Category: Medieval

14th c. synagogue found in Andalucian bar

Medieval

Archaeologists in Utrera, near Seville in southwestern Spain have discovered the remains of a 14th century synagogue. It is one of only five synagogues (two in Toledo, one in Segovia, one in Cordoba) in Spain known to have survived the expulsion of Jews in 1492. Even in a state of partial conservation it is exceptional for how much of it still stands, absorbed into later reconstructions.

The building on Niño Perdido Street was known as the site of the Hospital de la Misericordia, built in 1492, the same year King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella expelled all Jews from their realm. Historian Rodrigo Caro had referenced its history in his 1604 history of Utrera, noting the hospital was in the former Jewish quarter and had been built over the remains of a synagogue. Since then it was converted to many other uses including a Catholic church, a school and a bar/night club.

The Utrera City Council decided to buy the building in 2016, a decision that was not universally applauded at the time. Critics questioned whether the 460,000 euros ($494,766) purchase price was worth it, considering there was no hard evidence that the synagogue had ever been at that site. Because Jewish communities in pre-expulsion Spain had a significant degree of autonomy, down to their own law courts and taxation systems, there were no maps or government records documenting the synagogue of medieval Utrera. Besides, even if the hospital had been built over the synagogue, nothing might be left of the original. The expulsion of the Jews was often accompanied by violent pogroms, and unconstrained development in the 20th century had destroyed much of Utrera’s medieval city.

The city moved forward with the purchase, critics be damned, and in November 2021 commissioned an archaeological investigation of the building. They were able to confirm Caro’s story with archaeological evidence, identifying the prayer hall of the synagogue, the perimeter bench and the Hechal, the Sephardic term for the ark of the Torah, the small chamber or niche where the scripture scrolls were kept.

Centuries of reuse and reconstruction have altered the building, but a surprising amount of the synagogue’s original structure remains. The city will be able to restore the original floorplan and walls and convey the volume of its spaces without damaging any of the all-important archaeological material.

The plan is to open for public visits in parallel with the continuing archaeological works. Although the women’s area and the ritual bath have yet to be discovered, the site could yet give up many more secrets, according to de Dios. The next phase of the investigation would be looking to see if there was a rabbinical house nearby and perhaps a religious school.

But the significance of the find exceeds the merely architectural, he said.

“Apart from the heritage value – this is a building with an important history that was once a synagogue – the thing that makes me happiest is knowing that we can get back a very, very important part of not just Utrera’s history, but also the history of the Iberian peninsula,” he said. “The story of the Sephardic Jews was practically erased or hidden for a long time.”

Florence Baptistery’s dome mosaics to be restored

Medieval

The resplendent 13th century mosaics that cover the cupola of the Baptistery of San Giovanni in Florence are undergoing a comprehensive six-year restoration that will repair hundreds of square feet of detaching tesserae, prevent future deterioration and revive the shine and color of the glass tesserae. This is the final phase in the restoration of the Baptistery of Florence that began in 2014 with repairs to the external façade and roof. Between 2017 and 2022, the white and green marble and mosaics on the eight internal walls of the Baptistery were restored. The project is expected to be completed in 2028.

The mosaics were made on preparatory drawings by Gothic masters including Cimabue and Coppo di Marcovaldo. The main theme is the Last Judgment, with a giant figure of Christ the judge presiding between tiers of angels, demons and souls going to heaven or hell. Work on the mosaics of the cupola began around 1225 and in the beginning Florence had no local mosaicists to take on such a huge prestige project. Artists had to be brought in from the outside. Florentine artists worked as assistants on the installation, however, and they learned their trade so effectively that by the end of the century generations of mosaicists had established themselves as some of the most skilled in Italy. Ultimately more than 1,000 square meters (10,764 square feet) of mosaics made using 10 million polychrome tiles varying in size from 5 to 20 mm (.2-.8 inches) per side went into the adornment of the octagonal cupola. There are more than 100 square meters of gold mosaic tiles alone. (Incidentally, they were made using the gold leaf in a glass sandwich technique used to create the recently-discovered gold glass of Rome.)

The six-year restoration project is the first in over a century. It initially involves conducting studies on the current state of the mosaics to determine what needs to be done. The expected work includes addressing any water damage to the mortar , removing decades of grime and reaffixing the stones to prevent them from detaching.

“(This first phase) is a bit like the diagnosis of a patient: a whole series of diagnostic investigations are carried out to understand what pathologies of degradation are present on the mosaic material but also on the whole attachment package that holds this mosaic material to the structure behind it,” Beatrice Agostini, who is in charge of the restoration work, said.

