the oldest church in the West.
[2][3]
It claims the title
of ecumenical mother church among Roman Catholics. The current archpriest is Agostino
Vallini, Cardinal Vicar General for the Diocese of Rome.
[4]
The President of the French Republic,
currently Franois Hollande, is ex officio the "first and only honorary canon" of the basilica, a
title held by the heads of the French state since King Henry IV of France.
An inscription on the faade, Christo Salvatori, indicates the church's dedication to "Christ the
Saviour", for the cathedrals of all patriarchs are dedicated to Christ himself. As the cathedral of
the Bishop of Rome, it ranks above all other churches in the Catholic Church, including St.
Peter's Basilica. For that reason, unlike all other Roman Basilicas, it holds the title
ofArchbasilica.
The archbasilica is located outside of the boundaries of Vatican City proper, although within the
city of Rome. However, it enjoys extraterritorial status as one of the properties of the Holy See.
This is also the case with several other buildings, following the resolution of the Roman
Question with the signing of the Lateran Treaty.

The archbasilica's name in Latin is Archibasilica Sanctissimi Salvatoris et Sanctorum Iohannes
Baptista et Evangelista in Laterano, which translates in English as Archbasilica of the Most Holy
Saviour and Saints John the Baptist and the Evangelist at the Lateran. In Italian, the basilica's
name translates as Arcibasilica del Santissimo Salvatore e Santi Giovanni Battista ed
Evangelista in Laterano.
[4]

There were several attempts at reconstruction of the basilica before Pope Sixtus V's definitive
project. Sixtus hired his favorite architect Domenico Fontana to oversee much of the project.
The original Lateran Palace was torn down and replaced with a new building. On the square in
front of the Lateran Palace is the largest standing obelisk in the world, known as the Lateran
Obelisk (weight estimated at 455 tons). It was commissioned by pharaoh Thutmose III and
erected by Thutmose IV before the great Karnak temple of Thebes, Egypt.
Intended by Constantine I to be shipped to Constantinople, the very preoccupied Constantius
II had it shipped instead to Rome, where it was re-erected in the Circus Maximus in 357. At
some time it broke and was buried under the Circus. In the 16th century it was located and dug
up, and Sixtus V had it re-erected on a new pedestal on August 3, 1588 on its present site.
[6][7][8]

Further renovation on the interior of the basilica ensued under the direction of Francesco
Borromini, commissioned by Pope Innocent X. The twelve niches created by his architecture
came to be filled by 1718 with statues of the apostles, using the most prominent Roman Rococo
sculptors.
The vision of Pope Clement XII for reconstruction was an ambitious one: he launched a
competition to design a new faade. More than 23 architects competed, mostly working in the
current Baroque idiom. The putatively impartial jury was chaired by Sebastiano Conca,
president of the Roman Academy of Saint Luke. The winner of the competition was Alessandro
Galilei.
The faade as it appears today was completed in 1735. Galilei's faade removed all vestiges of
traditional ancient basilica architecture, and imparted a neo-classical facade.