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Architecture, Which Blended Influences From The Near East With The Rich Roman and Greekarchitectural Heritage

The Byzantine Empire continued many architectural traditions from Rome but added new structures like improved fortification walls and domed churches. There was a greater focus on interior spaces rather than exteriors. Christianity influenced developments such as converting secular basilicas into churches with impressive domed ceilings. Byzantine buildings blended influences from the Near East with Roman and Greek traditions, emphasizing function over form. They employed classical orders in an eclectic, irregular manner by reusing stone from old pagan buildings. Byzantine architecture went on to influence Orthodox Christian architecture seen in churches worldwide today.

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Kristyll Suansing Lavaritte
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68 views6 pages

Architecture, Which Blended Influences From The Near East With The Rich Roman and Greekarchitectural Heritage

The Byzantine Empire continued many architectural traditions from Rome but added new structures like improved fortification walls and domed churches. There was a greater focus on interior spaces rather than exteriors. Christianity influenced developments such as converting secular basilicas into churches with impressive domed ceilings. Byzantine buildings blended influences from the Near East with Roman and Greek traditions, emphasizing function over form. They employed classical orders in an eclectic, irregular manner by reusing stone from old pagan buildings. Byzantine architecture went on to influence Orthodox Christian architecture seen in churches worldwide today.

Uploaded by

Kristyll Suansing Lavaritte
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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The architecture of the Byzantine Empire (4th - 15th

century CE) continued its early Romantraditions but


architects also added new structures to their already
formidable repertoire, notably improved fortification
walls and domed churches. There was, as well, a much
greater concern for the interiors of buildings rather than
their exteriors. Christianity influenced developments
such as the conversion of the secular basilica into a
magnificent church with an impressive domed
ceiling. Byzantine buildings, in general, continued to
employ the Classical orders but became more eclectic
and irregular, perhaps originally because old pagan
buildings were used as quarries to provide eclectic
stone pieces for new structures. This emphasis on
function over form is a particular aspect of Byzantine
architecture, which blended influences from the Near East with the rich Roman and Greekarchitectural heritage.
Byzantine architecture would go on to influence Orthodox Christian architecture and so is still seen today in churches
worldwide.

As Byzantium was the eastern half of the Roman Empire in its early period, it is not surprising that the Roman traditions continued in architecture as well as
other facets of culture. Byzantine urban areas were characterised by strong evidence of town planning, large open spaces for commercial and public use, wide
regular streets - most of which were paved and the important ones were given porticoes - and the use of public monuments such as statues of important
figures and monumental arches and city gates. The staple public services provided by a hippodrome, amphitheatre, and public baths were all still present,
but some Roman-era buildings fell out of use, notably the gymnasium and stadium for athletics and, eventually, too, the theatre as the bawdy pantomimes
performed there met with the disapproval of the church. As these buildings, and especially the pagan temples, fell into disuse, their materials were reused,
giving rise to new structures with an eclectic mix of columns and capitals within the same structure, which eventually became a defining feature of Byzantine
buildings, and the strict uniformity of classical buildings was abandoned.
The construction of Byzantine buildings was supervised by two
specialists: the rarer and more
exalted mechanikos (or mechanopoios), a sort of mathematical
engineer, and the architekton, a master builder. One or the other
of these figures supervised a large group of craftspeople skilled
in masonry, carpentry, wall-painting, and making mosaics. As
with Byzantine artists, architects were usually anonymous, and very few were named after the 6th century CE. If the construction project
involved an imperial building or a church, then the emperor or bishop was involved, in the case of private sponsors, they too would have had a
say in what the building looked like when finished. Design drawings seem to have followed established conventions and been sketchy, indicating
a great deal of on-the-spot improvisation.

Capital with Protom of Pegasus


Churches
Starting with Constantine I (r. 306-337 CE) in the 4th century CE, churches were built everywhere to promote the new Christian religion and
impose imperial authority on places far and wide, from the capital to Jerusalem. Another motivation to build churches and shrines (martyria)
was to mark places of significance to the Christian story and its saints, tombs of saints and martyrs or their relics, and the site where a famed
ascetic may have dwelt. Thus, churches from Thessalonica to Antioch became centres of pilgrimage in their own right. Many smaller churches
and modest chapels were built to serve smaller communities. Other buildings closely associated with the church, especially basilicas, were a
baptistry, usually octagonal, and sometimes a mausoleum for the founder of the church and their descendants, a residence for a bishop,
warehouses, administrative offices, perhaps a shrine containing a tomb of a saint, and baths.

Saint
Irene, Istanbul
Monasteries
Places specifically dedicated to monastic communities appeared
from the 4th century CE. They typically formed small villages
enclosed by a high perimeter wall and including a free-standing
church, refectory for communal eating, baths, library,
workshops, accommodation and sometimes an inn for pilgrims.
Monasteries could also be built in cities; Constantinople boasted
30 by the mid-6th century CE. Many Byzantine monasteries are
still in use today, Mount Athos (from the 9th century CE
onwards) in Greece being one spectacular location. Another
excellent example is the well-preserved mid-6th-century CE
monastery of Saint Catherine, Mount Sinai, Egypt.

St. Catherine's Monastery, Sinai

The official language of the Byzantine Empire was Latin until 700 CE when it
was changed to Greek by Emperor Heraclius.
BYNZANTINE
PERIOD

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