BYZANTINE ARCHITECTURE

4 C. A.D – 14 C. A.D
BYZANTINE ARCHITECTURE
• Byzantine Architecture is the
architecture of the Byzantine Empire.

• The empire gradually emerged as a

distinct artistic and cultural entity from
what is today referred to as the Roman
Empire after 330 A.D., when the Roman
Emperor Constantine moved the capital
of the Roman Empire east from Rome to
Byzantium.
GEOGRAPHICAL INFLUENCE
• From Byzantine,
Constantine renames it
to Constantinople, now
as “Istanbul” and also
called “New Roman“.
• It was the Architecture
of the Eastern Roman
Empire which was dev.
From Early Christian and
Late Roman antecedent
in the 4th century.
GEOLOGICAL INFLUENCE
• No good building stones and local materials such as clay for
bricks and rubble for concrete used.
• Marble was also used.
 CLIMATIC INFLUENCE
• Sub-tropical, thus flat roof was
used and combines with domes, to
counter-act the New Empire
RELIGIOUS INFLUENCE
SECULARISM
in Turkey
 Types of Religion in Istanbul, Turkey

Islam Christian Judaism

Has the largest population
of 99.8%
RELIGIOUS INFLUENCE

• What is ICON?

• HISTORY

• What is ICONOCLASM?
 RELIGIOUS INFLUENCE
• Political Division between East and West,
followed by the division of the churches due
to “ICONOCLASTIC MOVEMENT” and this
made painting figures in decoration as
substitute. Early Christian Basilica was
merged with the dominical system of the
Byzantine.

• * Iconoclastic movement- decree to ban the

use of statues as means of representations
either of human or animals forms.
SOCIAL AND POLITICAL INFLUENCE
• Ways of life and corrupt conditions contributed greatly to
the fall of Roman Empire
• Prominent Figures considered movers of this Architecture;

THEODOSIUS II JUSTINIAN
Built several military Responsible for
gates (against the rebuilding of St.
Goths & Huns) but Sophia “Divine
cannot avoid the Wisdom” which
Moslem or the now turned to a
Islamic people. Moslem Mosque.
SOCIAL AND POLITICAL INFLUENCE

