In Christian architecture the baptistery or baptistry (Latin baptisterium) is the separate centrally-planned structure surrounding the baptismal font. The baptistery may be incorporated within the body of a church or cathedral and be provided with an altar as a chapel. In the early Christian Church, the catechumens were instructed and the sacrament of baptism was administered in the baptistery. The Parthenon on top of the Acropolis, Athens, Greece Table of architecture, Cyclopaedia, 1728 The following article focuses on built environment, the architecture of spaces designed for human habitation. ... Latin is an ancient Indo-European language originally spoken in the region around Rome called Latium. ... Baptismal font in Magdeburg Cathedral, Germany A baptismal font is an article of church furniture used for the baptism of children and adults. ... A cathedral is a Christian church building, specifically of a denomination with an episcopal hierarchy, such as the Anglican, Roman Catholic and some Lutheran churches, which serves as the central church of a diocese, and thus as a bishops seat. ... The term Christian Church expresses the idea that organised Christianity (the Christian religion) is seen as an institution. ... Catechumen (from Latin catechumenus, Greek carijxobucvos, instructed) is an ecclesiastical term applied to those receiving instruction in the principles of the Christian religion with a view to baptism. ... A sacrament is a Christian rite that mediates divine grace. ... A Catholic baptism Baptism is any water purification ritual practiced in any of various religions including Christianity, Mandaeanism, and Sikhism, and has its origins with the Jewish ritual of mikvah. ...

The sacramental importance and sometimes architectural splendor of the baptistry reflect the importance of baptism to Christians. The octagonal plan of the Lateran Baptistery, the first structure expressly built as a baptistry, provided a widely-followed model, which might be twelve-sided, or even circular as at Pisa. In a narthex or ante-room the catechumens were instructed and made their confession of faith before baptism. The main interior space centered upon the baptismal font (piscina), in which those to be baptized were immersed thrice. Three steps led down to the floor of the font, and over it might be suspended a gold or silver dove. The iconography of frescos or mosaics on the walls were commonly of the scenes in the life of Saint John the Baptist. The font was at first always of stone, but latterly metals were often used. A Catholic baptism Baptism is any water purification ritual practiced in any of various religions including Christianity, Mandaeanism, and Sikhism, and has its origins with the Jewish ritual of mikvah. ... The domed octagonal Lateran Baptistery stands somewhat apart from the Basilica di San Giovanni in Laterano, to which it has become joined by later construction. ... The narthex of a church is the entrance or lobby area. ... A creed is a statement of belief—usually religious belief—or faith. ... Baptismal font in Magdeburg Cathedral, Germany A baptismal font is an article of church furniture used for the baptism of children and adults. ... Fresco by Dionisius representing Saint Nicholas. ... Mosaic is the art of decoration with small pieces of colored glass, stone or other material. ... John the Baptist (also called John the Baptizer or John the Dipper) is regarded as a prophet by at least three religions: Christianity, Islam, and Mandaeanism. ...

The Lateran baptistery's font was fed by a natural spring. When the site had been the palatial dwelling of the Laterani, before Constantine presented it to Bishop Miltiades, the spring formed the water source for the numerous occupants of the domus. It will be quickly apprehended that as the requirements for Christian baptisteries expanded, Christianization of sacred pagan springs presented natural opportunities. Cassiodorus, in a letter written in A.D. 527, described a fair held at a former pagan shrine of Leucothea, in the still culturally Greek region of south Italy, which had been Christianized by converting it to a baptistery (Variae 8.33). In a paper read in 1999, Samuel J. Barnish drew examples of the transition from miraculous springs to baptisteries from Gregory of Tours (died c. 594) and Maximus, bishop of Turin (died c. 466). St Francis Xavier converting the Paravas: a 19th-century image of the docile heathen Ansgar, the 9th century apostle of the North in an 1830 drawing. ... Flavius Magnus Aurelius Cassiodorus Senator (ca 484/490 - ca585), commonly known as Cassiodorus, was a Roman statesman and writer, serving in the administration of Theodoric the Great, king of the Ostrogoths. ... There were two mortal women in Greek mythology named Leucothea: After the death of Queen Ino, Zeus turned her into a maritime goddess named Leucothea the white goddess. ... Gregory of Tours (c. ...

