Church Building Research Articles

Makna Simbol Bangunan Gereja Inkulturatif Pakpak terhadap Penghayatan Iman dalam Liturgi

Humans always use symbols in carrying out their lives as a medium for communicating with the environment, both social and physical. Research on the meaning of the symbols of the Pakpak Inculturative Church Building on the Appreciation of Faith in the Liturgy at Stasi Blessed Dionysius Sumbul was carried out to explain the extent of the people's knowledge about the symbols in the inculturative building and how the inculturative building influences the appreciation of the faith in the liturgy of the people. The method used in this research is a qualitative method with three data collection techniques, namely observation, interviews and documentation. Symbols are interpreted as signs or symbols that contain meaning for understanding the context of beliefs and religions of traditional society. In this research, it was found that the symbols in the Pakpak inculturative church building encouraged the appreciation of the people's faith aesthetically, psychologically and religiously, where it was concluded that the people actually did not fully know the meaning of the symbols in the inculturative church building. However, behind this, people are still able to experience different experiences of faith when worshiping in churches with different models and nuances.

Church Architecture in Southwestern Bulgaria in the Late 9th – Early 11th Century (Based on Archaeological Data)

This publication is devoted to the church architecture in Southwestern Bulgaria (now Blagoevgrad region) during the First Bulgarian Tsardom, in the period from the end of the 9th to the beginning of the 11th century. From the second half of the 9th century (specifically from 864) the territories of the region under consideration officially entered the borders of the medieval Bulgarian state, which coincided with the conversion to Christianity in Bulgaria (865). The studied region covers the valleys of the rivers of Struma (Middle Struma) and Mesta (Upper and Middle Mesta), which were part of the southwestern borders of the Bulgarian state in the Middle Ages. At present, three churches can be attributed to this period, all excavated through regular archaeological excavations. These are the Basilica of St. Nicholas in the town of Melnik, the single-nave church in the area of Shipotsko at the town of Bansko and the three-conchal church at the village of Kulata, Petrich municipality. In terms of their functional characteristics, these churches include an episcopal (or parish) church (“St. Nicholas” in Melnik), a cemetery church (the church in the area of Shipotsko near the town of Bansko) and a monastery church (the church at the village of Kulata). Characteristic for the first two is their construction on older cult sites – on an ancient sanctuary and an early Christian church (the church “St. Nicholas” in Melnik) and on an early Christian temple (the church in the area of Shipotsko, at the town of Bansko). The small number of excavated church buildings from the First Bulgarian Tsardom is also typical for the rest of the Bulgarian lands. Although the examples from the region are few, they show that almost all major architectural types are found here.

Vyatka Church Seals of Synodal Period: an Attempt at Classification (Collection of Sphragistics at P.V. Alabin Kirov Regional Local Lore Museum)

This article proposes a classification of Vyatka church seals from the 18th to the early 20th century based on materials from the collection of sphragistics at the P. V. Alabin Kirov Regional Local Lore Museum. The criteria for classification include the affiliation of the seals with specific individuals and institutions, as well as the specific images depicted on the seals. The article identifies four groups of seals: seals of church administration, seals of spiritual educational institutions, seals of churches, and personal seals of clergy. The study reveals that state symbols, such as the doubleheaded eagle, were typically depicted on seals of church administration and spiritual educational institutions. Seals of parish churches depicted real church buildings or saints until the first third of the 19th century when they were replaced by a standardized image of a three-domed church. Seals belonging to Vyatka bishops were typically twosided with images of a blessing hand and the Holy Trinity. From the mid-19th century, they were replaced by one-sided seals with images of two blessing hands. All personal seals of bishops have circular legends with their names. Seals belonging to other clergy members contain information about the owner’s name, initials, surname, and sometimes their rank. The most popular symbol for all groups of seals was the All-Seeing Eye, symbolizing God’s omniscience.

