Byzantine

• Byzantine Architecture


  330-1453 AD
• By the time Constantine became the Caesar of the Roman empire, the empire had split in half
• Constantinople


  Founded by the Roman Emperor Constantine the Great (272–337 AD), designated his new capital Nova Roma or "New Rome"
• Constantinople lay astride the land route from Europe to Asia and the seaway from the Black Sea to the Mediterranean, and had in the Golden Horn an excellent and spacious harbor
• The Eastern Empire divided the Roman Empire in 395AD, but they continue to call themselves Romans and retain the Latin as the official language until 7th century

  
• Churches


  • Eastern Orthodox Church led by the Patriarch of Constantinople
  • Roman Catholic Church led by the Pope in Rome
• East-West Split, Theodosius briefly reunited the Empire, but it didn't last beyond his reign


  379-395
• Visigoths sacked Rome, often a date given for the official Fall of Rome


  401-410
• Vandals sacked North Africa, cutting off the grain supply to the Romans

  429-435
• Huns attacked Rome, were paid off, and then attacked again


  440-454
• Vandals plunder Rome, the fourth sack of the city


  455
• Fall of the Emperor of Rome, the last western emperor Romulus Augustulus is deposed by the barbarian general Odoacer


  476
• The Byzantine Empire used Roman and Greek architectural models and styles to create its own unique type of architecture
• Byzantine architecture


  • Use of lime concrete continued
  • Used marble for ornamental work
  • Constructed with brick and plaster which were often visible as the exteriors were left unadorned
  • Tesserae that formed the mosaic decoration were usually set on a bed of plaster on top of the underlying brick structure
• Byzantine architecture


  Built as a continuation of Roman architecture, but a distinct style gradually emerged which imbued certain influences from the Near East and used Greek cross plan in church architecture
• Plans


  • Basilican
  • Centralized
  • Greek cross
• Basilican plan


  Nave, chancel, and transept are of equal length forming a Greek cross, the crossing generally surmounted by a dome became the common form in the Orthodox Church
• Icons


  Representation of a Christian personage as Christ or Saint, typically painted on wood surface and itself venerated as being sacred
• Mosaics


  Religious figures always surrounded by halo of light, picture or decorative pattern made by inlaying small, colored pieces of tile, enamel or glass mortar
• Pendentive dome


  • Domes of Byzantine churches were supported by essentially square bases, sat on pendentives - curved triangular vaults that visually and structurally negotiated the gap between the four supporting round arches and the dome above
• Compound domes


  Used to provide a transition from square to polygon
• Ornaments


  Endless knot ornament symbolize eternity
• Light


  Symbol of divine wisdom, illumination, forty windows make the dome appear to be floating, light refracted off the rich mosaics and colored marble interior
• Nave of Hagia Sophia is oval and 184' high
• Typical plan of Byzantine Christian church

  • Narthex
  • Ambulatory
  • Nave
  • Sanctuary/Bema
  • Apse
  • Exedra
• Hagia Sophia was originally built as part of the newly founded Constantinople for the Emperor Constantine in 326, rebuilt by Emperor Justinian in 537
• Architects of Hagia Sophia are Anthemius of Tralles and Isodorus of Milletus
• Hagia Sophia


  • Striking feature is complexity of massed geometric forms
  • Features the grouping of small domes or semi-domes around a large central dome
  • Most striking interior space is dependent on its daringly engineered structure
  • Dome was first to be built using the pendentive

  
• Justinian is responsible for rebuilding Hagia Sophia
• Plan of Hagia Sophia

  • Atrium
  • Narthex
  • Nave
  • Apse
  • Baptistry
  • Minaret
• Central dome of Hagia Sophia


  • Consists of large bricks held together with mortar and laid to create a shallow dome above the supporting masonry, semi-domes on either side help to buttress this enormous and heavy structure
• Small domes of Hagia Sophia


  • Edges of the church and in the precincts are various smaller structures, mostly added later, also roofed with domes
• Masonry detail of Hagia Sophia

  • Much of the brickwork was designed to be hidden under plaster, it is very skillfully made using good-quality lime mortar mixed with brick dust
• San Vitale in Ravenna is an example of Byzantine architecture
• Saint Mark's Basilica in Venice is one of the best known examples of Italo-Byzantine architecture
• The capture of Constantinople by the Ottoman Empire on 29 May 1453 marked the end of the Byzantine Empire and rise of the Islamic Empire
• After the conquest, Sultan Mehmed II transferred the capital of the Ottoman Empire from Edirne to Constantinople
• The fall of Constantinople dealt a massive blow to Christendom and marks the end of the Middle Ages
• Comparative method


  • Early Christian: Geography - Rome to Constantinople, Geology - Plain soil form, Climate - Hot and dry summer, Mild rainfall, Culture - Christianity
  • Byzantine: Geography - Constantinople to Turkey, Geology - Plain soil form, Climate - Hot and dry summer, Mild winter, Culture - Christianity
• Worship building


  • Early Christian: Timber roof/Basilica plan
  • Byzantine: Dome/Centralized plan