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Do not fill this in! ===Various relics and traditions=== ==== Right hand – St. John the Baptist Church of Chinsurah (India) ==== The saint's right hand is allegedly preserved in the Armenian Apostolic Church of St. John at Chinsurah, [[West Bengal]], in India, where each year on "Chinsurah Day" in January it blesses the [[Armenian Apostolic Church|Armenian Christians]] of [[Kolkata|Calcutta]]. ====Decapitation cloth==== The decapitation cloth of Saint John, the cloth which covered his head after his execution, is said to be kept at the [[Aachen Cathedral]], in Germany.<ref>{{Cite web|title=The relics {{!}} Heiligtumsfahrt 2021|url=https://heiligtumsfahrt-aachen.de/en/the-aachen-pilgrimage/the-relics/|access-date=14 August 2021|website=heiligtumsfahrt-aachen.de|archive-date=14 August 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210814205658/https://heiligtumsfahrt-aachen.de/en/the-aachen-pilgrimage/the-relics/|url-status=dead}}</ref> ====Historic Armenia==== [[File:Surp Garabed Vank (Hampikian, 1923).jpg|thumb|[[Saint Karapet Monastery]], where Armenian tradition holds that his remains were laid to rest by Gregory the Illuminator<ref name="Kharatyan">{{cite book|last1=Kharatyan|first1=Lusine|url=http://www.anadolukultur.org/images/UserFiles/Documents/Editor/Moush_Sweet_Moush.pdf|title=Moush, sweet Moush: Mapping Memories from Armenia and Turkey|last2=Keskin|first2=Ismail|last3=Keshishyan|first3=Avetis|last4=Ozturk|first4=S. Aykut|last5=Khachatryan|first5=Nane|last6=Albayrak|first6=Nihal|last7=Hakobyan|first7=Karen|date=2013|publisher=The Institute for International Cooperation of the German Adult Education Association (dvv international)|isbn=978-3-942755-12-2|page=69|quote=The Saint Karapet Monastery is one of the oldest Armenian monasteries in Moush Valley, dating back to the 4th century when Gregory the Illuminator, founder of the Armenian Apostolic Church, is believed to have buried the relics of Saint John the Baptist (Karapet) here.|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150103033505/http://www.anadolukultur.org/images/UserFiles/Documents/Editor/Moush_Sweet_Moush.pdf|archive-date=3 January 2015}}</ref><ref name="Avetisyan">{{cite book|last=Avetisyan|first=Kamsar|url=http://armenianhouse.org/avetisyan/taron.html|title=Հայրենագիտական էտյուդներ [Armenian studies sketches]|publisher=Sovetakan Grogh|year=1979|location=Yerevan|page=204|language=hy|contribution=Տարոնի պատմական հուշարձանները [Historical monuments of Taron]|quote=...ըստ ավանդության, Գրիգոր Լուսավորիչը ամփոփել է ս. Կարապետի և Աթանագինե եպիսկոպոսի նշխարները։|author-link=:hy:Կամսար Ավետիսյան|access-date=25 October 2014|archive-date=7 November 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141107092712/http://armenianhouse.org/avetisyan/taron.html|url-status=live}}</ref>]] According to Armenian tradition, the remains of John the Baptist would in some point have been transferred by [[Gregory the Illuminator]] to the [[Surb Karapet Monastery|Saint Karapet Armenian Monastery]].<ref name="Kharatyan" /><ref name="Avetisyan" /> ====Bulgaria==== In 2010, bones were discovered in the ruins of a Bulgarian church in the St. John the Forerunner Monastery (4th–17th centuries) on the [[Black Sea]] island of [[St. Ivan Island|Sveti Ivan]] (Saint John) and two years later, after DNA and radio carbon testing proved the bones belonged to a Middle Eastern man who lived in the 1st century AD, scientists said that the remains could conceivably have belonged to John the Baptist.<ref name=NG>{{cite magazine| title=John the Baptist's Bones Found?| author=Ker Than| magazine=National Geographic| url=http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2012/06/120618-john-the-baptist-bones-jesus-christ-bible-bulgaria-science-higham/| date=19 June 2012| access-date=19 September 2012| archive-date=27 July 2019| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190727061044/https://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2012/06/120618-john-the-baptist-bones-jesus-christ-bible-bulgaria-science-higham/| url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>Moss, Candida. [http://candidamoss.com/national-geographic-search-for-the-head-of-john-the-baptist/ National Geographic: Search for the Head of John the Baptist.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140926150147/http://candidamoss.com/national-geographic-search-for-the-head-of-john-the-baptist/ |date=26 September 2014 }} 19 April 2014.