EARLY CHRISTIAN ARHITECTURE

WEEK 9

BAPTISTERY

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• In Christian architecture, the baptistery
is the separate centrally planned
structure surrounding the baptismal
font (piscina), in which those to be
baptize were immersed.

• The baptistery maybe incorporated into

the body of the church and be provided
with an altar as a chapel.

• Most early Christian baptisteries were

octagonal in plan. Adopted the
alternate church form.
In Christian symbolism, the number 8
represents eternity and rebirth, because
the world was created in 7 days and Christ
rose from the dead on the 8th day.

• The architectural splendor of the

baptistery reflects the importance of
baptism to Christians.
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THE LATERAN BAPTISTERY / THE BAPTISTERY OF CONSTANTINE

• Originally built in the 4th century by

Constantine for his baptism.

• It is the first Christian baptistery ever built

and it served as a model for the greatest
part of the baptisteries built after it.

• The interior has an octagonal plan.

• In the center middle, there is an eight

porphyry columns ring with marble
Corinthian capitals and entablature of
classical form.

• They support an octagonal lintel over which

there is another order of smaller white
marble columns.

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BYZANTINE ARCHITECTURE
WEEK 9

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 HISTORICAL CONTEXT
By the time Constantine became the Caesar of the Roman empire, the empire had split in half.
The Western Roman empire - centered in Rome
The Eastern Roman empire – Byzantium / Constantinople (today’s Istanbul)
Empire endured for a millennium and influenced Medieval and Renaissance architecture in
Europe and the architecture of Ottoman empire in the East.

TIMELINE:
330 AD: Emperor Constantine names Byzantium as the new capital of the Roman Empire.
The city is renamed as Constantinople.

395 AD: Death of Emperor Theodosius – Empire permanently split. Constantinople is the
capital of the Eastern Roman empire.

527 – 565 AD: Reign of the Emperor Justinian 1. This era swathe greatest expansion of the
Byzantine Empire.

1453: Fall of the Byzantine Empire to the Ottoman Turks. The Byzantine empire lasted 1000
years with great cultural history.

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 ARCHITECTURE OF THE BYZANTINE EMPIRE
• Early Byzantine architecture was built as a continuation of Roman Architecture.
• Used the Greek Cross plan for Church architecture.
• Territorial changes, technological advancement and influences from the East lead to a
distinct style of architecture.
• Characterized by massive domes with square bases, rounded arches and spires and
extensive use of glass mosaics.

CONSTANTINOPLE
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 BYZANTINE CHURCH: ARCHITECTURAL FEATURES
• The use of a centralized church plan
• The use of surrounding aisles
• The use of dome and dome on pendetives.
• A complex program of interior structure, lighting and decoration.

GREEK CROSS PLAN

• A square plan in which the nave and
trancept arms are of equal length
forming a Greek cross.
• The crossing is generally surmounted
by a dome.
• Churches of the Greek Cross form
often have a narthex which stretches
across the front of the church.
• Altar and lectern were placed
geometrically central.
• The congregation was not seated;
people were free to stand around on
all sides at their convenience.

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 DOMES AND DOMES ON PENDETIVES
The most distinctive feature of Byzantine architecture was the domed roof, borrowed heavily
from the East.

To allow the dome to rest above

a square base:
The squinch:
An arch in each corner of a
square base that transforms
into an octagon.

The pendetive:
Pendetives provided the
architects with a unique way of
adjusting the circular form of a
dome roof to a square or
polygonal plan.

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These domes were frequently constructed of bricks
or of some light porous stone, such as pumice, or
even of pottery.
Byzantine domes and vaults were, it is believed,
constructed without temporary support or
"centering " by the simple use of large flat bricks,
and this is quite a distinct system probably derived
from Eastern methods.

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 Windows were formed in the lower portion of
the dome which, in the later period, was
hoisted upon a high "drum" - a feature which
was still further embellished in the
Renaissance period
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Windows were formed in the lower
portion of the dome which, in the later
period, was hoisted on a high drum.

The winows at the base bring a mystical

quality of light that floods the interiors.

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The grouping of SMALL DOMES OR SEMI-DOMES (HALF DOMES) round the large central
dome was very common.

• One of the most remarkable peculiarities of Byzantine churches was that the forms of
the vaults and domes were visible externally, undisguised by any timber roof; thus
in the Byzantine style the exterior closely corresponds with the interior.

• Semi-domes were common features over semicircular apses.

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SEMI-DOME /
HALF DOME

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 CONSTRUCTION METHODS
The system of construction in concrete and brickwork introduced by the Romans was adopted
by the Byzantines.
• The carcass of concrete and brickwork was first completed and allowed to settle before the
surface sheathing of unyielding marble slabs was added, and this independence of the
component parts is characteristic of Byzantine construction.
• Brickwork, moreover, lent itself externally to decorative patterns and banding, and
internally it was suitable for covering with marble, mosaic, and fresco decoration.

