Byzantine Architecture

What’s Byzantine Architecture

• Byzantine architecture is the architecture of the Byzantine Empire, or Eastern
Roman Empire.
• The Byzantine era is usually dated from 330 CE, when Constantine the
Great moved the Roman capital to Byzantium, which became Constantinople,
until the fall of the Byzantine Empire in 1453. However, there was initially no hard
line between the Byzantine and Roman empires, and early Byzantine architecture
is stylistically and structurally indistinguishable from Roman architecture. This
terminology was introduced by modern historians to designate the
medieval Roman Empire as it evolved as a distinct artistic and cultural entity
centered on the new capital of Constantinople (modern-day Istanbul) rather than
the city of Rome and its environs.
• Its architecture dramatically influenced the later medieval
architecture throughout Europe and the Near East, and became the primary
progenitor of the Renaissance and Ottoman architectural traditions that followed
its collapse.
Basilica of San Vitale
• The Basilica of San Vitale is a church in Ravenna, Italy, and one of the
most important surviving examples of early Christian Byzantine
art and architecture in Europe. The Roman Catholic Church has
designated the building a "basilica", the honorific title bestowed on
church buildings of exceptional historic and ecclesial importance,
although it is not of architectural basilica form. It is one of eight
Ravenna structures inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List.
• The church was begun by Bishop Ecclesius in 526, when Ravenna was
under the rule of the Ostrogoths and completed by the 27th Bishop of
Ravenna, Maximian, in 547 preceding the Byzantine Exarchate of Ravenna.
• The construction of the church was sponsored by Julius Argentarius, a
banker and architect, of whom very little is known, except that he also
sponsored the construction of the Basilica of Sant'Apollinare in Classe at
around the same time.[1] (A donor portrait of Julius Argentarius may appear
among the courtiers on the Justinian mosaic.) The final cost amounted to
26,000 solidi (gold pieces).[2] equal to 36.11 pds. of gold. It has been
suggested that Julian originated in the eastern part of the Byzantine
Empire, where there was a long-standing tradition of public benefactions.
• The central vault used a western technique of hollow tubes inserted into
each other, rather than bricks. This method was the first recorded
structural use of terra-cotta forms, which later evolved into
modern structural clay tile. The ambulatory and gallery were vaulted only
later in the Middle Ages.[3]
• The Baroque frescoes on the dome were made between 1778 and 1782 by
S. Barozzi, U. Gandolfi and E. Guarana.[4]
Basilica of Sant’Apolinare in Classe
• The Basilica of Sant' Apollinare in Classe is an important monument
of Byzantine art near Ravenna, Italy. When the UNESCO inscribed
eight Ravenna sites on the World Heritage List, it cited this basilica as
"an outstanding example of the early Christian basilica in its purity
and simplicity of its design and use of space and in the sumptuous
nature of its decoration".
• When the basilica of Sant'Apollinare was built 1500 years ago it was on the
seashore at Classe, ancient home port of the Roman fleet. Due to the
accumulation of silt, the coastline has moved 9 km (5.6 mi) to the
east.[1] The imposing brick structure was erected at the beginning of 6th
century by order of Bishop Ursicinus, using money from the Greek
banker Iulianus Argentarius.[2] It was certainly located next to a Christian
cemetery, and quite possibly on top of a pre-existing pagan one, as some of
the ancient tombstones were re-used in its construction.
• Sant'Apollinare in Classe was consecrated on May 9, 549 by
Bishop Maximian and dedicated to Saint Apollinaris, first bishop of Ravenna
and Classe. The Basilica is thus contemporary with the Basilica of San
Vitale of Ravenna. In 856, the relics of Saint Apollinaris were transferred
from the Basilica of Sant'Apollinare in Classe to the Basilica of Sant'
Apollinare Nuovo in Ravenna.
• The exterior has a large façade with two simple uprights and one mullioned
window with three openings. The narthex and building to the right of the
entry are later additions, as is the fine 9th century round bell
tower with mullioned windows.
