HISTORICAL BACKGROND

• The vast Roman Empire was divided into

Western & Eastern empires.
• Western province- was rich and centered
around Rome was the target for invaders
who destroyed the city.
• These confrontations resulted in the
migration of artisans, craftsmen, masons
to other developing countries – Eastern
province (Constantinople)
• The Early Christian architecture started in
two prominent locations centered at Rome
and Constantinople.

THE ROMAN EMPIRE

The development of Christian Architecture

thus can be divided into the following phases:
 INTRODUCTION

• The term early Christian architecture refers to the architecture of the early
Christian churches of the roman era.
• Christianity was born in Judea – a place in eastern province of the Roman
empire, which spread towards the north & west even against the backdrop of
great opposition & ultimately accepted as state religion.
• With Christianity widely accepted as a state religion in Rome it was necessary
for architecture to respond to the demands of the religion for worship space.

• The requirements include:

-A path for processional entry and exit of the clergy
-An altar area, where the clergy celebrate mass
-A space for the segregation of the clergy from the congregation
during procession and communion
-Burial space.

• Early Christian Churches were further divided into two:

-Basilica Church
-Alternative Church Plans
 BASILICA CHURCH TYPE

• The early churches were generally

simple and functional in their design.
• The emphasis was centered on the
act of Christian worship.
• The architecture of the church that
developed was not a completely new
style, but the use of available Roman
forms to satisfy a new program need.
• The form chosen for the early
church was the Roman basilica.
• It was suitable for use as a church
with no serious modification and it
could be easily and rapidly built at
low cost.
• The Basilica was also preferred
because of the emphasis on
participation in mass.

• The most common form of the early

churches had a rectangular hall with
a timber trussed roof.

• It also had one or two aisles on each

side of a central nave and an apse at
one end facing the principal entrance
located at the other end.
 ALTERNATIVE CHURCH FORM

• The rectangular basilica was not the only form adopted for the early church
• Alternative more centralized plans, with a focus on a central vertical axis
rather than a longitudinal horizontal one were also adopted occasionally.
• There were the completely circular church. These had a circular or octagonal
space surrounded by an ambulatory Examples of these include Saint Constanza
Rome, the Lateran Baptistery Rome and Saint Stefano Rotondo.
ELEMENTS OF
CHRISTIAN
ARCHITECTURE
 VAULT
Vault a structural member consisting of an arrangement of arches, usually forming
a ceiling or roof.

Types of Vaults

EVOLUTION OF CONCEPT OF VAULTS

there was a strong desire to create spaces that were not only large, but also open.
In order to do this, new technology needed to be invented. This encouraged the use of
curved surfaces to help redirect the weight of building materials. This concept is the
basis of a vault.
 BARREL VAULT
A barrel vault is a continuous arched shape that may approximate a semi-cylinder in form.
It is typically formed by a series of arches or vaults placed side by side or by a
continuous shell.

Eg. :Basilica of Maxentius and Constantine

• Barrel vaults are first thought to have been developed by the by the Sumerians and
the Egyptians.
• Throughout the Middle Ages they were used across Europe as part of the
construction of churches.
 GROIN VAULT

• Roman builders discovered that

openings could be made by building
two barrel vaults that intersected
at right angles to form the groin
vault.

A groin (or cross) vault is formed by the

Groin Vault of Durham Cathedral, UK perpendicular intersection of two barrel vaults.

disadvantages
• Requires scaffolding
• cannot span extended
rectangular areas as it has
a square plan

Hence Gothic builders invented a modification called the RIB VAULT

 RIB VAULT

• The rib vault provided a skeleton of

arches or ribs along the sides of
the area and crossing it diagonally
• To cover the rectangular areas, the
medieval mason used pointed arches,
which, unlike round arches, can be
raised as high over a short span as
over a long one.

RIB VAULT OF SAINT SEVERIN

CHURCH, PARIS

FAN VAULT

• A fan vault is a form of vault in which the

ribs are all of the same curve and spaced
equidistantly, in a manner resembling a fan.

FAN VAULT OF BATH ABBEY, UK

 PINNACLE

Pinnacle is a vertical ornament of

pyramidal or conical shape at the top of
a church.

The pinnacle had two purposes:

1.Ornamental : For aesthetics
2.Structural – the pinnacles were very heavy
and often rectified with lead, in order to
enable the flying buttresses to contain the
stress of the structure vaults and roof.

Pinnacle of Santa Maria Church in Venice

 CLERESTOREY

• The upper part of the nave, choir, and

transepts of a large church, containing a
series of windows.
• The purpose is to admit light, fresh air, or
both.

CLERESTOREY

GALLERY
• It is a platform, raised above the church floor.
• They were often located at the west end of the
church, over the west door, and used to house
musicians or singers performing during church
services.

