Etruscans Architecture

Geographical Factor
● predecessors to the ancient Romans.
● The Etruscan Civilization flourished in central Italy between the 8th and 3rd century BCE
● The area had fertile lands for farming as well as mineral deposits.
● renowned in antiquity for its rich mineral resources and as a major Mediterranean trading
power.
● obliterated or assimilated by their conqueror Rome.
● Indigenous people are known to have inhabited the area as early as 1100 BCE, and by
the 8th century BCE, they had evolved into the people now known as the Etruscans.

Etruscan Architectural Character

● The Etruscans were considerable builders of stone, wood and other materials of
temples, houses and tombs and city walls, as well as bridges and roads.
● Influenced by Greek Architecture
● Influenced Roman Architecture

TEMPLES
● Etruscans seem to have worshiped in open air
enclosures.
● Sacrifices continued to be performed outside rather
than inside temples in Roman religion until its end

3 cellas one for each of the chief gods.

Tinia (Zeus/Jupiter)

Uni (Hera/Juno)

- Menvra (Athena/ Minerva)

● The podium or base platform used stone,

with the upper parts of wood and mud-brick.

TEMPLES

Tuscan Order

Simpler
Version of
The Doric
Houses and Tombs

● also made of mud- bricks

and wood

● Etruscans built their

tombs out of stone, and
they liked their tombs to
look like their houses.

Tombs - Gerveteri

They wanted their dead relatives to

feel comfortable.

- They cut out tombs in the shape

of their own houses, with doors
and windows, and inside they
carved beds for the dead to lie on,
and pillows, and sometimes chairs
as well.

CHARACTERISTICS OF ETRUSCAN ARCHITECTURE

● Their tombs were tightly packed in NECROPOLIS throughout Tuscany.

● The Interior Chamber is brightly painted to reflect the interior of a house.
● Entire families are buried in one tomb
● Etruscan buildings made of wood and terracotta
● Single flight of stairs leading to the main entrance.
● Sculptures are put on rooftops to announce the presence of deity within.
Early Christian and Byzantine Architecture
Early Christian architecture refers to the architectural style and designs used in the construction
of religious buildings during the early Christian era, between the 4th and 6th centuries. This
architectural style was influenced by the Roman and Greek styles, but also incorporated
elements of the local cultures in the areas where early Christianity spread.
• WHAT is Christianity: Christianity is a religion based on the person and teachings of Jesus
Christ, or its beliefs and practices. Had its birth in Judaea, an eastern province of the roman
empire, spread and carried by St. Peter, St. Paul and other missionaries to Rome.
• WHAT is Early Christian Architecture: "Early Christian Architecture" refers to the architecture of
the early Christian Churches.
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• Early Christian Architecture was created for the Christian Church in approximately the first 600
years after the time of Christ particularly in Italy and the western Mediterranean area.
• This period from 300 AD to 750 AD was significant for the development of Byzantine art and
architecture.
• Emperor Constantine the Great made Christianity one of the official religions of the Roman
Empire, thereby putting an end to the persecution/ ill-treatment of the Christians.
• Christian art was restricted to the decoration of the hidden places of Christian worship, such as
catacombs and titular, private houses used for secret religious meetings.
• Most early Christian art in the form of painting and sculpture was derived from Roman art,
appropriately adapted to suit the spiritual nature of the religion.
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• Early Christian architecture may be taken to have lasted from about 300 to 600 AD.
• The Early Christians, as Roman craftsmen, continued old Roman traditions
• Utilized as far as possible the materials from Roman temples which had become useless for
their original purpose for their new buildings.
• Their churches, modeled on Roman basilicas, used old columns which by various devices
were brought to a uniform height.
• Early Christian buildings hardly have the architectural value of a style produced by the solution
of constructive problems.

1. Architectural Influences
I. History
• In 63 BC, the Romans conquered Judea
in the Eastern Mediterranean. Main
inhabitants were the Jews. Jews believed
that one day the "Messiah" or "Christ"
would free them from the Romans.

• In 27 AD, Jesus began preaching to

people in Galilee, north of Judea. After
three years, he was arrested by the Jews
and found guilty of offending their god. He
 was nailed to a cross and died a painful death. He appeared to his disciples after
his resurrection from the dead. Belief that Jesus was the Christ and the Son of
God - Christianity was born.

• Disciples spread stories of Jesus' life and

teaching by word of mouth and by written
account in the new testament.

