Best 9th Century

Piazza San Marco is the principal public square of Venice, Italy, positioned at the heart of the city's historic center. Enclosed on three sides by the Procuratie buildings and opening toward the Basilica di San Marco and the Doge's Palace, the square has served as the political, religious, and soci...

El Castillo, or the Temple of Kukulcan, is a monumental step pyramid at the ancient Maya city of Chichen Itza in Mexico's Yucatán Peninsula. Built between the 9th and 12th centuries, the structure functions as an architectural calendar with 365 steps representing the days of the solar year. It is re...

The Great Mosque of Samarra is a large 9th-century mosque located in Samarra, Iraq. Commissioned by the Abbasid caliph Al-Mutawakkil, it was once one of the largest mosques in the Islamic world. The structure's most recognizable feature is its Malwiya Minaret, a massive spiraling cone that stands ov...

The Utrecht Psalter is a ninth-century Carolingian manuscript produced near Reims, probably between about 820 and 835. It contains the Latin text of the Psalms and is distinguished by lively pen-and-ink illustrations that translate phrases and metaphors into densely populated scenes. Now held by Utr...

King Alfred the Great (849–899) was the Anglo-Saxon King of Wessex who halted the Viking conquest of England, promoted literacy and legal reform, and is the only English monarch to be called 'the Great'.

Al-Qarawiyyin Mosque is a historic landmark located in Fez, Morocco. Established in 859 CE by Fatima al-Fihri, it served as the foundation for the world’s oldest continually operating educational institution, the University of al-Qarawiyyin. The mosque remains an important site for scholars and reli...

The Great Mosque of Kairouan represents one of Islam’s earliest structures in North Africa. Built initially in 670 CE and significantly rebuilt in 836 CE under Uqba ibn Nafi, it is notable as the oldest mosque within the Maghreb region. Its design profoundly influenced subsequent mosques across Nort...

The Codex Aureus of Lorsch, also called the Lorsch Gospels, is an illuminated Carolingian Gospel book produced around the beginning of the ninth century, probably at the court of Charlemagne. Its text is written in gold ink, accompanied by decorated pages, canon tables, and evangelist portraits infl...

The Vivian Bible, also known as the First Bible of Charles the Bald, is a 9th-century Carolingian illuminated manuscript produced at the Abbey of Saint Martin at Tours around 845-846. Count Vivian, the abbey's lay abbot, presented it to Charles the Bald, whose enthroned portrait appears in the volum...

The Derrynaflan Paten is a large silver liturgical dish discovered alongside other artifacts in the Derrynaflan Hoard in County Tipperary, Ireland, in 1980. It dates to the 8th or 9th century and was used to hold bread during the Eucharist. The paten is highly significant as a surviving example of e...

The Ibn Tulun Mosque stands as Cairo’s oldest original mosque, constructed in 876 by Ahmad ibn Tulun. This Abbasid-era structure is notable for its expansive courtyard and distinctive spiral minaret, a prominent example of 9th-century Islamic architecture. It remains a significant historical landmar...

The Codex Aureus of St. Emmeram is a richly illuminated Carolingian Gospel book produced around 870 for Emperor Charles the Bald. Written extensively in gold ink, it contains portraits of the Evangelists, decorated canon tables, and images connecting imperial authority with Christian rulership. Its...

The Vienna Coronation Gospels is a richly produced Carolingian Gospel book made around 800, probably for Charlemagne's court. Written in gold ink on purple-dyed parchment, it is distinguished by evangelist portraits modeled on classical and Late Antique painting rather than the more linear style of...

The Lorsch Gospels, also called the Codex Aureus of Lorsch, is a richly illuminated Gospel book made around the beginning of the ninth century during the Carolingian Renaissance. Written in gold ink and associated with the court school of Charlemagne, it contains portraits, decorated canon tables, a...

