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Church of St John of the Collachium
The Church of St John of the Collachium was a medieval church built by the Knights Hospitaller in Rhodes, capital of the island of the same name. It was built in the first half of the fourteenth century and dedicated to the order's patron, John the Baptist. It was the conventual church of the Hospitallers, immediately adjacent to the Palace of the Grand Master, and presided over by the order's most senior religious official. It was used for religious services and processions, meetings of the order's chapter general, and for the elections and funerals of its grand masters.
Architecturally, the church was in the Gothic style, 48–50 metres (157–164 ft) in length and 15–18 m (49–59 ft) in breadth. It was expanded in several phases, adding underground areas and a total of eight annexes, including several chapels. At least six Hospitaller grand masters were buried in the church, including Fabrizio del Carretto, whose elaborate funerary slab was placed in its central part. The church became famous for its collection of relics, which included objects associated with John the Baptist, Jesus, the Virgin Mary, and various other saints.
After the Ottoman conquest of Rhodes in 1522, the church became the town's main mosque. The building was damaged by two earthquakes in the nineteenth century, and destroyed on 6 November 1856 by a lightning strike which ignited gunpowder stored in its cellars, killing at least 200 people. In modern times, only small parts of the northern and eastern foundations remain, and the site has been built over with a school. Archaeological investigations of the site took place in 1932 and 1934 under Pietro Lojacono, in 1988, and under Anna-Maria Kasdagli in 1995.
The Church of St John was built in the collachium ('convent'), an area in the northern part of the town of Rhodes based on the walled Byzantine town and inhabited by the Hospitallers. The collachium was set apart from the burgus, the area of the city resided in by local inhabitants. The church was in the north-west part of the city, adjacent to the Grand Master's palace. It was dedicated to John the Baptist, the patron of the Knights Hospitaller. The site was previously occupied by an older church, which contained burials dating from the second half of the thirteenth century.
Construction of the church began shortly after the capture of the city of Rhodes by the Knights Hospitaller in 1310. A manuscript reported by the Flemish army officer Bernard Rottiers, who visited the church in 1828, was said to record that Foulques de Villaret, who was Grand Master between 1305 and 1319, laid the foundation stone on 24 June 1310, the Feast of the Nativity of John the Baptist, though the authenticity of this manuscript is now doubted. Construction seems to have finished under Foulques's successor, Hélion de Villeneuve, who was Grand Master until 1346 and whose coat of arms was carved into the church's north wall. Instructions for the staffing and the services of the church were laid down in the statutes of the order's legislative body, the chapter general, on 4 November 1314; a meeting was held in the church in 1318 to appoint a delegation to meet with Pope John XXII, and a woman who died in the same year was interred in a passageway underneath the church. Underground spaces were constructed beneath the main structure, one of which led to the loggia (covered gallery) between the church and the grand master's palace; these may variously have been crypts, storage rooms or chapels.
The historian Sofia Zoitou has characterised the architecture and contents of the Church of St John as "eloquently articulat[ing] the Knights' political and religious essence". It was built in the Gothic style, 48–50 metres (157–164 ft) in length and 15–18 m (49–59 ft) in breadth. It was constructed as a three-aisled rectangular basilica: its transept was around 25 m (82 ft) long, its central nave was 6.9 m (23 ft) in width, and the south aisle 4.15 m (13.6 ft) wide. The transept and sanctuary were covered with four ribbed vaults: the roof of the aisles was made of timber, while the nave was roofed with a coffered barrel vault. Between the aisles were arcades, with pointed arches and a total of eight granite columns, spolia reused from an ancient building: the columns' capitals were carved in the classical Corinthian and Doric orders, and one of their bases had an inscription in Ancient Greek.
The Church of St John was the conventual church of the Hospitallers, and among the largest in the city. Its priest, the Grand Prior of the Convent, was the most senior Hospitaller priest, a member of the order's council, and had responsibility for the knights' religious affairs. The Grand Prior could be a member of any of the order's seven langues ('tongues'), loose ethno-linguistic groupings denoting members' origins in western Europe. The church was used for all of the order's religious services, for meetings of the chapter general, and for the elections, funerals and burials of grand masters. Several annual processions on religious feast days, including the anniversary of the Hospitallers' conquest of Malta, concluded at the church.
The fourteenth-century pilgrim Nicholas de Martoni described the church as small, but a "great place of piety". During the fifteenth century, priests for the church were summoned to Rhodes by the Hospitallers from Catholic parts of Europe. Between 1435 and 1439, the Spanish traveller Pero Tafur visited Rhodes, and noted that the church was filled with relics, and used both for religious services and for meetings of the Hospitallers. The church's organ was made in Venice and brought to Rhodes in 1476. In 1489, the Hospitaller Grand Master Pierre d'Aubusson was installed as a cardinal in the church.
