Editing Swastika (section)

===Classical Europe===

[[File:Ottův slovník naučný - obrázek č. 2643.svg|thumb|upright 0.75|Various [[meander (art)|meander]] patterns, a.k.a. ''Greek keys'']]
[[Ancient Greek]] architectural, clothing and coin designs are replete with single or interlinking swastika motifs. There are also gold plate [[fibula (brooch)|fibulae]] from the 8th century BCE decorated with an engraved swastika.<ref>Biers, W.R. 1996. ''The Archaeology of Greece'', p. 130. Cornell University Press, Ithaca/London.</ref> Related symbols in classical Western architecture include the cross, the three-legged triskele or [[triskelion]] and the rounded [[lauburu]]. The swastika symbol is also known in these contexts by a number of names, especially ''gammadion'',<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/image?lookup=1990.26.0822 |title=Perseus:image:1990.26.0822 |website=Perseus.tufts.edu |date=26 February 1990 |access-date=2010-03-02}}</ref> or rather the tetra-gammadion. The name ''gammadion'' comes from its being seen as being made up of four Greek [[gamma]] (Γ) letters. Ancient Greek architectural designs are replete with the interlinking symbol.

In [[Art in Ancient Greece|Greco-Roman]] art and architecture, and in [[Romanesque architecture|Romanesque]] and [[Gothic art]] in the West, isolated swastikas are relatively rare, and the swastika is more commonly found as a repeated element in a border or tessellation. Swastikas often represented perpetual motion, reflecting the design of a rotating windmill or watermill. A meander of connected swastikas makes up the large band that surrounds the [[Augustus|Augustan]] [[Ara Pacis]].

A design of interlocking swastikas is one of several [[tessellation]]s on the floor of the [[Amiens Cathedral|cathedral]] of [[Amiens]], France.<ref>Robert Ferré. "[http://www.labyrinth-enterprises.com/amiens.html Amiens Cathedral] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080207145025/http://www.labyrinth-enterprises.com/amiens.html |date=7 February 2008 }}". ''Labyrinth Enterprises''. Constructed from 1220 to 1402, Amiens Cathedral is the largest [[Gothic Architecture|Gothic]] cathedral in France, a popular tourist attraction and since 1981 a [[UNESCO]] [[World Heritage Site]]. During World War I, [[Amiens]] was targeted by German forces but remained in Allied territory following the [[Battle of Amiens (1918)|Battle of Amiens]].</ref> A border of linked swastikas was a common Roman architectural motif,<ref>Gary Malkin. "[http://romanbristol.tripod.com/avon/tockington.html Tockington Park Roman Villa]{{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040521150446/http://romanbristol.tripod.com/avon/tockington.html |date=21 May 2004 }}". ''The Area of Bristol in Roman Times''. 9{{spaces}}December 2002.</ref> and can be seen in more recent buildings as a neoclassical element. A swastika border is one form of [[meander (art)|meander]], and the individual swastikas in such a border are sometimes called [[Meander (art)|''Greek keys'']]. There have also been swastikas found on the floors of [[Pompeii]].<ref>Lara Nagy, Jane Vadnal, "Glossary Medieval Art and Architecture", [http://www.pitt.edu/~medart/menuglossary/greekkey.htm "Greek key or meander"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060920012603/http://www.pitt.edu/~medart/menuglossary/greekkey.htm |date=20 September 2006 }}, [[University of Pittsburgh]] 1997–1998.</ref>

<gallery>
File:Tetraskele.svg|Greek tetraskelion ([[lauburu]])
Greek Silver Stater of Corinth.jpg|Swastika on a Greek silver [[stater]] coin from [[Ancient Corinth|Corinth]], 6th century BCE
File:Ancient Roman Mosaics Villa Romana La Olmeda 007 Pedrosa De La Vega - Saldaña (Palencia).JPG|Roman mosaic of [[La Olmeda]], Spain
</gallery>

[[File:Stele daunienne mariemont.JPG|thumb|upright|610-550 BC [[Daunians|Daunian]] [[Daunian stele|funerary stele]] from [[Apulia]] showing [[Albanian traditional tattooing#History|Paleo-Balkan tattooing]]. The stele depicts crosses and swastikas.]]

Swastikas were widespread among the [[Illyrians]], symbolising the Sun and the fire. The Sun cult was the main Illyrian cult; a swastika in clockwise motion is interpreted in particular as a representation of the movement of the Sun.<ref name="Stipčević"/><ref>{{cite book|last=Treimer|first=Karl|editor=Henrik Barić |title=Arhiv za Arbanasku starinu, jezik i etnologiju|volume=I|chapter=Zur Rückerschliessung der illyrischen Götterwelt und ihre Bedeutung für die südslawische Philologie|pages=27–33|publisher=R. Trofenik|year=1971|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dTIBAAAAMAAJ}} p. 32.</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Tirta|first=Mark|title=Mitologjia ndër shqiptarë|language=sq|editor=Petrit Bezhani|publisher=Mësonjëtorja|year=2004|place=Tirana|isbn=99927-938-9-9}} pp. 69–70, 75.</ref>

The swastika has been preserved by the [[Albanians]] since Illyrian times as a [[Albanian paganism|pagan]] symbol commonly found in a variety of contexts of Albanian folk art, including [[Albanian traditional tattooing|traditional tattooing]], grave art, jewellery, clothes, and house carvings. The swastika ({{langx|sq|kryqi grepç}} or {{lang|sq|kryqi i thyer}}, "hooked cross") and other crosses in Albanian tradition represent the Sun ([[Dielli (Albanian paganism)|Dielli]]) and the fire ([[Zjarri (Albanian paganism)|zjarri]], evidently called with the theonym [[Enji (deity)|Enji]]). In [[Albanian paganism]] fire is regarded as the offspring of the Sun and fire calendar rituals are practiced in order to give strength to the Sun and to [[apotropaic|ward off evil]].{{sfn|Treimer|1971|p=32}}{{sfn|Tirta|2004|pp=69–70, 75, 80, 113, 116, 250}}