Between East and West: Early Christian architecture in Macedonia in the social context
Between East and West: Early Christian architecture in Macedonia in the social context

Summary/Abstract: The aim of this article is to examine the early Christian architecture of Macedonia and to put it into the context of the local liturgy and common beliefs. The area of Macedonia closely connected with ancient Greece was mainly defined as a political unit. During early Christian times the lands were part of the Roman Provincia Macedoniae, which was officially established in 146 BC. At some point during the 4th century AD, the province of Macedonia itself was divided into Macedonia Prima in the south and Macedonia Salutaris in the north. These provinces were all subordinate to the Diocese of Macedonia, one of the three dioceses which were included in the praetorian prefecture of Illyricum – a large prefecture set up in AD 318 under the sway of Rome and the West. From an ecclesiastical standpoint, Macedonia also stood between East and West. As it was part of the civic organization of Illyricum, the Archbishop of Thessalonika was officially under the Pope at Rome, although it is clear that the geographical proximity to the Patriarch at Constantinople made his allegiance a matter of convenience. Macedonia was not only connected to the East in terms of ecclesiastical politics. It also had cultural and economic ties. It is almost certain, for example, that the liturgy in Macedonia was in Greek, rather than in Latin, as was the case in most of the regions under Papal jurisdiction. The local liturgy itself, however, was not a simple manifestation of Constantinopolitan rites. A number of vital differences existed between the design, interior and furnishing of Macedonian structures and those of Constantinople.

• Details
• Contents