In the Orthodox Christian tradition, the cross on which the Lord Jesus Christ was crucified is an altar. It was on it that the second Person of the Holy Trinity Christ accomplished the work of man's salvation. In Orthodox traditions, the cross is not an instrument of execution, but a symbol of human salvation.
For an Orthodox believer, the question of what material the cross of Christ was made of does not make much sense, since it does not directly affect the doctrine of the Church and the salvation of man. However, a reverent interest in a shrine or a scientific approach leaves a person the right, with the inquisitiveness of his mind, to try to find an answer to the question: what material was the cross made of.
At present, scholars-historians and holy fathers of both the first centuries of Christianity and subsequent centuries do not dispute the fact that the Lord's cross was made of wood. It is no coincidence that the cross of Christ is called "tree" or "treasured tree" in divine literature. Historians suggest that the cross of the Lord could be made from different types of wood. In particular, researchers can point to cypress, olive, oak, palm and cedar.
In the established church tradition, the cross of Christ is called a "three-part tree". This means that the symbol of man's salvation was made from the species of three trees. So, in the Byzantine tradition, it is believed that the cross of the Lord was made of cypress, pevga (pine) and cedar. In particular, the pillar of the cross was made of cypress, the vertical crossbar of the crucifix was made of pevga, and the cedar was used for the base on which the feet of the Lord were located.
In the Byzantine tradition of the threefold nature of the cross of the Savior, there are confirmations in the prophetic words of the Old Testament. The prophet Isaiah declared in his book: “The glory of Lebanon will come to you, cypress and pevg, and together a cedar, to decorate the place of my sanctuary, and I will glorify my footstool” (Isa. 60:13).
