BYZANTINE

ARCHITECTURE
HISTORIC CONTEXT
• BY THE TIME CONSTANTINE BECAME THE CAESAR OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE, THE
EMPIRE HAD SPLIT IN HALF
• EASTERN ROMAN EMPIRE OF BYZANTIUM, TODAY ISTANBUL
• WESTERN ROMAN EMPIRE CENTERED IN ROME, SPEAKING LATIN
• BYZANTIUM, “NEW ROME”, WAS LATER RENAMED CONSTANTINOPLE AND NOW
ISTANBUL. THE EMPIRE ENDURED FOR MORE THAN A MILLENNIUM,
INFLUENCING MEDIEVAL AND RENAISSANCE ERA ARCHITECTURE IN EUROPE.
FOLLOWING CAPTURE OF CONSTANTINOPLE BY THE OTTOMAN TURKS IN 1453,
LEADING DIRECTLY TO THE ARCHITECTURE OF THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE.
• BYZANTINE EMPIRE BECAME STRONG AND STABLE IN THE CENTURY UNDER
EMPEROR JUSTINIAN
• LASTED FOR 1000 YEARS; HAS GREAT CULTURAL HISTORY
• FELL TO THE TURKS IN 1453
• ITS BOARDERS WERE BREACHED AND THE EMPEROR WAS FORCED TO ABANDON
ROME, MOVING THE CENTER NORTHWARD, FIRST TO MILAN THEN TO RAVENNA
• BARBARIANS SPILLED OVER THE REST OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE
• DOZENS OF BARBARIAN KINGDOMS REPLACED THE CENTRAL AUTHORITY OF THE
ROMAN EMPIRE BY THE END OF THE 6TH CENTURY
 BYZANTINE ARCHITEDTURE

