CHAPTER IX.GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE IN PALESTINE.

CONTENTS.

Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Jerusalemâ€”Churches at AbÃ» Gosh and Lyddaâ€”Mosque at Hebron.

CHRONOLOGY.

Itmay at first sight appear strange that any form of architecture in Syria should be treated as a part of that of Italy, but the circumstances of the case are so exceptional that there can be little doubt of the correctness of so doing. Gothic architecture was not a natural growth in Palestine, but distinctly an importation of the Crusaders, transplanted by them to a soil where it took no root, and from which it died out when the fostering care of Western protection was removed. In this it is only too true a reflex of the movement to which it owed its origin. The Crusades furnish one of those instances in the history of the world where the conquerors of a nation have been so numerous as entirely to supplant, for a time, the native population and the indigenous institutions of the country. For nearly a century Jerusalem was subject to kings and barons of a foreign race. The feudal system was imported entire, with its orders of knighthood, its â€œAssises,â€ and all the concomitant institutions which had grown up with the feudal system in Western Europe. With them, as a matter of course, came the hierarchy of the Roman Church, and with it the one style of architecture which they then knew, or which was appropriate to their form of worship.

The one point which is not at first sight obvious is, why the Gothic style in Palestine should be so essentially Italian, with so little admixture of the styles prevalent on the northern side of the Alps. It may have been that then, as now, the Italians settled loosely in the land. We know that the trade of the Levant was at that time in the hands of Venice and other Italian cities, and it is clear that it waseasier to send to Italy for artists and workmen, than to France and Germany, and much more likely that an Italian would undertake the erection of buildings in the East than a Northern architect, whose ideas of Palestine and its ways must have been extremely indistinct. Be this as it may, there is little in the Gothic architecture of Palestine either as regards arrangement or detailsâ€”except the plan of the church of the Holy Sepulchreâ€”which would excite attention as singular if found in the South of Italy or Sicily; and as little that would not seem out of place if found on our side of the Alps.

The principal buildings erected by the Crusaders in Palestine were, as might be expected, the extensive additions made to the church or rather to the group of churches near the Holy Sepulchreâ€”the deliverance of which from the hands of the infidels was the object of that wonderful burst of national enthusiasm.[9]

The buildings on the site have been so repeatedly ruined and rebuilt, and so little remains now of their original features prior to the Crusadersâ€™ work, that it is only necessary here to state the generally accepted belief that the rotunda (A) shown on the upper part of the plan (Woodcut No.536) represents the position of the great apse erected by Constantine, round what he considered to be the sepulchre of Christ (marked B on plan). The great basilica which is described by Eusebius,[10]was erected on the east side of this. This and other buildings were destroyed by Chosroes the Persian in 614, and portions only (those round the Holy Sepulchre) were restored by Modestus in 629. In 1010, the mad Khalif Hakem destroyed Modestusâ€™s work, and the rotunda, as shown in Woodcut, was built by the Emperor Constantine Monomachus thirty years later.

536. Plan of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. Scale 100 ft. to 1 in.

When the Crusaders reached Jerusalem, 1099A.D., the sepulchre appears to have stood in a court open to the sky,[11]but â€œcovered over lest rain should fall upon it,â€ surrounded with an aisle and with five chapels (C.D.E.F.G.) attached to it. These the Crusaders incorporated[12]withtheir additions and alterations, which amounted almost to a rebuilding of the church. The plan (Woodcut No.536) indicates in black those portions found by the Crusaders; in half tone, those which were built by them, and in outline only the subsequent additions made before and after the great fire of 1808.[13]Though entirely at variance with the arrangement of the basilica and independent tomb-house as adopted by Constantine some seven centuries earlier, it would seem that the object of the Crusader was to preserve intact the Rotunda and the Holy Sepulchre. The principal entrance led into what was virtually the main transept, with the Rotunda on the west side and the choir and apse on the east. At a later period the space within the crossing was enclosed for the Greek Church, so that the Rotunda now appears to be the nave, and it is in that sense that the church has been so often copied. The plan was commonly employed in the North of Europe (Woodcuts Nos.790to795), and bloomed into perfection at Cologne in the church of St. Gereon (Woodcut No.741). It is alsofound at Little Maplestead (Woodcut No.847), Zara (Woodcut No. 486), in the churches of the Temple in London, of St. Sepulchre at Cambridge, and elsewhere. In all these instances it consists of a circular nave leading to a rectangular choir terminated by an apse. Though primarily sepulchral in its origin, it is used in all these places without any reference to its original destination, and had become a recognised form of Christian church for the ordinary purposes of worship.

Though containing so many objects of interest, the church itself is not large, measuring 245 ft. long internally, exclusive of the crypt and chapel of the cross, which being at a much lower level must have formed a crypt under the nave and aisles of the basilica.

So far as can be judged from the information which remains to us, the style (before the fire of 1808, after which the Rotunda was entirely rebuilt) was tolerably homogeneous throughout. The transept, now converted into a choir, and the apse, which, though commenced in 1103, were not completed before 1169, show progress in style. All the constructive arches in this part of the building are pointedâ€”but the decorative portions still retain the circular form.