• There are Three (3) different classes or levels in

society in the Byzantine Empire.
• The upper class included
the local aristocrats (
people who where very
wealthy), state
functionaries (
government officials),
senior military officers
and land owners.
• The middle class
included merchants,
industrialist, and
owners of medium-
sized landed
properties.
• The lower class
included wage earners
and paupers (people
who were very poor).
Clergy (people who
held religious services)
however, didn’t have a
specific social class
• Hierarchy – In Byzantine Empire the normal people
can move into different classes,
depending on there skill level.
• Slaves - They did have slaves in the Byzantine
Empire but the slaves were able to earn
their freedom, such as fighting for their
freedom in a battle or working as a servant for an
aristocrat for many years.
• Citizen rights: The citizens of the Byzantine Empire
enjoyed rights that were protected by
the laws of the Twelve Tables.
POLITICS
• The Byzantine Empire was
an autocracy: In principle
the Emperor maintained
complete control over all
branches of government,
finance and administration,
the judiciary and armed
forces, as well as wielding
enormous influence over
the Orthodox church and
the financial life of the
empire.
• The Political set up of the empire was monarchy
• The empire had only one ruler which was the emperor
• There were other important men but one had very much
power
• Most of the laws that they had were from the roman laws
• The government controlled everything in persons life
HISTORICAL INFLUENCE
• From 5th to 11th Century was on
the fluctuating and gradually
declining fortunes. The spirit of
the Byzantine Empire persisted
even after the Empire had fallen.
Constantine had continued up to
the present to the seat of
Patriarch of the Orthodox
Church.
ARCHITECTURAL CHARACTER
• Simplicity – in external design which resulted in the use of clay and rubble
• Richness – in internal treatment importing “marble”.
CHARACTERISTIC FEATURES
• Characterized by large pendentives supported domes to cover polygonal
and square.
• Plans for churches and baptisteries, rounded arches, elaborated cols. and
colors.
• Features the groupings of small domes or semi-domes around a large
central dome.
• Extensive use of “mosaic decoration”
• They don’t use campanile and atrium in their churches.
 PENDENTIVE
• a curved triangle of vaulting formed by the
intersection of a dome with its supporting
arches.
 EARLY PERIOD – THE CHURCHES
• The establishment of Christianity as
the official religion of the Roman
Empire brought with it a
monumental church building
programme, under official
sponsorship.
• The Emperor Constantine and
members of his family started
building many churches, which
served as cathedrals, martyria or
imperial chapels and mausoleums.
THE BASILICA
• A new architectural form was
adopted for these new Christian
edifices: the basilica, widely used
in the Roman world for judicial,
commercial, military and
ritualistic purposes.
• This was a rectangular hall,
internally divided by two or four
series of columns, ending with
an elevated chancel at the east
end. Basilicas could
accommodate large
congregations.
THE CENTRAL PLAN CHURCH
• Another category was the central plan church. This type featured a
uniform arrangement around a centre. Such were circular and polygonal
churches, which were mostly used as burial monuments and baptisteries.
EUKTERIOI OIKOI
• Until 200 AD, private homes provided
the meeting- places for the devotional
practices of the new religion.
• During the period following the first
Christian persecutions up to the early
4th century, larger buildings were
erected.
• These were called eucteria, prayer
places, or ecclesiae, places of assembly
for the faithful.
EUCTERIUM
• An example dating
back to 313-319 AD,
has been located in
Aquileia in north-
eastern Italy. Its
floor-mosaic
preserves an
inscription
mentioning the
name of the donor,
Bishop Theodore.
EARLY BYZANTINE PERIOD
• Common trends are evident in its most
important monuments, which are
concentrated in the Italian peninsula.
• They are usually central plan buildings or
three-aisle basilicas with an elevated
middle aisle and brick walls without
galleries.
• The wealth of interior decoration,
including Marble inlay (opus sectile) and
mosaics provided a marked contrast to
their simple exterior.
THE ROTUNDA
• Its buildings include the Rotunda, a circular plan Roman edifice of
the times of Galerius (306- 311), which was adapted into the
Christian Church of St. George around the mid-5th century.
 SANTA CONSTANZA
• Santa Constanza at
Rome is one of the
earliest monuments
of this period. It is a
circular edifice with
abundant mosaic
decoration, built as a
mausoleum for
Constantia, daughter
of Constantine the
Great, who died in
354.
 SANTA MARIA MAGGIORE
• The three-aisle basilica of
Santa Maria Maggiore (432-
440) with its interesting
mosaics, the Lateran
baptistery, founded by
Constantine the Great, should
also be mentioned among the
religious buildings in Rome.
LATERAN BAPTISTERY
CRUCIFORM PLAN MAUSOLEUM OF
GALLAPLACIDIA, RAVENNA (AFTER 450 A.D.)
THE BASILICA OF SANT APOLLINARENUOVO
• The Basilica of Sant Apollinare
Nuovo is a basilica church in
Ravenna, Emilia-Romagna (Italy).
• It was erected by the Ostrogoth
King Theodoric as his palace
chapel, during the first quarter of
the 6th century (as attested in
the Liber Pontificalis). This Arian
church was originally dedicated
in 504 CE to Christ the
Redeemer.
 JUSTINIAN ARCHITECTURE
• Justinians era is a landmark in the
evolution of Byzantine architecture.
• The most important achievement of
this period was the emergence of a
new architectural type, the domed
basilica, which fused elements of the
two building types that prevailed in
church building in the 4th and 5th
centuries, that is, the basilica and the
central plan edifice.
THE RESTORED EARLY CHRISTIAN BASILICA
OF ST.JOHN, EPHESUS
SAN VITALE, RAVENNA, 547 AD
• San Vitale, Ravenna – founded by Justinian
and for the commemoration of the recovery
of Ravenna
• Justinian is depicted in the famous mosaic in
the sanctuary, as is the bishop Maximian,
under whom the church was consecrated in
547.
• The monument is a central plan octagonal
edifice, very much resembling the
architecture of imperial buildings in the
capital city such as the Church of Saints
Sergios and Bakchos (527-536).
St. Mark, Venice – Greek cross in plan, with “Ogoe
Arch”, by Archt. Cancelli
The little Metropole , Athens –
smallest bldg. in the world
called “cathedral”.
 HAGIA SOPHIA
• Sophia Constantinople
(Istanbul) also known
as “Hagia Sophia”
(Divine Wisdom) – this is
the most impt. Mosque
in Constantinople with
107 Multi – colored
columns.

• Arch’L : Anthemius of
Tralles & Isodorus of
Milletus.
HAGIA IRENE 4TH C. A.D.

