01 Lecture Early Christian _ Byzantine

8/10/2019 01 Lecture Early Christian _ Byzantine

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History of Architecture IIEach style of Architecture is generally evolved from preceding style

or styles and series of changes and modifications.

The Worshiping Community

Early Christian and Byzantine


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Early Christian100-800 AD


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Religious Influences:

Transformation of religionand cultureat the ruins ofthe Roman Empire

Oppression:At the beginning of Christianity prior to

100 AD , Christians built no churches for the followingreasons:

-Poverty.

-The need to hide from persecution.

-The ethos of Christianity at this stage was to avoidand separate between religion and state to leave

away worshiping of gods and emperors in the same

manner.


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The ethos of Christianity at the beginning focusedon the negligence of the material world- the physical

space the worshippers were looking for meeting

Christ in any place and at any time.

Waiting the Christ led the Apostles to live together in

communities; they met in their work spaces or in

ordinary houses in rooms opened to a back courtyard.This communal practice led to the development of the

catacombs.


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Catacombs of St. Paul, RabatRome, Catacombs of Priscilla


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Also, this early period has witnessed a negligence ofthe masonry structures temples , roads, bridges.

This period later was known by the Dark Ages, the

period of the crumbling of the ancient Roman Empire.


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Christianity began to spread from about the year 100 to aboutthe year 500. After about 500 Christian art shows the beginnings

of Byzantine style.

Confession of Christianityas a religion 313 AD by Constantinewhich lead to Early Christian art and architecture and existence

of church architecture.

Commonly known as Constantine I, Constantine the Great,

or Saint Constantine,was Roman Emperor from 306 to 337.

Well known for being the first Roman emperor

to convert to Christianity


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Christians were prepared to build larger and more

handsome edifices for worship than the catacombs and

meeting places they had been using.

The usable model at hand, when Constantine I , wanted

to memorialize himself, was the familiar conventional

architecture of the Basilica. These had a center nave

with one aisle at each side and an apse at one end: on

this raised platform sat the bishop and priests.


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Constantine declared himself as the 13thapostle

and dedicated his new capital Constantinople to the

Virgin Mary, along with, he set up a statue of DelphicApollo in the Hippodrome, and a temple to Rhea

(mother of the gods) in his new market place.

Lasted for 700 yearsand led directly to thesubsequent architectural phase the Romanesque.


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Architectural Influences:

Early Christian architecture was influenced by:1. Roman art and architecture.

2. Local effects in the empire (Syria, Egypt, Asia Minor).

Early Christian buildings utilized as possible from thematerials of Roman temples.

Particular interior design for churches.

Departed from the Basilica which was found first

during the Roman Empire as a secular justice hall.


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Architectural Influences:Major architectural achievements of Constantine are

the construction of :

1. An entirely new city of Constantinople as animperial capital.

2. The church of St. John Lateran in Rome (313-320).

3. The church of the Nativity in Bethlehem (339).

In 380 Theodosius had declared all religions other

than Christianity heretical, temples were taken off,

their stones were reused in building the new churches,such as The Corinthian columns in the basilica of

Santa Sabina in Rome 422-432.


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Santa Sabina in Rome 422-432


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Building Types:

1-Catacombs: undergroundlong spaces leading to

cemeteries. Found in the

first era of Early Christian

period. Could be considered

as a reference for the Nave

concept (Linearity).


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Building Types:

2-Churches:

2.a. Basilica:But on a largescale. Rectangular in shape with

a major horizontal axis directing

the eye through the entablature

of columns towards the altar andthe apse. Twin colonnades

separated the nave from the side

aisles.

Origins was the Roman justicehall, catacombs and the Roman

dwelling house (sequential

spaces).

Roman Architecture :Roman

Basilica Floor Plan


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altar


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Building Types:

3. Rotondo: Circular or octagonal type surroundedby an ambulatory.

The ambulatory(a place for walking, from ambulare, to walk) is

the covered passage around a cloister.

The term is sometimes applied to the procession way around

the east end of a cathedral or large church and behind the

high altar.

4. Baptisteries.


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AmbulatoryBaptisteries

cloister

A hit t l Ch t i ti


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Architectural Characteristics:Basilican churches:

Main parts:

-Atrium: the main approach to the church. Open to thesky and surrounded by arcades.

-Narthex: Porch, open into the Nave and Aisles.

Lighted by a clear-storey of small windows.

-Nave: Place of worship with Aisles and place offuneral. Spanned with a barrel vaults or groined vaults

or trussed timber roof.

-Aisles: passageway to either side of the nave that is

separated from the nave by colonnades or arcades, a

row of pillars, or columns. Their width is half the width

of the Nave. Generally, there is two Aisles on both

sides built lower than the Nave to allow to have clear-store .


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Architectural Characteristics:Basilican churches:

-Galleries: Above the Aisles, may existed for women.-Bema: Higher podium separates the Nave from the

Sanctuary, Apse and Altar. Bema may be the

reference of the cross-form churches later in the Early

Christian eras.

-Ambo: A space to read parts of the holy book in front

of the Bema. It may exist on either sides.

-Altar: A place which symbolizes the sacrifices toGod(s).

-Apse: the place where the Bishop took his center. It

symbolizes the sacred of the place, ends the axis of

the church layout.


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Basilica, typical plan

St. Peter's, Rome

A. apse

B. transeptC. nave

D. aisles

E. narthex

F. atrium


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Transept


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Church of Hagia Sophia Holy Wisdom)

begun by Constantine

Bema


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Basilicas became increasingly used to house the

choirs and big assemblies that were part of the new

official religion.

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01 Lecture Early Christian _ Byzantine