GALLERY
 APSE

Apse is 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 The apse was the most
Emperor and elaborately decorated
was where the part of the church,
magistrate with the walls
dispensed sheathed in marble and
laws. the vault ornamented
with mosaic that
depicted an embodiment
of the godhead.
 ALTAR
The altar,
centrally located
in the sanctuary,
is to be the focus
of attention in the
church.
Churches were
generally built
with an east-west
axis.
The altar of a Catholic
church may be made of marble.
Most Protestant and Anglica
nchurches altars are made of
wood, symbolic of the table
of the Last Supper.
In the earliest
churches in Rome
the altar stood at
the west end and
the priest stood at
the western side of
the altar facing
east and the
people.
Main altar of a church
should be raised above
the level of the
sanctuary by three
steps, while side
altars had a single step.

The altar in a church is a

table on which is laid
the Blessed
Sacrament of bread and
wine for consecration by
a priest.
 BUTTRESS
A BUTTRESS is an architectural structure built
against or projecting from a wall which serves to
support or reinforce the wall.

Buttresses are a means of providing support to

act against the Lateral (sideways)
Forces Arising out of the roof
FLYING BUTTRESS
As a lateral-support system, the FLYING BUTTRESS
was developed during late antiquity and later
flourished during the Gothic period (12th–16th c.) of
architecture

The flying buttress

(arc-boutant, arch buttress)
is a specific form of
buttress composed of an
arched structure that
extends from the upper
portion of a wall to a pier
of great mass, in order to
convey to the ground the
lateral forces that push a
wall outwards, which are
forces that arise from
vaulted ceilings of stone
and from wind-loading on
roofs
 CHURCH TOWER or STEPPLE
A steeple, in architecture, is a tall tower on a building, topped by a spire
and often incorporating a belfry and other components. Steeples are
very common on Christian churches and cathedrals and the use of the
term generally connotes a religious structure.

A spire is a
tapering conical
or pyramidal
structure on the
top of a building,
church tower.

The belfry is a
structure
enclosing bells
for ringing as
part of a
building, usually
as part of a
steeple.
 ARCADE
An arcade is a succession • In warmer or wet
of arches, each counter-thrusting climates, exterior
the next, supported arcades provide
by columns, piers, or a covered shelter for
walkway enclosed by a line of such pedestrians. The
arches on one or both sides walkway may be
lined with
stores. A blind
arcade superimpose
ETYMOLOGY s arcading against
a solid wall.

The word "arcade" comes

from French arcade from Prove
nçal arcada or Italian arcata,
based on Latin arcus, ‘bow’

BASIC ARCADE AT CHURCHES

HISTORY
One of the earliest
• St. Nicholas Church is an examples of a
ancient Byzantine Church European shopping
located in modern-day town arcade, the Covered
of Demre, Antalya Province, Market, Oxford,
Turkey. Its usage is dated England was
between 5th-12th centuries. officially opened on 1
• Arcade at St. Nicholas church November 1774 and
is very famous because it is one is still active today.
of the oldest arcade built
ARCADE AT ST. NICHOLAS CHURCH
GARGOYLE
DEFINITION
• a gargoyle is a carved stone grotesque with a
spout designed to convey water from a roof and
away from the side of a building
• IT Prevents rainwater from running down
masonry walls is important because running
water erodes the mortar between the stone
blocks.

SYMBOLISM
Catholic churches in the Middle Ages used
gargoyles for a secondary purpose, after GARGOYLE AT NOTRE DAM, PARIS
diverting water from the church walls. Some
believe gargoyles on a church were meant to ward
off evil; it’s also possible that the gargoyles
symbolized evil spirits, monstrous entities, and
damned souls

• One of the earliest examples of gargoyles is

a set of lion-shaped water spouts built into
the side of the temple of Zeus in Olympia,
Greece. Ancient Egyptian architecture also
boasts gargoyles, most of these also
shaped as lions.
GARGOYLE AT TEMPLE OF ZEUS
 NARTHEX
• Narthex, long, narrow, enclosed porch, usually colonnaded or arcaded, crossing the entire width
of a church at its entrance.

• The narthex is usually separated from the nave by columns or a pierced wall.

• In Byzantine churches the space is divided into two parts; an exonarthex forms the outer entrance
to the building and bounds the esonarthex, which opens onto the nave.

• The exonarthex does not form an integral part of the main body of the church but consists of a
single-storied structure set against it.

• In the early days of Christianity the narthex was the only portion of the church to which
catechumens (those preparing for the sacrament of baptism) and penitents were admitted.

NARTHEX
 NAVE
• It is central and principal part of a Christian church, extending from the entrance (the narthex) to
the transepts or, in the absence of transepts, to the chancel .

• In a basilican church which has side aisles, nave refers only to the central aisle.

• The nave of the early Christian basilica was generally lighted by a row of windows near the ceiling,
called the clerestory .
• A flat timber roof characteristically covered the nave until the Romanesque and Gothic eras, when
stone vaulting became almost universal in the major churches of northern Europe.

