The Byzantine Empire had its origins in the Roman Empire and adopted Eastern Orthodox Christianity. Some key characteristics of Byzantine architecture included domes supported by pendentives, the use of brick and marble materials, mosaic artwork depicting religious scenes, and the influence of the Greek cross floor plan in church design. The Byzantine Empire reached its peak between the 9th-12th centuries during the Middle Byzantine period when many churches were constructed. However, the empire eventually declined and fell to the Ottoman Turks in 1453 CE, ending the Byzantine era.
2. Beginnings
• In 27 AD. Jesus started spreading
christianity
• In 33 AD. Jesus was nailed to a cross
• According to Christianity Jesus
resurrected and he was the son of
god
• Christianity remained a secret for 3
centuries
24. Byzantine Architecture – Influences
1. Geographical (Constantinople)
• located at the junction of the Bosporus
and the Sea of Marmora
• It was also at the intersection of two
great highways of commerce, the
water highway between the Black Sea
and Mediterranean, and the trade
route between Europe and Asia
26. • Walls of Constantinople were
initially built by Constantine the
great
• As the city grew, the famous
double line of the Theodosian Walls
were built in the 5th century.
• These walls were the last great
fortification system of antiquity
• Lime stone mortar protected the
city from any possible threats
• Its construction allowed the walls to
absorb earthquake shock without
shattering
27.
28.
29. 2. Geological
• Constantine possessed no good
building stone, and local Materials
such as clay for bricks and rubble
for concrete were employed.
• Other materials were imported:
marble was brought from the
quarries in the islands and along
the shores of the Eastern
Mediterranean to Constantinople.
Hagia Irene
Materials used: Bricks, Stones, and Mortar
Byzantine Marble floor
30. Marble, an expensive material, was generally
reserved for columns, capitals, cornices,
architraves, and decorative features such as
door frames, window grills, and paving.
more attention was paid to building interiors
where generally all the walls were covered in
plaster, stucco, thin marble plaques, paintings
and mosaics. Roofing in churches and houses
was most often made from timber.
Many more buildings liberally reused the high-
quality stone blocks and column drums of
Roman-era structures.
Materials
San vitale church ,ravenna
31. Climate
The climate was
rather Hot, therefore small
windows at high level and few
openings were used. open
courtyards surrounded by sheltering
arcades features are predominant.
33. The Venetian "courtyard house" type of the byzantine period (ninth
centurytwelfth century) that formed the groups of houses placed
near a church and constituted the ancient parochial nuclei at the
origin of Venice (Source: Maretto, 1978).
34. Development of the Venetian "courtyard house" typology: the court
was occupied by individual houses placed in line on two floors,
located both along the "calle corte" and along the canal front
(Source: Maretto, 1978).
35. Religious Influence
Constantine established Christianity as the state religion of Roman Empire (313 AD),
and it followed that the chief erected in byzantine is new capital were churches for
new region.
Eastern church/ Western church the " Iconoclastic movement"
36. Map of eastern-western allegiances in 1054 with former country borders.
Image credit: Wikimedia Commons.
43. Aqueducts
of Valens
368 AD.
• Constantinople didn't have a reliable source of water
• The aqueduct built by emperor Valens
• Material: stone and brick
• Distance covered: 644 km
• Longest aqueduct in ancient history
44. Basilica cistern
completed in 6th century AD
• a huge space to store water
under constantinople
• Most elaborate build in the ancient
world
• 336 columns
• Fills 27 olympic size swiming pools.
46. By the time Constantine
became the Caesar of
the Roman empire, the
Empire had split in half:
• The Western Roman
Empire centered in
Rome, speaking Latin
• the Eastern Roman
Empire of Byzantium
(Constantinople), today
Istanbul.
54. Baptism of Christ, squinch mosaics, Katholikon church, Hosios
Loukas monastery, Boeotia province, Greece
Dome On SquinchesDome On Pendentives
Hagia Sophia church
68. LOCATION
The Hagia Sophia located
in the heart of the city.
The building, facing east,
facing the Blue Mosque
and one of the side streets
The Topkapi Palace is just
a few meters.
82. Basket Capital, Hagia Sophia
(photo: William Allen, CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)
Ionic Capital, North Porch of the Erechtheion (Erechtheum),
Acropolis, Athens, marble, 421-407 B.C.E., British Museum
(photo: Steven Zucker CC:BY-NC-SA 2.0)
Materials: The interior columns were brought from temples in Baalbek, Heliopolis, Ephesus, Miletus and
Delphi, while other pillars and capitals were made of white marble and ancient quarries, in the Sea
of Marmara, Thessaly green, golden Libya, Phrygia and ivory roses of Cappadocia.
83. 641 C.E.- 1025 C.E.
The Growth and expansion
AS KNOWN AS
‘The Golden Age’
84.
85.
86. The medieval walls, Jerusalem
Rebuilt in sixteenth century. The old city of Jerusalem is A fine example of a completely walled
town of the late middle Ages. The walls have at their base a wide, sloping talus against mining
— a Saracen invention.
87. Cutaways and conceptional plans of sub-types of cross-in-square churches
based on Kalopissi-Verti and Panayotidi-Kesisoglou. (redrawn by Ryo Higuchi;
Figure 1-A: Simple four-column; Figure 1-B: Simple four-pier; Figure 1-C:
Transitional Greek; Figure 1-D: Two-column; Figure 1-E: Twopier; Figure 1-F:
Transitional eight-support; Figure 1-G: Semi-complex four-column; Figure 1-H:
Complex four-column; and Figure 1-I: Athonite threeconch)
The cross-in-square was
one of the most common
church types during the
Middle
Byzantine period (9th–
12th centuries).
111. • 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
• Brilliant mosaic work in the interiors (most recognizable feature)
• Predominant colours of mosaics - blue and gold
• Domes supported on pendentives
• Subject depicted - scenes from the holy Bible or the imperial court
• Magical impression of light and depth conveyed by mosaics -
How to recognize a Byzantine Church
112. • Columns and capitals - classical prototypes
• Dome - structural feature
• No human figures in Byzantine decoration
• Decorative features - scrolls, circles and other geometric forms or by
depicting leaves and flowers
