This article is about a complex of chapels. For a single crucifix, see
Calvary (sculpture).
A calvary, also called calvary hill, Sacred Mount, or Sacred Mountain, is a type of
Christian sacred place, built on the slopes of a
hill, composed by a set of
chapels, usually laid out in the form of a
pilgrims' way. It is intended to represent the
passion of
Jesus Christ and takes its name after
Calvary, the hill in
Jerusalem where
Jesus was crucified.
These function as greatly expanded versions of the
Stations of the Cross that are usual in Catholic churches, allowing the devout to follow the progress of the stages of the
Passion of Christ along the
Via Dolorosa in
Jerusalem. Each chapel contains a large image of the scene from the Passion it commemorates, sometimes in sculpture, that may be up to life-size. This kind of
shrine was especially popular in the
Baroque period when the
Holy Land was under
Turkish rule and it was difficult to make a
pilgrimage to the Mount Calvary in Jerusalem.
Calvaries were especially popular with the
Franciscan and
Jesuit orders, and are most common in Italy and Habsburg Central Europe. They were usually placed in parks near a church or a monastery, typically on a hill which the visitor gradually ascends. Italian ones are usually called a sacro monte ("holy mountain" or "hill"); there are a group of nine
Sacri Monti of Piedmont and Lombardy that are especially notable; their dates of foundation vary between 1486 and 1712. Devotions would be most popular in
Passion Week, before
Easter, when large processions around the stations would be held, and
mystery plays might be acted. If a calvary was established in an inhabited place, it might result in a location of a new village or town. Several villages and towns are named after such a complex.[citation needed]
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 scenes of the
Passion of Christ, with sculptures of additional figures. These scenes are set up on the slopes of a
hill. The traditional fourteen
stations of the cross are usually laid out on the way up to the top of 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 must not be confused with
calvaries, which are a specific type of wayside monumental crucifix, a tradition mostly found in
Brittany especially in the
Finistère, built in
parish closes between 1450 and the 17th century.
Atlas der europäischen Heiligen Berge, Kalvarienberge und Devotionsstätten (in German), Turin: Direktion für Tourismus, Sport und Gärten der Region Piemont, 2003
Walter Brunner (1990), Steirische Kalvarienberge (in German), Graz etc.: Schnider,
ISBN3-900993-02-5
Elisabeth Roth (1967), Der volkreiche Kalvarienberg in Literatur und Bildkunst des Spätmittelalters (in German) (2nd ed.), Berlin: Erich Schmidt – Philologische Studien und Quellen 2,
ISSN0554-0674
Louise-Marie Tillet (1989), Reisewege durch die Bretagne. Calvaires und romanische Kirchen (in German), Würzburg: Echter Verlag,
ISBN3-429-01186-8
Kath. Pfarramt; Maria Himmelfahrt; Johannes Port (1989), Der Kalvarienberg zu Wettenhausen. Gebete und Geschichte einer altehrwürdigen Wallfahrtsstätte (in German), Kammeltal: s. n.
French:
Yves-Pascal Castel (1997), Croix et calvaires en Bretagne. = Kroaziou ha kalvarihou or bro (in French), Trelevenez: Minihi levenez,
ISBN2-908230-09-7 – also in the Breton language
Marc Déceneux (2001), La Bretagne des enclos et des calvaires (in French), Rennes: Ouest-France,
ISBN2-7373-2261-8 – Mémoires de l'histoire
Yannick Pelletier (1996), Les enclos Paroissiaux de Bretagne (in French), Paris: Gisserot – Les universels Gisserot 13,
ZDB-ID2216999-4
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Calvary hills.