Konstantin Akinsha gives a working paper on ‚Writing the Fifth Gospel. Interbellum. The beginning of WWII.‘

The project is analyzing the notion of the holy places belonging to the sacred geography of the Holy Land. After the Establishment of the British Mandate for Palestine numerous churches and sanctuaries were erected on the important Biblical sites. Architect Antonio Barluzzi, who created the majority of the new churches developed quite specific architectural style, which could be defined as the style of emotional illusions. His architecture of experience produced with the help of different tricks and devices didn’t have comparable example in the European tradition.
On the eve of WW2 the Catholic authorities dreamed about Italian occupation of Palestine and Rome domination in the Holy Land. Such dreams manifested themselves in the project of the gigantic Cathedral of the Holy Sepulchre, which had to replace the old church and to change forever both the cityscape and structure of Jerusalem.