The Ebbo Gospels is an illuminated Carolingian Gospel book made at the Abbey of Hautvillers for Ebbo, archbishop of Reims, during the first half of the 9th century. Its portraits of the four Evangelists use rapid, agitated lines, swirling drapery, and intensely expressive poses rather than the calme...

The Homilies of Gregory of Nazianzus, catalogued as Bibliotheque nationale de France grec 510, is a richly illuminated Byzantine manuscript produced in Constantinople around 879 to 882. It contains Greek texts by the fourth-century theologian Gregory of Nazianzus and numerous full-page miniatures il...

The Moutier-Grandval Bible is a large illustrated Latin Bible produced around 840 at the monastery of Saint Martin in Tours. It belongs to a group of Carolingian Bibles made under the influence of Alcuin's revised Vulgate text and contains full-page narrative illustrations, decorated canon tables, a...

The Chludov Psalter is a ninth-century Byzantine illuminated manuscript containing the Greek text of the Psalms accompanied by extensive marginal illustrations. Produced during or shortly after the end of Byzantine Iconoclasm, many of its images defend the veneration of icons and compare iconoclasts...

The Khludov Psalter is an illustrated Byzantine manuscript produced in Greek around the middle of the ninth century. Now held by the State Historical Museum in Moscow, it is especially notable for marginal images that comment directly on the Byzantine Iconoclast controversy, often comparing iconocla...

Bakong Temple is a 9th-century Khmer temple mountain located in the Roluos group of the Angkor region in Cambodia. Commissioned by King Indravarman I and consecrated in 881 CE, it was dedicated to the Hindu god Shiva and functioned as the state temple of the capital Hariharalaya. The structure is de...

The Dazu Rock Carvings are a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Dazu District, Chongqing, China, comprising over 50,000 religious stone statues across approximately 75 protected sites. The carvings were created between the 7th and 13th centuries, spanning the Tang, Five Dynasties, and Song periods, and i...

The Drogo Sacramentary is a ninth-century illuminated liturgical manuscript made around 845 for Drogo, bishop of Metz and a son of Charlemagne. It contains prayers used by a celebrant during Mass and is distinguished by richly decorated historiated initials that integrate biblical scenes into the le...

The Lindau Gospels is a 9th-century illuminated manuscript notable for its jewel-encrusted gold front cover, an outstanding example of Carolingian metalwork, now held at the Morgan Library in New York.

The Stuttgart Psalter is an extensively illustrated Carolingian manuscript of the Book of Psalms, produced in the early ninth century and preserved at the Württemberg State Library in Stuttgart. Its numerous illustrations accompany individual psalm passages with biblical, liturgical, military, agric...

The Zaytuna Mosque stands as a significant historical landmark in Tunis, Tunisia. Constructed around 900 CE during the Aghlabid period, it represents one of North Africa’s earliest mosques. For centuries, it served as the center for the Zaytuna University, a renowned institution that profoundly infl...

The stone throne in Aachen Cathedral, Germany, used for the coronation of at least thirty Holy Roman Emperors from 936 onward, originally commissioned by or associated with Charlemagne in the late 8th century.

The Abu Dulaf Mosque is a 9th-century Abbasid-era mosque located near Samarra, Iraq, commissioned during the reign of Caliph Al-Mutawakkil. It is among the largest mosques ever constructed in the Islamic world, with a vast central courtyard surrounded by hypostyle prayer halls. Its most distinctive...

The San Paolo Bible is a large illuminated Carolingian Bible produced in the late 9th century and preserved at the Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls in Rome. Its extensive decoration includes canon tables, portraits, narrative miniatures, and richly ornamented initials. The manuscript is an i...

The Al-Askari Mosque in Samarra, Iraq is a significant Shia Islamic shrine housing the tombs of the Fatimid caliphs al-Mu’izz li-Dīn Allah and his son al-Mustansir Billah. Constructed in the 9th century, it's notable for its golden dome, rebuilt after extensive damage. It serves as an important pilg...