Two early medieval churches discovered in northeastern Africa
Archaeologists working in Eritrea have identified the remains of two Christian churches that were once part of the medieval Kingdom of Aksum. Construction on these churches may date as far back as the fifth century AD.
Lost Medieval Chapel Sheds Light on Royal Burials at Westminster Abbey, study finds
New evidence, helping to form a 15th-century reconstruction of part of Westminster Abbey, demonstrates how a section of the building was once the focus for the royal family’s devotion to the cult of a disemboweled saint and likely contained gruesome images of his martyrdom.
Recreating Medieval Paintings with Light at St Albans Cathedral
During the Reformation, countless works of art within churches were destroyed or obscured. At St Albans Cathedral they use light projection to restore four medieval paintings.
Cathedrals with Howard Bloch
This week on The Medieval Podcast, Danièle speaks with R. Howard Bloch about medieval cathedrals, those magnificent “total works of art” where people have gathered, worshipped, and offered their talents and prayers since the Middle Ages.
Building the Parish Church, 1150-1300
Estimated somewhere between 8000 and 9000 examples, parish churches containing at least some medieval building fabric are ubiquitous in the English landscape.
The Medieval Cathedral as Museum
During the Middle Ages, a pilgrimage provided the most popular and convenient form of travel for people with means. The destinations were cathedrals and their collections of relics, reliquaries, and, coincidentally, great works of art.
A Key Monument of Medieval Rus’: The Cathedral of Saint Sophia in Kyiv
The people of Ukraine and the local cultural heritage of medieval Rus’ are in the crossfires of Russia’s ongoing attacks. What the world is witnessing is tragic, and the consequences to human life and to the medieval monuments that still stand in the historic cities of Ukraine, are irrecuperable.
A Netflix for people who love churches
The Churches Conservation Trust (CCT) is launching a new online streaming platform next month. CCTdigital.com will feature films about church heritage and the history of churches, including much from the medieval past.
Armenian Art and Contested Lands
The virtual exhibition Ancient Faith: The Churches of Nagorno-Karabakh brings to the attention of international audiences the Armenian historic sites and cultural legacy of the contested region of Artsakh, known internationally as Nagorno-Karabakh.
Canterbury Cathedral’s windows date back to 12th century, study suggests
A group of windows from Canterbury Cathedral may be the earliest extant stained glass windows in England, according to a team of scientists from University College London and conservators from Canterbury Cathedral.
Lincoln Cathedral launches appeal for Chapter House conservation project
Lincoln Cathedral has launched an appeal to enable it to undertake the next phase of conservation works, this time to the much-admired Chapter House.
Middle Age and Modern Timber Techniques in the Restoration of Notre Dame de Paris
Discussing the use of medieval and modern techniques in the rebuilding of a timber frame at Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris following the damaging fire in 2019.
The Power of Sunlight in Medieval Churches
Medieval churches have harnessed the power of sunlight to define and accentuate sacred spaces, as well as indicate holiness
St. Basil’s Cathedral: Medieval Russia’s Iconic Building
By Alice Isabella Sullivan Situated in the heart of Moscow’s historic Red Square, St. Basil’s Cathedral is perhaps one of the most iconic…
‘We knew not whether we were in Heaven or on Earth’: Justinian’s Hagia Sophia
Completed nearly 1,500 years ago, the Hagia Sophia is both an architectural masterpiece and a cultural icon of Byzantine and Eastern Orthodox civilization
Repair work begins on medieval church in England
Four years after St Leonard’s Church in the southern English village of Flamstead was threatened with closure on safety grounds, carpenters have started to fashion new oak timbers to repair and replace failing beams and rafters in its 15th-century medieval nave roof.
Hagia Sophia rediscovered, with Bissera Pentcheva
A conversation with Bissera Pentcheva about the sensory and spiritual experience of Hagia Sophia, where architecture, sound, and light met theology and prayer, based on her book Hagia Sophia: Sound, Space, and Spirit in Byzantium.
The Elephant in the Room, at Gourdon in Burgundy
This talk explores the fragmentary twelfth-century mural depicting an elephant, situated in the lowermost zone, or dado, of the choir wall in the church of Notre-Dame-de-l’Assomption at Gourdon, a small village in the Charolais district of Burgundy. T
Graffiti to ward off evil spirits discovered in medieval church
Archaeologists working in the English village of Stoke Mandeville have discovered some unusual stone carvings and graffiti at the site of a medieval church.
Visualising Saint Charlemagne in Twelfth-Century Aachen: From Imperial Palace to Pilgrimage Site
Vedran Sulovsky discusses how Charlemagne’s (768–814) most important palace not only preserved the emperor’s memory, but also slowly modified it so that the entire palace complex, which was famous for being the centre of the Carolingian Empire, became the final part of the story of Charlemagne’s relic-gathering expeditions to Spain, Constantinople and the Holy Land.
From Slide Projectors to Rosslyn Chapel, with Lizzie Swarbrick
What can we learn about art and architecture in medieval Scotland? On this episode of Scotichronicast, Kate Buchanan is joined by Lizzie Swarbrick to discuss Lizzie’s journey to studying Rosslyn Chapel and other Scottish churches.
The many identities of Hagia Sophia, past and present, with Bob Ousterhout
Hagia Sophia is back in the news. To understand what is happening, we need to know the complex history of this building as a church, mosque, and museum, and the many parties that have sought to claim it.
Hagia Sophia: Past, Present, Future
Hagia Sophia has had a rich and turbulent history, changing hands between Christians and Muslims and having its doors open to all as a secular building from 1935 to 2020.
Becket’s shrine recreated digitally
Researchers have used new evidence to create a digital reconstruction of the medieval shrine of Saint Thomas Becket, which was destroyed in the sixteenth century.
New research unlocks the past of Edinburgh’s St Giles’ Kirk
New research into the original timber used to build the bell tower of St Giles’ has uncovered previously unknown details about the construction of Edinburgh’s iconic kirk as it approaches its 900th anniversary.