The Baptistry of San Giovanni and its mosaics have undergone previous restorations over the centuries, many of them inefficient or even damaging to the structure. During one botched effort in 1819, an entire section of mosaics detached. Persistent water damage from roof leaks did not get resolved until 2014-2015.

Roberto Nardi, director of the Archaeological Conservation Center, the private company managing the restoration, said the planned work wouldn’t introduce any material that is foreign to the original types of stone and mortar used centuries ago.

To reach the entire surface of the vaulted ceiling without completely filling the comparatively small footprint of the Baptistery with scaffolding, experts designed an innovative mushroom-shaped structure that delivers a massive walkable surface of 618 square meters (6652 square feet) occupying just 63 square meters (678 square feet) of floor area. The stem of the mushroom doubles as a staircase that allows workers and the public easy access to the landing 57 feet above the ground. A construction ladder then leads up to a second landing 97 feet from the ground.

The stairs will be put to the best possible use: to give the public the unique chance to view the mosaics of the dome up close. That means coming eye-to-eye with demons eating damned souls head first, a motif in medieval art that never fails to entertain even from a great distance. These special visits start on February 23rd and must be booked online here.

This video shows a timelapse of the scaffolding being built with connecting aluminum poles that is like the biggest, coolest Erector Set you’ve ever seen. An octagonal mesh screen microprinted with an image of the mosaics is then dropped into place under the working platform so people can still get a sense of what they look like from the ground. That is followed by close-up views of the mosaics, including the demons eating people. (Click “More” for a tiny transcript of the annotations in the video.)

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Ancient cave sanctuary to be stabilized for visitors

Ancient, Medieval, Modern(ish)

The Archaeological Park of Pompeii has embarked on a new plan to stabilize and conserve a 5th century cave sanctuary at the ancient site of Stabiae. Currently the Cave of San Biagio is closed to the public and hidden behind structural supports. Authorities aim to consolidate the cave and facing ridge with the ultimate goal of making it safe for visitors.

The Cave of San Biagio is located at the foot of the Varano Hill directly underneath the Villa Adriana, one of the Roman luxury villas overlooking the Bay of Naples in the ancient resort city of Stabiae, an exclusive enclave for the wealthy. The cave has lived many lives. It began as a side-effect of construction. Tufa was mined from the slopes of the Varano Hill in the 1st century B.C. to build the stately pleasure domes of Stabiae leaving five man-made caves.

Archaeologists believe one of the caves was used as a pagan temple before being converted to a Christian cemetery in the 5th century. It held the remains of members of one prominent Stabiae family and several other individuals. The cemetery became an oratory dedicated to Saint Michael by Benedictine monks in around the 7th century. They too used the cave to bury their dead, enclosing coffins in brick vaults from floor to ceiling.

The cave is 33 meters long by three meters wide (108 x 10 feet), a numerologically ideal measurement in terms of Christian symbology. The entrance opens into a rectangular atrium supported by tufa arches. Traces of late medieval frescoes have been found on the atrium wall. The nave is decorated with frescoes on the left wall, including the busts of Saint Michael, Saint Raphael, Saint Maurus and the archangel Uriel. The walls were frescoed several times. The first cycle dates to between the 5th and 6th centuries, the second to the 10th and 11th centuries.

By the 14th century, the cave was described in contemporary records as a church dedicated to Saints Jason (the name changed over time into “Biagio”) and Mauro. The Benedictines continued to own the land and administer the sanctuary until they abandoned the site in the 17th century. Local rumors spread that there was a treasure hidden in the cave, making it a target for vandalism and looting. In 1695, church officials ordered it closed as it had become a wretched hive of scum and villainy. The sanctuary to the saint was removed and reinstalled in the cathedral of Castellammare di Stabia.

The abandoned cave was briefly used to store gunpowder in the 19th century, but its ancient history, human remains and frescoes were largely neglected save for one publication in the late 1800s. The Cave of San Biagio was finally explored systematically only in 1950. Archaeologist Libero D’Orsi was the first to investigate the cave, discovering the Christian burials dating back to late antiquity. The vaults built by the Benedictines to seal in their deceased brothers had collapsed and the fresco cycles heavily damaged by misguided treasure hunters.

