Marian and Holy Trinity columns 3588098 223807646 2008-07-05T22:26:24Z Lightbot 7178666 Units/dates/other [[Image:Kutna Hora CZ Plague column 02.jpg|thumb|250px|The [[Bubonic plague|plague]] Column of the Virgin Mary Immaculate in [[Kutná Hora]], the [[Czech Republic]], built between 1713 and 1715.]] [[Image:Trinity Coloumn.JPG|thumb|[[Column of Glory]] at [[Trinity Cathedral, St. Petersburg|Trinity Cathedral]], [[St. Petersburg]], [[Russia]]. First built in 1866 as a memorial of the [[Russo-Turkish War]], it was destroyed by [[Stalin]] in 1929, and rebuilt in 2004.]] '''Marian columns''' are religious monuments built in honour of the [[Virgin Mary]], often in thanksgiving for the ending of a [[Bubonic plague|plague]] or for some other help. The purpose of the '''[[Holy Trinity]] columns''' was usually simply to celebrate the church and the faith. However, the plague motif could sometimes play its role in their erection as well. Erecting [[religion|religious]] monuments in the form of a [[column]] surmounted by a figure or a [[Christianity|Christian]] symbol was a gesture of public faith that flourished in the [[Roman Catholic Church|Catholic]] countries of [[Europe]] especially in the 17th and 18th centuries. Thus they became one of the most visible features of [[Baroque architecture]]. This usage also influenced some [[Eastern Orthodox]] Baroque architecture. Some other [[saint]]s are also depicted on the plague columns. A typical one is [[St. Roch]], who is said to have fallen ill when helping the sick during an epidemic of plague and who recovered through the strength of his faith. [[Sebastian|St. Sebastian]], a martyr whose statue also often decorates these structures, was originally the patron of [[archery|archers]]. In the [[Middle Ages]] Sebastian took the place of the plague-dealing archer [[Apollo (god)|Apollo]], as people sometimes metaphorically compared the random nature of plague to random shots of archers, and thus he started being connected with the plague too. Other frequently depicted saints are [[St. Barbara]], a patron of the dying, and two more recent and historical saints: [[St. Francis Xavier]], who, according to the legend, raised people from the dead, and [[St. Charles Borromeo]], known for working among the sick and the dying. [[Image:Giovanni Paolo Pannini - The Piazza and Church of Santa Maria Maggiore.jpg|thumb|225px|left|The Marian column in front of the [[Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore]] in [[Rome]].]] In [[Roman Empire|Imperial Rome]], it was the practice to erect a statue of the Emperor atop a column. The last such a column was the [[Column of Phocas]], erected in the [[Roman Forum]] and dedicated or rededicated in 608. The Christian practice of erecting a column topped with a statue of the Virgin Mary dates back at least to the 10th century (in [[Clermont-Ferrand]] in France), but it became common especially in the [[Counter-Reformation]] period following the [[Council of Trent]] (1545 – 1563). The column in [[Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore|Piazza Santa Maria Maggiore]] in [[Rome]] was one of the first. The column itself was ancient: it had supported the vault of the so-called Basilica of Constantine in Rome [http://www.italycyberguide.com/Geography/cities/rome2000/K22.htm], destroyed by an [[earthquake]] in the 9th century. By the 17th century only this column survived; in [[1610s in architecture|1614]] it was transported to [[Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore|Piazza Santa Maria Maggiore]] and crowned with a bronze statue of [[Madonna and Child|the Virgin and Child]]. Within decades it served as a model for many columns in [[Italy]] and other European countries. The first column of this type north of the [[Alps]] was the ''[[Mariensäule]]'' built in [[Munich]] in [[1630s in architecture|1638]] to celebrate the sparing of the city from both the [[Rise of Sweden as a Great Power|invading Swedish army]] and the plague. The Virgin Mary is standing on its top on a crescent moon as the [[Queen of Heaven]]. It inspired for example Marian columns in [[Prague]] and [[Vienna]], but many others also followed very quickly. In the countries which used to belong to the [[Habsburg Monarchy]] (especially the [[Czech Republic]], [[Austria]], [[Slovakia]], and [[Hungary]]) it is quite exceptional to find an old town square without such a column, usually located on the most prominent place. [[Image:Marian column destroyed, Prague.jpg|left|thumb|225px|Destroyed Marian Column in Prague.]] The Prague column was built in [[Old Town Square (Prague)|Old Town Square]] (''Staroměstské náměstí'') [[1650s in architecture|shortly]] after the [[Thirty Years' War]] in thanksgiving to the [[Immaculate conception|Virgin Mary Immaculate]] for helping in the fight with the Swedes. At noon its shadow indicated the so-called Prague [[Meridian (geography)|Meridian]], which was used to check the exact [[solar time]]. Unfortunately, many Czechs later connected its placement and erection with the [[hegemony]] of the [[Habsburgs]] in their country, and after declaring the independence of [[Czechoslovakia]] in 1918 a crowd of people pulled this old monument down and destroyed it in an excess of revolutionary fervor. [[Image:Holy Trinity Column-2.jpg|thumb|225px|[[Holy Trinity Column in Olomouc]], [[Czech Republic]].]] The basic model which inspired building most Holy Trinity columns is the ''[[Pestsäule (Vienna)|Pestsäule]]'' or ''Dreifaltigkeitssäule'' ("Plague or Holy Trinity column") in the [[Graben (Vienna)|Grabenplatz]], Vienna, built after the [[Great Plague of Vienna|1679 plague]]; in this monument the column has entirely disappeared in marble clouds and colossal saints, angels and [[putto|putti]]. The era of these religious structures culminated with the outstanding [[Holy Trinity Column in Olomouc|Holy Trinity Column]] in Upper Square (''Horní náměstí'') in [[Olomouc]]. This monument, built shortly after the plague which struck [[Moravia]] (nowadays in the Czech Republic) between 1714 and 1716, was exceptional because of its monumentality, rich decoration and unusual combination of sculptural material (stone and [[gilding|gilded]] copper). Its base was made so big that even a chapel was hidden inside. This column is the only one which has been individually inscribed on the [[UNESCO]] [[World Heritage List]] as "one of the most exceptional examples of the apogee of central European [[Baroque]] artistic expression". [http://whc.unesco.org/archive/advisory_body_evaluation/859.pdf] ==External links== * {{Commons-inline|Marian and Holy Trinity columns}} *[http://www.udayton.edu/mary/gallery/column.htm Our Lady and the Column] *[http://www.your-friend.info/vienna/tour.html#Plague-column The Plague Column in Vienna] A video of the column *[http://members.tripod.com/romeartlover/Vasi48.html The column at Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore] *[http://www.olomouc-tourism.cz/index.asp?gr=4&cat=17&sk=8&lang=cz Holy Trinity Column in Olomouc — pictures] *[http://whc.unesco.org/pg.cfm?cid=31&id_site=859 Holy Trinity Column in Olomouc — UNESCO World Heritage] *[http://www.czecot.com/cz/?id_tema=337 Povídání o morových sloupech] in [[Czech language]] {{citations missing|date=December 2007}} [[Category:Church architecture]] [[Category:Baroque architecture]] [[Category:17th century architecture]] [[Category:18th century architecture]] [[Category:Monumental columns]] [[Category:Roman Catholic Church art]] [[Category:History of Catholicism in Europe]] [[cs:Sloupy Panny Marie a Nejsvětější Trojice]] [[de:Pestsäule]] [[nl:Pestzuil]] [[ru:Чумной столб]] [[sk:Stĺp Panny Márie a Najsvätejšej Trojice]] [[tr:Veba sütunu]]