• Moved from Judea to Antioch in Syria and into

the Northern Mediterranean. Founded new
communities along the way. Carried by St.
Peter, St. Paul and other missionaries to Rome,
the center of the Empire and fountainhead of
power and influence

• Emperor Nero ordered Christians to be fed to

wild beasts or burned to death. Despite this, in
4th century Rome, Christianity grew.

• In 312 AD, Constantine, a converted Christian, named it the official religion of

the Roman empire.

• By 600 AD, most roman villages had their own churches, governed by a bishop

• Early Christian architecture occurred in Rome & in areas around

II. Geographical factors

 • The position of Rome as the center of a world-wide empire was an important
factor.

"All roads lead to Rome," and Christianity, to become universal, had to grow up at
the capital, however eastern its birthplace.

III. Geological influences

• Geological influences may be said to have acted indirectly on Early Christian

architecture for the ruins of Roman buildings often provided the quarry where
obtained. This influenced the style; both as regards construction and decoration.

• Columns and other architectural features, as well as fine sculptures and

mosaics from older buildings, were incorporated into basilican churches of the
new faith.

IV. Climatic conditions

• North Italy has the climate of the temperate region of Europe.
• Center Italy is genial and sunny.
• Southern Italy is almost tropica.
 • This variety of climatic conditions is sufficient to account for diversity of
architectural features and treatment in the peninsula itself.
• The climatic conditions in Roman provinces as Egypt, Syria, and North Africa
where Christianity was established were varied, and naturally modified the style
in those countries where the fiercer sun and hotter climatic necessitated small
windows and other Eastern features

V. Religious beliefs
• According to Christianity, it must be remembered that the God preached was"
not like unto gold or silver or stone graven by art and device of man," nor a God
that dwelled" in temples made with hands " like those of the old Greeks and
Romans which were built to shelter the statues of the gods.

• Purpose of the Christian church was to shelter worshippers who met for prayer
and praise to an unseen Deity, and, during the unsettled conditions at the
beginning of Christianity, various places were adapted for this worship.

• in A.D. 323 Constantine (the last emperor) himself professed Christianity, which
became the official religion of the Roman Empire, and the Christians then began
to build churches of a type suitable to their needs and ritual.
VI. Social characteristics & beliefs
• The single most important social phenomenon of the Early Christian period was
the spread & acceptance of the Christian religion
• During the period from the first century to the third century after the death of
Christ, Christianity was a secret society.
• Christianity was considered dangerous & subversive by the Roman government
therefore they met secretly in tombs, catacombs & private houses.
• Gradually, it spread & became widely accepted in Asia minor & in Rome.
• By the third century, Rome had a population of 50,000 Christians, as a result
the religion was tolerated but it was still considered illegal.
2. Architectural Character
• The Early Christians, as Roman craftsmen, continued old Roman traditions.
• Utilized as far as possible the materials from Roman temples which had become
useless for their original purpose for their new buildings.
• Their churches, modeled on Roman basilicas, used old columns which by various
devices were brought to a uniform height.
• Early Christian buildings hardly have the architectural value of a style produced by the
solution of constructive problems.
• The requirements include:
1. A path for processional entry & exit of the clergy
2. An altar area, where the clergy celebrate mass
3. A space for the segregation of the clergy from the congregation during procession ans
communion
4. Burial space.
3. Building Materials & Construction system
I. Plans
• The Early Christians followed the basilican model for their new churches.
• May also have used old Roman halls, baths, dwelling-houses, and even pagan
temples as places of worship
• An isolated circular church, used as a baptistery, was generally attached to the
chief Basilica or cathedral.

II. Walls
• These were still constructed according to Roman methods of using rubble or
concrete, faced with plaster, brick, or stone.
• Mosaic decoration was added internally, and sometimes also externally on west
facades.
• Little regard was paid to external architectural effect.
III. Openings
• Arcades, doors, and windows were spanned by a semicircular arch
• Doors, windows, and niches were generally spanned by a semicircular arch, the
use of the lintel being dispensed with.
• The window openings were small, those to the nave being in the clerestory high
in the nave wall above the aisle roof.
IV. Roofs
• Timber roofs covered the central nave, and only simple forms of construction,
such as king and queen post trusses, were employed.
 • The narrower side aisles were occasionally vaulted, and the Apse was usually
domed and lined with beautiful glass mosaics, which formed a fitting background
to the sanctuary.
• These roofs were ceiled in some ornamental manner, the decoration of a visible
framework.

