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HISTORY OF ARCHITECTURE
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BYZANTINE ARCHITECTURE

Ar Hema Reddy
 BYZANTINE ARCHITECTURE

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INTRODUCTION LOCATION

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• During: 400 BC –1000 AD
• Location: Turkey, with the capital at constant.
Tinople(now “Istanbul”)
• Architecture Style: Arcuate

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• Famous: Its Unique system of Dome Construction
with Pendentive & Squinches.
• InteriorConstruction Material:Marble Mosaic & Glass
Mosaic
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• ExteriorConstruction Material: Brick
• ImportantBuildings:
1. Hagia Sophia, Constantinople
2. St. Marks, Venice
 IMPORTANT FEATURES OF BYZANTINE
ARCHITECTURE

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HAGIA SOPHIA:
1. Hagia HAGIA SOPHIA
Sophiaisagreatarchitecturalbeauty&animportantmonumen

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tbothforbyzantine&forOttomanEmpires.
2. Once a church, later a mosque, and now a museum at
the TurkinRepublic, Hagia Sophia has always been the
precious of its time.

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EXTERIOR:
1. The vast, airy naos, or central basilica, with its technically
complex system of vaults and semi-domes, culminates a
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high central dome with a diameter of over 101 feet (31
meters) and a height of 160 feet (48.5 meters).
2. This central dome was often interpreted by
contemporary commentatorsas the dome of heaven itself.
3. Its weight is carried by four great arches, which rest on a
series of tympana and semi-domes, which in turn rest
onsmallersemidomesandarcades.
 IMPORTANT FEATURES OF BYZANTINE
ARCHITECTURE

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INTERIOR:
1. The interior of Hagia Sophia was panelled with costly coloured marbles and ornamental stone inlays.

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2. Decorativemarblecolumns were taken from ancient buildings and reused to support the interior arcades.
3. Initially, the upper part of the building was minimally decorated in gold with a huge cross in a medallion at the summit of the
dome.

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4. After the period of Iconoclasm(726-843), new figural mosaics were added,some of which have survived to the present day.
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INTERIOR OF HAGIA SOPHIA
FAMOUS BUILDING OF BYZANTINE ARCHITECTURE

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ST MARK’S BASILICA:
1. St Mark’s Basilica (Basilica di San Marco in Italian) is the
most famous of the many churches of Venice and one of the
finest examples of Byzantine Architecture in the world.

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EXTERIOR:
1. Decorated with Byzantine, Romanesque and Gothic art, the

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west façadeis composed of two orders of five recessed arches,
supposed by clusters of columns whose capitals were carved in
the 12thand 13thcenturies.
2. The delicate pinnacle and other decorations at the top of
the façade are Gothic Additions of the 14thand 15thcenturies.

INTERIOR:
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1. The narthex, an architectural feature common to byzantine
churches, wraps around the west end of the basilica.
2. It has a beautiful marble mosaic pavement of the 11thand
12thcenturies and splendid gilded mosaics