St. John's Church, Mainz

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Johanniskirche
St. John's Church
Johanniskirche in Mainz.jpg
The church from the southeast
General information
Architectural style Carolingian
Town or city Mainz
Country Germany
Construction startedbefore 910

St. John's Church (in German Johanniskirche) is located beneath Mainz Cathedral in the historical center of Mainz, Germany. This 1100-year-old church was the first episcopal see of the Bishop of Mainz. It is the oldest church in Mainz, [1] [2] the oldest cathedral in the Germany of today and the only preserved cathedral building from late Carolingian and early Ottonian time in Germany. [3]

Mainz Cathedral Church in Mainz, Germany

Mainz Cathedral or St. Martin's Cathedral is located near the historical center and pedestrianized market square of the city of Mainz, Germany. This 1000-year-old Roman Catholic cathedral is the site of the episcopal see of the Bishop of Mainz.

Germany Federal parliamentary republic in central-western Europe

Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central and Western Europe, lying between the Baltic and North Seas to the north, and the Alps, Lake Constance and the High Rhine to the south. It borders Denmark to the north, Poland and the Czech Republic to the east, Austria and Switzerland to the south, France to the southwest, and Luxembourg, Belgium and the Netherlands to the west.

Episcopal see the main administrative seat held by a bishop

An episcopal see is, in the usual meaning of the phrase, the area of a bishop's ecclesiastical jurisdiction.

Contents

St. John's Church is predominantly Carolingian in style, but later exterior additions over many centuries have resulted in the appearance of various architectural influences seen today. It comprises three naves and stands under the patronage of John the Baptist today. It can be assumed that the church was dedicated initially to Martin of Tours since Martin is the Patron saint of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Mainz, then to St. Salvator, consecrated in 911 by Archbishop Hatto I and served as the cathedral for the Bishop of Mainz until the appointment of Willigis as Archbishop of Mainz in 975. [4] It is documented that archbishop Erkanbald was buried in this first cathedral. In 2019, a sarcophagus was opened to gain more information on the early history of the diocese of Mainz. [5] Whether it concerns the remains of cleric Erkanbald, buried in 1021, is investigated since then said research director Guido Faccani. [6]

Carolingian architecture architectural style

Carolingian architecture is the style of north European Pre-Romanesque architecture belonging to the period of the Carolingian Renaissance of the late 8th and 9th centuries, when the Carolingian dynasty dominated west European politics. It was a conscious attempt to emulate Roman architecture and to that end it borrowed heavily from Early Christian and Byzantine architecture, though there are nonetheless innovations of its own, resulting in a unique character.

Nave main body of a church

The nave is the central part of a church, stretching from the main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type building, the strict definition of the term "nave" is restricted to the central aisle. In a broader, more colloquial sense, the nave includes all areas available for the lay worshippers, including the side-aisles and transepts. Either way, the nave is distinct from the area reserved for the choir and clergy.

John the Baptist 1st-century Jewish preacher and later Christian saint

John the Baptist was a Jewish itinerant preacher in the early first century AD. Other titles for John include John the Forerunner in Eastern Christianity and "the prophet John (Yaḥyā)" in Islam. To clarify the meaning of "Baptist", he is sometimes alternatively called John the Baptizer.

Building

The church building dates from the early medieval era; construction of the main area of the church began in the 7th century. In the basement archaeologists have been encountered with two burials. The already exposed skeleton in a grave shaft probably dates from the first phase, i.e. from the 7th century. ″It is not a bishop, because a bishop would have been buried in the area of St. Alban's Abbey.″ [7] The successional building kept the guidelines of the floor plan of the original building. Knöchlein speculates that as the predecessors have also been made of stone, which is uncommon for the post-Roman period, leads to the conclusion that the early Christians in Mainz worshipped first in either a civilian building near the Forum or on the foundations of an ancient temple. [8]

Forum (Roman) public square in a Roman municipium

A forum was a public square in a Roman municipium, or any civitas, reserved primarily for the vending of goods; i.e., a marketplace, along with the buildings used for shops and the stoas used for open stalls. Many fora were constructed at remote locations along a road by the magistrate responsible for the road, in which case the forum was the only settlement at the site and had its own name, such as Forum Popili or Forum Livi.

