Byzantine Lighting Devices from the Main Basilica of the City on the Eski-Kermen Plateau

Abstract

Introduction. The light played a big role in Byzantine culture. It was an integral part of the original architectural, artistic and symbolic design of the temple. For additional lighting inside the temple, polycandyla, lampadophoroi and candlesticks were used. Lighting devices are depicted on Byzantine mosaics, frescoes, icons, textiles and in manuscripts. Information about lighting devices is also contained in the typicons. Method. In 1930 and 2019–2021, during the excavations of the basilica erected by the Byzantines at the end of the 6th century on the Eski-Kermen plateau, fragments of Byzantine bronze candlesticks and a polycandylon were found. Their study is important for the reconstruction of the interior decoration of the once rich main city temple. Analysis and Results. These candlesticks and a polycandylon are only a small part of the lighting equipment of the main basilica of the city on the Eski-Kermen plateau. The considered lamps give an idea of the complex of church lighting, which was known only by mentions in monastic inventory inventories and typicons of the late 11th – 13th centuries. The increase in the value of candles in the artificial lighting of churches is a characteristic feature of the Komnenos period, which is intensified under the Palaiologoi. Apparently, a new set of lamps began to be used in the main basilica after its reconstruction.