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Illustrated Dictionary of British Churches - Reliquary Definition

History and Architecture

Reliquary

A container used to hold holy relics, usually of a saint. Generally only large churches, cathedrals, and monasteries would have such relics, and they would usually become popular pilgrimage destinations for people coming to pray to the saint in question. A reliquary could be practically any type of container, but were frequently ornately decorated chests of boxes, like the one on disply at St David's Cathedral in Wales. Many reliquaries were destroyed during the Reformation, and few that survived are on public display because they are so valuable.




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Free entry to National Trust properties throughout England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, plus discounted admission to National Trust for Scotland properties.

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HISTORY CORNER

Name the Historic attraction

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British History Quiz

The Declaration of Arbroath asserted the independence of what country?



This Day in British History

08 June, 793

Vikings sack Lindisfarne

Vikings sacked Lindisfarne, Northumbria. This Viking raid was part of ongoing Viking attacks that forced the monks of Lindisfarne to abandon their monastery and take the body of St Dunstan on a journey that eventually ended at Durham Cathedral.

Monarch Mayhem

His nickname meant 'ill council'



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