BYZANTINE

ARCHITECTURE

Prof. Abhijeet B. Shinde,

Pravara Rural College of
Architecure,
 BYZANTINE
ARCHITECTURE Introduction
Byzantine Empire - Early Period
•Timeline:
330: Emperor Constantine founds a new capital of the
Roman Empire at the Greek town of Byzantium, renaming
the city Constantinople after himself
• 395: Death of Emperor Theodosius – Empire permanently split
in
two halves. Constantinople is capital of the Eastern Roman Empire
• Justinian
527-565: I.reign Greatest
of Emperor
expansion of Byzantin
e
Empire of Byzantin
• 1453: e
Fall
Empire
 BYZANTINE
ARCHITECTURE
Introduction

Constantinople (Istanbul)
• By the end of the 5th century AD, Rome had completely declined
• It had been sacked twice and was then under occupation
• Its influence was significantly reduced and the Impetus
for architectural innovation shifted to the Byzantine
Empire
• This shift also marks the movement from early Christian
civilization to
the Byzantine civilization
• Under the Byzantine Emperor Justinian, the Byzantine style
of architecture evolved
 BYZANTINE
ARCHITECTURE
Introduction
•Although it is impossible to identify two similar Byzantine
churches, it is still possible to identify the basic characteristics
of an ideal Byzantine church
• The attributes of the ideal church included:
– The use of a centralized church plan
– The use of surrounding isles
– The use of pendantives and dome on pendentives
– And the use of a complex program of interior
structure, lighting and decoration to create fascinating interiors
 BYZANTINE
Domes and Domes on Pedentives ARCHITECTURE
• 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
 BYZANTINE
Domes and Domes on Pedentives
ARCHITECTURE

• This type of dome was invented by

the Romans but was rarely used by them
• It was the Byzantine builders who used
it
to create dramatic interiors
• In the Pantheon in Rome, the Dome
roof had to be supported by a circular plan
• The walls of
the plan had
to be thick
to
counterbalance
the forces
parts of the
from building circular Pantheon, Rome, 118-125
 BYZANTINE
ARCHITECTURE
Domes and Domes on
Pedentives
• The pendentive dome
derived by trimming
is 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
 BYZANTINE
ARCHITECTURE
Domes and Domes on
• Additionally, the top of Pedentives
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
cylinder a between
introduce the
pendentive dome the
and
additional dome as in D
• Windows can then