Baptisteries belong to a period of the church when great numbers of adult catechumens were baptized, and when immersion was the rule. We find little or no trace of them before Constantine made Christianity the state religion, i.e. before the 4th century; and as early as the 6th century the baptismal font was built in the porch of the church and then in the church itself. After the 9th century, with infant baptism increasingly the rule, few baptisteries were built. Some of the older baptisteries were very large, so large that we hear of councils and synods being held in them. It was necessary to make them large, because in the early Church it was customary for the bishop to baptize all the catechumens in his diocese (and so baptisteries are commonly found attached to the cathedral and not to the parish churches), and also because the rite was performed only thrice in the year. Contemporary bronze head of Constantine. ... The neutrality of this article is disputed. ... A state religion (also called an established church or state church) is a religious body or creed officially endorsed by the state. ... As a means of recording the passage of time, the 4th century was that century which lasted from 301 to 400. ... This Buddhist stela from China, Northern Wei period, was built in the early 6th century. ... A porch is an architectural feature relating to a floor-like platform structure attached to the front or back entrance of a residence. ... This earthenware dish was made in 9th century Iraq. ... A synod (also known as a council) is a council of a church, usually a Christian church, convened to decide an issue of doctrine, administration or application. ... Pope Pius XI blesses Bishop Stephen Alencastre as fifth Apostolic Vicar of the Hawaiian Islands in a Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace window. ... A cathedral is a Christian church building, specifically of a denomination with an episcopal hierarchy, such as the Anglican, Roman Catholic and some Lutheran churches, which serves as the central church of a diocese, and thus as a bishops seat. ... A parish is a type of administrative subdivision. ...

During the months when there were no baptisms the baptistery doors were sealed with the bishop's seal, a method of controlling the orthodoxy of all baptism in the diocese. Some baptisteries were divided into two parts to separate the sexes; sometimes the church had two baptisteries, one for each sex. A fireplace was often provided to warm the neophytes after immersion. A bishop is an ordained member of the Christian clergy who, in certain Christian churches, holds a position of authority. ... Seal on envelope A seal is an impression printed on, embossed upon, or affixed to a document (or any other object) in order to authenticate it, in lieu of or in addition to a signature. ... A fireplace with a burning fire. ...

Though baptisteries were forbidden to be used as burial-places by the Council of Auxerre (578) they were not uncommonly used as such. The Florentine Antipope John XXIII was buried in the Baptistery facing Florence's Duomo with great ceremony and a tomb erected. Many of the early archbishops of Canterbury were buried in the baptistery at Canterbury. Underwater funeral in Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea from an edition with drawings by Alphonse de Neuville and Edouard Riou. ... Antipope John XXIII, antipope of the Pisan party (1410–1415), (about 1370 – November 22, 1419), was born as Baldassare Cossa. ... The Battistero di San Giovanni (Baptistery of St John) is believed to be the oldest building in Florence. ... The Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore is the cathedral church, or Duomo, of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Florence, noted for its distinctive dome. ... Arms of the see of Canterbury The Archbishop of Canterbury is the senior clergyman of the established Church of England and symbolic head of the worldwide Anglican Communion. ...

Baptisteries, we find from the records of early councils, were first built and used to correct the evils arising from the practice of private baptism. As soon as Christianity made such progress that baptism became the rule, and as soon as immersion gave place to sprinkling, the ancient baptisteries were no longer necessary. They are still in general use, however, in Florence and Pisa.

