Martin M. Miles' photos with the keyword: Empress Helena

With more than 200.000 inhabitants Rostock is the largest city in the state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. Small Slavic settlements existed already in the 8th century. A settlement named Roztok was founded in the 11th century by Polabian Slavs. This town was burnt down by troops of the Danish king Valdemar I in 1161. Afterwards the place was settled by German traders. After 1226 Rostock became the seat of the Lordship of Rostock. In the 1250s the city became a member of the Hanseatic League. In the 14th century it was a powerful seaport town with 12,000 inhabitants and the largest city in Mecklenburg. Ships for cruising the Baltic Sea were constructed in Rostock. Until the last Hansa Convention in 1669, Rostock took a leading role in the Baltic Sea behind Lübeck. - The museum, founded mid 19th century, is hosted in the "Kloster zum Heiligen Kreuz", that got finally dissolved in 1920. The conversion into a museum began already in 1976, but the restoration of the buildings remained incomplete until 1997. The winged Nonnenaltar (nun's altar) was created in the early 16th century. Its former location was in the church's nuns' gallery, thus the name. The wings show depictions from the legend of the finding of the cross by Empress Helena. Note the predella, depicting the entombment of Jesus, the resurrection and Christ's descent into the underworld.

Christianity had reached Trier early and so since Roman times monks had lived here. In 977 the monks adopted the Rule of St. Benedict. The Benedictian Abbey was named after St. Eucharius, as the relics of St. Eucharius and St. Valerius, the first Bishops of Trier, were kept here. During the demolition work of the predecessing church a tomb containing the relics of Apostle Matthias (St. Mathew) were discovered! Legends arose, that there were sent to the monastery by Empress Helena, mother of the Roman Emperor Constantine the Great, who had lived in Trier. The monastery´s name was changed to "Abtei St. Matthias" immediately and this was a center of pilgrimage from then on. Though "perfectly" placed to the North of Europe it never gained the importance of Santiago de Compostela (about 1800 kms southwest) or Rome (1200 kms south). There are still pilgrims today, heading to this church, offering the only grave of an Apostle north of the Alps. When I started to walk to Santiago, I started exactly here. The abbey existed upto 1794, when the last monks left it. The abbey got secularised and sold to a local entrepeneur. In the 1920s monks returned to St. Matthias. Today the church is used as an abbey- and a parish church. St. Matthias, seen today is the result of many renovations and rebuildings over the centuries, but it is still a Romanesque structure. The crypt is the destination for the pilgrims since about 800 years. Placed In it´s center is this old reliquary box containing the holy bones of apostle Matthias.

Christianity had reached Trier early and so since Roman times monks had lived here. In 977 the monks adopted the Rule of St. Benedict. The Benedictian Abbey was named after St. Eucharius, as the relics of St. Eucharius and St. Valerius, the first Bishops of Trier, were kept here. During the demolition work of the predecessing church a tomb containing the relics of Apostle Matthias (St. Mathew) were discovered! Legends arose, that there were sent to the monastery by Empress Helena, mother of the Roman Emperor Constantine the Great, who had lived in Trier. The monastery´s name was changed to "Abtei St. Matthias" immediately and this was a center of pilgrimage from then on. Though "perfectly" placed to the North of Europe it never gained the importance of Santiago de Compostela (about 1800 kms southwest) or Rome (1200 kms south). There are still pilgrims today, heading to this church, offering the only grave of an Apostle north of the Alps. When I started to walk to Santiago, I started exactly here. The abbey existed upto 1794, when the last monks left it. The abbey got secularised and sold to a local entrepeneur. In the 1920s monks returned to St. Matthias. Today the church is used as an abbey- and a parish church. St. Matthias, seen today is the result of many renovations and rebuildings over the centuries, but it is still a Romanesque structure. Like the whole building, the crypt got altered a couple of times. Two bays were added at a recent reconstruction, so the crypt now is extended to the orginal dimensions of the 12th century. It is very large, as all the pilgrims had to visit this place. Here in the foreground are the two large tombs of St. Eucharius (left) and St. Valerius (right), the first Bishops of Trier. In the background the reliquary containing the holy bones of apostle Matthias.

Christianity had reached Trier early and so since Roman times monks had lived here. In 977 the monks adopted the Rule of St. Benedict. The Benedictian Abbey was named after St. Eucharius, as the relics of St. Eucharius and St. Valerius, the first Bishops of Trier, were kept here. During the demolition work of the predecessing church a tomb containing the relics of Apostle Matthias (St. Mathew) were discovered! Legends arose, that there were sent to the monastery by Empress Helena, mother of the Roman Emperor Constantine the Great, who had lived in Trier. The monastery´s name was changed to "Abtei St. Matthias" immediately and this was a center of pilgrimage from then on. Though "perfectly" placed to the North of Europe it never gained the importance of Santiago de Compostela (about 1800 kms southwest) or Rome (1200 kms south). There are still pilgrims today, heading to this church, offering the only grave of an Apostle north of the Alps. When I started to walk to Santiago, I started exactly here. The abbey existed upto 1794, when the last monks left it. The abbey got secularised and sold to a local entrepeneur. In the 1920s monks returned to St. Matthias. Today the church is used as an abbey- and a parish church. St. Matthias, seen today is the result of many renovations and rebuildings over the centuries, but it is still a Romanesque structure. Christmas trees light the central nave with the gothic vaulting. The destinations of the pilgrims is the crypt. There are stairs leading down, but St. Matthias is the only church I ever visited, that offers an electrical lift for tired and exhausted pilgrims.

