BYZANTINE

ARCHITECTURE
SUBMITTED BY:
SHWETA
KATHURIA
SURBHI GARG
SECOND YEAR

Byzantine architecture (4c. A.D.14c.A.D.)

Hagia Sophia

San Vitale

Byzantine architecture is the architecture is the architecture of the Byzantine Empire.

The empire gradually emerged as a distinct artistic and cultural entity from what is
today referred to as the Roman Empire after 330 A.D. when the Roman Emperor
Constantine moved the capital of the Roman Empire east from Rome to Byzantium.
Byzantium, New Rome. Was later renamed Constantinople and is now called Istanbul.
The Empire endured for more than a millennium, dramatically influencing Medieval and
Renaissance of Constantinople by the Ottoman Turks in 1453, leading directly to the
architecture of the Ottoman Empire.
The empire endured for more than a millennium, dramatically influencing
Medieval architecture throughout Europe and the Near East, and becoming the primary

Main features

Light entering through the dome Greek cross plan of church ST.
of Hagia Sophia
Mark

Mosaics in the Basilica di San

Marco

Early byzantine architecture was built as a continuation of Roman architecture.

A distinct style gradually emerged which imbued certain influences from the Near East and
used the Greek cross plan in church architecture.
Buildings increased in geometric complexity.
Brick and plaster were used in addition to stone in the decoration of important public
structures.
Classical orders were used 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.
It has Greek Roman and Oriental elements in architecture and its decoration.
a) Greco-Roman were columns,arches,vaults,domes over square bases.
b) Oriental(Eastern) were rich ornamentation, rich use of colour,mosaics,poly chrome marble

BYZANTINE DOME CONSTRUCTION

The most distinctive feature was doomed
roof. The dome, which had always been a
traditional feature in East, became the
prevailing motif of Byzantine architecture ,
which was a fusion of domical construction
with the Classical columnar style.
To allow a dome to rest above a square
base , either of 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.
These domes were frequently constructed
of bricks or of some light porous stone,
such as pumice, or even of pottery, as at
S.Vitale,Ravenna.
Byzantine domes and vaults were, it is
believed, constructed without temporary
support or centring by the simple use of
large flat bricks, and this is quite a distinct
system probably derived from Eastern
methods.

EARLY PERIOD-THE CHURCHES

The establishment of Christianity as the official religion of the Roman Empire brought
with it a monumental church building programme, under official sponsorship. The
Emperor Constantine and members of his family started building many churches, which
served as cathedrals, martyria or imperial chapels and mausoleums.
A new architectural form was adopted for
these new Christian edifices: the basilica,
widely used in the Roman world for
judicial, commercial, military and
ritualistic purposes. This was a
rectangular hall, internally divided by two
or four series of columns, ending with an
elevated chancel at the east end.
Basilicas could accommodate large
congregations.
The basilica of Sant'Apollinare Nuovo
in Ravenna

THE BASILICA

THE CENTRAL PLAN

CHURCH
Another category was the central plan church.

This type featured a uniform arrangement

around a centre. Such were circular and
polygonal churches, which were mostly used as
burial monuments and baptisteries.
Plan of circular Byzantine

FEATURES OF BYZANTINE CHURCH

Ground plan could be basilican, cruciform, circular or polygonal

Main entrance from the west
Altar at the eastern end of the church
Principal building material was brick, arranged in decorative patterns or covered in plaster
Roofs were either tiled or covered by sheets of lead Brilliant mosaic work in the interiors
(most recognizable feature)
Exterior rather plain, with austere entrances flanked by blind arcades
Domes supported on pendentives
Predominant colours of mosaics blue and gold
Few columns unrestricted view of the interior mosaic art Subject depicted scenes
from the holy Bible or the imperial court
Mosaics made up of small cubes of marble or glass set in cement. Cement placed in
layers, final layer fresco on the damp cement cubes placed in the cement following the
outlines of the design, last layer of cement applied unevenly, so that when the cubes were
set in, the faces of the different cubes were at angle to each other and reflected light from
one cube to another.
Magical impression of light and depth conveyed by mosaics heavenly ambience
Columns and capitals classical prototypes
Carvings of the capitals deeply incised lines and drilled holes- strong black and white
effect
Dome structural feature (over a square opening important consequence in Renaissance
Architecture )
No human figures in Byzantine decoration Decorative features scrolls, circles and
other geometric forms or by depicting leaves and flowers
Wind blown acanthus leaves were a popular subject

FLOOR PLANS OF DIFFERENT BYZANTINE

CHURCH

HAGIA SOPHIA

Hagia Sophia is one of the greatest surviving examples of Byzantine architecture.

Its interior is decorated with mosaics and marble pillars and coverings of great artistic value.
The vast interior has a complex structure. The nave is covered by a central dome which at
its maximum is 55.6m (182ft 5in) from floor level and rests on an arcade of 40 arched
windows.
Repairs to its structure have left the dome somewhat elliptical, with the diameter varying
between 31.24 and 30.86m (102ft 6in and 101ft 3in).
At the western entrance side and eastern liturgical side, there are arched openings extended
by half domes of identical diameter to the central dome, carried on smaller semi-domed
exedras; a hierarchy of dome-headed elements built up to create a vast oblong interior
crowned by the central dome, with a clear span of 76.2m (250ft). [6]
Interior surfaces are sheathed with polychrome marbles, green and white with purple
porphyry, and gold mosaics.

Style of Hagia Sophia (Church of Divine

Wisdom)

Large dome in center of the structure

Four massive pillars arranged in a square.
This was a unique feature to the Hagia Sophia.
The dome was the main focus of the Byzantine Church for the remainder of the empire

View of Hagia Sophia

One of the mighty stone

columns with metal clasps

Light entering through the dome

of Hagia Sophia

Hagia Sophia is famous for the light that reflects everywhere in the interior of the nave,
giving the dome the appearance of hovering above this. This effect was achieved by
inserting forty windows around the base of the original structure.
Moreover, the insertion of the windows in the dome structure lowers its weight.
One of the minarets (at southwest) was built from red brick while the other three were built
from white limestone and sand stone

Elevation and Plan of Hagia Sophia

SAN VITALE

Aerial view of San

Plan and Section of San
Vitale,Ravenna
Vitale
The Basilica of San Vitale is a church in Ravenna, Italy, and one of the most important
examples of early Christian Byzantine art and architecture in western Europe.
The building is styled an "ecclesiastical basilica" in the Roman Catholic Church, though it is
not of architectural basilica form.
The church has an octagonal plan.
The building combines Roman elements: the dome, shape of doorways, and stepped towers;
with Byzantine elements: polygonal apse, capitals, and narrow bricks.
The church is of extreme importance in Byzantine art, as it is the only major church from the
period of the Emperor Justinian I to survive virtually intact to the present day.
The central section is surrounded by two superposed ambulatories. The upper one, the
matrimoneum, was reserved for married women

ST.MARK BASILICA

View of ST.Marks Basilica

Transverse section

Plan of ST.Marks Basilica Brick faade of ST.Marks

Basilica
St Mark's Basilica (Basilica di San Marco in
Italian) is the most famous of the many churches of
Venice and one of the finest examples of Byzantine
architecture in the world.
It has a floor plan in the shape of a Greek cross, with
a dome over the crossing and another dome on each
of the four arms.
Each arm has a central aisle and two side aisles.
Decorated with Byzantine, Romanesque and Gothic
art, the west facade is composed of two orders of five
recessed arches, supported by clusters of columns
whose capitals were carved in the 12th and 13th
centuries.