Martin M. Miles' photos with the keyword: mouse

Otranto occupies the site of an ancient Greek city. It gained importance in Roman times, as it was the nearest port to the eastern coast of the Adriatic Sea. After the end of the Roman Empire, it was in the hands of the Byzantine emperors until it surrendered to the Norman troops of Robert Guiscard in 1068. The Normans fortified the city and built the cathedral, that got consecrated in 1088. When Henry VI., son of Emperor Frederick Barbarossa, married Constanze of Sicily in 1186 Otranto came under the rule of the Hohenstaufen and later in the hands of Ferdinand I of Aragón, King of Naples. Between 1480 and 1481 the "Ottoman invasion" took place here. Troops of the Ottoman Empire invaded and laid siege to the city and its citadel. Legends tell that more than 800 inhabitants were beheaded after the city was captured. The "Martyrs of Otranto" are still celebrated in Italy, their skulls are on display in the cathedral. A year later the Ottoman garrison surrendered the city following a siege by Christian forces and the intervention of Papal forces. - Otranto had been one of the last Byzantine strongholds in Apulia, but finally, Robert Guiscard could take it. It had probably been such a stronghold, as Otranto had hosted an autocephalous bishopric, only dependent on the patriarchal see of Byzantium since 968. So (Roman) Catholicism had to perform something "convincing" for the so long (Byzantine) Orthodox Christians. One was to erect a huge church. The Otranto Cathedral was erected, over ruins of a Paleochristian church from 1080 on and was consecrated in 1088. It is 54 metres long by 25 metres wide and is built on 42 monolithic granite and marble columns. I had come to Otranto, to see the mosaic. I had planned to stay one night in Otranto, I spent three nights - and still had not seen all the details. I was so overwhelmed, that I took hundreds of photos, but the mosaic is "endless". I will upload only a couple. It was created by a monk named Pantaleon and his workshop between 1163 and 1165. Pantaleon lived at the monastery San Nicola di Casole, located a few kilometres south of Otranto. The mosaic covers the nave, both aisles, the apse and the presbytery. This sums up to a total of 1596 m². About 10 000000 (10 million!) "tesserae" were used. There are scholars, who have counted up to 700 different "stories", that are told here. Though, these "stories" are often disputed, as today's interpretations are mostly very "vague". German historian Carl Arnold Willemsen published the most important book about the mosaic in Italian " L'enigma di Otranto", that since the 1970s is translated in many languages. I followed his theories. As the church is a parish church, there are benches placed on the mosaic floor. Only for the Sunday service, the ropes are open so that the parishioners can reach the benches. I stayed up to Sunday to mix with the locals. Adam and Eve Note the little scenes in between the medaillons. There are there musicians: a singing rooster and two dogs, one with cymbals, the second with a harp. One the right a cat watches a mouse furtively.

Founded by the Romans around 30 BC as "Augusta Treverorum", Trier claims (just like Xanten, Cologne, Worms, Speyer...) to be the oldest existing German city. Trier, the center of a diocese already within the 3rd century, was destroyed by the Alemanni (275), rebuilt under Constantine the Great, who resided in "Augusta Treverorum". Under his the reign Maximin of Trier (329–346), the fifth Bishop here, started the construction of an giant ecclesial ensemble with four basilicas and a baptisterium. This was done on the foundations of a Roman settlement - and had a floorplan about 4 times larger than the Cathedral of today. The buildings, ruined by the Franks, got rebuilt and destroyed again by the Vikings (Normans) in 882. In 977 Emperor Otto II installed his senior official Egbert of Trier as Bishop. Egbert started a building process, that reused lots of the ruined structures. The result can be seen today. The western apse was consecrated in 1224, but the building continued over the centuries. Constantine´s mother Helena lived in Trier for quite some time. Saint Ambros of Milan, born in Trier, wrote that Saint Helena travelled to Jerusalem at the age of 76. There she not only discovered the Holy Sepulchre, Golgotha and the True Cross but returned loaded with relics. She brought to Trier the relics of the Apostle Matthias (now in St. Matthias) - and the "Holy Robe". The "Holy Robe" (aka "Heiliger Rock") was first mentioned to be here in 1198, what may have ended a rivalry between the Cathedral in Trier and the Abbey in Pruem (60kms north), as Pepin the Short had given "Jesus´Sandals" to that abbey in 752. The Gothic cloister, joining the Cathedral and the neighbouring Liebfrauenkirche. The whole area got severely damaged in WWII, one tower of the Cathedral collapsed after being hit, in August 1944. The reconstruction of the complex, including this cloister, started directly after the war. So at least parts of the structures seen now, are new, like these details in the cloister. These capitals that replace lost ones, foliage populated by mice and apes.

Since the 12th century Saint-Sylvain towers on a promontory overlooking Saint-Sauvant, a village loctaed between Cognac and Saintes. The church, erected on a Latin-Cross-plan, is a typical example for the "style saintongue". All around the apse are lots of corbels. One of them depicts this ancestor of Mickey Mouse. As far as I know, Walt Disney, who claimed to be Mickey´s father, has been in France for about 10 months just after WWI. But has young Mr. Disney ever visited Saint-Sauvant?

I had visited Lodève before and have uploaded photos of St. Fulchran last year. This time, I was on a mission! About a year ago, widely read Baubo/Sonja had mentioned (protestant!) german satirist Georg Christoph Lichtenberg (1742-1799). In one of the "Sudelbuecher" Lichtenberg claims "Monks in Lodève sainted a mouse, after it had eaten from a Host." So I tried to find somebody in Lodève, who knew about this. I asked three Lodevians, but even the guide inside St. Fulchran had never ever heard of Mr. Lichtenberg. Then I took photos of the reliquaries. Some were small, but most reliquaries are small. There was not a single trace of Lichtenberg´s mouse.... Well, for me this was a "Mission Impossible". Here is the quote (in German), see [169]. books.google.de/books?id=Y4m5S_RkI0cC&pg=PA187&dq... Here is what Wikipedia knows about Lichtenberg: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georg_Christoph_Lichtenberg .. and here is another photo of Lodève: www.flickr.com/photos/martin-m-miles/5041083843/