Early Christian and Byzantine Architecture PDF

History of Architecture and Arts- I 2024-2025 Early Christian and byzantine Architecture Early Christian art and architecture The Greek and Roman architecture were the inspiration of all the Christian Arts and Architecture after havin...

History of Architecture and Arts- I 2024-2025 Early Christian and byzantine Architecture Early Christian art and architecture The Greek and Roman architecture were the inspiration of all the Christian Arts and Architecture after having the spiritual feature to its own Styles. The Christian architecture was affected with the local features in each region First Christian architecture was modest in scope and served two needs: o Provided a space for spiritual needs of the living. o Provided a burial place for the dead. Early Christian meeting places were set-up in private homes. These locations were known as titilus Most were rebuilt into full scale churches Titilus DURA-EUROPOS CHURCH The first house church is where the early Christians met together in the "Upper Room" of a house. the Dura-Europos church, was a private house in Dura-Europos in Syria , was found to be used as a Christian meeting place in AD 232, with one small room the burial places Best known early Christian architecture are the burial places, known as Catacombs (some of them found in Syria, Alexandria, and north Africa). Lecturer: Nouf Albarrak 2024-2025 Burial was provided in individual “shelf” tombs or private family chambers located beneath churches. These were built as tunnels, which were constructed from red bricks and painted from inside with Fresco painting Early Christian Architecture: THE BASILICA basilical church developed from Roman secular basilica; centralized type from Roman tombs. A basilica was a good plan for a Christian church because lots of people could fit inside, and the aisles were useful for people to move around. The semi-circular part at one end, the apse, was just right to put the altar. Christian basilicas usually have the door at one end, rather than at the side. In front of the door there was often a courtyard called an atrium. Lecturer: Nouf Albarrak 2024-2025 ST. APOLLINARE NUOVO, RAVENNA, 493-526 Interior - Full of colorful mosaic and paintings. Large interiors with daylight for large religious gatherings. Colonnades, paintings and mosaics on the walls and apse. Old St. Peter's Basilica The design was a typical basilica form. The building consisted of five aisles, a wide central nave and two smaller aisles to each side. The building was built in the shape of a Latin cross. had a gabled roof which was timbered on the interior, and which stood at over 30 m at the center. Masonry walls, marble columns, wooden roofs. An atrium, known as the Garden of Paradise, stood at the entrance and had five doors which led to the body of the church (a sixth century addition). Lecturer: Nouf Albarrak 2024-2025 BASILICA OF SAINT CLEMENT Lecturer: Nouf Albarrak 2024-2025 BYZANTINE ARCHITECTURE Plan types: Lecturer: Nouf Albarrak 2024-2025 Architectural elements: Domes: The Byzantines introduced the dome placed over a square or octagonal plan by means of pendentives, a type not found in Roman architecture. Lecturer: Nouf Albarrak 2024-2025 Byzantine Architecture: Basilica BASILICA OF ST. VITALE, Ravenna. 527-547 Built by emperor Justinian of Constantinople. The building combines Roman elements: the dome, shape of doorways; with Byzantine elements: polygonal apse, capitals, and narrow red bricks. Triforium gallery (upper level) around central space with high windows Carved columns Perforated marble screens Mosaic of interior spaces. Multicolored marble walls Lecturer: Nouf Albarrak 2024-2025 HAGIA SOFIA, ISTANBUL The original building, constructed in 360 AD, was a basilica with a wooden roof. was burned down in 404. Replaced with a massive basilica in 415, which burned down in 532. Justinian began rebuilding Hagia Sophia once again and reopened it in 537. Hagia Sofia is a cathedral, later an Ottoman imperial mosque and now a museum in Istanbul. Lecturer: Nouf Albarrak 2024-2025  The dome of Hagia Sophia is carried on four concave triangular pendentives. The columns at Hagia Sophia feature various foliage designs. Two types of columns are used: Composite and Ionic. 1. The Composite columns, developed in the Late Byzantine period and combining Corinthian and Ionic styles, line the main nave area. Lecturer: Nouf Albarrak 2024-2025  2. The Ionic columns, are placed in the side sections Lecturer: Nouf Albarrak 2024-2025