dazzling interior lightbe

introduced
effects in the
 BYZANTINE
ARCHITECTURE
Early Prototypes (St Vitale Ravenna)
• Byzantine architecture has its
early prototypes in two churches, San
Vitale (526-47), Ravenna and in Saint
Sergius
• and Saint Bacchus in Constantinople
• Ravenna once served as the seat
• Theof church is the most
the Romanimportant
among Empire Byzantin
monument of e
• Itarchitecture
was also the prototype for the Hagia
Sophia which was built 10 years later
• The exterior is very plain – no interest
in impressing from the outside, but want
to impress through the interior design
and its meaning.
 BYZANTINE
ARCHITECTURE
Early Prototypes
(St Vitale Ravenna AD 526-
547)
• The church is octagonal in
plan
• core
It has a domed
surrounded
by
octagonal
ground level
Plan ambulatory with a gallery
• above
The it wall of the
outer
ambulatory is also
octagonal
• It has an apse
which extends from the
central core to one of the
8 sides of the outer
octagon
 BYZANTINE
ARCHITECTURE
Early Prototypes (St Vitale Ravenna AD 526-
547)
• The domed roof of the church is raised
on a drum allowing it
• greater height and lighting
• The dome has a diameter of 17 meters
and a height of 30 meters
• The Byzantine characteristics of
the
church include:
• Its central planning
• The structural arrangement
of its central dome
• The use of surrounding isles
• And the way structure, lighting
 BYZANTINE
Early Prototypes (St ARCHITECTURE
Vitale
Ravenna)
• Series of smaller arches
supporting a
centrally domed space. At one end of
the
plan there is an area that protrudes outward
for the altar space Filled with
decorative, colorful and vibrant mosaics.
 BYZANTINE
ARCHITECTURE
Early Prototypes (St Vitale Ravenna)
• Central image of Christ. Emphasis on
natural landscape, with greenery and
flowers. But, behind him is a heavenly
realm characterized by a gold
background. Shows Christ as the ruler of
the world, and he wears purple
garments.
• Panels that show the donors themselves. The
Emperor Justinian, wearing the same kind
of clothes that Christ is depicted as
wearing, shown presenting a liturgical
vessel to the bishop of the church. He is
flanked by the imperial troops that contain
the chi ro symbol
– first developed through Constantine.
 BYZANTINE
ARCHITECTURE
Early Prototypes (St Vitale Ravenna)
• The second panel shows Justinian’s
wife wearing purple garments,
standing outside the church,
showing a fountain.
• She is with her entourage of
elaborately dressed women. The walls
are shown with jewel encrusted stone. Emperor Justinian and his
• These images are placed in the wife, Empress Theodora
apse area of the dome.
• This became a major political conditioning of architecture and art.
There is an extremely close connection between the purpose of the
emperor and his role as leader of the church himself – connection
between church and state.
BYZANTINE
ARCHITECTURE
Hagia Sophia,
Constantinople)
•Hagia Sophia or the church of the
holy wisdom is the
most accomplished master piece
in the history of architecture
•The church was constructed in
532 A.D. by Emperor Justinian
in Constantinople now Istanbul
• Hagia Sophia
vaulted space was the
greatest
intermediate without supports
ever been built and it that
remained
hasso
throughout the history of
the Byzantine Empire
 BYZANTIN
E
ARCHITECTU
(Hagia Sophia, Constantinople)
RE were
• Its architects
Isidore of Miletus and
of
Anthemius professors of
Tralles, at the
geometry of
University
Constantinople
• The church provides
an expert solution
to the
problem of how to
place
a dome on a square base
• The solution was to
use pendantives
 BYZANTINE
ARCHITECTURE
(Hagia Sophia, Constantinople)

• Hagia Sophia is covered by a

central dome 102 feet (31 m)
across, slightly smaller than
the Pantheon's
• The dome is carried on
Pendentives
• The weight of the dome
passes through the
pendentives to four
massive piers at the corners
•Between them the dome seems to float upon four great arches
•These four concave triangular sections of masonry solved the problem
of setting the circular base of a dome on a rectangular base
 BYZANTINE
ARCHITECTURE
(Hagia Sophia, Constantinople)
• The dome seems rendered weightless by the unbroken arcade of
arched windows under it, which help flood the colorful interior with
light

The Dome,
interior view
 BYZANTINE
ARCHITECTURE
(Hagia Sophia, Constantinople)

Section

Plan
BYZANTINE
ARCHITECTURE
(Hagia Sophia, Constantinople)
• Between them the
dome
seems
great to float upon
four
arches four
•These concave
masonry
triangular solved
sections the
problem of setting of the
circular base of a dome on
a rectangular base
•The church form is a
combination of
centralized and longitudinal
structure
•Longitudinal direction is
defined by domes to
 BYZANTIN
E
ARCHITECTU
(Hagia Sophia, Constantinople)
RE two
•At Hagia Sophia,
opposing arches on the central
square open into semi domes,
each pierced by 3 smaller radial
semidomes
•At the west (entrance) and east
(liturgical) ends, the arched
openings are extended and by
great half domes carried on
smaller semi-domed exedras
• Thus a hierarchy of domeheaded elements build up create a
oblong
to interior crowned by the main dome, a sequencevast never seen
before in antiquity
 BYZANTIN
E
ARCHITECTU
(Hagia Sophia, Constantinople)
• Of great artistic RE
importance was its
decorated interior with mosaics
and marble pillars and coverings
• The combination of
interior
decoration with lights flooding
from its domes creates a glittering
internal environment

