BYZANTINE ARCHITECTURE

HISTORIC CONTEXT

• By the time Constantine became the Caesar of the Roman empire, the Empire had split in half:• EASTERN ROMAN EMPIRE of Byzantium, today Istanbul• WESTERN ROMAN EMPIRE centered in Rome, speaking Latin• Byzantium, “New Rome”, was later renamed CONSTANTINOPLE and now Istanbul. The empire endured for

more than a millennium, influencing Medieval and Renaissance era architecture in Europe. Following capture of Constantinople by the Ottoman Turks in 1453, leading directly to the architecture of the Ottoman empire.

• Byzantine Empire became strong and stable in the century under Emperor Justinian:

• Lasted for 1000 years; has great cultural history• Fell to the Turks in 1453• Its boarders were breached and the Emperor was

forced to abandon Rome, moving the center northward, first to Milan then to Ravenna• Barbarians spilled over the rest of the Roman

Empire• Dozens of barbarian kingdoms replaced the central

authority of the Roman Empire by the end of the 6th century• Sea trade ceased, great cities were abandoned,

and Rome shrunk. About every institution of the government ceased except one, THE CHURCH

BYZANTINE ARCHITEDTURE• Characterized by massive

domes with squares based and rounded arches and spires and extensive use of glass mosaics

• Early Byzantine architecture as built as a continuation of Roman architecture

• Greek cross plan in church architecture –

a cross with four equal arms at right angles

PURPOSE

• Buildings increased in geometric complexity, brick and plaster were used in addition to stones in the decoration of important public structures, classic orders were more freely• Mosaics replaced carved decoration, complex domes

rested upon massive piers, and windows filtered light through thin sheets of alabaster to softly illuminate interiors.

GREEK CROSS

• A square plan in which the nave, chancel and transept arms are equal

length forming a Greek cross, the crossing generally surmounted by a dome became the common form in the Orthodox Church, with many churches throughout Eastern Europe and Russia being built in this way• Churches often have a narthex or vestibule

which stretches across the front of the church

BYZANTINE DOME CONSTRUCTION

•Domed roof – most distinctive feature • The dome, which had always been a traditional feature in the East, became the prevailing motif of Byzantine architecture which was a fusion of the domical construction with the Classical columnar style

• To allow a dome to rest a square base, either of the two devices was used: the squinch (an arch in each of the corners of a square base that transforms it into an octagon) or the pendentive.• Domes of various types were now placed over squares compartments by means of “pendentives”, whereas in Roman architecture domes were only used over circular or polygonal structures

• These domes were frequently constructed of bricks or of some light porous stones, such as pumice, or even of pottery• Byzantine domes and vaults were believed constructed without temporary support or centering by the simple use of large flat bricks and this is quite a distinct system probably derived from Eastern methods

• Windows were formed in the lower portion of the dome. Which in the later period was hoisted upon a high drum – a feature which was still further embellished in the Renaissance period by the addition of an external peristyle• The grouping of smaller domes or semi-domes round the

large central dome was effective, and one of the most remarkable peculiarities of Byzantine churches was that the forms of the vaults and domes were visible externally • Byzantine style the exterior closely corresponds with the

interior

MATERIALS USED IN CONSTRUCTION

• The system of construction in concrete and brickwork introduced by the Romans was adopted by the Byzantines

• The carcass (skeleton) of concrete and brickwork was first completed and allowed to settle before the surface sheathing of unyielding marble slabs was added, and this independence of the component parts is characteristic of Byzantine construction

• Brickwork lent itself externally to decorative patterns and banding, and internally it was suitable for covering with marble, mosaic, and fresco decoration

• The ordinary bricks were like the Roman. About an inch and half in depth, and were laid on thick beds of mortar

• Brickwork necessitated special care in making mortar, which was composed of lime and sand with crushed pottery, tiles, or bricks, and much of t remains as hard as the best buildings of Rome, while the core of the wall was sometimes of concrete, as in the Roman period• The decorative character of external facades

depended largely on the arrangement of the facing bricks, which were not always laid horizontally, but sometimes obliquely, sometimes in the form of the meander fret, sometimes in the chevron or herringbone pattern, and in many other similar designs, giving great varieties to the facades

• And attempt was also made to ornament the rough brick exteriors by the use of stone bands and decorative arches

• Walls were sheeted internally with marble and vaults and domes with colored glass mosaics on a golden background

FEATURES OF BYZANTINE ARCHITECTURE

Greek Roman and Oriental elements in architecture and its decoration• Greco-Roman columns , arches, vaults, domes over square bases• Oriental (Eastern) rich ornamentation, rich use of color, mosaics poly chromes marble and stone workPlay of light indoors

HAGIA SOPHIA

• “Church of Holy Wisdom” chief church in Constantinople• Rebuilt by Justinian between AD 532-537 after Constantine’s original

was burned down in a riot• Means “holy wisdom” in Latin• Former Orthodox patriarchal basilica later a mosque, now a museum in

Istanbul, Turkey• From the date of its dedication in 360 until 1453, it served as the

cathedral of Constantinople, except between 1204 to 1261, when it was converted to a Roman Catholic cathedral under the Latin Empire. The building was a mosque from May 29 1453 until 1934, when it was secularized. It was opened as a museum on February 1 1935

• Architects were Isidore of Miletus and Anthemius of Tralles• Reconciled basilica and central plans• Central dome 101 feet in diameter Pendentives made dome appear

“suspended from by a chain from heaven

STYLE OF HAGIA SOPHIA

•Large dome in center of the structure•Four massive pillars arranged on square - unique feature of the Hagia Sophia•The dome was the main focus of the Byzantine Church for the remainder of the empire

• Hagia Sophia in many ways is similar to the Patheon – large domed• In the Patheon, everything was clear, understandable. In

Hagia Sophia, architectural form becomes form becomes blurred, softened, mosaics covered upper parts of the wall, the lower parts are richly pattered marble• Where there are no marble mosaic, there are hundreds of

windows• The dome sits on a row of windows• During the day, light filters through windows so the dome

rests on light

HOW TO RECOGNIZE A BYZANTINE CHURCH

• Ground plan could be basilican, cruciform, circular or polygonal• Main entrance from the west• Altar at the eastern end of the church• Principal building material was brick, arranged in

decorative patterns or covered in plater• Roofs were either tiled or covered by sheets of lead • Mosaic work in the interiors• Dome supported on pendentives