Fragment of the True Cross

This seems an appropriate choice as I'm back-blipping but posting on Good Friday. On our way up to Dublin we took several detours including a visit to Holy Cross - an abbey which has not one but two relics containing fragments of the True Cross or Holy Rood. This one is in a beautiful reliquary and was presented to the abbey by Queen Isabella of Angoulême around 1233 - or so one of the stories go.  Over the centuries it was an important place of pilgrimage and although restored in the 1970s, it's a very tranquil and special place. The reliquary recieved special authentication from the Pope in 1977 and in 2011 it was stolen by masked raiders wielding an angle grinder. It mysteriously turned up again the following year and once again is on display. 
The reliquary is made of silver with a rather beautiful garnet stone - the four apostles are in each corner and I like the little cross shaped door that allows the fragment to be revealed. Whatever you believe, a remarkable object.

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