Conservation Status and Scheme of Christian Cultural Heritage in Chungnam Province, Korea

For the stable conservation of cultural heritage, it is truly meaningful when it becomes the objects of national management. Most cultural heritage related to religion has touching stories of historical development, succession and social resonance, and includes tangible evidence of noble sacrifice. Therefore, the Christian heritage of Chungnam Province examined through this study also deserves sufficient respect. However, cultural heritage is valued for its universal validity, authenticity and integrity that go beyond ideas and ideologies. In addition, cultural heritage that symbolizes the nation, era, history and culture requires original assets that can be preserved, transmitted and utilized beyond various interests. As examined in this study, the nine church buildings and six historic sites and monuments in Chungnam Province established before the 1960s are not fully evaluated as cultural heritage despite their historicity. Therefore, authenticity must be created through continuous research, value discovery and conservation scheme. And, the search for yet unknown records and cultural heritage must continue, and the standards and validity evaluation must be verified. If the Christian history that connects modern times in Chungnam Province is reexamined, cultural heritage such as buildings and records are discovered, and a scientific conservation and management system is established, it will serve as an opportunity to promote the development of not only Christianity but also local culture, and the identity of Chungnam’s Christian culture. It is expected that it can be utilized as an important resource in forming.

Empire of Portland Cement, Concrete Blocks, and Specialty Shingles

Abstract The article examines the close collaboration between Protestant missionaries and expatriate American construction entrepreneurs in the early 1900s in Puerto Rico. The construction work done by the Czech American architect Antonin Nechodoma (1877–1928), the builder Frank Bond Hatch (1871–1925), and Protestant missionaries represent an instance of this collaboration, which led to the adoption of Portland cement products in the construction of church buildings (Beatriz del Cueto, 2016). Nechodoma’s contribution to the development of a religious architectural language on behalf of Protestant missionaries has been largely neglected. While Nechodoma’s figure has gathered popular attention of late, the aim of this article is to situate changes in the design and construction of ecclesiastic structures associated with Methodism within the larger context of American imperialist expansionism and political change in Puerto Rico. Examined collectively, the new religious buildings of the period 1898–c. 1927 reveal the implantation of a new religious colonialist architectural aesthetic.

Research on the Localization of Modern Christian Church Architecture: A Case Study of Hangzhou Sicheng Hall

Christian churches have had great importance in Western classical architecture since the introduction of Christianity into China, which to better integrate into the local community and improve public acceptance, Christian churches were built in China with the characteristics of traditional Chinese architecture. At the same time, it retains the plane shape and spatial sequence similar to that of Western churches and has evolved into the image of "combining Chinese and Western" today. In order to study the localization characteristics of Protestant churches built in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province under the historical and humanistic background. This paper takes "Sicheng Church", the oldest existing Christian church in Hangzhou, as the research object. Through literature research and field research. Based on the analysis of the development history of the church, the location selection, plane shape, architectural style, and architectural decoration of the church building, the retention and localization characteristics of the church building and their influencing factors are discussed, and the root cause of localization in the Christian mission and church construction is obtained.

Architectural Characterization of Hongjialou Catholic Church in Jinan

This paper focuses on the Hongjialou Catholic Church in Jinan, China. Hongjialou Catholic Church was designed by Italian Brother Poncieri. It is one of the larger Catholic churches in Jinan. It occupies an important position in modern Chinese religious architecture. This paper will use the field research method, literature analysis method, comparative analysis method, and chart enumeration method to analyze the Hongjialou Catholic Church in terms of its construction background, plan layout, facade style, decorative decoration and building materials, structure, etc. in terms of culture, art, and other aspects. To further demonstrate the rules of decorative construction of typical Western Gothic church buildings, compare Hongjialou Catholic Church with Western churches, and study the influence of localization on the facade and interior space decoration and ornamentation of Western churches. And through the comparison with other Chinese modern Catholic churches, it is concluded that the localization influence of Hongjialou Catholic Church is not significant, which will help the subsequent in-depth study of Hongjialou Catholic Church in terms of artistic achievement and historical and cultural value.

