HISTORY OF ARCHITECTURE IV

LECTURE 01, 02
EARLY CHRISTIAN AND BYZANTINE
ARCHITECTURE

Tutor: Safiya MD
BRIEF HISTORY-EARLY CHRISTIAN & BYZANTINE EMPIRE

• 330: Emperor Constantine founded a new capital of the Roman Empire at the Greek town of
Byzantium, renaming the city Constantinople after himself
• 395: Death of Emperor Theodosius – Empire permanently split in two halves. Constantinople
is capital of the Eastern Roman Empire
• 527-565: reign of Emperor Justinian I. Greatest expansion of Byzantine Empire
• 1453: Fall of Byzantine Empire
HOUSE CHURCH
The first house church is where the disciples of Jesus met together in the "Upper Room" of a house. For the
first three centuries of the church, known as Early Christianity, Christians typically met in homes, if only
because intermittent persecution (before the Edict of Milan in 313) did not allow the erection of public church
buildings. Clement of Alexandria, an early church father, wrote of worshipping in a house. The Dura-Europos
church was found to be used as a Christian meeting place in AD 232, with one small room serving as
a baptistery. At many points in subsequent history, various Christian groups worshipped in homes, often due
to persecution by the state church or the civil government.

The Dura-Europos house church, ca.

232, with chapel area on right.
BASILICAN CHURCH PLANNING
PISA CATHEDRAL
CENTRALIZED CHURCH
PLANNING
ST. MARK’S CATHEDRAL
BASILICA OF SAINT PETER, ROME 319-329
EARLY CHRISTIAN ARCHITECTURE
ST CLEMENTE, ROME ( 4th c/rebuilt in early 12th c.)

• Roman Basilican Plan

• The original church in 380 AD was rebuilt in 12th c.
• A substantial portion of the earlier church still exists below the floor
• The width of the structure was reduced during the rebuilding
• The fine marble floor and the mosaic do not belong to the early Christian
• 45.0 m x 25.0 m with width of nave as 13.0 m.

AMBULATORY
AISLE

ATRIUM
FOUNTAIN NAVE CHOIR

AISLE
EARLY CHRISTIAN ARCHITECTURE
ST CLEMENTE, ROME ( 4th c/rebuilt in early 12th c.)
EARLY CHRISTIAN ARCHITECTURE
SANTA SABINA, ROME ( 422-432)
EARLY CHRISTIAN ARCHITECTURE
SAN APPOLLINARE, CLASSE (532-549)
CENTRALISED PLAN CHURCHES
SANTA CONSTANZA,ROME 350.

• Mausoleum converted to a church

• For Constantine's daughter
• Circular form
• Central domed circular space
• surrounded by an ambulatory
• Barrel vault roof
• Dome: carried by an arched
colonnade of coupled columns
• Corinthian capitals
BYZANTINE ARCHITECTURE
CENTRALISED PLAN CHURCHES
HAGIA SOPHIA, CONSTANTINOPLE, 532-537
 HAGIA SOPHIA,
CONSTANTINOPLE 532-537

• “Church of Holy wisdom” (in

Latin) – chief church in
Constantinople
• Built by order of Justinian, in
A.D.532-537, on the site of
two successive churches of
the same name, first one in
360 AD (Built during the
time of Constantine)
• The architects were
Anthemius of Tralles and
Isodorus of Miletus.
• The Plan consists of a central
space 107 feet square
(31.5M)
• Its bounded by four massive
piers, 25 feet square, (7.5M)
• A pendentive is a
constructive device
permitting the placing of a
circular dome over a square
room
• The pendentives, which are
triangular segments of a
sphere, taper to points at the
bottom and spread at the top
to establish the continuous
circular or elliptical base
needed for the dome
• The lighting is partly effected by forty small windows piercing the dome at its base
• Additional light is introduced through twelve windows in each of the spandrel walls, north and south,
under the great arches which support the dome.
• The bases of the domes of the smaller exedra are also provided with windows.
CENTRALISED PLAN CHURCHES
SAN VITALE, RAVENNA, 532-548

• The church is octagonal in plan

• It has a domed octagonal core
surrounded by ground level
ambulatory with a gallery above it
• It has an apse which extends from
the central core to one of the 8 sides
of the outer octagon
• Dome: The crown is 6m high and
16.7m dia
• Impression of the height is
reinforced by emphasis on the
verticality of the piers
• There is one exedra between each
pair of piers except at the east end
where deeper opening is provided
with an apse
• The outer wall of the ambulatory is
octagonal
• The domed roof of the church is raised on a drum allowing it greater height and lighting
• The dome of the church is constructed out of hollow tubes
• It has a tiled timber roof wherein the normal practice in Constantinople was to cover the vault and the
dome with lead laid on brickwork
• It was only by raising a dome on a drum that it could have greater height
• This church has retained most of its original character in mosaic and the vaults at the chancel
The Emperor Justinian, wearing the same kind of
clothes that Christ is depicted as wearing, shown
presenting a liturgical vessel to the bishop of the
church. He is flanked by the imperial troops that
contain the chi ro symbol – first developed through
Constantine.

The second panel shows Justinian’s wife wearing

purple garments, standing outside the church,
showing a fountain.
 ST. MARKS CATHEDRAL,
VENICE, 830, (1063-1095)

• The church is an enlarged reconstruction of an earlier one with a cross shaped plan built in 830 AD
• It was built to receive the relics of the Apostle Mark from Alexandria
• The layout is similar to the Holy apostle Church at Constantinople
ST. MARKS CATHEDRAL,
VENICE, 830, (1063-1095)

• The plan of S. Mark is in the

form of a Greek cross, of
equal arms, covered by a
dome in the centre (42 feet in
diameter), and one over each
arm of the cross.
• Narthex on each side of the
nave
• Baptistery on the southern
side
• 5 domes each carried by 4
piers.
• The square piers, which carry
the dome, are pierced on the
ground floor and gallery
levels
• the gallery arcade connects
the piers on either side, the
depth of the gallery being that
of the pier
ST. MARK’S CATHEDRAL
REFERENCES
1. Sir Banister Fletcher's: A History of
Architecture, 1996
2. Leland M. Roth: Understanding Architecture-
Its elements, History and Meaning