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Church of St John of the Collachium
The Church of St John of the Collachium was a medieval church built by the Knights Hospitaller in Rhodes, capital of the island of the same name. It was built in the first half of the fourteenth century and dedicated to the order's patron, John the Baptist. It was the conventual church of the Hospitallers, immediately adjacent to the Palace of the Grand Master, and presided over by the order's most senior religious official. It was used for religious services and processions, meetings of the order's chapter general, and for the elections and funerals of its grand masters.
Architecturally, the church was in the Gothic style, 48–50 metres (157–164 ft) in length and 15–18 m (49–59 ft) in breadth. It was expanded in several phases, adding underground areas and a total of eight annexes, including several chapels. At least six Hospitaller grand masters were buried in the church, including Fabrizio del Carretto, whose elaborate funerary slab was placed in its central part. The church became famous for its collection of relics, which included objects associated with John the Baptist, Jesus, the Virgin Mary, and various other saints.
After the Ottoman conquest of Rhodes in 1522, the church became the town's main mosque. The building was damaged by two earthquakes in the nineteenth century, and destroyed on 6 November 1856 by a lightning strike which ignited gunpowder stored in its cellars, killing at least 200 people. In modern times, only small parts of the northern and eastern foundations remain, and the site has been built over with a school. Archaeological investigations of the site took place in 1932 and 1934 under Pietro Lojacono, in 1988, and under Anna-Maria Kasdagli in 1995.
The Church of St John was built in the collachium ('convent'), an area in the northern part of the town of Rhodes based on the walled Byzantine town and inhabited by the Hospitallers. The collachium was set apart from the burgus, the area of the city resided in by local inhabitants. The church was in the north-west part of the city, adjacent to the Grand Master's palace. It was dedicated to John the Baptist, the patron of the Knights Hospitaller. The site was previously occupied by an older church, which contained burials dating from the second half of the thirteenth century.
Construction of the church began shortly after the capture of the city of Rhodes by the Knights Hospitaller in 1310. A manuscript reported by the Flemish army officer Bernard Rottiers, who visited the church in 1828, was said to record that Foulques de Villaret, who was Grand Master between 1305 and 1319, laid the foundation stone on 24 June 1310, the Feast of the Nativity of John the Baptist, though the authenticity of this manuscript is now doubted. Construction seems to have finished under Foulques's successor, Hélion de Villeneuve, who was Grand Master until 1346 and whose coat of arms was carved into the church's north wall. Instructions for the staffing and the services of the church were laid down in the statutes of the order's legislative body, the chapter general, on 4 November 1314; a meeting was held in the church in 1318 to appoint a delegation to meet with Pope John XXII, and a woman who died in the same year was interred in a passageway underneath the church. Underground spaces were constructed beneath the main structure, one of which led to the loggia (covered gallery) between the church and the grand master's palace; these may variously have been crypts, storage rooms or chapels.
The historian Sofia Zoitou has characterised the architecture and contents of the Church of St John as "eloquently articulat[ing] the Knights' political and religious essence". It was built in the Gothic style, 48–50 metres (157–164 ft) in length and 15–18 m (49–59 ft) in breadth. It was constructed as a three-aisled rectangular basilica: its transept was around 25 m (82 ft) long, its central nave was 6.9 m (23 ft) in width, and the south aisle 4.15 m (13.6 ft) wide. The transept and sanctuary were covered with four ribbed vaults: the roof of the aisles was made of timber, while the nave was roofed with a coffered barrel vault. Between the aisles were arcades, with pointed arches and a total of eight granite columns, spolia reused from an ancient building: the columns' capitals were carved in the classical Corinthian and Doric orders, and one of their bases had an inscription in Ancient Greek.
The Church of St John was the conventual church of the Hospitallers, and among the largest in the city. Its priest, the Grand Prior of the Convent, was the most senior Hospitaller priest, a member of the order's council, and had responsibility for the knights' religious affairs. The Grand Prior could be a member of any of the order's seven langues ('tongues'), loose ethno-linguistic groupings denoting members' origins in western Europe. The church was used for all of the order's religious services, for meetings of the chapter general, and for the elections, funerals and burials of grand masters. Several annual processions on religious feast days, including the anniversary of the Hospitallers' conquest of Malta, concluded at the church.
The fourteenth-century pilgrim Nicholas de Martoni described the church as small, but a "great place of piety". During the fifteenth century, priests for the church were summoned to Rhodes by the Hospitallers from Catholic parts of Europe. Between 1435 and 1439, the Spanish traveller Pero Tafur visited Rhodes, and noted that the church was filled with relics, and used both for religious services and for meetings of the Hospitallers. The church's organ was made in Venice and brought to Rhodes in 1476. In 1489, the Hospitaller Grand Master Pierre d'Aubusson was installed as a cardinal in the church.