|
|
15:9 ·
This is the Russian cross, the Greek-Russian cross or the cross of the Russian Orthotox Church. It was first used by Byzantine artists. When the Roman Empire started to disintegrate the Goths (a Germanic people from south Sweden and the Baltic coast) migrated into the empire. This was one of the reasons why it split in A.D. 394 into West Rome and the Eastern Empire with Byzanthium or Constantinople (Istanbul) as its capital.
According to certain sources, the diagonal beam was meant to represent the robber who was crucified on the right side of Christ and ascended with Him to Heaven. Another interpretation suggests that the beam was added to the cross of the Greek-Orthodox Church,  , because it symbolized the main saint of Russia, St. Andrew, who was crucified on a torture rack in the form of diagonally crossed beams.
|