• Medieval naves were generally divided into many bays, or compartments, producing the effect of
great length by the repetition of forms.

• During the Renaissance, the nave also was divided into fewer compartments, giving a feeling of
spaciousness and balanced proportion between the height, length, and width.

ST. JOHNS CANTIUS CHURCH CHICAGO NAVE OF SAN MINIATO AL MONTE SHOWING VATICAN CITY ST. PETER'S BASILICA
ROOF TRUSSES , FLORENCE
• Medieval naves were generally divided into many bays, or compartments, producing the effect
of great length by the repetition of forms.
• During the Renaissance, the nave also was divided into fewer compartments, giving a feeling
of spaciousness and balanced proportion between the height, length, and width.

REIMS CATHEDRAL, FRANCE ST. PAULS CATHEDRAL LONDON

A NAVE REACHING 377 FEET (115
METRES).
 AISLE
• Aisle, portion of a church or basilica that parallels or encircles the major sections of the
structure, such as the nave, choir, or apse. The aisle is often set off by columns or by an arcade.

• The name derives from the French for “wing,” because in Romanesque architecture the aisles
flanked only the nave and were often covered by roofs of lower height, thus forming wings.
• Although the aisle area may be used for seating, especially in more recent times, it was originally
intended as a path to seats or to the front of the church. Today, the word also refers to any
passageway that gives access to seating in a church, theatre, or other public structure.
 CHOIR
A choir is the area of
a church that
provides seating for
the clergy and church
choir.

It is in the
western part of
the chancel
between
the nave and
the altar.

The choir area is occupied

by sometimes finely carved
and decorated wooden
seats known as choir
stalls.

The stalls are usually

arranged in two sets of
stepped rows along the
edges of the choir, facing
each other and at right
angles to the altar.
CROSSING
• A crossing, in ecclesiastical
architecture, is the junction of the
four arms of a cruciform (cross-
shaped) church
• In a typically oriented church
especially
of Romanesque and Gothic styles),
the crossing gives access to
the nave on the west, SHADED AREA SHOWING CROSSING
the transept arms on the north and
south, and the choir, as the first
part of the chancel, on the east.

TRANSEPT
• A transept (with two semi transepts) is a
transverse part of any building, which lies
across the main body of the edifice. In
churches, a transept is an area set crosswise
to the nave in a cruciform ("cross-shaped")
building within
the Romanesque and Gothic Christian church
architectural traditions. Each half of a
transept is known as a semi transept
SHADED AREA SHOWING TRANSEPT
 PORCH
• Porch was a formal entrance to the Narthex .

• Porch of the Early Christian basilicas was inspired from Roman houses which had long colonnades
that served as porches facing the street .

• During the Romanesque period, the stately colonnaded church entrance was replaced with a
simple projecting porch covering the western doors.

• In France, especially in Burgundy, the porch developed into a vaulted structure of great height
and importance, two or more bays long and sometimes as wide as the entire church.

THE ABBEY CHURCH AT VEZEALY (1132–40) SAN ZENO MAGGIORE AT VERONA, ITALY THE BASILICA OF OLD St. PETER'S (ROME, AD 330).
• During the Gothic era, two main porch types were developed.

• The first was a small, gabled porch that projected from the north or south walls of the nave rather
than from the west doors, which, in contrast were often small and undistinguished.

• The other type of porch, called a galilee, was developed to such an extent that it almost became a
separate building used as courts of law or as places in which corpses lay before interment, but they
probably served chiefly as chapels for penitents before their admission to the body of the church.
• In Germany, churches of the Flamboyant Gothic period were frequently decorated with western
porches of fantastic richness, with a great use of cusping, tracery, and canopy woRK.
• During the Renaissance, porches were typically colonnaded porticos. Simple porches of two or four
columns were exceedingly common features of domestic architecture in England and the United
States, dating from the late 18th century.

GALILEE PORCH DURHAM CATHEDRAL THE TRIANGULAR PORCH OF THE CATHEDRAL

AT REGENSBURG
 AMBULATORY

Ambulatory (Latin : ambulatorium, lit. "walking

place"), in architecture, continuation of the
aisled spaces on either side of the nave
(central part of the church) around the apse
(semicircular projection at the east end of the
church) or chancel (east end of the church
where the main altar stands) to form a
continuous processional way.

The ambulatory often provided improved sites

for the numerous altars for saints, which
formerly were located along a crowded
corridor behind the high altar

The first ambulatory was developed during the

rebuilding of Saint-Martin at Tours in France
 CHEVET

Chevet, eastern end of a church, especially

of a Gothic church designed in the French
manner. Beginning about the 12th century,
Romanesque builders began to elaborate on
the design of the area around the altar,
adding a curved ambulatory behind it and
constructing a series of apses or small
chapels radiating from the ambulatory.
Chevet design became most elaborate
during the 13th century,