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100 things challenge - 33: Oldest church?
As you probably know, I'm quite a big fan of old churches and my motto is: 'the older, the better!'
But whát is the oldest church in the world? Well, this is a hard question to answer, as many old churches have been remodelled over and over during the centuries, so it is sometimes hard to distinguish which part is what age.
But one church making a very good claim to the title of oldest purpose-built Christian church is the Aqaba church in Jordan. This church, believed to be build somewhere at the end of the 2nd century, dates from before Christianity found favor with the emperial Roman government. It even dates from before the greatest Roman anti-Christian persecutions, under emperor Diocletion in 303-313. During the time it was build and used, the city of Aqaba, then known as Ayla, as a busy Roman port and garrison town. The church already had a typical east-west basilica style with apse and aisle, well known from later church architecture. The church would have held about 60-100 people. The building was probably destroyed during an earthquake in 363. The ruins of the building were not discovered and excavated until 1998.
But whát is the oldest church in the world? Well, this is a hard question to answer, as many old churches have been remodelled over and over during the centuries, so it is sometimes hard to distinguish which part is what age.
But one church making a very good claim to the title of oldest purpose-built Christian church is the Aqaba church in Jordan. This church, believed to be build somewhere at the end of the 2nd century, dates from before Christianity found favor with the emperial Roman government. It even dates from before the greatest Roman anti-Christian persecutions, under emperor Diocletion in 303-313. During the time it was build and used, the city of Aqaba, then known as Ayla, as a busy Roman port and garrison town. The church already had a typical east-west basilica style with apse and aisle, well known from later church architecture. The church would have held about 60-100 people. The building was probably destroyed during an earthquake in 363. The ruins of the building were not discovered and excavated until 1998.
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Have you heard about the churches in Ethiopia that are actually carved into the rock? They're not so old, 12th-13th Centure, but they're super impressive:
They're in Lalibela (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lalibela).
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