Besara Cathedral
The cathedral has been destroyed and rebuilt several times because of earthquakes and eruptions of the nearby Hellish Peak. It was originally constructed in over fifteen years beginning in 578, on the ruins of a bathhouse destroyed by one of the frequent earthquakes. At the time it looked as much a fort as a religious building.
In 659, it was almost entirely destroyed by an earthquake, leaving only the catacombs beneath the cathedral intact. Further damage was caused by a fire later in the same year.
Today, traces of the original edifice include the lower level of two towers composed of large lava stones.
The cathedral has a wide nave leading to eleven small apses, representing the eleven heads of Gama.
The apses date back to the original construction: they each features a mullioned window in the color of the head of Gama they represent. The catacombs beneath the cathedral house the tombs of prominent members of the ruling families of Besara dating back to the city's founding, with the bodies of those entombed before the building of the cathedral being relocated at the time of the original construction.
Comments