Calvary hill

A calvary hill is a Christian monument that is intended to represent the passion of Jesus Christ and is usually laid out in the form of a pilgrims' way.

Sacro Monte di Domodossola
Calvary hill in Maria Lanzendorf (1700)

Terminology

The Mount of Calvary was the site outside the gates of Jerusalem where the crucifixion of Christ took place. The scene was replicated around the world in numerous "calvary hills" after the Counter-Reformation and they are used by Roman Catholics in particular as part of their worship and veneration of God.

The term is derived from the Latin translation in the Vulgate of the Aramaic name for original hill, Golgotha, where it was called calvariae locus, Latin for "the place of the skull".[1][2] Martin Luther translated Golgatha as "skull place" (Scheddelstet). This translation is debated; at the very least it is not clear whether it referred to the shape of the hill, its use as a place of execution or burial or refers to something else.[3]

"Calvary hill" today refers to a roughly life-size depiction of the scene of crucifixion with crucifixes, usually the cross of Jesus and the two criminals, but many are more elaborate, including sculptures of additional figures. These scenes of the crucifixion are set up on small hillocks, which may be natural or artificial. Often 14 or so stations of the cross are laid out on the way up to the pilgrimage hill and there is often a small, remote church or chapel located between a few dozen to several hundred metres away.

Calvary hills are also a symbol of Brittany, where they were built during the Breton Renaissance (between 1450 and the 17th century) especially in the Finistère in specially created parish closes.[4] Of great importance was the erection of calvary hills north of the Alps in the Baroque era during the Counter-Reformation.

List of calvary hills

Belgium

Bolivia

Germany

(in alphabetical order by place)

France

The French: Calvaire of Notre Dame de Tronoën in Saint-Jean-Trolimon (greater French: Calvaire) dates to 1450 and is one of the oldest in Brittany. Other famous locations in Brittany are:[4]

Greece

Italy

Canada

Croatia

Austria

(by state, then alphabetically by place)

Burgenland

Carinthia

Lower Austria

Upper Austria

Salzburg:

Styria:

Tyrol

Vienna

Poland

Rumania

Czech Republic

Slovakia

Slovenia

Spain

White Russia

See also

Literature

German:

French:

References

  1. ↑ translation of calvariae by Whitaker's Words
  2. ↑ Bibliotheca Augustana: Hieronimi Vulgata, Evangelium Secondum Lucam, 23:33
  3. ↑ "Mount Calvary" article in the Catholic Encyclopedia (English)
  4. 1 2 Bretagne, stonecross.de;
    Pfarrbezirke, bretagne-tip.de
  5. ↑ The stations of the cross on the calvary hill in Moresnet / Belgien
  6. ↑ Kalvarienberg neben Kartause Aggsbach, Wachau / Österreich
  7. ↑ Kalvarienberg in Leoben, Steiermark/Österreich
  8. ↑ Kalvarienberg auf panoramio.com
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