Das Bild der pilgernden Kirche im Ordo dedicationis ecclesiae et altaris (1977)

The image of the church as a pilgrimaging community under the sacramental authority of the bishop as the high priest of his flock (SC 41) is central to liturgy in which church buildings and altars are dedicated. This article sums up the reform of that part of the Roman Pontifical, which contains these rites. It also offers some liturgical and ecclesiological insights, which could be of interest in the context of the current worldwide synodal process in the Roman Catholic Church. An undoubtably positive result of the reform of these rites is the pneumatical effort which can be observed throughout the entire celebration. Much more important than the church building is the trinitarian focus on the church as People of God, Body of Christ and Temple of the Holy Spirit.

Investigation of roadkilled Western Barn Owls (Tyto alba) in Csanádi-hát region (SE Hungary)

Abstract The Western Barn Owl (Tyto alba) is a common breeder in Hungary. It is a resident bird of open areas, staying near nesting sites in winter. Its population is strongly influenced by food availability, weather conditions and several anthropogenic activities. One of the most important factors of these in recent decades has been road mortality. In this work, we processed data of roadkilled individuals and field observation records in the Csanádihát region in south-eastern Hungary from the period 1995–2022. In Battonya, we have been recording roadkill individuals since 1995, while observations of Barn Owl individuals from Kevermes have been available since 2005. The species is a regular, but scarce breeder in the area, so both the number of roadkilled individuals and the number of field observations were relatively low. Nevertheless, we had the opportunity to examine how the number of individuals of the species that were killed in the traffic varied over time and within years. According to our data, more birds collided during the winter, and also between July and November. This can be explained mostly by the seasonal lack of food and the fledging time of inexperienced juveniles. The temporal distribution of field observations were different from the dynamics of the roadkills, as the species was mainly observed during the breeding season. The exact population size of the area can be difficultly estimated, as it breeds mainly in attics of stable, granary and church buildings. The breeding population of Kevermes was estimated at 3–4 pairs and did not change significantly in the studied period. Over the same 28-year period, using the same methods to the two other most common nesting owl species of the region, we found that the within-year roadkill dynamics of the Little Owl (Athene noctua) and the Northern Long-eared Owl (Asio otus) differed from that of the Western Barn Owls, which may be due to the different feeding habits of the species. We can conclude that the number of roadkilled birds was proportional to the local population of the species.

Breeding and conservation status of the Western Barn Owl (Tyto alba) in Zala County, Hungary. An overview of 39 years of data

Abstract In this study, we analysed the occurrence, nesting, and ringing data spanning 39 years for the Western Barn Owl (Tyto alba) population in Zala County. Data on Barn Owl surveys originate from 166 out of the total of 258 settlements in the county. During the examined period, nesting was recorded in 74 settlements, while an additional 28 locations have confirmed Western Barn Owl presence (pellets, owl sightings). Furthermore, surveys were conducted at least once in an additional 64 locations without any sign of the species. Based on Barn Owl presence and nesting data, preferred locations for the species can be identified at the local and landscape level. Nesting may be occasional in some places, while a few traditional nesting sites, which show nearly continuous occupation over decades, can be considered stable. The results from Zala County are in line with other research, highlighting the continued importance of church buildings for the species’ nesting. Maintaining these buildings is essential for the conservation of a stable population. Given the decreasing number of accessible churches, there is a need for providing alternative nesting sites. In addition to building closures, the future doubling of the length of motorways in the county will pose another significant threat to the regional population.

Budownictwo cerkiewne w kontekście procesów modernizacyjnych w Królestwie Polskim w drugiej połowie XIX i na początku XX w.

