Builders' rites
Ceremonies for foundation stones and construction milestones.
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Builders' rites are ceremonies associated with the laying of foundation stones and other construction milestones. They include ecclesiastical, masonic, and other traditions, such as placing coins and newspapers beneath a stone or the topping out ceremony when the last beam is set in place.
Quick Facts
- Bridge of arta constructed
- 1602
Facts from the source article.
History
Nineteenth- and early twentieth-century historians and folklorists were intrigued by possible foundation sacrifices. Jacob Grimm noted that live animals and even humans were sometimes entombed in foundations to ensure stability.
Sabine Baring-Gould stated that the old pagan laid foundations in blood. Greek folk culture includes a poem about Arta's bridge, where the chief builder's wife was sacrificed for a good foundation. A similar Romanian legend, Meșterul Manole, concerns the building of a church in the earliest Wallachian capital.
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Sources
Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.
- Wikipedia: Builders' rites (CC BY-SA 4.0).
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