</ref> The remains, found in a reliquarium, are presently kept in the Sts. Cyril and Methodius Cathedral in [[Sozopol]].<ref name=NG /><ref>[http://www.novinite.com/view_news.php?id=132804 Old Town Sozopol – Bulgaria's 'Rescued' Miracle and Its Modern Day Saviors.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220907142850/https://www.novinite.com/view_news.php?id=132804 |date=7 September 2022 }} ''Sofia News Agency,'' 10 October 2011.</ref> ====Egypt==== [[File:St John the Baptists tomb.JPG|thumb|Tomb of Saint John the Baptist at a [[Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria|Coptic]] [[monastery]] in [[Lower Egypt]]. The bones of Saint John the Baptist were said to have been found here.]] The Coptic Orthodox Church also claim to hold the relics of Saint John the Baptist. A crypt and relics said to be John's and mentioned in 11th- and 16th-century manuscripts, were discovered in 1969 during restoration of the Church of St. Macarius at the [[Monastery of Saint Macarius the Great]] in [[Scetes]], [[Egypt]].<ref name="Stmacariusmonastery.org">{{cite web|url=http://www.stmacariusmonastery.org/eabout.htm|title=The Monastery of St. Macarius the Great|publisher=Stmacariusmonastery.org|access-date=14 February 2010|archive-date=9 July 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110709120739/http://www.stmacariusmonastery.org/eabout.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref> ====Nagorno-Karabakh==== Additional relics are claimed to reside in [[Gandzasar Monastery]]'s Cathedral of St. John the Baptist, in [[Nagorno-Karabakh]].{{citation needed|date=October 2020}} ==== Purported left finger bone ==== The bone of one of John the Baptist's left fingers is said to be at the [[Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art]] in [[Kansas City, Missouri]]. It is held in a Gothic-style [[monstrance]] made of [[Silver-gilt|gilded silver]] that dates back to 14th century [[Lower Saxony]].<ref>{{Cite web|last=Hecker|first=Francesca|title=The Holy Finger at the Nelson-Atkins is an unusual piece of biblical history|url=https://www.columbiamissourian.com/special_section/tourism/kansas_city/the-holy-finger-at-the-nelson-atkins-is-an-unusual-piece-of-biblical-history/article_ebcf19d6-7b5b-11ea-98a9-d727ed4f4fe1.html|access-date=30 November 2020|website=Columbia Missourian|date=21 May 2020|language=en|archive-date=8 June 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200608064208/https://www.columbiamissourian.com/special_section/tourism/kansas_city/the-holy-finger-at-the-nelson-atkins-is-an-unusual-piece-of-biblical-history/article_ebcf19d6-7b5b-11ea-98a9-d727ed4f4fe1.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Monstrance|url=https://art.nelson-atkins.org/objects/10809/monstrance;jsessionid=B81F0798B585C21F5C8711729BD29C6E|access-date=30 November 2020|website=art.nelson-atkins.org|language=en|archive-date=4 April 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220404150711/https://art.nelson-atkins.org/objects/10809/monstrance;jsessionid=B81F0798B585C21F5C8711729BD29C6E|url-status=live}}</ref> ====Halifax, England==== Another obscure claim relates to the town of [[Halifax, West Yorkshire|Halifax]] in West Yorkshire, United Kingdom, where, as patron saint of the town, the Baptist's head appears on the official coat-of-arms.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ngw.nl/heraldrywiki/index.php?title=Halifax_(Yorkshire) |title=Heraldry of the World; Civic heraldry of the United Kingdom; Halifax (Yorkshire) |publisher=Ralf Hartemink |access-date=6 February 2017 |archive-date=17 February 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170217065650/http://www.ngw.nl/heraldrywiki/index.php?title=Halifax_(Yorkshire) |url-status=live }}</ref> One legend (among others) bases the etymology of the town's place-name on "halig" (holy) and "fax" (hair), claiming that a relic of the head, or face, of John the Baptist once existed in the town.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://imbolcfire.blogspot.co.uk/2010/06/holy-face-of-halifax.html|title=The Holy Face of Halifax|last=Roberts|first=Kai|date=19 June 2010|website=Omnia Exeunt in Mysterium|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160215165559/http://imbolcfire.blogspot.co.uk/2010/06/holy-face-of-halifax.html|archive-date=15 February 2016|url-status=live|access-date=16 February 2017}}</ref> Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. 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