537. Holy Sepulchreâ€”Plan and Elevation as it existed before the fire in 1808. (From Bernardino Amico.)

Owing to its situation, and its being so much encumbered by other buildings, the only part of the exterior which makes any pretension to architectural magnificence is the Southern double portal, erected apparently between the years 1140 and 1160. This is a rich and elegant example of the style of ornamentation prevalent in Sicily and Southern Italy in the 12th century, but among its most elaborate decoration, are two rich cornices of classical date, built in unsymmetrically as string-courses, amongst details belonging to the time of the Crusades. From their style these cornices undoubtedly belong to the age of Constantine, and are probably fragments of some ancient buildings. At an earlier age such fragments would probably have been more extensively used up; but in the 12th century the architects hadacquired confidence in themselves and their own style, and despised classical arrangements both in plan and in detail.

The sepulchre itself seems to have been rebuilt, about the year 1555,[14]or at least so thoroughly repaired that it is difficult to say what its exact original form may have been. Probably it did not differ materially from that shown in the woodcut, since that resembles the style of the 12th much more than that of the 16th century.

Although the church of the Holy Sepulchre was, naturally, by far the greatest work undertaken by the Crusaders, there are some six or seven other churches in Jerusalem,[15]or its immediate vicinity, which were erected during the 12th century. The most complete of these at the present day is that of St. Anneâ€”now in course of thorough repair by the French Government.

538. Plan of Church at AbÃ» Gosh. (From De VogÃ¼Ã©.) Scale 50 ft. to 1 in.

It is a small church, 112 ft. long by 66 ft. wide internally, divided into three aisles, each terminating in an apse, and covered with intersecting vaults, showing strongly-marked transverse ribs of the usual Italian pattern. It has also a small dome on the intersection between the nave and transept. The windows are small and without tracery. It is, in fact, a counterpart of the usual Italian church of the age. The same remarks apply to Ste. Marie la Grande, Ste. Marie Latine, the Madeleine, and other churches which the Christians built in their quarter of the town during their occupation, to replace those of which the Moslems had deprived them.

One of the most perfect churches of this age, out of Jerusalem, is that at AbÃ» Goshâ€”the ancient Kirjath-Jearim (Woodcuts Nos.538,539). Externally it is a rectangle, 86 ft. by 57 ft., with three apses which do not appear externally. Under the whole is an extensive crypt. Though small, it is so complete, and so elegant in all its details,that it would be difficult to find anywhere a more perfect example of the style. As it now stands it is very much simpler and plainer than any Northern example of the same age would be; but it originally depended on painting for its decoration, and traces of this may still be seen on its desecrated walls. It is now used as a cattle-shed. The church at Ramleh is one of the largest, and must originally have been one of the finest, of these Syrian churches. It is now used as a mosque, and the consequent alteration of its arrangement, with plaster and whitewash, have done much to destroy its architectural effect.

At Sebaste there is one as large as that at Ramlehâ€”160 ft. by 80 ft.â€”and showing a more completely developed Gothic style than those at Jerusalem. At Lydda there is another very similar in detail to that last mentioned. Though now only a fragment, it is one of singular elegance, and shows a purity of detail and arrangement not usual in Northern churches of that age. De VogÃ¼Ã© is of opinion that both the last-named churches must have been completed before the year 1187. It is hard, however, to believe that an Italian Gothic style could have attained that degree of perfection so early, and if the date assigned is correct, it is evident that the pointed style was developed earlier in the East than in the West, a circumstance which, from our knowledge of what had happened in Armenia and elsewhere, is by no means improbable.

541. Apse of Church at Lydda. Scale 50 ft. to 1 in.

The date assigned to these churches is rendered more probable by the existence of a Gothic building, certainly as advanced as any of those mentioned, within the enclosure of the mosque at Hebron. If this was a work of the Crusaders it must have been built before 1187, since the Christians never had access to the place after their defeat at Tiberias. If not erected by them, we are forced to assume that the Moslems, after recovering possession of the sepulchres of the Patriarchs, employed some Christian renegades or slaves to erect amosque on the spot, in their own style of architecture. This is, however, by no means improbable, since it is the only Christian church (if it be one) in Palestine which has no apse, though there would have been no difficulty in introducing three apses in the same manner as at AbÃ» Gosh (Woodcut No.538) had it been so desired. It should also be remarked that the three aisles point southward towards Mecca, and that, except in style, it has all the appearance of a mosque. Both Christian and Mahometan tradition are silent as to its erection, so that the determination of the question must depend on a more careful examination than has yet been possible. Whichever way it may be decided, it is a curious question. It is either a Christian building without the arrangement elsewhere universally indispensable, or it is a Moslem mosque in a Christian style of architecture. If the former, the complete development of the Italian pointed style of architecture in the East must be fixed at not less than half a century anterior to that in the West.

542. Plan of Mosque at Hebron. Scale 100 ft to 1 in.The Gothic portion is shaded black, the Jewish hatched, and theMahometan outlined.

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