Proskynetarion

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.^[1]

Monumental icon

"Proskynetarion" can mean a monumental

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 church, though proskynetaria of patron saints were often in the narthex or on the nave walls.^{[citation needed}

]

Pilgrim's guide to the Holy Land

Proskynetaria were also a genre of Orthodox Christian pilgrim guides to the Holy Land, which appeared in the mid-17th century and flourished during the 18th.^[2] The usually small-format, accessibly written books served as practical itinerary suggestions, with descriptions of the pilgrimage sites in Palestine.^[2] They were authored either by pilgrims, or by writers who recycled material from existing works.^[2]

Souvenir icon for Holy Land pilgrims

Large icons painted on canvas and sold as souvenirs to Orthodox Christian pilgrims to the Holy Land.

Akathistos Hymn of the Theotokos.^[3] Cheap prints rang death knell of the painted proskynetaria by the end the 19th century.^[3]

Wayside proskynetaria

References

^ Proskynetarion in The Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium, via OxfordReference.com. Accessed 24 Feb 2021.
^ ^a ^b ^c Chrysanthus of Bursa. Proskynetarion [Pilgrim's Guide of Jerusalem] and Palestine. Vienna, Schrämbl, 1807. From Travelogues website, Aikaterini Laskaridis Foundation. Accessed 24 Feb 2021.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Immerzeel, Mat. Souvenirs of the Holy Land. The Production of Proskynetaria in Jerusalem (PDF). p. 40. Retrieved 24 February 2021. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)