Hattos Church is one of the few remaining late Carolingian churches. It was built as a basilica, its wide central nave is higher than the narrow aisles. The building was designed as a double chancel facility in east-west direction. Hatto has partially used wall remains of the first building. There are remains that have been integrated into the new church. In other places, this was completely demolished. The archeologists assume that it was a planned demolition and reconstruction - probably a smooth transition. [9] One fact is that the ground level has risen by 2.60 meters since Hattos times comprising debris of solid masonry. The present floor level is probably the seventh level in total. [10] When the scientists of the Institut für Europäische Kunstgeschichte of the Heidelberg University were scratching the plaster of the wall, they encountered in some places still in nine meters height tuff masonry from the 6th or 7th century. [11]

Heidelberg University public research university in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany

Heidelberg University is a public research university in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Founded in 1386 on instruction of Pope Urban VI, Heidelberg is Germany's oldest university and one of the world's oldest surviving universities. It was the third university established in the Holy Roman Empire.

In the East the choir room is as wide as the nave. The side walls of the east choir are opened by two arched windows and overlying round windows (so-called Oeil-de-boeuf). West to the choir joins a rectangular nave flanked by narrow aisles. The walls of the nave are at the top of the clerestory broken by four arched windows, including four arcades open each (now closed) in the former aisles (now parish rooms).

<i>Oeil-de-boeuf</i> Small oval or round window

Oeil-de-boeuf, also œil de bœuf,, and sometimes anglicized as ox-eye window, is a relatively small oval window, typically for an upper storey, and sometimes set on a roof slope as a dormer, or above a door to give light. Windows of this type are commonly found in the grand architecture of Baroque France. The term is also so often applied to similar round windows, like those found in Georgian architecture in Great Britain, and later Greek Revival and Colonial Revival styles in North America, that this must be considered part of the usage. The term initially applied to horizontal oval windows, but is also used for vertical ones.

Clerestory architectural term

In architecture, a clerestory is a high section of wall that contains windows above eye level. The purpose is to admit light, fresh air, or both.

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St. Quintins Church, Mainz church in Mainz, Germany

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References

  1. ↑ Second oldest church in Germany uncovered, retrieved 26 March 2018
  2. ↑ „Die Kirche ist die älteste der Stadt sowohl nach den Nachrichten als auch nach der erhaltenen Bausubstanz.“ Fritz Arens (1977), "Mainz, St. Johannis", Kleine Kunstführer (in German) (1109)
  3. ↑ St-Johannis_Mainz on: Romantic Germany, retrieved 5 June 2019
  4. ↑ Ausgrabungen in der Mainzer Johanniskirche Excavations in the Mainz St. John's Church, SWR3 Landesschau, 2014
  5. ↑ St. John's Church: gold border and cloth shoes - sarcophagus opened in Mainz
  6. ↑ 1,000-year-old sarcophagus opened in Mainz Deutsche Welle, 4 June 2019
  7. ↑ archaeologist Dr. Ronald Knöchlein, 2014
  8. ↑ Bernd Funke, St. Johannis in Mainz laut Experten wohl zweitälteste Kirche in Deutschland, Allgemeine Zeitung Mainz, 25 February 2014
  9. ↑ Ausgrabungen in der Mainzer Johanniskirche Excavations in the Mainz St. John's Church, SWR3 Landesschau, 2014
  10. ↑ Bernd Funke, Römerspuren unter St. Johannis, Allgemeine Zeitung Mainz, 27 August 2013
  11. ↑ Wissenschaftler machen spektakuläre Funde in der evangelische Johanniskirche in Mainz

Literature

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Coordinates: 49°59′54″N8°16′20″E / 49.9983°N 8.2722°E / 49.9983; 8.2722

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