The baptistery of the Lateran must be the earliest ecclesiastical building still in use. (Main article: Lateran Baptistery.) A large part of it remains as built by Constantine. The central area, where is the basin of the font, is an octagon around which stand eight porphyry columns, with marble capitals and entablature of classical form; outside these are an ambulatory and outer walls forming a larger octagon. Attached to one side, towards the Lateran basilica, is a fine porch with two noble porphyry columns and richly carved capitals, bases and entablatures. The circular church of Santa Costanza, also of the 4th century, served as a baptistery and contained the tomb of the daughter of Constantine. This is a remarkably perfect structure with a central dome, columns and mosaics of classical fashion. Two side niches contain the earliest known mosaics of distinctively Christian subjects. In one is represented Moses receiving the Old Law, in the other Christ delivers to Saint Peter the New Law charter sealed with the XP monogram. Late Baroque façade of the Basilica di San Giovanni in Laterano, completed after a competition for the design by Alessandro Galilei in 1735 Lateran and Laterano are the shared names of several architectural projects throughout Rome and Vatican City. ... The domed octagonal Lateran Baptistery stands somewhat apart from the Basilica di San Giovanni in Laterano, to which it has become joined by later construction. ... Porphyry (Greek Πορφύριος purple-clad) may refer to: Porphyry of Tyros (c. ... Marble For the glass spheres, see marbles. ... An entablature is a classical architectural element, the superstructure which lies horizontally above the columns, resting on their capitals. ... The ambulatory (Med. ... Moses or Móshe (מֹשֶׁה, Standard Hebrew Móše, Tiberian Hebrew Mōšeh, Arabic موسى Musa), son of Amram and his wife, Jochebed, a Levite. ... This page is about the title, for the Christian figure, see Jesus Christ is the English representation of the Greek word Χριστός (transliterated as Khristós), which means anointed. ... Saint Peter, also known as Peter, Simon ben Jonah/BarJonah, Simon Peter, Cephas and Kepha—original name Simon or Simeon (Acts 15:14)—was one of the twelve original disciples or apostles of Jesus. ...

The earliest surviving structure that was used as a baptistry is the tomb-like baptistry at Dura-Europas [1]. Another baptistery of the earliest times has been excavated at Aquileia. Ruins of an early baptistery have also been found at Salona. At Ravenna exist two famous baptisteries encrusted with fine mosaics, one of them built in the middle of the 5th century, and the other in the 6th. To the latter date also belongs a large baptistery decorated with mosaics at Naples. Dura-Europos was a Hellenistic and Roman walled city built on an escarpment 90 meters above the banks of the river Euphrates. ... Aquileia (Friulian Acuilee, Slovene Oglej), an ancient town of Italy, at the head of the Adriatic at the edge of the lagoons, about 6 to. ... Solin (It. ... Ravenna is a city in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy. ... This article is about a decorative art. ... // Overview Events Romulus Augustus, Last Western Roman Emperor 410: Rome sacked by Visigoths 452: Pope Leo I allegedly meets personally with Attila the Hun and convinces him not to sack Rome 439: Vandals conquer Carthage At some point after 440, the Anglo-Saxons settle in Britain. ... Naples (Italian Napoli, Neapolitan Napule, from Greek Νέα Πόλις - Néa Pólis - meaning New City; see also List of traditional Greek place names) is the largest city in southern Italy and capital of Campania Region and the Province of Naples. ...

In the East the metropolitan baptistery at Constantinople still stands at the side of the mosque which was once the patriarchal Church of Saint Sophia; and many others, in Syria, have been made known to us by recent researches, as also have some belonging to the churches of North Africa. In France the most famous early baptistery is Saint Jean at Poitiers, and other early examples exist at Riez, Fréjus and Aix. In England, a detached baptistery is known to have been associated with Canterbury Cathedral. Hagia Sophia as it appears today A section of the original architecture of Hagia Sophia The Church of the Holy Wisdom, commonly known as Hagia Sophia in English, is a former Eastern Orthodox church converted to a mosque, now converted into a museum, in Istanbul (Constantinople). ... North Africa is a region generally considered to include: Algeria Egypt Libya Mauritania Morocco Sudan Tunisia Western Sahara The Azores, Canary Islands, Ethiopia, Eritrea, and Madeira are sometimes considered to be a part of North Africa. ... Saint-Jean (French for Saint John) is the name or part of the name of several places: In France Saint-Jean, in the Haute-Garonne d partement Related Saint-Jean-aux-Amognes, in the Ni vre d partement Saint-Jean-aux-Bois, in the Ardennes d partement Saint-Jean-aux... Location within France Poitiers (population 85,000) is a small city located in west central France. ... Riez is a commune of the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence département, in France. ... Roman ruins, aquaduct Fréjus is a coastal town and commune, in the Var département, in southern France. ... AIX or Aix may be: Aix, a genus of two species of dabbling ducks, the Wood Duck (Aix sponsa) and the Mandarin Duck (Aix galericulata) AIX operating system Athens Internet Exchange, (AIX) a European IXP a place name: Aix-la-Chapelle, or Aachen, a city in Germany in France: Aix... Royal motto (French): Dieu et mon droit (Translated: God and my right) Englands location within the British Isles Official language English de facto Capital London de facto Largest city London Area – Total Ranked 1st UK 130,395 km² Population – Total (mid-2004) – Total (2001 Census) – Density Ranked 1st UK... Canterbury Cathedral, N.W., ca. ...

