Early Christian and Byzantine Architecture

Early Christian and Byzantine Architecture Architectural History ACT 322 Doris Kemp

Topics  

Byzantine Architecture The Ideal Byzantine Church Central Plan  Domes  Lighting and Decoration 





Hagia Sophia Other Justinian Structures

Byzantine Architecture 

In the years around 500 A.D. the Western Empire laid in ruins 



Rome had been sacked twice and Italy was in the hands of the Ostrogoths

The Eastern Empire lived on 

Constantinople was the capitol of the Eastern Empire 

Had been built on the Hellenic city of Byzantium (modern day Istanbul, Turkey)

Byzantine Architecture 

A formal shift from early Christian to Byzantine architecture can be seen in the early sixth century A.D. 

Timber-roofed Latin basilican churches gave way to domed, central-plan structures in the Eastern Empire

Byzantine Architecture: Ideal Byzantine Church  

No two Byzantine churches were identical Features of the ideal Byzantine church: Central plan  Pendentive dome  String focus on structure, lighting, and elaborate decoration 

Byzantine Architecture: Ideal Byzantine Church 

Central Plan 

The axis descended away from visitors 



Leaves no possible active participation except weakly around a central axis

In most Byzantine churches, the centralized building core was square

Byzantine Architecture: Ideal Byzantine Church 

Domes Central core of the church formed an integral part of a larger structure that included supporting structure and vaulting as well  The dome complimented the spatial core of the church  Domes were generally placed over cylinders, as at the Pantheon 

Byzantine Architecture: Ideal Byzantine Church 

Domes 

Occasionally, domes were placed over polygons or even squares Created certain structural problems  Pendentive 

  



Provided a way to set a circle (dome) atop a square A Roman invention, though rarely used Byzantines used pendentives very often

Domes were used to invoke powerful images of the Christian heaven

Byzantine Architecture: Ideal Byzantine Church

Photo: Sullivan

Byzantine Architecture: Ideal Byzantine Church 

Lighting and Decoration Articulation was very important in Byzantine architecture  No visible surfaces were left in a natural state  All was dissolved in color and light: 

Glowing marble pavements  Richly veined marble walls  Extensive mosaic cycles  Rich patterns of light created by glass and structural features 

Byzantine Architecture: Ideal Byzantine Church

Photo: Sullivan

Byzantine Architecture: Hagia Sophia 

Hagia Sophia Symbolizes the “ideal” Byzantine church  Built as the new Cathedral of Constantinople by the Emperor Justinian in 532 – 537 A.D.  Intended to be the keystone of Justinian’s massive architectural campaign 

Byzantine Architecture: Hagia Sophia

Photo: Sullivan

Byzantine Architecture: Hagia Sophia 

Hagia Sophia Justinian believed that only natural scientists and philosophers would be able to create the structure he had seen in his dreams  Designed by two men: 



Anthemius of Tralles  



Natural scientist Mathematician

Isidorus of Miletus 

Professor of stereometry and physics at Constantinople

Byzantine Architecture: Hagia Sophia

Photo: Sullivan

Byzantine Architecture: Hagia Sophia 

Hagia Sophia Built in an amazing five years  Its first dome was destroyed by an earthquake and rebuilt in 563 A.D.  Was converted to a mosque by the Ottoman Turks 

Byzantine Architecture: Hagia Sophia 

Hagia Sophia 

Has some structural problems Main piers are of excellent solidarity, built of massive ashlar masonry  Rest of the building, however, was built of brick in thick mortar beds  The dome generates tremendous pressure 



Corners are supported by pendentives but the sides have little support

Byzantine Architecture: Hagia Sophia

Photo: Sullivan

Byzantine Architecture: Hagia Sophia

Photo: Sullivan

Byzantine Architecture: Other Justinian Structures 



No other Byzantine churches approach even half the scale of Hagia Sophia Two churches bear a resemblance to Hagia Sophia SS. Sergious and Bacchus  S. Vitale 

Byzantine Architecture: Other Justinian Structures 

SS. Sergius and Bacchus Located in Constantinople  Built as a palace chapel between 527 and 536  Many historians believe it was an experimental version of the Hagia Sophia 

Byzantine Architecture: Other Justinian Structures

Photo: Sullivan

Byzantine Architecture: Other Justinian Structures 

S. Vitale Located in Ravenna, Italy  Very precise and strict double-shell form that featured a dome  Featured mosaics of Justinian and his queen, Theodora, and their court 

Byzantine Architecture: Other Justinian Structures

Photo: Sullivan

Byzantine Architecture: Other Justinian Structures 

Church of St. John the Evangelist 



Built at his tomb in the Hellenistic city of Ephesus on the coast of Asia Minor c. 548 A.D.

Photo: Sullivan

Byzantine Architecture: Other Justinian Structures 

S. Marco  

Located in Venice, Italy Although built in the Romanesque Period (c. 1063 – 1094), it is considered more Byzantine in style than Romanesque

Photo: Sullivan

References   



Sullivan, Mary; http://www.bluffton.edu/~sullivanm/ http://www.brynmawr.edu/Acads/Cities/wld/wdpt1.html Trachtenburg/Hyman; Architecture: From Prehistory to Postmodernity Wodehouse/Moffett; A History of Western Architecture

Early Christian and Byzantine Architecture Architectural History ACT 322 Doris Kemp