Immured Vessels
in Byzantine and Post-Byzantine Ecclesiastical Monuments of Greece

In the ever increasing range of scientific research into aspects of the material culture of past societies, ceramic studies flourish in particular. The study of immured vessels (bacini) is an important way of obtaining a detailed appreciation of an aspect of the rich material culture to be found in Greece, as the material acts as a kind of open-air museum display of medieval and modern glazed pottery.
The goal of the research programme “Immured vessels in Byzantine and Post-Byzantine churches of Greece: An online corpus” is to locate the churches of Greece with façades decorated with immured clay vessels, to record these objects in an analytical process of documentation, to preserve the information in a common/open database and so to provide a basis for further synthetic and broad-based research. From this data there emerge matters of the dissemination of the material in its various forms, of commercial contacts and communication. Concerning the churches they adorn, the vessels once identified can assist enquiries into the dating of edifices; they also illustrate the interaction and coexistence of the past architectural structures and religious monuments with any newer and even modern interventions.
The research programme was initiated by the Institute of Historical Research of the National Hellenic Research Foundation with the collaboration of the respective Ephorates of Antiquities in the Hellenic Ministry of Culture and Sports. The programme started in 2011 and is still in progress.

Of all the material that has emerged under this collaboration, the registered user can have access to a selection. This information offers a representative view concerning the diffusion of the practice in specific areas of Greece, the most common patterns in which the vessels are placed on church façades and to the different categories of glazed wares used as bacini.

The contribution of the Foundation for Education and European Culture (IPEP) (Founders: N. Trichas and L. Trichas) to the needs of the programme was significant.

Coordinator of the programme: Anastasia G. Yangaki.

For reference to the database, please use: Immured Vessels in Byzantine and Post-Byzantine Churches of Greece: An online corpus, Yangaki, A. (gen. ed.) (Date, Month, Year accessed).
For reference to a particular entry: Yangaki, A. (gen. ed.), Immured Vessels in Byzantine and Post-Byzantine Churches of Crete: An online corpus, entry’s title (entry’s name of author) (Date, Month, Year accessed).
Please, consult also the ‘Terms and Conditions of Use’.