Editing Proskynetarion

{{Short description|Term suggesting worship and reverence, and name of several works}}
{{about||the proskynetaria at the side of a road|wayside shrine}}
[[File:Jerusalem Proskynetarion.jpg|thumb|So-called ''Warsaw Proskynetarion'' (pilgrim souvenir icon, c. 1795), [[National Museum, Warsaw|National Museum]] in [[Warsaw]]]]

A '''proskynetarion''' (Greek ''προσκυνητάριον'', plural proskynetaria; from ''προσκύνησις'', [[proskynesis]], lit. 'kiss towards something') is a term suggesting worship and reverence, which has several concrete applications.

==Islamic cultic place or object==
As a rare [[Byzantine]] term meaning "oratory" or "place of worship", it was used for Islamic cultic places or objects.<ref name=Oxford>[https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/oi/authority.20110803100350212 Proskynetarion] in The Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium, via OxfordReference.com. Accessed 24 Feb 2021.</ref>

==Monumental icon==
"Proskynetarion" can mean a monumental [[icon]] of the [[Eastern Orthodox Church]] usually depicting [[Christ]], the [[Mary, the mother of Jesus|Virgin Mary]], or the [[patron saint]] of a church. Proskynetaria were usually made of [[mosaic]] or [[fresco]] in a marble frame and placed on the piers separating the parts of a [[templon]] in a [[Byzantine architecture|Byzantine church]], though proskynetaria of patron saints were often in the [[narthex]] or on the [[nave]] walls.{{cn|date=February 2021}}

==Pilgrim's guide to the Holy Land==
[[File:Serbian Proskynetarion p. 3 - 20.jpg|alt=a Serbian Proskynetarion|thumb|Page from a 1662 Serbian proskynetarion (pilgrim's guide) showing the [[Church of the Holy Sepulchre]]]]

Proskynetaria were also a genre of Orthodox Christian [[Christian pilgrimage|pilgrim]] [[guide book|guides]] to the [[Holy Land]], which appeared in the mid-17th century and flourished during the 18th.<ref name=Bursa>[https://eng.travelogues.gr/collection.php?view=62 Chrysanthus of Bursa. Proskynetarion [Pilgrim's Guide] of Jerusalem] and Palestine. Vienna, Schrämbl, 1807. From ''Travelogues'' website, Aikaterini Laskaridis Foundation. Accessed 24 Feb 2021.</ref> The usually small-format, accessibly written books served as practical itinerary suggestions, with  descriptions of the pilgrimage sites in [[Palestine (region)|Palestine]].<ref name=Bursa/> They were authored either by pilgrims, or by writers who recycled material from existing works.<ref name=Bursa/>

==Souvenir icon for Holy Land pilgrims==
Large icons painted on canvas and sold as souvenirs to Orthodox Christian pilgrims to the Holy Land.<ref name=Immerzeel>{{cite book |last= Immerzeel |first= Mat |title= Souvenirs of the Holy Land. The Production of Proskynetaria in Jerusalem |page= 40 |work= International Conference: Visual Constructs of Jerusalem: Jerusalem, November 14 - 20, 2010: Abstracts Booklet |url= http://www.spectrum.huji.ac.il/PDF/Visual%20Constrtucts%20abstracts.pdf |access-date= 24 February 2021}}</ref> They depicted a topographic overview of Christian holy sites, with the [[Old city, Jerusalem|walled city of Jerusalem]] and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre placed at the centre.<ref name=Immerzeel/> They represent the most visually attractive genre of the flourishing local icon industry from the late Ottoman period, 19th-century artists from Palestine dominating the pilgrim souvenir production also in [[Egypt]] and [[Syria]].<ref name=Immerzeel/> Possibly first created in the second half of the 17th century, the oldest specimen preserved among the several hundred surviving examples is from 1704.<ref name=Immerzeel/> In the first half of the 19th century the pattern changed, replacing the topographic depiction with a patchwork of icons, still centred around the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and the [[Holy Fire]] ceremony, but surrounded by scenes from the [[Life of Jesus in the New Testament|life of Christ]] and the [[Akathistos Hymn]] of the [[Theotokos]].<ref name=Immerzeel/> Cheap prints rang death knell of the painted proskynetaria by the end the 19th century.<ref name=Immerzeel/>

==Wayside proskynetaria==
{{main|wayside shrine}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

== Further reading ==
{{Cite journal|last=Arad|first=Pnina|date=2018|title=Landscape and Iconicity: "Proskynetaria" of the Holy Land from the Ottoman Period|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/44972822|journal=The Art Bulletin|volume=100|issue=4|pages=62–80|doi=10.1080/00043079.2018.1464359 |jstor=44972822 |s2cid=192727550 |issn=0004-3079|url-access=subscription}}

[[Category:Christian iconography]]
[[Category:Eastern Orthodox icons]]
[[Category:Church architecture]]
[[Category:Non-fiction literature]]
[[Category:Travel writing]]