Burial Church

""The Chiesa Madre of S. Maria Assunta at Laurenzana (PZ, Basilicata, Italy) was a middle-age church, named in medieval documents Sancta Maria de Plataeis; the first mention is in Suebian age, under the emperor Friedrich II Hoenstaufen; a new building phase was at XVI-XVII century, with the expansion on North side. The third phase was in second part of XVIII century.
The life of the church was accompanied by the burial use of the underground rooms, under the floor of the building; the particular burial condition have helped the natural mummification of the deads. Many damages were caused by the earthquake of 1980.""

The article discusses burials of Russian military leaders inside churches in XVIII—XIX centuries. The author analyzes social and religious motives were changed over centuries and served as the basis for creating a memorial memory of domestic commanders, regardless of their social and ecclesiastical status.

During the eighteenth century many small burial churches were built by private persons in Russian monasteries, usually on existing tombs. Monasteries have been prestigious places for burial and commemoration of the dead in Russia since the Middle Ages. Church burial in the Orthodox tradition is often treated as an ambiguous practice placed somewhere between piety and pride. Only the members of ruling dynasties and the higher clergy seem to have the undoubted right to be buried in a church. In spite of this, since the sixteenth century many Russian nobles and wealthy merchants were buried in the above-mentioned way, usually for being church founders. The reasons to build small and short-lived burial churches were to evade the prohibition of building small “cabin” chapels on the graves and not only to be buried in a church but also to become a church founder, receiving greater spiritual benefits and the guaranteed right to church burial.

The article deals with the church founding activity in the country estates and choice of the place of burial in 18th-19th centuries of the nobles Kozhins, the relatives of St. Macarius of Kaliazin, as religious commemorative practices. Draws attention the significant number and great architectural quality of the churches built by Kozhins. In 18th century the most Kozhins were buried in churches in their estates, and in 19th century the most of them turn to burial in the monasteries outside churches.