Daphni Monastery
• Daphni or Dafni (Modern Greek: Δαφνί; Katharevousa:
Δαφνίον, Daphnion) is an eleventh-century Byzantine monastery
eleven kilometers (6.8 miles) northwest of central Athens in the
suburb of Chaidari, south of Athinon Avenue (GR-8A). It is situated
near the forest of the same name, on the Sacred Way that led
to Eleusis. The forest covers about 18 km2 (7 sq mi), and surrounds a
laurel grove. "Daphni" is the modern Greek name that means "laurel
grove", derived from Daphneion (Lauretum).[1]
• The Daphni Monastery was founded towards the end of the sixth century A.D. on
the site of the Sanctuary of Apollo which had been desecrated by the Goths in
395.[1] The Sanctuary of Apollo was built in the Ionic style using the thinnest and
smallest columns. The columns stand on a base with an ornamental scroll at the
top. A few of the columns of the temple have been preserved. One of the four
Ionic columns of the ancient Sanctuary of Apollo remains at the site, as it was re-
used in the Daphni Monastery. The other columns were removed and taken to
London by Thomas Bruce, Earl of Elgin (best-known for taking
the Parthenon Marbles). The columns, column bass, and column tops from the
Sanctuary of Apollo are currently in the possession of the British Museum; they
are currently not on display but can be seen on the museum’s website .
• The first monastery on the site was constructed in the style of a castle with
a basilica in the middle. It was fortified with enclosing walls and small cells that
were usually just inside the walls and used by monks or nuns. The walls were
attached to the church rather than standing free around the perimeter of the
property and one of the columns from Apollo was built into the southern wall of
the church.[1] Some of the rectangular blocks of porous stone were also salvaged
and used in the western outer wall of the church. This first monastery fell into
decline when Greece was severely damaged following invasions of barbarians
from the North and the sea in the ninth and tenth Centuries A.D.
• During a period of renewed prosperity In the eleventh and twelfth centuries, the Daphni
Monastery was restored. A new octagonal church, a refectory and a chapel for the
cemetery were built.[2] The old basilica was completely demolished except for the
enclosing walls and cells from the former church which were incorporated into the new
church. Traces of old frescoes found on the walls show a person with bands, perhaps
Emperor Basil II, holding a scroll. The craftsmanship used in the church construction
suggests Basil II brought in workers from Constantinople.[1]
• The Daphni Monastery fell into decline after it was sacked by Frankish crusaders in 1205.
The region became part of the Duchy of Athens under Othon de la Roche. Othon gave
the Daphni Monastery to the Cistercian Abbey of Bellevaux,[3] who added their own
cloister and twin pointed arches in the Gothic style to the façade of the church. The
Daphni Monastery became a popular burial place for Knights. In 1458, immediately after
the coming of the Turks and the visit of Sultan Mehmed II to Athens, the Cistercians
abandoned the Daphni Monastery and the Duchy of Athens was abolished.
• The Daphni Monastery, along with the famous monasteries of Hosios
Loukas near Delphi and Nea Moni on the island of Chios, are designated UNESCO World
Heritage Sites for their significant historical and architectural value. These monasteries
are famed as masterpieces of middle Byzantine architecture, and are especially noted for
their sumptuous interior gold mosaics.
Church of the Holy Sepulchre
• The Church of the Holy Sepulchre[b] (Greek: Ναὸς τῆς Ἀναστάσεως Naos tes
Anastaseos; Armenian: Սուրբ Հարության տաճար Surb Harut'yan tačạ r; Latin: Ecclesia Sancti
Sepulchri;[c] also called the Church of the Resurrection or Church of the Anastasis by Orthodox
Christians) is a church in the Christian Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem.[2] The church contains,
according to traditions dating back to at least the fourth century, the two holiest sites in
Christianity: the site where Jesus of Nazareth was crucified,[3] at a place known as Calvary or
Golgotha, and Jesus's empty tomb, where he is said to have been buried and resurrected.[4] The
tomb is enclosed by a 19th-century shrine called the Aedicula.[d] The Status Quo, an
understanding between religious communities dating to 1757, applies to the site.[5][6]
• Within the church proper are the last four (or, by some definitions, five) stations of the Via
Dolorosa, representing the final episodes of the Passion of Jesus. The church has been a
major Christian pilgrimage destination since its creation in the fourth century, as the traditional
site of the resurrection of Christ, thus its original Greek name, Church of the Anastasis
('Resurrection').
• Today, the wider complex around the Church of the Holy Sepulchre also serves as the
headquarters of the Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem, while control of the church itself
is shared among several Christian denominations and secular entities in complicated
arrangements essentially unchanged for over 160 years, and some for much longer. The main
denominations sharing property over parts of the church are the Roman Catholic, Greek
Orthodox and Armenian Apostolic, and to a lesser degree the Coptic Orthodox, Syriac
Orthodox and Ethiopian Orthodox.
• Info at word