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A memorial cross (sometimes called an intending cross) is a
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A memorial cross (sometimes called an intending cross) is a cross
A cross is a geometrical figure consisting of two intersecting lines or bars, usually perpendicular to each other. The lines usually run vertically and horizontally. A cross of oblique lines, in the shape of the Latin letter X, is termed a sa ...
-shaped memorial
A memorial is an object or place which serves as a focus for the memory or the commemoration of something, usually an influential, deceased person or a historical, tragic event. Popular forms of memorials include landmark objects or works of a ...
to commemorate a special event or an incident, typically where one or more people died. It may also be a simple form of headstone
A headstone, tombstone, or gravestone is a stele or marker, usually stone, that is placed over a grave. It is traditional for burials in the Christian, Jewish, and Muslim religions, among others. In most cases, it has the deceased's name, da ...
to commemorate the dead.
File
InEngland
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
King Edward I
Edward I (17/18 June 1239 – 7 July 1307), also known as Edward Longshanks and the Hammer of the Scots, was King of England and Lord of Ireland from 1272 to 1307. Concurrently, he ruled the duchies of Aquitaine and Gascony as a vassal o ...
had memorial crosses, the so-called Eleanor Cross
The Eleanor crosses were a series of twelve tall and lavishly decorated stone monuments topped with crosses erected in a line down part of the east of England. King Edward I had them built between 1291 and about 1295 in memory of his beloved wi ...
es, erected in memory of his wife Eleanor of Castile
Eleanor of Castile (1241 – 28 November 1290) was Queen of England as the first wife of Edward I, whom she married as part of a political deal to affirm English sovereignty over Gascony.
The marriage was known to be particularly close, and ...
who died in November 1290. Three of the original twelve crosses have survived.
In Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
today, the custom has arisen of erecting crosses (''Unfallkreuze'' or "accident crosses") as roadside memorials at the spot where someone has been killed. These are maintained for shorter or longer periods of time and decorated e.g. with flowers or candles. In South Germany
Southern Germany () is a region of Germany which has no exact boundary, but is generally taken to include the areas in which Upper German dialects are spoken, historically the stem duchies of Bavaria and Swabia or, in a modern context, Bavaria ...
, especially in Bavaria
Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...
, memorial crosses exist for those who died several generations ago. Some of these crosses are at very remote places. These, too, usually commemorate a fatal accident. These roadside memorial crosses should not be confused with wayside cross
Wayside may refer to:
* Wayobjects, trackside objects
*Wayside (band), an early version of As Friends Rust
* ''Wayside'' (TV series), a television show based on the children's book ''Sideways Stories from Wayside School''
*A rest area
Places
; ...
es, which are erected in the Bavarian region on the edge of paths and tracks, and are there simply to give walkers the opportunity to say a short prayer
Prayer is an invocation or act that seeks to activate a rapport with an object of worship through deliberate communication. In the narrow sense, the term refers to an act of supplication or intercession directed towards a deity or a deified a ...
.
In the US, makeshift crosses are often placed at the scenes of car accidents where someone died, or at the scene of a death due to violence. White crosses are frequently seen along interstate highway
The Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways, commonly known as the Interstate Highway System, is a network of controlled-access highways that forms part of the National Highway System in the United States. Th ...
s and other roads. Friends, family, or other visitors may decorate the area with photos of the deceased, flowers, toys (when the deceased was a small child), and other meaningful memorabilia. Other memorial crosses commemorate war dead and victims of terrorism.
The tallest memorial cross in the world at 152.4 metres is the Monumento Nacional de Santa Cruz del Valle de los Caidos
The Valley of the Fallen (Spanish: Valle de los Caídos; ) is a Catholic basilica and a monumental memorial in the municipality of San Lorenzo de El Escorial, erected at Cuelgamuros Valley in the Sierra de Guadarrama, near Madrid. Dictator Fr ...
near El Escorial
El Escorial, or the Royal Site of San Lorenzo de El Escorial ( es, Monasterio y Sitio de El Escorial en Madrid), or Monasterio del Escorial (), is a historical residence of the King of Spain located in the town of San Lorenzo de El Escorial, u ...
in Spain
, image_flag = Bandera de España.svg
, image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg
, national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond")
, national_anthem = (English: "Royal March")
, i ...
.
Intending crosses
*Ostlandkreuz
Ostlandkreuz (German for "Eastern Lands Cross") or Kreuz des deutschen Ostens ("Cross of the German East") is the name of memorial crosses in Germany remembering the large-scale Ethnic cleansing of Central and Eastern Europe of its German-speaki ...
*Prince Imperial Memorial
The Prince Imperial Memorial is a memorial cross and battlefield in Nqutu, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. It is dedicated to Napoléon, Prince Imperial of France who made his last stand on the site in 1879 and was built on the spot where he di ...
*Ruckenkreuz
The Ruckenkreuz (Rucken Cross) is an 8.4 metre tall, 2.80 metre wide memorial cross of reinforced concrete. It stands on a rocky mountain at Blaubeuren, Baden-Württemberg, Germany, in memory of the inhabitants of Blaubeuren killed in World War ...
See also
*Monumental crosses
This is a list of notable monumental crosses.
Planned projectsFamily Worship Center Cairo, Ga, USA, 45.72 m, announced 2020
* Cross of Blaszki, Poland, 100 * Constantine the Great Cross, Serbia, 80 m, abandoned
* Kraljevo Cross, Kraljevo, S ...
*Eleanor cross
The Eleanor crosses were a series of twelve tall and lavishly decorated stone monuments topped with crosses erected in a line down part of the east of England. King Edward I had them built between 1291 and about 1295 in memory of his beloved wi ...
*Roadside memorial
A roadside memorial is a marker that usually commemorates a site where a person died suddenly and unexpectedly, away from home. Unlike a grave site headstone, which marks where a body is laid, the memorial marks the last place on earth where a ...
*Tottenham High Cross
Tottenham High Cross was erected in Tottenham sometime between 1600 and 1609 by Owen Wood, Dean of Armagh, on the site of a wooden wayside cross first mentioned in 1409, and marks what was the centre of Tottenham Village. There is some specula ...
*Mount Samat
Mount Samat () is a mountain in the town of Pilar, Bataan, Philippines. Located near its summit is the Mount Samat National Shrine, a national shrine dedicated to the fallen Filipino and American fallen during World War II.
Geology
Mount Samat ...
*Monument to fallen Shipyard Workers
The Monument to the fallen Shipyard Workers 1970 ( pl, Pomnik Poległych Stoczniowców 1970) was unveiled on 16 December 1980 near the entrance to what was then the Lenin Shipyard in Gdańsk, Poland. It commemorates the 42 or more people kille ...
References
External links
* {{Christian crosses Monuments and memorials Crosses by function