Château d'Ivry-la-Bataille

Ivry-la-Bataille, France

The original square form castle in Ivry-la-Bataille was built around 960 AD. It was 32x25m wide stone building with a small chapel. Today the first floor of this castle remains and it is the oldest medieval building in Normandy. The castle was enlarged during the next centuries. In the Hundred Years' War it was conquered by English (1418), but moved back to the hands of French (1424). After 1449 the castle was left to decay. The restoration began in 1968.

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Address

Rue de la Sence 32, Ivry-la-Bataille, France
See all sites in Ivry-la-Bataille

Details

Founded: 960 AD
Category: Ruins in France
Historical period: Frankish kingdoms (France)

Rating

4.4/5 (based on Google user reviews)

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User Reviews

Peter Pan (20 months ago)
Très beau site pour pique nique avec les enfants, une vue panoramique qui mérite une petite montée.
Émilie bryja (2 years ago)
Belle balade
jp amaral (2 years ago)
A faire. Quel travail fait
Marcel Legrand (2 years ago)
Ruines du château sur un promontoire calcaire qui permet de dominer ivry la bataille et la chaussée d'ivry ainsi que toutes la vallée. Superbe point de vue pour prendre des photos.
Fair Era (2 years ago)
Un château fort en ruine certes, mais de beaux vestiges assez conséquents sortis de l'oubli il y a quelques années (voire décennies) par des bénévoles passionnés qui ont dégagé la batisse des ronces et de la végétation qui l'ensevelissait depuis bien longtemps en redonnant ainsi la richesse et la fierté à cette petite ville très charmante qui vaut le détour grâce aux charmes de son décors naturel et de certains bâtiments très anciens. La visite est libre et gratuite, parfois guidée et commentée aux journées du patrimoine il me semble. Le site offre une vue imprenable sur la vallée alentour. Malheureusement ce lieu n'est pas suffisement respecté comme il le devrait entre détritus dont mégots, bouteilles... (il n'y a pas de poubellelà haut) et vandalisme (tag, noms gracés à certains endroits, pierres déplacées), le château se dégrade un peu plus à cause et malgré l'attention que lui porte les uns et les autres.
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Hagios Demetrios

The Church of Saint Demetrius, or Hagios Demetrios, is the main sanctuary dedicated to Saint Demetrius, the patron saint of Thessaloniki. It is part of the site Palaeochristian and Byzantine Monuments of Thessaloniki on the list of World Heritage Sites by UNESCO since 1988.

The first church on the spot was constructed in the early 4th century AD, replacing a Roman bath. A century later, a prefect named Leontios replaced the small oratory with a larger, three-aisled basilica. Repeatedly gutted by fires, the church eventually was reconstructed as a five-aisled basilica in 629–634. This was the surviving form of the church much as it is today. The most important shrine in the city, it was probably larger than the local cathedral. The historic location of the latter is now unknown.

The church had an unusual shrine called the ciborium, a hexagonal, roofed structure at one side of the nave. It was made of or covered with silver. The structure had doors and inside was a couch or bed. Unusually, it did not hold any physical relics of the saint. The ciborium seems to have been a symbolic tomb. It was rebuilt at least once.

The basilica is famous for six extant mosaic panels, dated to the period between the latest reconstruction and the inauguration of the Byzantine Iconoclasm in 730. These mosaics depict St. Demetrius with officials responsible for the restoration of the church (called the founders, ktetors) and with children. An inscription below one of the images glorifies heaven for saving the people of Thessalonica from a pagan Slavic raid in 615.

Thessaloniki became part of the Ottoman Empire in 1430. About 60 years later, during the reign of Bayezid II, the church was converted into a mosque, known as the Kasımiye Camii after the local Ottoman mayor, Cezeri Kasım Pasha. The symbolic tomb however was kept open for Christian veneration. Other magnificent mosaics, recorded as covering the church interior, were lost either during the four centuries when it functioned as a mosque (1493–1912) or in the Great Thessaloniki Fire of 1917 that destroyed much of the city. It also destroyed the roof and upper walls of the church. Black-and-white photographs and good watercolour versions give an idea of the early Byzantine craftsmanship lost during the fire.

Following the Great Fire of 1917, it took decades to restore the church. Tombstones from the city"s Jewish cemetery - destroyed by the Greek and Nazi German authorities - were used as building materials in these restoration efforts in the 1940s. Archeological excavations conducted in the 1930s and 1940s revealed interesting artifacts that may be seen in a museum situated inside the church"s crypt. The excavations also uncovered the ruins of a Roman bath, where St. Demetrius was said to have been held prisoner and executed. A Roman well was also discovered. Scholars believe this is where soldiers dropped the body of St. Demetrius after his execution. After restoration, the church was reconsecrated in 1949.

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