BYZANTINE ARCHITECTURE

1. Write about domes, pendentive, domes on pendentive.

Ans. Dome, in architecture, is hemispherical structure evolved from the arch, usually forming a ceiling
or roof. Domes first appeared as solid mounds and in techniques adaptable only to the smallest
buildings, such as round huts and tombs in the ancient Middle East, India, and the Mediterranean. The
Romans introduced the large-scale masonry hemisphere. The dome exerts thrusts all around its
perimeter, and the earliest monumental examples, such as the Roman Pantheon, required heavy
supporting walls.

Byzantine architects invented a technique for raising domes on piers, permitting lighting and
communication from four directions. The transition from a cubic base to the hemispherical dome was
achieved by four pendentives, inverted triangular masses of masonry curved both horizontally and
vertically, as shown in the figure. Their apexes rested on the four piers, to which they conducted the
forces of the dome; their sides joined to form arches over openings in the four faces of the cube; and
their bases met in a complete circle to form the dome foundation. The pendentive dome could rest
directly on this circular foundation or upon a cylindrical wall, called a drum, inserted between the two
to increase height.

In architecture, a pendentive is a constructional device permitting the placing of a circular dome over a
square room or of an elliptical dome over a rectangular room.[1] The pendentives, which are triangular
segments of a sphere, taper to points at the bottom and spread at the top to establish the continuous
circular or elliptical base needed for a dome.[2] In masonry the pendentives thus receive the weight of
the dome, concentrating it at the four corners where it can be received by the piers beneath.

The Romans were the first to experiment with pendentive domes in the 2nd-3rd century AD. They saw
the supporting of a dome over an enclosed square or polygonal space as a particular architectural
challenge.

Byzantine architects perfected the construction methods, and as a result pendentives are a common
feature of Islamic architecture, often used with delicate ribbing. Pendentive domes were commonly
built for Orthodox, Renaissance and Baroque churches, in particular in Roman Catholic Europe and
Latin America.
2. Write in detail about Hagia Sophia or St. Sophia Constantinople.

Ans. The Hagia Sophia is an enormous architectural marvel in Istanbul, Turkey, that was originally built
as a Christian basilica nearly 1,500 years ago. Much like the Eiffel Tower in Paris or the Parthenon in
Athens, the Hagia Sophia is a long-enduring symbol of the cosmopolitan city. However, as notable as
the structure is itself, its role in the history of Istanbul—and, for that matter, the world—is also
significant and touches upon matters related to international politics, religion, art and architecture.

The Hagia Sophia anchors the Old City of Istanbul and has served for centuries as a landmark for both
Orthodox Christians and Muslims, as its significance has shifted with that of the dominant culture in the
Turkish city.

Istanbul straddles the Bosporus strait, a waterway that serves as a geographic border between Europe
and Asia. The Turkish city of nearly 15 million residents thus lies in both continents.

The Hagia Sophia (Ayasofya in Turkish) was originally built as a basilica for the Greek Orthodox Christian
Church. However, its function has changed several times in the centuries since.

Byzantine Emperor Constantius commissioned construction of the first Hagia Sophia in 360 A.D. At the
time of the first church’s construction, Istanbul was known as Constantinople, taking its name from
Constantius’ father, Constantine I, the
first ruler of the Byzantine Empire.
From its opening, the third and final Hagia Sophia was indeed a remarkable structure. It combined the
traditional design elements of an Orthodox basilica with a large, domed roof, and a semi-domed altar

with two narthexes (or “porches”). The dome’s supporting arches were covered with mosaics of six
winged angels called hexapterygon. In an effort to create a grand basilica that represented all of the
Byzantine Empire, Emperor Justinian decreed that all provinces under his rule send architectural pieces
for use in its construction.

A beautiful view of Hagia Sophia

3. Write about St. Sergius and Bacchus, Constantinople.

Ans. The Monastery of Saints Sergius and Bacchus at Hormisdas was built during the reign of Justinian.
It is located near the Sea Wall by the Marmara Sea south of the Hippodrome of Constantinople. It was
built on the grounds of the Palace of Hormisdas next to the Basilica of St. Peter and Paul. The church
was dedicated to the saints Sergius and Bacchus, Roman soldiers who were martyred under Emperor
Maxima around 300. The Church of Ss. Sergius and Bacchus was built on the grounds of the Palace of
Hormisdas, which was named after a Sassanid prince who was received at the court of Emperor
Constantine after fleeing from Persia in 324.

