Martyrium

For the album, see Martyrium (album).
"Martyry" redirects here. For the act of martyrdom, see Martyr.

The largely 5th-century interior of Santo Stefano Rotondo in Rome

A martyrium (Latin) or martyrion (Greek) (pl.: martyria), sometimes anglicized martyry (pl.: "martyries"), is a church or shrine built over the tomb of a Christian martyr. It is associated with a specific architectural form, centered on a central element and thus built on a central plan, that is, of a circular or sometimes octagonal or cruciform shape.[1]

  1. ^ Bowersock, Glen; Brown, Peter; Grabar, Oleg (1999). Late Antiquity: A Guide to the Postclassical World. Harvard University Press Reference Library (Book 9). Cambridge, Massachusetts: Belknap Press. p. 376. ISBN 978-0674511736. Retrieved 1 December 2015. central church martyrium octagonal.