Christianity had reached Trier early and so since Roman times monks had lived here. In 977 the monks adopted the Rule of St. Benedict. The Benedictian Abbey was named after St. Eucharius, as the relics of St. Eucharius and St. Valerius, the first Bishops of Trier, were kept here. During the demolition work of the predecessing church a tomb containing the relics of Apostle Matthias (St. Mathew) were discovered! Legends arose, that there were sent to the monastery by Empress Helena, mother of the Roman Emperor Constantine the Great, who had lived in Trier. The monastery´s name was changed to "Abtei St. Matthias" immediately and this was a center of pilgrimage from then on. Though "perfectly" placed to the North of Europe it never gained the importance of Santiago de Compostela (about 1800 kms southwest) or Rome (1200 kms south). There are still pilgrims today, heading to this church, offering the only grave of an Apostle north of the Alps. When I started to walk to Santiago, I started exactly here. The abbey existed upto 1794, when the last monks left it. The abbey got secularised and sold to a local entrepeneur. In the 1920s monks returned to St. Matthias. Today the church is used as an abbey- and a parish church. St. Matthias, seen today is the result of many renovations and rebuildings over the centuries, but it is still a Romanesque structure. One of the capitals of the western facade depicts Daniel in the lions' den DANIEL PROPHETA) and Habakuk being airlifted to the den by an angel (ABACUL) bringing food. Apocrypha 14 "Now the prophet Habakkuk was in Judea. He had boiled pottage and had broken bread into a bowl, and was going into the field to take it to the reapers. But the angel of the Lord said to Habakkuk, "Take the dinner which you have to Babylon, to Daniel, in the lions' den." Habakkuk said, "Sir, I have never seen Babylon, and I know nothing about the den." Then the angel of the Lord took him by the crown of his head, and lifted him by his hair and set him down in Babylon, right over the den, with the rushing sound of the wind itself."

Christianity had reached Trier early and so since Roman times monks had lived here. In 977 the monks adopted the Rule of St. Benedict. The Benedictian Abbey was named after St. Eucharius, as the relics of St. Eucharius and St. Valerius, the first Bishops of Trier, were kept here. During the demolition work of the predecessing church a tomb containing the relics of Apostle Matthias (St. Mathew) were discovered! Legends arose, that there were sent to the monastery by Empress Helena, mother of the Roman Emperor Constantine the Great, who had lived in Trier. The monastery´s name was changed to "Abtei St. Matthias" immediately and this was a center of pilgrimage from then on. Though "perfectly" placed to the North of Europe it never gained the importance of Santiago de Compostela (about 1800 kms southwest) or Rome (1200 kms south). There are still pilgrims today, heading to this church, offering the only grave of an Apostle north of the Alps. When I started to walk to Santiago, I started exactly here. The abbey existed upto 1794, when the last monks left it. The abbey got secularised and sold to a local entrepeneur. In the 1920s monks returned to St. Matthias. Today the church is used as an abbey- and a parish church. In 1783 the church got severely damaged by fire and lost the towers. What is seen today is the result of many renovations and rebuildings over the centuries, but it is still a Romanesque structure. The parish: www.st-matthias-trier.de/?q=node/132 The abbey: p117919.mittwaldserver.info/index.php?id=abteistmatthias Pilgrims meet here: matthiasbruderschaften.kibac.de/

The "Basilica of the Holy Cross in Jerusalem" ("Basilica di Santa Croce in Gerusalemme") is one of the seven Pilgrim Churches of Rome. Within the 3rd century, Empress Helena, Constantin´s mother, had the church built within her "Palazzo Sessoriano". Helena had returned from the "Holy Land" with hundreds of relics of which some were housed here. According to legends, the Basilica's floor at that time was covered with soil from Jerusalem. Of course the basilica got enlarged and remodelled over the centuries. The campanile was added within the 12th century, the Baroque facade dates to the 18th century. The "Cappella delle Reliquie" inside the basilica still houses some of the old relics. Since some decades here is a shrine with relics of Antonietta Meo (aka "Nennolina"). She died, only 6 years old, in 1930. Her body was transferred to the shrine in 1999. The process of her canonization is underway. It took the photo just before sunset - and is a selfie. The shadow between bench and streetlamp is mine!