•The church form is a combination

of centralized and longitudinal
structure
•domes
Longitudinal direction
to the east is defined
and west
by
 BYZANTINE
ARCHITECTURE
(Hagia Sophia, Constantinople)
•Hagia sophia dominated church
architecture after the 6th century
AD
•For over 900 years it was the seat of the
Orthodox patriarch of Constantinople
The Dome, exterior view
and a principal setting for
imperial ceremonies
•Hagia Sophia was onverted to a
mosque at the Fall of
Constantinople to the Ottoman
Turks under Sultan Mohammad II
in 1453
•Its rich figurative mosaics were
covered with plaster and replaced by
Islamic motifs
•principal
It wasmosque of
for almost 500 years
 BYZANTINE
ARCHITECTURE
(Hagia Sophia,
Constantinople)
•Hagia Sophia served as model for many of the great Ottoman
mosques of Constantinople such as the Shehzade Mosque,
the Suleiman Mosque, and the Rustem Pasha Mosque
• After continuing as a mosque for many years, it was in 1934
turned
by Turkish authorities into the Hagia Sophia
Museum

Shehzade Mosque Suleiman

Mosque
 BYZANTINE
ARCHITECTURE
IN OTHER PLACES -
St Mark Venice
• St Mark is also a notable example
of
Byzantine architecture

•It lies on St Mark's Square, one of

the most famous squares in the world
• The church has five domes each toping
a
square
•The church is based on a Greek cross
floor plan, based on part on the
Hagia Sophia and the Basilica of the
 BYZANTINE
ARCHITECTURE
IN OTHER PLACES - St Mark Venice
• Each arm of the cross is of the same length and is covered by a
dome
• A dome also covers the square space at the center
• While the basic structure of the building has been little altered, its
decoration changed greatly over time
• The front façade is Gothic and was added much later
 BYZANTINE
ARCHITECTURE
Material Construction and Technology
• The system of construction in concrete and brickwork
introduced by
the Romans was adopted by the Byzantines.
• Where materials were not available, they were imported
from colonies of the empire
• The carcase (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, moreover lent itself externally to decorative patterns
and
banding, and internally it was suitable for covering with
marble,
mosaic, and fresco decoration.
 BYZANTINE
ARCHITECTURE
Material Construction and Technology
• brickwork necessitated special care in making mortar, which was
composed of lime and sand with crushed pottery, tiles, or bricks, and
much of it remains as hard as that in 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 herring bone pattern, and
in many other similar designs, giving great variety to the facades.
• An attempt was also made to ornament the rough brick exteriors
by the use of stone bands and v decorative arches.
• Walls were sheeted internally with marble and vaults and domes
with
colored glass mosaics on a golden background
 BYZANTINE
Material Construction and ARCHITECTURE
Technology
• In construction technology, the
greatest
contributioneraduring
Byzantine was the
the Christian
of the
discovery Early and
pendentives and Dome on pendentives

Pendentives
• It is a curved support shaped like an
inverted triangle.
• It is used to hold a dome.
• Using pendentives, Byzantine
architects
could build a higher and wider dome.
 BYZANTINE
Material Construction and ARCHITECTURE
Technology
• Using pendentives and Dome on
pendentive, Byzantine
architects were able to adapt
the circular profile of a dome
roof to a square plan
• By using several overlapping
domes, Byzantine architects
were
able to create an intricate interior
structural system and external
roof
syste
m
• Intricate interior structural systems
 BYZANTINE
Material Construction and ARCHITECTURE
Technology • The Christian and
Early period saw
Byzantine
most
clerestory
extensive the
•
windows
Fro early use
churches
m basilica to
churches, Byzantine
of
windows were clerestory
used
provide lightin
interior of gchurches to in
together with the and
enabled decoration the
interestingcreation
interiors of
 BYZANTINE
Principals of organizations ARCHITECTURE
• It is possible to understand forces and principles shaping
Early Christian and Byzantine architecture by examining the
following issues:
– Religious
Ritual
– Symbolis
m
– Construction
Technology