BYZANTINE ARCHITECTURE FAVORED DOMES, BASILICAS, AND CENTRALLY PLANNED CHURCHES, SYMBOLIZING THE HEAVENLY

SPACE. THE GENERAL ARCHITECTURAL CHARACTER DEPENDS ON THE DOME'S DEVELOPMENT, WITH CIRCULAR AND POLYGONAL
PLANS FOR CHURCHES, TOMBS, AND BASILICAS. THIS CONTRASTS WITH THE ROMANESQUE STYLE, DEVELOPED THE VAULT IN
WESTERN AND NORTHERN EUROPE. WALLS WERE GENERALLY MADE OF CONCRETE, WITH BRICKS CONTRIBUTING TO EXTERIOR
DECORATION.

A MAGNIFICENT EXAMPLE OF BYZANTINE ARCHITECTURE, THE CHURCH OF HAGIA SOPHIA WAS CONSTRUCTED DURING THE REIGN
OF EMPEROR JUSTINIAN I, WHO TASKED ANTHEMIUS OF TRALLES AND GEOMETER AND ISIDORE OF MILETUS WITH DESIGNING THE
STRUCTURE. ITS HUGE OPEN DOME, WHICH APPEARED TO BE SHIELDED FROM ABOVE, WAS THE SOURCE OF ITS NAME, "DIVINE
WISDOM." THE CHURCH HAS A BASILICA WITH TWO SECTIONS AND SEMIDOMES SUPPORTING THE DOME ABOVE THE CENTER AREA
ALONG THE LONGITUDINAL AXIS. THE EDIFICE IS SHAPILY LIKE A LATIN CROSS AND CONTRIBUTES SIGNIFICANTLY TO
ARCHITECTURAL HISTORY DUE TO ITS SIZE AND GRAVITATIONAL FORCES.

THE BYZANTINE CHURCH MOVEMENT WAS CHARACTERIZED BY ITS CENTRALLY PLANNED DESIGN, FEATURING OCTAGONAL DOMES,
APSIDAL PROJECTIONS, AND SEMICIRCULAR AND STRAIGHT ALIGNMENTS, ALLOWING FOR MORE FLUID INTERIOR SPACES AND
INTERSPERSED PIERS AND COLUMNS IN SEISMIC AND STRAIGHT ALIGNMENTS.
HISTORY
THE EMPIRE, TOO LARGE TO MANAGE, WAS DIVIDED INTO EAST AND WEST IN 286 AD, REUNITED UNDER CONSTANTINE,
TRANSFERRED TO BYZANTIUM IN 330 AD, AND CONQUERED BY BARBARIANS IN 476 AD.
GEOLOGICAL CONDITION
LIME CONCRETE, FACTORY-MADE BRICKS, AND MARBLE WERE USED IN ROMAN AND BYZANTINE CONSTRUCTION, WITH BRICKS
USED FOR DOMES AND MARBLE FOR DECORATIVE PURPOSES.
CLIMATIC CONDITION
BYZANTINES FAVORED FLAT ROOFS WITH SMALL OPENINGS, PROTECTED ARCADES, AND ORIENTAL DOMES AS RELIGIOUS LOGOS
FOR BUILDING, CATERING TO THEIR PREFERENCES AND WEATHER CONDITIONS.
SOCIAL CONDITION
CONSTANTINE, IN 324 A.D., DECLARED CHRISTIANITY AS THE STATE FAITH OF THE EMPIRE, ESTABLISHING THE HAGIA SOPHIA AS
THE CENTER OF THE BYZANTINE WORLD.
RELIGIOUS CONDITION
CONSTANTINE GRANTED CHRISTIANS FREE FAITH IN 313, LEADING TO EARLY BYZANTINE CHURCHES IN PALESTINE. DESPITE
VARIATIONS IN CONSTRUCTION BETWEEN JAPAN AND WESTERN EUROPE, BYZANTINE DESIGN REMAINED UNCHANGED IN
DOCTRINES AND RELIGIOUS RITES.
FOLLOWING THE DIVISION OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE INTO THE EASTERN AND WESTERN EMPIRES, THE BYZANTINE EMPIRE BEGAN.
THE ROMAN EMPEROR CONSTANTINE THE GREAT RELOCATED THE CAPITAL OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE FROM ROME TO BYZANTIUM
IN 330 AND RENAMED IT "CONSTANTINOPLE" IN HONOR OF HIMSELF. THE BYANTINE EMPIRE WAS THE EASTERN PART OF THE
ROMAN EMPIRE. BYZANTINE IS A WORD USED TO DIFFERENTIATE IT FROM THE WESTERN PART OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE, EVEN
THOUGH ITS PEOPLE WOULD HAVE IDENTIFIED AS ROMANS. BYZANTIUM, AN ANCIENT GREEK CITY PERFECTLY SITUATED AS A
TRANSIT TRADING POINT BETWEEN EUROPE AND ASIA, IS REFERENCED IN THE NAME.
THE "GOLDEN AGE OF BYANTIUM" WAS THE REIGN OF JUSTINIAN THE GREAT, WHO MADE NUMEROUS RE-CONQUESTS IN AN
EFFORT TO BRING THE ROMAN EMPIRE BACK TO ITS FORMER GLORY. UNDER JUSTINIAN, SEVERAL MAGNIFICENT MONUMENTS
WERE CONSTRUCTED, BUT NONE MORE SO THAN THE HAGIA SOPHIA.
UPON THE PASSING OF THE ISLAMIC PROPHET MUHAMMAD, THE BYZANTINE EMPIRE WAS ALL BUT DESTROYED IN THE BYZANTINE-
ARAB WARS WHEN THE RAPIDLY EXPANDING MUSLIM ARAB FORCES CAPTURED THE WEALTHY REGIONS OF EGYPT AND SYRIA. THE
ISAURIAN DYNASTY OUTLAWED IMAGE WORSHIPING (ICONOCLASM). THE CHURCHES WOULD BE CONVERTED INTO MOSQUES BY
THE OTTOMANS, WHO WERE MUSLIMS, AND CONSTANTINOPLE WOULD BECOME ISTANBUL. THE CITY IS ONE OF TURKEY'S MAIN
METROPOLITAN CENTERS TO THIS DAY.