Stt. Peter and Paul Rotunda at Budeč: Survey on architectural traditions of Pre-Romanesque central-plan churches in Central Europe
Abstract
Stt Peter and Paul Rotunda at Budeč Stronghold, being built around the turn of 9th/10th centuries, represents the oldest Christian architecture in Bohemia preserved in its original masonry up to the present days. Thus, it provides a good case study for the scientific discussion on the provenance of the architectural traditions of Pre-Romanesque rotundas in Bohemia, which has been held among art-historians since the 19th century.
The subject of that discussion has a particular potential for the research on past "European integration" illustrating Early Medieval cultural streams and communication network; as well as might it bring some light to the process of European Christianisation. The previous discussion was however affected above all by the contemporary informational basis, but also by historical paradigms and public orders.
In my research, I am going to access the topic with an alternative approach based on a critical assessment of the preliminary discussion. Further, I am conducting a complex revision of the archaeological and structural surveys of the Stt Peter and Paul rotunda.
Finally, I will set the Bohemian rotundas in a broader European context focusing on particular elements, as their social environment and settlement contexts. This poster presents the actual results of my research and discuss the possible ways for further investigation.