• Register
  • Login
    •   Język Polski   English
    Published: 2022-09-22
    Vol. 41 No. 2 (2020)

    “Ecclesia est paradisus” – Interpretation of the Church as Paradise on the “Plan of Saint Gall” of 819

    Janusz Maciej Nowiński

    Abstract

    Among manifold symbolic interpretations of the Christian temple, of special importance was the perception of the church as a projection of the reality of Paradise (ecclesia est paradisus). This interpretation was especially popular in medieval monasteries (claustrum est paradisus). The abbey church on the Plan of Saint Gall is presented as Paradise, with the entrance flanked by two towers dedicated to the archangels Raphael and Gabriel. The cross in the centre of the temple represents the Tree of Life (arbor vitae). An identical cross is placed in the centre of the monastery’s cemetery among the trees of heavenly arboretum, as the announcement of the reward to be received on the day of Parousia. Both crosses on the Plan of Saint Gall – the one in the centre of the church representing the Tree of Life in the middle of Paradise and the one in the centre of the cemetery epitomizing the promise of the Parousia and eternal life – are a synthesis of the history of Salvation whose beginning and end are marked by Paradisus and Parusia.

    Keywords:

    symbolism of the church, Paradisus, Paradise, arbor vitae, tree of life, the Plan of Saint Gall

    Download files

    Citation rules

    Nowiński , J. M. (2022). “Ecclesia est paradisus” – Interpretation of the Church as Paradise on the “Plan of Saint Gall” of 819 . Seminare. Learned Investigations, 41(2), 127–135. Retrieved from https://czasopisma.uksw.edu.pl/index.php/s/article/view/10227

    Cited by / Share


    This website uses cookies for proper operation, in order to use the portal fully you must accept cookies.