Monitoring involves the execution of coring up to a lower quota than the tax level of the San Biagio cave, the positioning of inclinometers to measure any instability on the Varano ridge, topographic surveys, and preventive stratigraphic essays. The laboratory tests on the samples extracted from the cores will be carried out at the Federico II University of Naples, and will provide the data necessary for the continuation of the scientific activities

“It is a unique context to recover and enhance, which adds to the historical framework of the archaeological evidence of the Stabia area,” declares the Director Gabriel Zuchtriegel. “The whole territory is the object of great attention by the Archaeological Park which is investing a total of around 4 million Euros in Castellammare di Stabia in recent years. In addition to the investigations into the cave of San Biagio, we have a series of research, maintenance, restoration and accessibility projects in the field of the ancient villas on the Varano plain and a project to expand the Libero D’Orsi Museum at the Quisisana Palace. Given the uniqueness and complexity of the heritage present in the area, we can define Stabia as a true cultural giant and as such it must be told.”

Garnet stone emerges from Harpole cross

Medieval, Treasures

Museum of London Archaeology (MOLA) archaeologists have revealed a large garnet at the center of the silver cross from the exceptionally wealthy 7th century bed burial found at Harpole, Northamptonshire, England.

Discovered last April, the burial of an elite Saxon-era woman contained an ornate necklace with an unprecedented number of pendants made of garnets, semi-precious stones, Roman gold coins (all from the reign of Theodosius I, 379-395 A.D.) and glass pendants separated by gold wire spacer beads. The necklace is the largest, finest and most ornate example of its kind.

Another uniquely large and elaborate artifact was found on the torso of the deceased. It was removed in a soil block to be excavated in a conservation laboratory. An X-ray of the soil block revealed it contained a huge silver cross mounted on wood. The cross is too big to have been worn as a jewel. It may have been meant to be carried in processions or used as a devotional object on an altar.

The cross is a foot long from top to bottom and is adorned with more crosses. There are Canterbury crosses 4 cm (1.6 inches) wide at the end of the cross-arms arm and the bottom of the descending arm. At the center point of the crossarm is an equal-armed cross 8 cm (3.15 inches) wide. Between each of the arms of the central cross are oval human faces cast in silver with blue glass eyes.

MOLA conservators are currently micro-excavating the soil block, using the X-ray as a guide map. While the arms are still encased in soil, the square stone at the center has now been exposed. It is a pyramid square cabochon garnet and judging from the photograph, it is in excellent condition.

The burial dates to between 630 and 670 A.D. At that time, Harpole was part of the Kingdom of Mercia which was smack in the middle of converting to Christianity. The first introduction of Christianity to Mercia came in 628 when the pagan King Penda conquered Christian Saxon-held territories. Penda’s son Peada sealed the deal in 655 when he converted to Christianity and agreed to evangelize and convert his subjects as a condition of his marriage to Alchflaed, the daughter of King Oswiu of Northumbria.

The woman buried in this grave had to have been Christian and someone of very high social status to boot. The size of the cross suggests she may have been a religious leader.

Musket ball holes may rewrite English Civil War history

Medieval, Modern(ish)

Archaeologists have discovered the ruins of a late medieval gatehouse riddled with holes from musket and pistol shots that may be evidence of the first clash in the English Civil War, one that does not appear on the historical record.

The site in Coleshill, Warwickshire, is being excavated because it is on the route of the new HS2 high-speed rail line. It’s pasture land now, but a medieval manor house, Coleshill Hall, once stood there. It was built in the 14th century and expanded in around 1600 with a grand formal garden, the remains of which were discovered by the HS2 team last year.

The gatehouse was still standing in 1628 — it was recorded in an inventory of the house — but was demolished by the end of the 17th century to make way for a new manor house. The excavation revealed the remains of the gatehouse ground level. Made of massive sandstone blocks, the gate featured a monumental building flanked by two massive octagonal towers. The manor house was encircled by a defensive moat. A drawbridge in the gatehouse opened to allow authorized people access over the moat.

The front gatehouse walls are pockmarked with 200 holes from a barrage of shots. More than 40 musket balls were recovered from the former moat around the gatehouse.

The English Civil War began in August 1642. The conflict was between the Royalists who were loyal to King Charles I, and Parliamentarians, known as the Roundheads. The first recorded battle of the Civil War, the Battle of Curdworth Bridge, took place in 1642, and was only a short distance from Coleshill Manor.

The Manor was in the hands of Royalist Simon Digby as the Civil War approached, after the estate was transferred into his name following the execution of its previous owner, Simon De Montford, for Treason.

Coleshill Manor, next to a bridge over the River Cole, would have been a strategic position that the Roundheads would have wanted to control. Experts believe that the Roundheads would have passed close to the Manor on their way to battle. It is entirely plausible that a skirmish took place on the way to Curdworth Bridge, especially given the Manor’s strong Royalist connection. Historical records of the Civil War are confined to famous major battles, so details of the exact events will never be known, but these marks exposed as part of HS2’s archaeology programme provide a rare glimpse into the impact of war on the lives of those not recorded in the history books.