Famous Baptisteries

Famous Italian baptistries include:

• The Lateran Baptistery, Rome, the most significant and architecturally most influential baptistry in the Christian West, founded by Pope Sixtus III;
• The Baptistry of San Giovanni in Forte, Ravenna;
• The Baptistry of Parma;
• The Tuscan Romanesque Battistero di San Giovanni, associated with Santa Maria del Fiore, the duomo of Florence, rebuilt between 1059 and 1150; it contains Ghiberti's "Doors of Paradise";
  • Baptistry competition
• The circular domed Baptistry clad in white marble in the Camposanto, Pisa, built in stages from 1150 and combining Romanesque with Gothic.
• Others are found at Ascoli Piceno, Lucca and Padua.

Famous French baptistries include: The domed octagonal Lateran Baptistery stands somewhat apart from the Basilica di San Giovanni in Laterano, to which it has become joined by later construction. ... Sixtus III (d. ... Ravenna is a city in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy. ... Parma is a medieval city in the Italian region of Emilia-Romagna, with splendid architecture and a fine countryside around it. ... Romanesque St. ... The Battistero di San Giovanni (Baptistery of St John) is believed to be the oldest building in Florence. ... The Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore is the cathedral church, or Duomo, of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Florence, noted for its distinctive dome. ... Duomo is a generic Italian term for a cathedral church. ... Lorenzo Ghiberti on Gates of Paradise, Baptisterio, Florence self portrait Lorenzo Ghiberti (Florence, 1378 - Florence, December 1, 1455) was an Italian artist of the early Renaissance best known for works in sculpture and metalworking. ... Overview of the Campo dei Miracoli from above. ... Pisa is a city in Tuscany, central Italy, on the right bank of the mouth of the river Arno on the Tyrrhenian Sea. ... See also Gothic art. ... Ascoli Piceno is a town in the Marche region, Italy, capital of the province of the same name. ... Lucca (population 90,000) is a city in Tuscany, northern central Italy, near (but not on) the Ligurian Sea. ... Location within Italy Tronco Maestro Riviera: a pedestrian walk along a section of the inland waterway or naviglio interno of Padua The city of Padua (Lat. ...

• The Baptistry of Fréjus;
• The Baptistry of Aix-en-Provence;
• The Baptistry of Poitiers, reputedly the oldest Christian building in France.

Roman ruins, aquaduct Fréjus is a coastal town and commune, in the Var département, in southern France. ... Aix (prounounced eks), or, to distinguish it from other cities built over hot springs, Aix-en-Provence is a city in southern France, some 30 km north of Marseille. ... Location within France Poitiers (population 85,000) is a small city located in west central France. ...

See also

• Renaissance architecture
• Medieval architecture

By region Italian Renaissance Spanish Renaissance Northern Renaissance English Renaissance French Renaissance German Renaissance Polish Renaissance Renaissance Architecture: The cultural movement called the Renaissance (which literally means re-birth) was just that in architecture, a rebirth of the Roman traditions of design recognized by contemporaries in the term allAntica... Medieval architecture is a term used to represent various forms of architecture popular in the Middle Ages. ...

References

This article incorporates text from the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica, a publication in the public domain. The 11th edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica (1910-1911) is the most famous edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica. ... The public domain comprises the body of all creative works and other knowledge—writing, artwork, music, science, inventions, and others—in which no person or organization has any proprietary interest. ...

• Barnish, S. J. B. 2001. "Religio in stagno: Nature, Divinity, and the Christianization of the Countryside in Late Antique Italy" in Journal of Early Christian Studies, vol 9:3, pp. 387-402.en:Baptistery