Church of Saint George, Lod

Church of Saint George
Rooftop view, Lydda c. 1920
Basic information
Location Lod, Israel
Affiliation Greek Orthodox
Completed 1872

The Church of Saint George (Arabic: كنيسة القديس جيورجوس or كنيسة مار جريس‎, Hebrew: כנסיית גאורגיוס הקדוש קוטל הדרקון) is one among the two major shrines for the fourth-century Christian martyr Saint George and is located in Lod, Israel.[1] The current church, built in 1870, shares space with the El-Khidr Mosque (الخضر Al-Khidr, often associated with Saint George).

Toward the end of the nineteenth century, the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem received permission from the Ottoman authorities to build a church on the site of a previous basilica. The church is built over a ruined 15th-century structure, and occupies the north end of the nave and left-hand aisle of the earlier church, from which there survive two apses - which, contrary to the normal rule, face north rather than east.

The Ottoman authorities stipulated, that part of the plot be made available for a mosque. Consequently, the current Church of St. George incorporates only the northeast corner of the Byzantine basilica. The prayer hall of the adjacent mosque contains a column that once stood in the nave of the basilica. The church contains the sarcophagus of St George.

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Excursions in Terra Santa". Franciscan Cyberspot. Retrieved 2007-02-22.

Bibliography

  • Clermont-Ganneau, C.S. (1896). [ARP] Archaeological Researches in Palestine 1873-1874, translated from the French by J. McFarlane. 2. London: Palestine Exploration Fund. (pp. 102-109)
  • Conder, C.R.; Kitchener, H.H. (1882). The Survey of Western Palestine: Memoirs of the Topography, Orography, Hydrography, and Archaeology. 2. London: Committee of the Palestine Exploration Fund. (pp. 267-8)
  • Pringle, Denys (1998). The Churches of the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem: L-Z (excluding Tyre). II. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0 521 39037 0. (pp. 9-15)

Coordinates: 31°57′10.8″N 34°53′58.15″E / 31.953000°N 34.8994861°E / 31.953000; 34.8994861


This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.