Prison Makes Way for the Holy Land’s Oldest Church

The Biblical Archaeology Society reports:

Despite the great deal of fanfare surrounding its discovery, the third century C.E. Christian prayer hall discovered at Megiddo looks like anything but an archaeological tourist site. Likely the oldest church ever found in the Holy Land, it is located under the Megiddo prison, leading the spectacular discovery to be covered up again until the site can be developed properly. Plans have been made to relocate the prison just over a mile to the west, but the construction of a tourist site around the church has not yet begun. An international tender seeking out an investor to construct and manage the tourist site is expected this week, and will serve as a major step in making the site available to the public. Project manager Gad Yaakov expects 500,000 tourists to visit the site in the first year alone, and expects the numbers to rise over the following years. Bids on developing the site for tourists must be submitted by June 5.

The structure featured mosaics with Christian symbols such as fish and a dedicatory inscription “to God Jesus Christ.” Dated to around 230 C.E., the find was considered important enough to Israel President Moshe Katsav that when he visited Pope Benedict XVI at the Vatican in November 2005, he took pictures of the newly discovered mosaic floor with him to present to the pontiff.

This mosaic from the Megiddo Prison Church is one step closer to the public eye. This week’s expected tender for development bids is a major step in creating what will surely become a major Biblical and archaeological tourist site.

Read more about the tender for development.

 

Byzantine Manuscripts Restoration

How to repair a Byzantine Manuscript:

HT: Byzantine News

 

Jerusalem’s Walls Restored

(AP) — Israeli experts are nearing completion of an ambitious restoration of the five-century-old walls of Jerusalem, the holy city’s dominant architectural feature and a unique record of its eventful and troubled history.

The $5 million undertaking, which began in 2007, is set to be complete by the end of this year. The first restoration of the walls in nearly a century, it has required decisions about which of the walls’ many idiosyncrasies — the falcon nests, for example, the hundreds of machine-gun bullets, the botched restorations of years past — are flaws to be corrected, and which have earned a place in Jerusalem’s story and are thus worth preserving.

Jerusalem’s stone walls are 2-½ miles (4 kilometers) in length. They include seven gates.

“On these walls you see the whole history of this city,” said Avi Mashiah, the Israel Antiquities Authority architect in charge of the project. “They are like a mirror, reflecting all of the periods that the city experienced, and there are many. There are no other cities like this one.”

A disintegrating protective barrier of cinderblocks erected on top of the existing wall by Jordanian troops about 50 years ago, for example, was dismantled. Then it was recreated to serve as a reminder of the divided city that existed before Jordan lost east Jerusalem to Israel in the 1967 Mideast war…

During the project, a team also scanned the entire length of the walls with 3-D laser equipment, mapping every stone and locating dangerous bulges.

The crew noted the places where caper bushes and almond trees were growing between the stones, as well as the dozens of falcons and common swifts that nested in the walls.

The crevices were left untouched to avoid disturbing the birds.

The (above) whole piece is here.

The Damascus Gate Restoration

Dr Jim West by way of Joseph Lauer, from the Israel Antiquities Authority:

After extensive conservation work on the largest and most impressive of Jerusalem’s gates, which took nearly a year to complete, visitors there can now enjoy the gate in all its splendor just as the public experienced it for hundreds of years, until the ‘crown’ was damaged in the battles of 1967

The conservation of the gate was carried out as part of the Jerusalem City Wall Conservation Project, in cooperation with the Jerusalem Development Authority, the Israel Antiquities Authority and the Prime Minister’s Office

For hundreds of years, when visitors arrived in Jerusalem and entered the city by way of Damascus Gate – the largest and most magnificent of Jerusalem’s gates – they glanced up and saw the large ‘crown’ that the sultan Suleiman the Magnificent built atop the gate in 1538 CE.

But in 1967 the gate sustained serious damage and the crown was destroyed during the fighting in the Six Day War. Now, the Jerusalem Development Authority, in cooperation with the Israel Antiquities Authority and with funding provided by the Prime Minister’s Office, is concluding a comprehensive project of rehabilitating Damascus Gate, during which the gate was cleaned of the effects from the ravages of time and its ornamentation was restored, including the magnificent ‘crown’ at the top of the gate.

There are some more before and after photos here.

Restoration Project Begins in St Peter’s Square

A massive restoration project has begun in St. Peter’s Square, designed to restore the columns, statues, and moldings to their original vivid colors. The project is expected to take 30 months.

The restoration work has already begun on the columns, designed by Bernini. The work will also include all of the colonnade, the pillars, the fountains, and even the lamps in St. Peter’s Square.

The above was reported on here.

L’Osservatore Romano says that in 30 months, St Peter’s Square will resemble the 1600s.

