BYZANTINE

ARCHITECTURE
4th CENTURY – 6th CENTURY
A. GEOGRAPHICAL INFLUENCE
• From Byzantine, Constantine renamed it to Constantinople, now
as Istanbul and also called New Rome. It was the Architecture
of the Eastern Roman Empire which was developed from Early
Christian and Late Roman antecedent in the 4th century.
B. GEOLOGICAL INFLUENCE
• Local materials such as clay for bricks and rubble for concrete
were used.
• Marble was also used but mostly imported materials.
C. CLIMATIC INFLUENCE
• Semi-tropical, thus flat roofs was used and combined wth
domes to counter act the New Empire.
D. RELIGIOUS INFLUENCE
• Political Division between East and West, followed by the
division of churches due to ICONOLASTIC MOVEMENT (decree
to ban the use of statues as means of representations of human
or animal forms). This made painting figures in decorations as
substitute. Early Christian Basilica was merged wit the domical
system of the Byzantine
E. SOCIAL AND POLITICAL
INFLUENCE
• Ways of life and corrupt conditions contributed greatly to the
fall of Roman Empire.
Prominent Figures considered movers of this Architecture
1. THEDOSIUS II – built several military gates and towers (defense
against the Goths and Huns) but cannot avoid the Moslem or the
Islamic people.
2. JUSTINIAN – responsible fpr rebuilding of St. Sophia which now
turned to a Moslem Mosque
F. HISTORICAL INFLUENCE
• From 5th to 11th century was on of the fluctuating and gradually
declining fortunes. The spirit of the Byzantine Empire persisted
even after the Empire ad fallen, Constantine continued up to
the present day to the seat of the Patriarch of the Orthodox
Church.
ARCHITECTURAL CHARACTER
1. SIMPLICITY – in external design which resulted in the use of
clay and rubble.
2. RICHNESS – in internal treatment importing “marble”
CHARACTERISTIC FEATURES
1. Characterized by large pendentives supported domes to
cover polygonal and square.
2. Plans of churches and baptisteries; rounded arches,
elaborated columns and colors.
3. Features the grouping of small domes or semi-domes around
a large central dome.
4. Extensive use of “mosaic decoration”
5. They don’t use campanile and atrium in their churches.
CONSTRUCTION SYSTEMS
• Fusion of domical construction with classical columnar style
• Domes of various types placed over square compartments
using pendentives
• Semi-circular arches rest directly on columns, with capitals able
to support springing of arches
3 Types of Dome developed
1. SIMPLE DOME – dome and pendentives were part of the same
sphere
2. COMPOUND DOME – dome is not part but rises independently
above them
3. MELON-SHAPED DOME – consist of curved flutings which avoid the
necessity of pendentives.
Popular Forms of Ornaments Used
1. Symbolic Figures
2. Groups of Saints
3. Peacock – Symbol of Eternal Life
4. Endless Knot – Symbol of Eternity
5. Sacred Monograms of Christ
Peacock
COLUMN CAPITALS
Mosaic Pattern for Pavements
OPUS SECTILE
• a form of pietra dura popularized in
the ancient and medieval Roman
world where materials were cut and
inlaid into walls and floors to make a
picture or pattern. Common materials
were marble, mother of pearl, and
glass.
OPUS ALEXANDRINUM
• It utilized tiny, geometrically shaped
pieces of colored stone and glass
paste that were arranged in intricate
geometric patterns dotted with large
disks of semiprecious stones.
STRUCTURES
Hagia Sophia
• a Late Antique place
of worship in Istanbul,
designed by the Greek
geometers Isidore of
Miletus and Anthemius
of Tralles.
• It is considered the
epitome of Byzantine
architecture and is said
to have "changed the
history of architecture".
Hagia Sophia
• Built in 537 as the patriarchal cathedral of the imperial capital of
Constantinople, it was the largest Christian church of the
eastern Roman Empire (the Byzantine Empire) and the Eastern
Orthodox Church, except during the Latin Empire from 1204 to
1261, when it became the city's Latin Catholic cathedral.
• In 1453, after the Fall of Constantinople to the Ottoman Empire,
it was converted into a mosque. In 1935, under the direction of
Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the secular Republic of Turkey
established it as a museum.
• In 2020, under the direction of Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, it re-
opened as a mosque.
Basilica of San Vitale
• The main building of the church is
laid out octagonally. The building
combines Roman and Byzantine
elements.
• The dome, shape of doorways,
and stepped towers are typical of
Roman style, while the polygonal
apse, capitals, narrow bricks, and
an early example of flying
buttresses are typical of the
Byzantine.
• The church is most famous for its
wealth of Byzantine mosaics. St
Vitale boasts the largest and best
preserved mosaics outside of
Istanbul.
St Mark's Basilica
• The exterior of the basilica
is divided into two
registers. On the western
façade, the lower register
is dominated by five
deeply recessed portals
that alternate with large
piers, comparable to the
arcaded pillars of middle-
Byzantine churches
erected in the tenth and
eleventh centuries
Little Metropolis
• is a Byzantine church located
at the Mitropoleos square, next
to the Metropolitan Cathedral
of Athens (the "Great
Metropolis").
• The church has a typical
Byzantine layout, being cross-
in-square, with a three-aisled
nave with the central aisle
higher than the flanking ones.