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A templon (from Greek τέμπλον meaning "temple", plural ''templa'') is a feature of Byzantine churches consisting of a barrier separating the nave from the sacraments at the altar. The solid templon first appeared in Christian churches around the 5th century and is still found in many Eastern Christian churches. Initially it was a low barrier probably not much different from the altar rails of many Western churches. It eventually evolved into the modern iconostasis, still found in Orthodox churches today. It is usually composed of carved wood or marble colonnettes supporting an architrave (a beam resting on top of columns). Three doors, a large central one and two smaller flanking ones, lead into the sanctuary. The templon did not originally obscure the view of the altar, but as time passed, icons were hung from the beams, curtains were placed in between the colonnettes, and the templon became more opaque. In modern Orthodox churches, it is common for the openings of the templa to be constructed specifically to contain icons. ==Origins== The templon most likely has an independent origin from that of Latin chancel barriers. Classical stage architecture is one possible source. At certain times during Byzantine history, theater heavily influenced painting and sculpture. Architects then, influenced by stage backdrops dating back to Sophocles, consciously imitated the classical proscenium (the backdrop of a classical Greek stage), copying the multiple columns punctuated by a large door in the middle and two smaller doors to each side. The statues on top of the backdrop would thus be analogous to the icons of the saints looking down.〔Strzygowski, Josef. "A Sarcophagus of the Sidamara Type ... and the Influence of Stage Architecture upon the Art of Antioch." ''The Journal of Hellenic Studies'', Vol. 27 (1907). 99–122.〕 The similarities, however, are probably only visual. Although classical drama was performed in Constantinople, the capital of the Byzantine Empire, during the 5th and 6th century when the first templa appear, when Christian liturgy was first being developed, the plays and their architecture had lost their importance and could not have influenced Christian ritual. A much more plausible theory is that the templon models in both form and content the decorative wall of the Torah screen in Jewish synagogues of the 2nd and 3rd centuries. These, too, had three main divisions: a central door leading to the altar, smaller flanking passages, and a distribution of parts similar to a templon. The Torah screen was probably not the direct prototype of the templon; it probably derives from the imitation of the Torah screen in the altar of a typical Syrian pagan temple.〔Swift, Emerson Howland. ''Hagia Sophia''. Columbia University Press, New York, 1940.〕 A direct comparison can also be made to the layout of the great Temple in Jerusalem. That Temple was designed with three parts. The holiest and inner-most portion was that where the Ark of the Covenant was kept. This portion, the Holy of Holies, was separated from the second larger part of the building's interior by a curtain, the "veil of the temple". Only priests were allowed to enter the Holy of Holies. The third part was the entrance court. This architectural tradition for the two main parts can be seen carried forward in Christian churches and is still most demonstratively present in Eastern Orthodox churches where the iconostatsis divides the altar, the Holy of Holies containing the consecrated Eucharist - the manifestation of the New Covenant, from the larger portion of the church accessible to the faithful. In the Eastern Orthodox tradition only men can enter the altar portion behind the iconostasis. Barriers called templons in Greek were also used on occasions when the Roman Emperors appeared in public, to segregate the Imperial retinue from the crowd.〔Maria Cheremeteff in Leong, Albert ed.;''The Millennium: Christianity and Russia, A.D. 988–1988''; p.108-110; 1990; St Vladimir's Seminary Press;ISBN 0-88141-080-2〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Templon」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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