Category:Relics of John the Baptist (subject)

• BACK to the ARTIFACTS--INDEX
• BACK to JOHN THE BAPTIST

According to Christian and Islamic traditions, Relics of John the Baptist are (or were) preserved in numerous locations, notably, the Nabi Yahya Mosque in Sebaste [West Bank], the Umayyad Mosque in Damascus [Syria], the Church of Saint Sylvester in Capite in Rome [Italy], the Aachen Cathedral in Aachen [Germany], and other locations.

Overview

The Tomb of John the Baptist

The Gospels of Mark (6:29) and Matthew (14:12) say that the disciples of John "came and took his body and laid it in a tomb," but the location is not specified.

Legends soon began to develop in Christianity (and then in Islam) about the burial place of John.

The Sebaste Tradition

A 4th century Christian tradition indicated in Sebaste the burial place of John the Baptist. The presence of a Herodian palace (although belonging to Herod the Great, not to Herod Antipas) probably generated the tradition. The palace was mistakenly identified with the site of the prison of John the Baptist and the place where he was beheaded (John was more likely imprisoned and executed by Herod Antipas in the fortress of Machaerus in Perea, as indicated by Josephus). A church was built in Sebaste, and later transformed into a mosque. The Nabi Yahya Mosque (the mosque of the Prophet John) is still today an important pilgrimage site.

The Head of the Baptist

It was believed that the head of the Baptist was not returned to his disciples but kept by Herod Antipas. Many legends flourished in Christianity and Islam over the centuries about what happened to the head of the Baptist, and how it was several times hidden and miraculously rediscovered.

(a) St John's Shrine in Damascus, Syria -- It is said that when the Christian Cathedral of Damascus was turned into a mosque at the beginning of the 8th century, a box containing the head of St. John the Baptist was found in a crypt. St John's Shrine inside the Umayyad Mosque became (and is still today) a place of veneration for Muslims and Christians alike.

• 

  The Mosque of Damascus, Syria

• 

  St. John's Chapel

(b) The Amiens Cathedral, France -- The relic of the head of the Baptist arrived in Amiens on December 17, 1206. It was part of the loot of the Fourth Crusade, brought from Constantinople by Wallon de Sarton. The relic went lost during the French revolution.

(c) The Church of Saint Sylvester in Capite, Rome [Italy] -- The relic of the head of John the Baptist is still today exhibited in a chapel to the left of the entrance.

• 

  Church of Saint Sylvester in Capite, Rome, Italy

• 

  Reliquary of the Head of St. John the Baptist

Other Relics of the Body of John the Baptist

• St Maria Assunta Cathedral, Siena [Italy] -- The Arm of John the Baptist was presented to the Cathedral of Siena on May 6, 1464 by Pope Pious II.

• Monastery of Cetinje [Montenegro] -- The Serbian Orthodox monastery houses the right hand of John the Baptist. Legend says that the relic, along with fragments of the Holy Cross, came from Jerusalem, via Constantinople, to the hands of the Crusaders in Rhodes and then Malta. In 1799 the relic was presented to the Russian Czar Paul. The relic left St Petersburg [Russia] with the Russian revolution. After being preserved for some time in Copenhagen [Denmark], it was presented to the Serbian monarchy. Until 1941 it was in Belgrade [Serbia}, then in the monastery of Ostrog, then in the State Treasure, until it eventually ended in possession of the Monastery of Cetinje.

• 

  Monastery of Cetinje, Montenegro

• 

  Reliquary of the Right Hand of John the Baptist

• Dionysiou Monastery on Mount Athos, Greece -- portion of St. John's right hand

|Monastery of Cetinje, Montenegro |Reliquary of the Right Hand of John the Baptist

• 

  Monastery of Cetinje, Montenegro

• 

  Reliquary of the Right Hand of John the Baptist

• The Briton village of Saint-Jean-du-Doigt owes its name to a relic housed in its Flamboyant Gothic church (1513)--part of the index finger of John the Baptist.

• St Lawrence, Viterbo [Italy] -- The reliquary of the Chin of John the Baptist is now housed in the Museo del Colle del Duomo at Viterbo.

• Museum of the Opera del Duomo in Florence [Italy] -- A finger of John the Baptist.

• Cathedral of St Lawrence, Genoa [Italy] -- Ashes

• Monastery of Loana (near Savona) -- Ashes

• Chiaramonte Gulfi (RG) -- Ashes and some bone fragments

• Berezhany [Ukraine]

Objects related to John the Baptist

• The Plate that carried the Head of John the Baptist is preserved in the Treasury of the Cathedral of St Lawrence in Genoa [Italy].

• John the Baptist's Beheading Cloth is one the four great relics preserved in the Shrine of the Virgin Mary at the Aachen Cathedral in Aachen [Germany]--St. Mary's cloak, Christ's swaddling clothes, St. John the Baptist's beheading cloth, and Christ's loincloth.

External links

• [ Wikipedia]