• Hagia Irene or Hagia Eirene (Greek:

Ἁγία Εἰρήνη, "Holy Peace", Turkish:
Aya İrini), often erroneously
rendered in English as St Irene, is a
former Eastern Orthodox church
located in the outer courtyard of
Topkapı Palace in Istanbul, Turkey.
• It is open as a museum every day
except Monday but requires special
permission for admission.
VIEW OF THE PANAGIA (THE VIRGIN)
HEKATONTAPYLIANE, PAROS, 550 AD.
THE MAUSOLEUM OF THEODORIC
• The Mausoleum of Theodoric (Italian: Mausoleo di Teodorico) is an
ancient monument just outside Ravenna, Italy. It was built in 520 A.D. by
Theodoric the Great (king of the Ostrogoths) as his future tomb.
MIDDLE BYZANTINE PERIOD
• Liturgical changes influenced the architectural development of Byzantine
ecclesiastical buildings from the end of the 6th century onwards.
• There was a change in the two Introits in the ceremony of the Mass, and in
particular regarding the carrying of the Holy Gospel (Small Introit) and the Holy
Gifts, which were escorted in a procession so that the sacrament of the Holy
Eucharist could be conducted (Big Introit).
• Those changes brought about the arrangement of the sanctuary in three parts
with greatest space and emphasis being given to the central part.
• Up to the first half of the 6th century, the sacred vessels and the Holy Gospel
were kept in the diakonikon, a room at the southern part of the narthex or of
the atrium, while offerings were kept in the prothesis.
• From here they were escorted in the procession through the middle aisle to the
altar.
SPARTA. PLAN OF THE CHURCH OF HOSIOS
NIKON. 7TH CENTURY.
• The tripartite Holy Altar
projects at the side, has
three three-sided apses in
the eastern part and the
narthex to the west. In the
middle apse there is a
semicircular synthronon
along with the kyklion.
AGIA SOFIA, THESSALONIKI (8TH C., BASED ON
THEHAGIA SOFIA IN CONSTANTINOPLE)
• Its ground plan is that of a
domed Greek cross basilica.
• Together with the Gül and the
Kalenderhane Mosques in
Istanbul and the destroyed
Church of the Dormition in
Nicaea, it represents one of the
main architectural examples of
this type, typical of the Byzantine
middle period.
THE COMPLEX TETRASTYLE : AG. DEMETRIOS,
KATSOURI, ARTA (MID 8TH C.)

• The cross was formed within a

quadrangle and the dome
supported by four columns .
• They are found in Constantinople
and in the regions influenced by
the metropolis.
• A tripartite sanctuary whose
rectangular form was divided up
with an isosceles cross was
added to these churches.
CAPPELLA PALATINA, PALERMO
• The Palatine Chapel (Italian:
Cappella Palatina) is the royal
chapel of the Norman kings of
Sicily at the center of the Palazzo
Reale in Palermo, southern Italy.
• The sanctuary, dedicated to
Saint Peter, is reminiscent of a
domed basilica. It has three
apses, as is usual in Byzantine
architecture, with six pointed
arches (three on each side of the
central nave) resting on recycled
classical columns.
CHURCH OF PANTOKRATOR/ ZEYREKMOSQUE
C. 1118 - 1136
• Zeyrek Mosque (full name in
Turkish: Molla Zeyrek Camii), is a
mosque in Istanbul, made of two
former Eastern Orthodox
churches and a chapel.
• It represents the most typical
example of architecture of the
Byzantine middle period in
Constantinople and is, after
Hagia Sophia, the second largest
religious edifice built by the
Byzantines still extant in Istanbul.
LATE BYZANTINE PERIOD
• The older architectural types continued to
be used, while on the Greek mainland a
new type of church appeared, known as
the transverse-vault church, which soon
spread to Epiros, central Greece, Euboea,
and the Peloponnese.
• The usually small size of these churches and
the disposition of the roof in the form of a
cross, must have contributed to the
particularly wide diffusion of this type of
church construction, which was continually
used in Greece until as late as the 18th
century.
TRANSVERSE-VAULT CHURCHES
EXAMPLES
• The most important
and characteristic
examples of
Palaiologan
architecture are found
• in Thessalonike and
• in Mistra, the capital
city of the despotate
of the Morea.
GROUND PLAN OF THE CHURCH OF THE
HOLY APOSTLES IN THESSALONIKE
• View from the
northeast of the
church of the
Holy Apostles in
Thessalonike A
special
characteristic of
the
Palaiologan -
architecture is the
rich decoration of
the exterior
masonry.
TERMINOLOGY
The distinct characteristics of Byzantine church architecture are:
• Basilica: This is a public congregation building according to Roman architecture.
• Apse: Semicircular recess which is generally found in a Christian Church and a Roman
basilica.
• Fresco: It is a type of painting on new and slightly wet plaster.
• Dome: It is a hemispherical vault or roof
• Mosaic: designs or pictures
• Iconostasis: It is a screen in all churches of the Byzantine period which separates the
sanctuary and nave
• Nave: It is the churchs primal passageway
• Vault: It is a roof, which is arched and made of stone or brick
• Sanctuary: A holy place like a mosque, church and temple.
• Narthex: It is the main entrance hall
• Pantokrator :