Churches - Monasteries
Christian churches
During
the first three centuries of Christianity, Christians worshipped God in simple
buildings, many of which had previously been private homes. Once Christianity
became the official state religion via the Edict (Order) of Constantine and
Maxentius in 313, churches began to acquire special features and became central
to the life of Christians.
The
first churches were founded by Constantine the Great on land belonging to the
emperor or the state. Over the years, many public buildings and pagan temples
abandoned by worshipers on the emperor’s orders were converted into places of
Christian worship. This change helped to maintain and preserve them until the
present, since if they had been abandoned they would definitely have fallen
into ruins.
Churches
were usually built at key sites in cities, close to main streets or squares.
They were the central points around which neighbourhoods were organized, and at
the end of the Byzantine period they even lent their names to the surrounding area,
a custom that has continued up to the present day.
Throughout
Late Antiquity only the bishop had the right to celebrate Mass in all the
churches of the city. Normally the Matins or the first part of the Divine
Liturgy was celebrated at a church and the rest of the Mass continued in
another one, while during processions the celebrants chanted in the streets. A
priest could only say Mass in certain churches if he got special permission
from the bishop for particular reasons, as in the case of private churches built
by wealthy owners for themselves and members of their families.
The permit was supposed
to prevent gatherings of heretics. It is no coincidence that the temples where
everyone could attend the mass were called catholic or “universal” churches.
Monasteries
Apart
from churches, Byzantine cities also had monasteries. Although monasticism
represents some people’s desire to devote their lives to God and distance
themselves from social life, after the 6th century monasteries began to be
founded within the city walls, becoming centres of intellectual activity with
significant economic power.
Every
male or female monastery was run by an abbot or abbess, in accordance with a
rule governing common life within it. It was surrounded on the outside by a
high wall (the enclosure wall) and had several buildings, depending on its
size, wealth and the services it offered the city. Monastic life was organized
around the main church or kyriakon,
which was usually surrounded by the remaining buildings. The refectory (dining
hall), kitchens, ovens and monks’ cells were among the most essential of these.
Equally important were the storerooms, the guest areas and the baths. Monasteries
that were pilgrimage centres also had galleries and chapels to accommodate anyone
who stayed in the hope of being healed by the miraculous saint that the
particular monastery was dedicated to. Other buildings served as hospitals for
both monks and lay patients, workhouses, orphanages and schools. In some cases
monasteries were built at important points in the city in order to have better
control over them; for example, Vlatadon Monastery in Thessaloniki was built next to a large
underground water tank, where one of the supply channels that brought water
from Mount Hortiatis ended.
In other cases,
monasteries situated at the edges of the city next to the walls may have strengthened
defences, as in the case of Vrontochios and Perivleptos in Mystras. Lastly,
many monasteries had good libraries, while some were important centres for
producing and copying manuscripts books, such as Stoudios Monastery in Constantinople.
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