Cathedral of the Holy Cross, Tyre
Church in South Governorate, Lebanon
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Cathedral of the Holy Cross is the remains of a Crusader church in Tyre, Lebanon. It was built in 1129 under the rule of William I of Tyre and dedicated to the Holy Cross on the site of a Byzantine church.[1]
| Cathedral of the Holy Cross | |
|---|---|
The ruins of the Cathedral of the Holy Cross | |
 Cathedral of the Holy Cross | |
| 33°16′13.3″N 35°11′42.5″E | |
| Location | Tyre, South Governorate, Lebanon |
| Denomination | Catholic (Latin) |
| Tradition | Christianity |
| History | |
| Status | Cathedral (ruins) |
| Founded | 1129 |
| Dedication | Holy Cross |
| Architecture | |
| Functional status | Destroyed |
| Demolished | 1291 (Fall of Outremer) |
| Administration | |
| Diocese | Archdiocese of Tyre |
The cathedral served as the seat of the Diocese of Tyre and was one of the four Catholic dioceses of the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem in the Kingdom of Jerusalem.
History
The cathedral was built in the Venetian quarter of Tyre,[2] which contained several churches, among them the Church of Saint Mark on the ruins of the Great Fatimid Mosque, which itself had been built on the site of the temple of Melqart.[3][4]
One of the most famous clergymen who served there was William of Tyre, who held his post between 1175 and 1185.[5] After the fall of Jerusalem to the Ayyubids under Saladin, the cathedral became the traditional site of the coronations of the kings and queens of Jerusalem and the venue of royal weddings, considered one of the largest and most important church buildings in the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem.[4]
The bones of Emperor Frederick Barbarossa were interred there in 1190. The Bavarian historian and politician Johann Nepomuk Sepp attempted to locate them under the reign of King William I of Prussia in 1874, but without success.[6]
The cathedral was damaged by the 1202 Syria earthquake and was finally destroyed in 1291 following the fall of the city to the Mamluks.[1]
Gallery
19th century print
Photograph in 1870
The site in 2015
Plan of the cathedral by Johann Nepomuk Sepp