This article aims to examine the historical significance of church building in the Kingdom of Poland during the second half of the nineteenth century, with a particular focus on its role in the processes of colonisation, Russification, and modernisation of the region. The article analyzes the utilization of the Russian Orthodox Church as an instrument in Russian nationalist politics, shedding light on its involvement in shaping the political and religious landscape. The Uniate question and the issue of the separation of Chelm region are also explored in the context of this policy. The authors provide insights into how the Russian Empire viewed the Kingdom of Poland, dividing it into two key regions and highlighting the consequences of this policy from the perspective of the local population. Additionally, the article examines the priorities of the Russian administration in the Kingdom of Poland, taking a closer look at their impact on the modernisation processes that took place in the Congress Kingdom. By analyzing the historical interaction between religion and politics, this article offers a comprehensive understanding of the role of the Orthodox Church in shaping the internal situation of the Kingdom of Poland at the end of the 19th century.

Diversity in Late Antique Christianity: The Cultural Turn, Provincial Archaeology, and Church Building

Abstract This paper considers archaeological evidence for various aspects of early Christian church building and comes to the conclusion that diversity was an essential quality of late antique Christianity. The diversity in question is ill-attested in written sources, but becomes apparent when the material record and everyday life are taken into consideration (cultural/material/pictorial/iconic turn). Church buildings looked and functioned differently in various regions and provinces of the late Roman empire. The diversity does not appear to have been accidental, but was cultivated throughout late antiquity. It was sometimes related to, but did not depend on, differences in liturgical practice, nor was it a matter of knowledge, ability, and workshop tradition alone. Provincial diversity was maintained even when and where the metropolitan alternative was manifestly known and available and although secular art and architecture continued to uniformly emulate the capital cities. A combination of written and material evidence suggests that the diverse formal repertoire of early Christian art and architecture was chosen and decided individually, but tended to form local/provincial/regional clusters. The decision makers seem to have been guided by religious conventions as well as by personal or political allegiances, many of which appear to have been determined locally, each province or region onto itself.

ОСОБЛИВОСТІ ФОРМОТВОРЕННЯ ХРАМОВИХ БУДІВЕЛЬ В ПУБЛІКАЦІЯХ ТА ПЕРІОДИЦІ (суть, значення та проблеми предмету дослідження)

The article analyzes studies and publications on the subject of church architecture, which focus on the planning, volume-spatial features, traditions of the formation and development of wooden and stone church architecture, as well as light, color, material, compositional techniques, and symbolism in the formative vision of the development of Ukrainian church building. Therefore, the problems of the relationship between function and form, architectural form and technique, the problem of the image and the means of its realization, which the architectural form provides, remain relevant to this day. The integral form of an architectural work expresses the peculiarities of its organization and the way it exists in the context of the environment and culture. The form acts as a material embodiment of essential information for the practical activity and spiritual life of people, and as a carrier of aesthetic value and ideological and artistic content of architectural works. Forms are used as a means of communication and expression of relationships between people, and in the case of sacred, temple buildings, as a relationship between people and the Creator. The subordination of the form to certain trends in style creation makes it possible to personally feel the connection of one's object-spatial environment with a wide range of environment and culture. All of this connects the problems of form and form-making with the broadest intentions of reproducing society. Tectonics is also defined as the organization of an expedient and at the same time expressive constructive structure, which is included in the list of means of forming an image. The subject of tectonics is the morphology of a structure that turns into a means of expression. And the ways of expanding this concept at the expense of the regularities of space organization leads to the fact that tectonics loses the specificity of content and is practically superimposed on such a concept as composition. The tectonicity of an architectural form is determined by the use of structural properties as a means of expression, but not the expression of the structural structure itself. The construction as such is a means of realizing the function of architecture, at the same time the function of expressiveness, but not the content that the architectural image should reveal. Therefore, a work of architecture embodies a certain image, an image that contains socially significant content, as a necessary part of its function. But the image also serves as a necessary tool to give the architectural work integrity to an organized, harmonious form. The organization of space and its structuring determine the fundamental basis of architectural composition at any level of environmental systems. The article considers the architecture of the space of church buildings as a category of form that creates a tectonic and volumetric-planning structure in church building. The article shows the peculiarities of forming in the architecture of church buildings and the compositional structure, which is determined through mass, space and surface and through such creative components as idea-form-function-value-sign (symbol).