V. Columns
• Differ both in design and size, often taken from earlier Roman buildings. It was
natural that early Christian builders should use materials and ornaments of the
pagan Romans.
• Used Tuscan, Doric, Ionic, Corinthian, or Composite from ancient Roman
buildings.
• The carved capitals are in acanthus leaf forms.

VI. Moldings
• These are coarse variations of Roman types, and the carving is of the rudest
kind, though rich in general effect.
• The technique of the craftsman gradually declined, and was at a low ebb during
this period.
• Enrichments incised upon moldings were in low relief, and the acanthus
ornamentation, although still copied from the antique, became more conventional
in form.

VII. Floors
• The pavements of colored marbles in geometric patterns added much to the
rich effect of the interiors.
• These pavements were formed largely of slices from the old Roman porphyry
columns, which were worked into designs by connecting bands of geometrical
inlay on a field of white marble.
VIII. Ornamentation
• The introduction of color gave richness and glimmering mystery to interiors.
• The mosaics which were the principal form of interior ornament, lined the
domed apses generally represented Christ surrounded by apostles and saints
with all those symbolic emblems. Usually made of glass
• The figures are treated in strong colors on a gold background.
• The design is bold and simple.
• The method of execution is coarse and large, and no attempt was made at
neatness of joint or regularity of bedding.
• The interiors are, by the aid of these mosaics, rendered exceedingly
impressive.
• Fresco painting usually in figure forms
4. Characteristics of early christian church building
I. 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 worshiping 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 worshiped in
homes, often due to persecution by the state church or the civil government
II. Atrium
• When Early Christian communities began to build churches they drew on one
particular feature of the houses that preceded them, the atrium, or courtyard with
a colonnade surrounding it.
• Most of these atriums have disappeared.
III. Basilica
• Is a rectangular early Christian or medieval church, usually having a nave with
clerestories, two or four aisles, one or more vaulted apses, and a timber roof
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• Many basilica churches were erected out of fragments taken from older
buildings, and present a curious mixture of columns, capitals, &c.; others,
especially those at Ravenna, exhibit more care, and are noble specimens of
ancient and severe architectural work.
• The illustration which we give of part of the nave, arcade, and apse of one of
these, Sant' Apollinare in Classe, shows the dignified yet ornate aspect of one of
the most carefully executed of these buildings
1. Propylaeum- the entrance building of a sacred precinct, whether church or
imperial palace.
2. Atrium-in early Christian, Byzantine, and medieval architecture, the forecourt of
a church; as a rule enveloped by four colonnaded porticoes.
3. Narthex- the entrance hall or porch preceding the nave of a church.
4. Nave- the great central space in a church. In longitudinal churches, it extends
from the entrance to the apse (or only to the crossing if the church has one) and
is usually flanked by side aisles.
5. Side Aisle- one of the corridors running parallel to the nave of a church and
separated from it by an arcade or colonnade.
6. Crossing- the area in a church where the transept and the nave intersect.

7. Transept-in a cruciform church, the whole arm set at right angles to the nave.
Note that the transept appears infrequently in Early Christian churches. Old St.
Peter's is one of the few examples of a basilica with a transept from this period.
 The transept would not become a standard component of the Christian church
until the Carolingian period.
8. Apse- a recess, sometimes rectangular but usually semicircular, in the wall at
the end of a Roman basilica or Christian church. The apse in the Roman basilica
frequently contained an image of the emperor and was where the magistrate
dispensed laws. In the Early Christian basilica, the apses contained the
"cathedra" or throne of the bishop and the altar

IV. The Bema

• A bema was an elevated platform used as an orator's podium in ancient Athens.
• The term can refer to the raised area in a sanctuary. In Jewish synagogues,
where it is used for Torah reading during services, the term used is bima or
bimah.

V. Mausoleum
• Monumental form of tomb.
• A mausoleum is a house of the dead, although it is often as much a symbol as
a sepulcher.
• This term has been employed for large, monumental, and stately tombs, usually
erected for distinguished or prominent individuals.

VI. Latin cross and Greek cross

• Greek cross; Latin cross; rotunda These terms usually refer to the shape of a
church.
• A Greek cross church has four arms having the same length.
• A Latin cross church has the arm of the entrance longer than the other arms.

5. Examples of byzantine buildings

I. Rotunda church
II. Catacombs

III. Basilican churches

● S. Apollinare, Ravenna

● S. Sabina

● S. Agnese Fuori Le Mura, Rome

● St. Paulo Fuori Le Mura

● S. Clemente, Rome

● S. Maria Maggiore, Rome

IV. St. Peter’s Rome