Oldest stained-glass windows

The oldest-known intact stained-glass windows can be found in the southern clerestory of Augsburg Cathedral in Bavaria, Germany. They have remained in their original setting since the latter half of the 11th century.

The windows portray five Old Testament prophets and are thought to be part of a larger series, the rest of which are now missing. This Roman Catholic church also boasts medieval windows that depict the Virgin Mary.

As for the oldest stained glass that is no longer in its original form, painted fragments from the Basilica of San Vitale – a late antique church in Ravenna, Italy – have been dated between the 6th and 9th centuries. Alternatively, pieces from pre-850 CE – and potentially even the 7th century – were excavated by Professor Rosemary Cramp (UK) at monastery sites in Monkwearmouth and Jarrow in Northumbria, UK, in the 1960s and 1970s.