• CHARACTERIZED BY MASSIVE DOMES WITH

SQUARES BASED AND ROUNDED ARCHES AND
SPIRES AND EXTENSIVE USE OF GLASS MOSAICS
• EARLY BYZANTINE ARCHITECTURE AS BUILT AS A
CONTINUATION OF ROMAN ARCHITECTURE
• GREEK CROSS PLAN IN CHURCH ARCHITECTURE – A
CROSS WITH FOUR EQUAL ARMS AT RIGHT ANGLES
PURPOSE
• BUILDINGS INCREASED IN GEOMETRIC COMPLEXITY, BRICK AND PLASTER WERE
USED IN ADDITION TO STONES IN THE DECORATION OF IMPORTANT PUBLIC
STRUCTURES, CLASSIC ORDERS WERE MORE FREELY
• MOSAICS REPLACED CARVED DECORATION, COMPLEX DOMES RESTED UPON
MASSIVE PIERS, AND WINDOWS FILTERED LIGHT THROUGH THIN SHEETS OF
ALABASTER TO SOFTLY ILLUMINATE INTERIORS.
GREEK CROSS
• A square plan in which the nave, chancel and transept arms are equal length
forming a Greek cross, the crossing generally surmounted by a dome became the
common form in the Orthodox Church, with many churches throughout Eastern
Europe and Russia being built in this way
• Churches often have a narthex or vestibule which stretches across the front of
the church
 BYZANTINE DOME CONSTRUCTION
• DOMED ROOF – MOST DISTINCTIVE FEATURE
• THE DOME, WHICH HAD ALWAYS BEEN A TRADITIONAL FEATURE IN THE EAST,
BECAME THE PREVAILING MOTIF OF BYZANTINE ARCHITECTURE WHICH WAS A
FUSION OF THE DOMICAL.
• TO ALLOW A DOME TO REST A SQUARE BASE, EITHER OF THE TWO DEVICES WAS
USED: THE SQUINCH (AN ARCH IN EACH OF THE CORNERS OF A SQUARE BASE
THAT TRANSFORMS IT INTO AN OCTAGON) OR THE PENDENTIVE.
• DOMES OF VARIOUS TYPES WERE NOW PLACED OVER SQUARES COMPARTMENTS
BY MEANS OF “PENDENTIVES”, WHEREAS IN ROMAN ARCHITECTURE DOMES
WERE ONLY USED OVER CIRCULAR OR POLYGONAL STRUCTURES CONSTRUCTION
WITH THE CLASSICAL COLUMNAR STYLE
• BYZANTINE ARCHITECTURE GAVE US THE PENDENTIVE DOMES AND THE DOME ON
PENDENTIVES
• THE PENDENTIVE DOME AND THE DOME ON PENDENTIVES PROVIDED THE
BYZANTINE ARCHITECTS WITH A UNIQUE WAY OF ADJUSTING THE CIRCULAR FORM OF
A DOME ROOF TO A SQUARE OR POLYGONAL PLAN
• THE PENDENTIVE DOME IS DERIVED BY TRIMMING THE SIDES OF A REGULAR DOME
OVER A SQUARE PLAN AS SHOWN IN A.
• THE PENDENTIVE DOME ENABLES THE TRANSFER THE TOTAL LOAD OF THE DOME TO
THE FOUR CORNERS OF A BUILDING, MEANING THAT ONLY THE FOUR CORNERS NEED
TO BE REINFORCED
• THIS ALLOWS THE DOME ROOF TO BE ADAPTED FOR A SQUARE BUILDING AS SHOWN
IN B
•Additionally, the top of the pendentive dome can be trim to introduce another
dome on top of it as shown in C
•The additional dome can further be raised to introduce a cylinder between the
pendentive dome and the additional dome as in D
•Windows can then be introduced in the cylinder enabling architects to creating
dazzling interior light effects These domes were frequently constructed of bricks
or of some light porous stones, such as pumice, or even of pottery
• Byzantine domes and vaults were 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
• Byzantine style the exterior closely corresponds with the interior
MATERIALS USED IN
CONSTRUCTION
• THE SYSTEM OF CONSTRUCTION IN CONCRETE AND BRICKWORK INTRODUCED BY
THE ROMANS WAS ADOPTED BY THE BYZANTINES
• THE CARCASS (SKELETON) 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 LENT ITSELF EXTERNALLY TO DECORATIVE PATTERNS AND BANDING,
AND INTERNALLY IT WAS SUITABLE FOR COVERING WITH MARBLE, MOSAIC, AND
FRESCO DECORATION
• THE ORDINARY BRICKS WERE LIKE THE ROMAN. ABOUT AN INCH AND HALF IN
DEPTH, AND WERE LAID ON THICK BEDS OF MORTAR
• BRICKWORK NECESSITATED SPECIAL CARE IN MAKING MORTAR, WHICH WAS
COMPOSED OF LIME AND SAND WITH CRUSHED POTTERY, TILES, OR BRICKS, AND
MUCH OF T REMAINS AS HARD AS THE BEST BUILDINGS OF ROME, WHILE THE
CORE OF THE WALL WAS SOMETIMES OF CONCRETE, AS IN THE ROMAN PERIOD
• 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 FORM OF THE
MEANDER FRET, SOMETIMES IN THE CHEVRON OR HERRINGBONE PATTERN, AND
IN MANY OTHER SIMILAR DESIGNS, GIVING GREAT VARIETIES TO THE
• AND 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
COLORED GLASS MOSAICS ON A GOLDEN
BACKGROUND
FEATURES OF BYZANTINE
ARCHITECTURE
• GREEK ROMAN AND ORIENTAL ELEMENTS IN
ARCHITECTURE AND ITS DECORATION
• GRECO-ROMAN COLUMNS , ARCHES, VAULTS, DOMES
OVER SQUARE BASES
• ORIENTAL (EASTERN) RICH ORNAMENTATION, RICH USE
OF COLOR, MOSAICS POLY CHROMES MARBLE AND
STONE WORK PLAY OF LIGHT INDOORS
Typical byzantine church
Examples of byzantine architecture
• HAGIA SOPHIA
• BASILICA OF SANT' APOLLINARE NUOVO
• BASILICA OF SAN VITALE
• HAGIA IRENE
• HIPPODROME OF CONSTANTINOPLE
• DAPHNI MONASTERY
• CHURCH OF SAINT CATHERINE (THESSALONIKI)