The palace was the residence of Justinian when his uncle Justin I (518-527)
was the ruling emperor. After consecrated the Basilica of St. Peter and Paul at the palace in 518-519, he
asked Pope Hormisdas for the relics of the two apostles in Rome. The precise date of Sergius and
Bacchus is controversial. Traditionally it was being argued that it was a palatine chapel built by Justinian
and Theodora built around 527 when the imperial couple moved to the Great Palace complex.
However, it has also been argued that it was built by the year 536 for Syrian Monophysite monks who
were being supported by Empress Theodora. It is known that the palace accommodated over 500
Monophysite refugees during this period. The church was first attested – as a monastery under Abbot
Paul – in 536 when the anti-Monophysite council of 536 was held here. Following the death of
Theodora in 548, its Monophysite inhabitants were moved to the house of Urbicius.
 This church remained a monastery throughout
the Byzantine era. The church was a centre of Iconoclasm under its
hegoumenos (abbot) and future Patriarch John VII Grammatikos during
the reigns of Leo V and Theophilus. As hegoumenos (c. 815-37) he
interrogated many prominent supporters of icons, including Theodore of
Studios and Theophanous the Confessor, at Sergius and Bacchus. Sergius
and Bacchus was restored by Basil I after 867 and was granted to the See of
Rome in 880 during the reign of Basil I, though it seems to have already
been placed in the service of the Pope earlier. The brick-and-mortar
building has an octagonal nave set within a irregular rectangle. It has a double-storied arcade that
supporting a pumpkin dome (17 meters in diameter) with 16 alternating curved and flat wedges. The
flat surfaces are pierced by windows, while the curved wedges coincide with the corners of the
octagon. There is a broad arch over the apse on its east side and seven narrower arches over the other
piers. The arches of the octagon frame two-story niches of alternating rectangular and semi-circular
plan, while the angles of the octagonal nave are marked by eight wedge-shaped piers. Paired columns
of Verde antico and red-veined Synnada marble support a richly carved horizontal entablature made of
Proconnesian marble at the gallery level. These columns are capped with delicately undercut “melon”
or “folded” capitals, which emphasize the crosses and imperial monograms in the centre. The columns
of the gallery also include Ionic impost capitals. Along its entire length is an inscribed epigram with
expertly carved letters in honour of Justinian and Theodora. The entablature also includes the
traditional egg-and-dart, bead-and-reel and acanthus rinceau. While it would have originally been
decorated with mosaics and polychrome marble revetment on its walls and piers, it is now mostly
covered with plaster. During the Ottoman era, additions include a portico at the entrance and a
minaret, while the dome was sheathed in lead and the windows were altered.

Church of St. Sergius and Bacchus.

4. Write about St. Vitale, Ravenna.

Ans. The Basilica of San Vitale is a late antique church in Ravenna, Italy. The 6th century church is an
important surviving example of early Christian Byzantine art and architecture. It is one of eight
structures in Ravenna inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List. Its foundational inscription
 describes the church as a basilica, though its centrally-planned design is not typical of the basilica form.
The Roman Catholic Church has designated the building a "basilica", an honorific title bestowed on
exceptional church buildings of historic and ecclesial importance.

The church was begun by Bishop Ecclesius in 526, when Ravenna was under the rule of the Ostrogoth’s
and completed by the 27th Bishop of Ravenna, Maxima, in 547 preceding the Byzantine Exarchate of
Ravenna. The church was begun by Bishop Ecclesius in 526, when Ravenna was under the rule of the
Ostrogoth’s and completed by the 27th Bishop of Ravenna, Maxima, in 547 preceding the Byzantine
Exarchate of Ravenna.

The church has an octagonal plan. The building combines Roman elements: the dome, shape of
doorways, and stepped towers; with Byzantine elements: polygonal apse, capitals, narrow bricks, and
an early example of flying buttresses. The church is most famous for its wealth of Byzantine mosaics,
the largest and best preserved outside of Constantinople. The church is of extreme importance in
Byzantine art, as it is the only major church from the period of the Emperor Justinian I to survive
virtually intact to the present day. Furthermore, it is thought to reflect the design of the Byzantine
Imperial Palace Audience Chamber, of which nothing at all survives. The bellower has four bells, the
tenor one dating from the 16th century. According to legends, the church was erected on the site of
the martyrdom of Saint Vitalis. However, there is some confusion as to whether this is the Saint Vitalis
of Milan, or the Saint Vitale whose body was discovered together with that of Saint Agricola, by Saint
Ambrose in Bologna in 393.

Exterior view Interior view

Plan and
elevation

Niharika.B

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