61. On The World's Oldest Building in Continuous Use.

Dearly Beloved,

When I was ten years old I went on my first archaeological dig at Ilchester in Somerset. The river there is still full of eels and a few years later myself and a school friend successfully fished for them in the river. Predictably, my first dig was a Roman villa with a decorated, tessellated pavement.

What, I often wondered, is the oldest building still in daily use? It was not until I visited Syracuse in Sicily that I discovered a good candidate. My wife and I visited the cathedral there and were surprised to notice that it is supported inside and out by rows of huge Doric pillars. Surely, we thought, those are Roman or Greek. Indeed they are Greek, for this cathedral is constructed in and around a temple dedicated to Athena – goddess of wisdom and of war -- dating from the fifth century BC. It was built to celebrate the victory of a Greek tyrant in the battle of Himera over an army of Carthaginians which landed in Sicily in 480 BC.

The present central nave of the Church is defined by two lines of narrow arches similar to that found in the building known as the Temple of Concordia (probably mis--attributed) also in Sicily, suggesting that the original Doric temple contributed substantially to the present structure. Originally the central area of Greek temples were walled off to form a room known as a Cella where a statue of the god or goddess was placed. These walls seem to have been converted to arches when they were Christianised. The Temple of Concordia seems to have also been converted to a church in the sixth or seventh century too, and it has been suggested, that is the reason it survived the persecution of pagans. It is no longer a church but is valued as a fine survival of Greek, Doric, Sicilian architecture.

Syracuse Cathedral was consecrated by Bishop St Zosimo in the seventh century, it became a mosque for a period after the Muslim invasion of Sicily circa 878 and was returned to Christianity by the Norman King Roger I st. in 1085 after which the Normans rebuilt the roof. The church was damaged by an earthquake in 1693 and this was used as an opportunity to rebuild the damaged portico in a very flamboyant style, completed in 1753. It is that piece of baroque art with highly decorated Corinthian columns, that is featured in guide books today rather than the 2,500 year old Doric columns of the Church.

With a history like that the Cathedral of Syracuse should be better known, but perhaps classicists regard the temple's Christian takeover and conversion of a classical Greek building as regrettable, whilst the Catholic Church may be embarrassed about the pagan origin of the Church building. Excavations have revealed an even earlier Doric structure dating from the sixth century BC.

So is Syracuse Cathedral the oldest building in the world which has been in continuous use? The answer to that question must rest with discovering what happened between the end of the Roman era when the temple was probably dedicated to Minerva (the Roman equivalent of Athena) and of its Christianisation? Was it disused for a hundred years or so, used perhaps to store food, an armory, or perhaps to stable animals? Or was worship there continuous?

May Peace and Grace be yours,

Paul.

Completed 16 August 2021.

Photo: Paul Munton
Doric Pillars from the Greek Temple of Athena (circa 480 B.C.) now part of Syracuse Cathedral.




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