6th Century Image of the Apostle Paul Found

The restoration of a tomb in the catacombs of St. Gennaro in Naples, revealed a new discovery. The image of St. Paul was found, painted in the grotto. It shows the disciple turning toward the deceased, with an expressive face, seemingly honoring the person. 

Expert say the image is from the first years of the 6th century. One of the oldest images, before St. Paul became an icon of the Byzantine civilization. 

 

The earliest image of St. Paul is from the 4th century. It was found in the Roman catacomb of St.Tecla.

UPDATE:  The Daily Mail has more:

Vatican officials today described the discovery of a 1,400 year old fresco of St Paul in an ancient Roman catacomb as ‘sensational.’

The painting was found during restoration work at the Catacombs of San Gennaro (Saint Januarius) in the port city of Naples.

A photograph released by the Vatican shows the apostle, famous for his conversion to Christianity from Judaism, with a long neck, a slightly pink complexion, thinning hair, a beard and big eyes that give his face a ‘spiritual air.’

News of the discovery was announced on the feast day of St Peter and Paul which is traditionally a bank holiday in Rome.

Striking: The fresco, in a catacomb in Naples, shows St Paul approaching a dead body, his hand raised

Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi, who is Pope Benedict’s Culture Minister, wrote in L’Osservatore Romano: ‘The image of St Paul has an intense expression, philosophical and its discovery enriches our image of one of the principal apostles.’

Father Antonio Loffredo, director of the catacombs in Naples, said: ‘We hope that many locals and tourists will come and look at this fresco which has been wonderfully restored.’

The figure of Paul is dressed in white and beige robes with the letter ‘I’ on the hem, which may stand for ‘Iesus’ (Latin for Jesus).

He is seen approaching a dead person.

Details on the right hand side of the fresco have crumbled away but nevertheless it still remains a striking image.

The image was verified by the Pontifical Commission of Sacred Art and verified by the Vatican’s official newspaper L’Osservatore…

Read on here

Bacteria Help Restore Aging Art

Discovery News has the details:

 

Balancing the risks associated with restoring the world’s masterpieces and frescoes is an art in itself. But a mixed group of experts from Italy and Spain demonstrate that injecting a bit of life — in this case, bacteria — into a painting can work wonders in removing unwanted features a piece gathers over time.

With the help of experts in Italy, researchers at the Polytechnic University of Valencia in Spain used the method on a series of frescoes by the 17th century artist Antonio Palomino in the Church of Santos Juanes in the same city.

Frescoes lining the church’s walls were nearly destroyed after a 1936 fire and were later restored in the 1960s, according to one press release. But the previous restorers did not anticipate that the dried salt left on the walls from the fire would migrate to the paintings over the years, creating a white, grainy crust over the work. They also failed to remove an excess of hardened glue from where the murals were previously detached.

Seeing the salt layers and glue as threats to the art’s longevity, restoration specialists and scientists sought the help of a team in Italy that used bacteria to gently remove hardened glue from other works. While collaborating, they selected for a species of Pseudomonas bacteria capable of removing and breaking down the dried salt layer.

Other options to restore the frescoes would have required using chemicals to remove the unwanted layer or using physical means to scrape it off. It’s clear that both measures would increase the risk of further damage…

More here.

Renovations Underway at the Holy Temple Mount

The Jerusalem Post reports:

Jordanian-financed restoration work is currently underway at the Dome of the Rock and Al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem.

The 35-acre compound Muslims know as Haram Al-Sharif, or Noble Sanctuary, is the third holiest site in Islam. Jews refer to the site as the Temple Mount.

Built on the spot where the ancient Jewish Temples once stood, the golden-roofed Dome of the Rock has been a fixture in the city since they were erected 13 centuries ago. Renovators working with the Jordanian-supported Waqf, or Supreme Muslim Council, have erected pipe scaffolding inside the seventh century shrine in order to restore the mosaics on the inside of the dome.

Others carefully vacuum away crumbling walls and work to restore the lintels around the many windows in the edifice. Built in 692 C.E. (A.D.), it is one of the oldest extant Islamic structures standing today. Muslims believe that the prophet Mohammed ascended to heaven from the Foundation Stone inside the magnificent building, which is decorated with blue tiles imported from Turkey.

With thousands of worshipers and visitors passing through this site every day it has suffered wear and tear, not only from time but also from earthquakes and material fatigue. Renovators are in a constant battle to maintain the magnificent structure…

Magnificent? Hardly…

Our Lady of Lourdes: Video, As You've Never Seen It

The Grotto of Massabielle in the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes in France is undergoing  restoration. The following unusual video has been released showing some rather exclusive and close-up shots of the interior. It is causing quite some excitement:

HT:   Rorate-Caeli