• The Byzantines therefore took great pains in the manufacture of bricks, which were
employed alike in military, ecclesiastical, and domestic architecture.

• The ordinary bricks were like the Roman,

about an inch and a half in depth, and
were laid on thick beds of mortar.

• This general use of brickwork necessitated

special care in making mortar, which was
composed of lime and sand with crushed
pottery, tiles, or bricks, while the core of
the wall was sometimes of concrete, as in
the Roman period.
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• The decorative character of external facades depended largely on the arrangement of
the facing bricks, which were not always laid horizontally, but sometimes obliquely,
sometimes in the chevron or herringbone pattern, and in many other similar designs,
giving great variety to the facades. An attempt was also made to ornament the rough
brick exteriors by the use of stone bands and decorative arches.

• Walls were sheeted internally with marble and vaults and domes with coloured glass
mosaics on a golden background.

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 HAGIA SOPHIA
“CHURCH OF HOLY WISDOM”

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HISTORY:
• From the date of its dedication in 360 to 1453 it served as the cathedral of Constantinople.
• The building was a mosque from 29th May 1453 ntil 1934, when it was secularized.
• It was opened as a museum in 1935

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• Large central dome 102ft in diameter. • West – Narthex that opens to atrium.
• Dome carried on pendetives. Weight of • North and South – massive vaults
dome passes through the pendetives to the supported on green marble columns.
4 massive piers at the corners forming 4 • Dome carries a corona of 40 arched
arches. windows.
• West(entrance) and East(Liturgical) ends, the • Interior surfaces are cladded with gold
arched openings are extended by semi- mosaic, encrusted on the brick core of
domes structure.
• Each semi dome is pierced by 3 smaller radial
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ST MARK’S, VENICE

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The present day St. Mark’s was begun in 1063 when the Doge Domenico Contarini
commissioned an architect, probably Greek, to build a church on ancient foundations,
using the ancient walls of previous buildings.

The church was consecrated on 8th October 1094 when the body of St. Mark was
definitively deposited in a marble tomb beneath the high altar.

Thereafter the church was continually modified, enlarged, covered with marbles and
mosaics and decorated with columns and statues.

Mosaic decoration began in 1071. In the course of the 12th century the essential nucleus
of the iconographic plan for the interior was carried out.

In the early decades of the 13th century the church’s image underwent substantial
modifications: the facades were faced in polychrome marble and the cupolas were
covered with higher lead cupolas so that they might be seen from a greater distance.

The church was a kind of living organism in continuous mutation down through the ages
of its history.

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• Design was based on Constantine's
Church of the Holy Apostles in
Constantinople.

• Greek cross plan

• Surmounted by 5 domes.
Dome over the central crossing and 4
other domes above each arm. Each
carried on piers.

• Western and central dome larger

than the others

• Narthex wraps around the western

façade, disguising the cross shape.
This creates wide flat surface for
the grand façade

• Each arm has a central aisle,

flanked by two side aisles.

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EXTERIOR
The exterior of the west facade of the basilica is divided in three registers: lower, upper, and
domes. Gothic style.
Lower: consists of five round-arched portals, enveloped by polychrome marble columns, open
into the narthex through bronze-fashioned doors. Central portal is larger.
Upper: ogee arches, statues of Theological and Cardinal Virtues, four Warrior
Saints, Constantine etc.
Domes: One central dome (42ft diameter) and 4 domes, one on each arm.

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INTERIOR
The interior is based on a Greek cross. The dome above the crossing and the western dome
are bigger than the other three. This is based on Constantine's Church of the Holy Apostles in
Constantinople.
Each arm has an aisle and a side aisle on either side.

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The marble floor (12th century, but underwent many restorations) is entirely tessellated in
geometric patterns and animal designs. The techniques used were opus sectile and opus
tessellatum.

Geometric patterned marble flooring - opus sectile

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The lower register of walls and pillars is completely covered with polychrome marble slabs.
The transition between the lower and the upper register is delimited all around the basilica by
passageways which largely substituted the former galleries.

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INTERIOR – MOSAICS
The upper levels of the interior are completely covered with bright mosaics covering an area of
about 8000 m2. The great majority use the traditional background of gold glass tesserae,
creating the shimmering overall effect

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 GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS OF BYZANTINE CHURCH
• Ground plan could be basilican, cruciform, circular or polygonal.
• Main entrance from the west.
• Altar at the eastern end of the church.
• Principal building material was brick, arranged in decorative patterns or covered in plaster.
• Roofs were tiled or covered by sheets of lead.
• Mosaic work in interiors – predominantly gold and blue. Scenes from The holy Bible.
• Exterior – plain, blind arches, austere entrances
• Domes on pendetives
• Interior – few columns, uninterrupted view.
• Light from high windows – heavenly ambience.
• Columns and capitals – classiscal prototypes

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