Rehabilitasi dan Rekonstruksi Bangunan Gereja Masehi Injili Timor Pasca Bencana Seroja di Kabupaten Sabu Raijua

<em>Sabu Raijua Regency consists of Sabu Island and Raijua Island which are in East Nusa Tenggara. This area was also affected by the Seroja disaster that occurred in April 2021. Many buildings collapsed, including several church buildings which spread across the island due to the strong winds. The method used in this study is descriptive qualitative in an inductive approach by explaining the pattern of damage and repair plans for church buildings due to the Seroja tropical cyclone disaster in the Sabu Raijua district and formulating guidelines for rehabilitation and reconstruction. The purpose of this research is to formulate guidelines for the rehabilitation and reconstruction of church buildings after the Seroja tropical cyclone disaster so that people in carrying out development activities no longer rely on makeshift understanding and technology but need to consider technical requirements. The results of this research are in the form of recommendations set forth in this guideline for the rehabilitation and reconstruction of church buildings on the island of Sabu.</em>

Erskine Nicol and the representation of national and religious identities in nineteenth-century Ireland

Abstract This article investigates the visual representation of Irish Catholicism in mid-nineteenth century genre painting through a close analysis of St Patrick’s Day (1856), a picturesque genre painting by the Scottish artist Erskine Nicol. In doing so, it will explore why artists like Nicol, Frederic William Burton and others chose to equate Irish rural Catholicism with romantic ideas of nature and outdoor ‘primitive’ worship. This tradition of representation will be examined in the context of contemporary Catholic institutional expansion across Ireland following the removal of the legal disabilities known as the ‘penal laws’ in 1829, and the parallel emphasis on the church building as the location of worship, the sacraments, and Catholic devotional life. To date, scholars of Nicol’s oeuvre have tended to focus on Nicol’s representation of an Irish national ‘type’ or ‘character’. My reading of Nicol’s St Patrick’s Day, however, aims to extend the art historical investigation of the signification of the Irish stereotype in Victorian painting, and to examine Nicol’s painting within the interwoven frameworks of national identity and religious identity. This analysis of St Patrick’s Day is rooted in a consideration of both genre and historical context, facilitating new insights into ideas of ‘peasant’ or ‘primitive’ Catholicism as central to mid-Victorian representations of the Irish ‘national character’.

COMMEMORATING CANTILUPE: THE ICONOGRAPHY OF ENGLAND’S SECOND ST THOMAS

2020 saw the celebration of significant anniversaries connected with several medieval English saints, led most notably by the triple anniversary of the birth (1120), death (1170) and translation (1220) of St Thomas Becket, archbishop of Canterbury (1162–70, canonised 1173). This offered scholars an occasion to review and revisit important aspects of the documentary sources and material culture relating to the saints’ cults in England and across Europe. The celebrations of St Thomas Becket also coincided with the 700th anniversary of the canonisation of St Thomas de Cantilupe, bishop of Hereford (1275–82, canonised 1320). Renewed scholarly interest in Cantilupe’s posthumous cult has particularly offered insights into daily life and devotion in late thirteenth- and early fourteenth-century England and Wales. Likewise, it has recently been demonstrated that, in the wake of the Cantilupe cult at Hereford Cathedral, a period of intense church building occurred throughout the diocese. This paper is the first to assemble and publish a comprehensive catalogue of all known lost and surviving iconographical images of Cantilupe from the Middle Ages. More significantly, keeping the 2020 celebrations of both the Becket and Cantilupe cults in mind, this paper is the first to bring attention to all the examples of medieval iconography that associate England’s two Thomases, demonstrating how Becket was utilised as a model of sanctity par excellence with Cantilupe presented as a ‘second Becket’.

