Martin M. Miles' photos with the keyword: naked

Otranto occupies the site of an ancient Greek city. It gained importance in Roman times, as it was the nearest port to the eastern coast of the Adriatic Sea. After the end of the Roman Empire, it was in the hands of the Byzantine emperors until it surrendered to the Norman troops of Robert Guiscard in 1068. The Normans fortified the city and built the cathedral, that got consecrated in 1088. When Henry VI., son of Emperor Frederick Barbarossa, married Constanze of Sicily in 1186 Otranto came under the rule of the Hohenstaufen and later in the hands of Ferdinand I of Aragón, King of Naples. Between 1480 and 1481 the "Ottoman invasion" took place here. Troops of the Ottoman Empire invaded and laid siege to the city and its citadel. Legends tell that more than 800 inhabitants were beheaded after the city was captured. The "Martyrs of Otranto" are still celebrated in Italy, their skulls are on display in the cathedral. A year later the Ottoman garrison surrendered the city following a siege by Christian forces and the intervention of Papal forces. - Otranto had been one of the last Byzantine strongholds in Apulia, but finally Robert Guiscard could take it. It had probably been such a stronghold, as Otranto had hosted an autocephalous bishopric, only dependent of the patriarchal see of Byzantium since 968. So (Roman) Catholicism had to perform something "convincing" for the so long (Byzantine) Orthodox christians. One was to erect a huge church. The Otranto Cathedral was erected, over ruins of a Paleo-christian church from 1080 on and was consecrated in 1088. It is 54 metres long by 25 metres wide and is built on 42 monolithic granite and marble columns. I had come to Otranto, to see the mosaic. I had planned to stay one night in Otranto, I spent three nights - and still had not seen all the details. I was so overwhelmed, that I took hundreds of photos, but the mosaic is "endless". I will upload only a couple. It was created by a monk named Pantaleon and his workshop between 1163 and 1165. Pantaleon lived at the monastery San Nicola di Casole, located a few kilometres south of Otranto. The mosaic covers the nave, both aisles, the apse and the presbytery. This sums up to a total of 1596 m². About 10 000000 (10 million!) "tesserae" were used. There are scholars, who have counted up to 700 different "stories", that are told here. Though, these "stories" are often disputed, as today's interpretations are mostly very "vague". German historian Carl Arnold Willemsen published the most important book about the mosaic in Italian " L'enigma di Otranto", that since the 1970s is translated in many languages. I followed his theories. I could not get the right distance here... A naked man sits sideways on a horse, that moves to the left. He blows a long horn. The horse's tail is artfully plaited with the tail of another horse, that moves to the right. Behind that horse stands a woman in a long golden gown and blows a horn as well.

The church, dedicated to Saint-Caprais (aka "Caprais d'Agen"), Bishop of Agen, martyred in the 4th century, is located at the confluence of the rivers Nea and Dordogne. The original design (nave and transepts) dates to the 12th century. During the 15th century two aisles were added to the (once) single nave church. Three chapels were added later. Renovations started in the late 19th century and continued through the first half of the 20th. Nice corbels under the roof of the 12th-century-apse. Here is a contortionist, who of course is very flexible. He may be nude, but I´m not sure.

The Benedictian Abbey of Guîtres (20kms south) had founded priory next to a little river here. Within the first half of the 12th century this small, but wonderful Romanesque church was erected from the local white stones. The structure is surprisingly complete, only the small "belltower" in the west was added later. Today Saint-Martin is a parish church, surrounded by the graveyard. The facade in the "style saintongue" is a bit weathered, just like the carvings especially around the capitals of the chevet. Sheela na gigs are not that abundant in France as they may be in Britain. I am not sure, whether she is one. But she is - explicit naked. What may connect her to the nude dancer(s) and the lovers under the roof of this church. There is durprisingly much of this profane stuff on an old priory church.

The Benedictian Abbey of Guîtres (20kms south) had founded priory next to a little river here. Within the first half of the 12th century this small, but wonderful Romanesque church was erected from the local white stones. The structure is surprisingly complete, only the small "belltower" in the west was added later. Today Saint-Martin is a parish church, surrounded by the graveyard. The facade in the "style saintongue" is a bit weathered, just like the carvings especially around the capitals of the chevet. Here are (at least) three persons doing a kind of line-dance. While the person to the right wears a skirt, the guy in the center seems to be naked.