Greek Orthodox Community of Melbourne and Victoria

Lecturer: Dr Ursula Betka.
Entry:Free.

The lecture focuses on the Greek-Byzantine Empire between the 4^th to the 12^th centuries in Syria where an extensive Christian culture developed.

We examine the emergence of a distinctively eastern style of monasticism such as at Deir Ma Mousa monastery overlooking the Great Syrian Desert, and the importance of pilgrimage – exemplified in the vast church-shrine of St Simeon Stylite, built by Emperor Zeno in the 5^th century.

Also preserved in the Christian village of Maaloula are two early-Byzantine monastic communities dedicated respectively to Sts Sergius and Bacchus and St Thekla; they continue to survive today.

The vast region known as the 'Dead Cities' in northern Syria is also one of the greatest storehouses of early-Byzantine architecture in the ancient world. We study in particular, the remarkably well-preserved ‘dead cities’ of Serjilla and Al-Bara.

Biography

Dr Ursula Betka lectures in Medieval Art History at La Trobe University and has a special interest in Byzantine Art and culture. She has travelled extensively through the Middle East, studying the early and middle-Byzantine art and architecture of the region.

Ursula is also a practicing Iconographer and regularly teaches courses on Byzantine Icon painting at the Centre of Adult Education (CAE) in Melbourne.