Lost in Translation: Tangible and Non-Tangible in Conservation

This paper addresses the special issue theme of the response of conservation practice to shifts in heritage theory towards the intangible, through exploring some specific aspects of practice and statutory process in the UK. The paper starts with an overview of conservation in the UK, and the extent to which it does or does not interface with developments in heritage theory. It explores the conventional understanding of significance—here termed ‘subtractive’—which reflects the antiquarian concerns from which conservation developed. It then considers the Ecclesiastical Exemption, a parallel consent mechanism within UK law for Christian places of worship that remain in use, which specifically recognises their need to change over time to ensure their survival. Evidence for a growing appreciation of non-tangible value and community participation in heritage is provided in recent research by The National Churches Trust into the economic and social value of church buildings to local communities across the UK. The paper concludes that a positive response to changes in heritage theory requires conservation to undertake its own theoretical work; this will involve a recognition of living buildings as central rather than peripheral both to conservation and to heritage more broadly, and a move towards a ‘generative’ understanding of significance.

Об исторических предпосылках территориальных претензий Грузии в ходе Парижского конгресса 1919 г.

The paper deals with the issue of Georgia’s territorial claims in the Western Caucasus, related to the creation of a modern concept of Georgian historical geography. This issue was raised at the Paris Congress of 1919. Ob-viously, the question of the medieval borders of Georgia, raised at the Paris Congress in 1919 by the Georgian delegation, is directly related to the problem of localizing the largest religious center of the Western Caucasus and the entire Eastern Black Sea region: Nicopsia of Zikhia. Moreover, its solution took on a completely differ-ent meaning when the political ambitions of the young Georgian Republic found a foothold in certain trends in historiographical studies of the region. The period of church heyday in the Western Caucasus in the VIII–XI cen-turies, to which the existence of Nikopsia of Zikhiya is attributed, was marked by large-scale church construction in the region. The heyday of church life in the Western Caucasus in the VIII–XI centuries, which is associated with the existence of Nikopsia of Zikhia, was marked by large-scale church construction in the region. Many monuments are known and studied, while others, including the remnants of church buildings near the mouth of the Nechepsukho River, with which a number of authors link Nicopsia, are still waiting for their explorers.

Integration of Digital Media in Religious Activities: Potential and Challenges for Catholic Education

This article aims to evaluate the use of digital media in the context of Catholic education, especially in religious activities. The method used in this study is content analysis as well as interviews on various aspects of the parish using ATLAS.ti7 software. It encompasses church building history, architectural design, community engagement, blessing ceremonies, photos, videos, writings, digital media integration and so forth. The results reveal that digital media has been used in a variety of church activities, including sharing photos, videos and writings and integrating digital media into religious experiences. However, its use in the context of Catholic education is still narrow. These factors include local conditions, limited resources and pastoral priorities. Nonetheless, digital media has great potential to be used as an educational tool in the Catholic context with the right approach and investment in the right resources.

Kanoner og bønnemarkeringer: Ukrainske mediers innramming av patriark Bartolomeus’ besøk til Ukraina i 2021

This article explores how Patriarch Bartholomew’s visit to Ukraine in August 2021 was framed in nine Ukrainian digital newspapers. The analysis shows that two diametrically different framings, apparent through word choice, aspects of the visit that were covered, and the participants and experts interviewed. Four newspapers, and in particular two belonging to television channels that had been banned by the Ukrainian authorities earlier that year, adopted a negative framing of the visit. Consistent themes in these two newspapers’ articles were claims that the Ukrainian Orthodox Church with ties to the Moscow Patriarchate was the only canonical church, that the visit would exacerbate the persecution of that church’s believers and the occupation of their church buildings, and that there were mass demonstrations against the visit. The other newspapers in the material had a more positive framing, and described Bartholomew, his visit to Ukraine, and the independent Orthodox Church of Ukraine in neutral or positive terms. In conclusion, I argue that Russia’s full invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 has had a profound impact on religious and media pluralism in Ukraine, and therefore, the analysis represents a glimpse into a bygone era.