UNIT 1

EARLY CHRISTIAN
1. Birth and spread of Christianity
2. transformation of the Roman Empire
3. early Christian worship and burial.
4. Church planning -basilican concept:
5. St. Clement, Rome;
6. St. Peters Rome, -Centralized plan concept:
7. S, Vitale, Ravenna;
8. S. Hagia Sophia, Constantinople;
9. St. Marks, Venice.

SYLLABUS:
• The spread of Christianity is not linear

• Rather, it is very gradual, and happens

over a long period of time.

• It starts from Jewish Synagogues and

private homes

• The initial enclaves expand with time

Jewish synagogue
• As it expands, it becomes more
hierarchical

• By the 4th century we have bishops

namely church officials overseeing entire
regions

Christ the shepard

Ar.Febina
How did Christianity Spread? D
BIRTH AND SPREAD OF CHRISTIANITY MEASI
A dissatisfaction with state cults seized the roman world in the 3rd century.
Eastern dieties were duly tamed and inducted into the roman pantheon.
Two among these were:
MITHRAISM
CHRISTIANITY
MITHRAISM:
popular in the army.
Invincible god of light
His worship was accorded full official protection
CHRISTIANITY:
Found its support among the poor
firmly monotheistic and unco-operative Mithra- sun God
Dissaproved by the state and sporadically persecuted.
Both were mystery cults involving rites that conferred on the individual an indeligible
spiritual well being and assurance of happiness hereafter.

Christ has sacrificed himself for the salvation of the world and he had then risen from the
dead.

His body and blood symbolises blood and wine-CENTRAL OBJECTS OF CHRISTIAN
WORSHIP.

ONE HAS TO UNDERGO BAPTISM TO PARTICIPATE AND TAKE PART AT MASS..

BIRTH AND SPREAD OF CHRISTIANITY

CHRISTIAN ARCHITECTURE:
Has to provide for
MASS
BAPTISM
CEMETRIES
The other distinctive quarted of early christianity were the faithful awaits the trumpet call of the
second coming

CHRISTIANITY had its birth in judea, an eastern province of the roman empire.
Carried to rome by st. Peter and st.paul.
Took roots and grew till it became the universal religion of the whole roman empire

Early christian architecture- influenced by:

1.existing roman art
2.ruins of roman buildings often provided the quarry where material were obtained.
3.Columns, fine sculptures and mosaic from older buildingd were worden into bascilican
churches of the new faith.

THE EARLY CHRISTIAN PERIOD: FROM CONSTANTINE TO THE CORONATION OF CHARLEMAGNE-

800

From 800-1000 the dominant architectural influence was no longer rome but lombardy and
the style developed was romanesque.

BIRTH AND SPREAD OF CHRISTIANITY

CONSTANTINE EMBRASED CHRISTIANITY.. CHANGED THE CAPITAL FROM ROME TO BYZANTINE
IN330. WHERE CHRISTIAN MONUMENTS TO BE ERECTED WAS PREDETERMINED.
marked by the earthly events of christ’s career.
Movements of the apostles and martyrrs.
ST.PETER’S TOMB
ST.PAUL THE GREAT traveller and preacher, lay buried by the side of the highway that linked
Rome to its seaport.
Over these memorials magnificent architectural complexes would rise.

It needs to be remembered that unlike those of the old Greeks and romans, temples which
were built to shelter the statues of the gods.
The purpose of the Christian church was to shelter worshippers who met for prayer and praise
to an unseen deity.
Initially various places were adopted for this worship.
In 313, Constantine and licinus issued their celebrated EDICT OF MILAN giving Christianity
equal rights with other religions.

In 326, Constantine made it the official religion of the roman empire.

The character of early Christian architecture is chiefly seen in buildings of fourth to ninth
century. Though the style persisted in rome upto the renaissance.

BIRTH AND SPREAD OF CHRISTIANITY

BIRTH AND SPREAD OF CHRISTIANITY
BIRTH AND SPREAD OF CHRISTIANITY
• PAX ROMANA – means ROMAN PEACE

• was the long period of relative peacefulness and minimal expansion by

the Roman military force experienced by the Roman Empire after the
end of the Final War of the Roman Republic and before the beginning
of the Crisis of the Third Century. Since it was established by Augustus, it is
sometimes called Pax Augusta.

• The unification of the three sides of the Mediterranean, relative safety in

the sea routes, and the Roman road network facilitated movement.
Paul alone is believed to have covered 10,000 miles in terms of travel.

• The widespread use of common languages (Greek in the East and Latin
in the West) facilitated communication and the spread of the message

• The religious and cultural syncretism of the Roman empire and the
presence of so many religions allowed for the followers of Christianity to
preach their message all around the Mediterranean.

• While Islam had to conquer its way through the Near East, Christianity
found a world unified, ready and receptive

How the Roman world contributed to the Spread of Christianity

BIRTH AND SPREAD OF CHRISTIANITY
• Its message was egalitarian in many ways (including women,
slaves, and all socioeconomic classes)

• It gave hope by promising a better life after death

• It appealed to the masses of poor and destitute inhabitants

of large cities, but also to members of the upper classes who
felt spiritually empty

• It promised equality and social justice, and offered a positive

alternative to an uncertain and dangerous world

• It appealed to tendencies of oriental mysticism

The reasons why Christianity Spread so Effectively

BIRTH AND SPREAD OF CHRISTIANITY
• The early adoption of Christianity not confined to the poorer classes.
• Instances of Roman nobles who were Christians.
• The usual liberality of the emperors towards the new religion.
• Marriages between Christians and pagans led to apostacy.
• Christians in the army
• The significance of the inscription on the Arch of Constantine.
• The readiness of the early Church to adopt pagan customs and even myths
• Churches became repositories for classical works of art, for which new interpretations were
invented he desire of the early Christians to make their churches as beautiful as possible
• The substitution of Christian shrines for the old pagan altars at street corners.

THE PAGAN ROME

Transformation of the roman empire

SECULAR ARCHITECTURE
Triumphal Arches
Baths
Hippodromes & Circuses
Palaces
RELIGIOUS ARCHITECTURE
Churches . Basilican form or Centralized Forms
Baptisteries . to conduct Baptism . a dip in holy
water . Requirement: a central
font with space around for clergy to officiate .
Centralized form used
Memorial structures . Structures built on sites marking
certain events in the life of
Christ (or) tombs over martyrs graves people meet for
commemorative meals .
cross shaped plans
Tombs . Structures built as cemeteries for saints .
basilican form with apsidal end

Transformation of the roman empire

• The bathing accommodations of the pagan temples adopted
by the Church
• Also the custom of providing public standards of weights and
measures.
• The adoption of funerary banquets and their degeneration. The
public store-houses of the emperors and those of the
popes. Pagan rose-festivals and their conversion into a Christian
institution.

EARLY CHRISTIANITY IN ROME

Transformation of the roman empire

Early Christians used buildings and other places of worship . Which
includes:
1.CATACOMBS
2.HOUSE CHURCHES
3. SYNAGOGUES.

CATACOMBS HOUSE CHURCH SYNAGOGUES

THE CATACOMBS
Early Christian worship and burial
• The catacombs were vast, underground excavations and tunnels,
which Christians used to bury their dead, to take asylum when
persecuted, as shrines to saints and martyrs, and for funeral feasts.

• The Early Church developed a vast support network and series of

hiding places based on the catacombs.

• The cause of this phenomenon is due partially to Christian abhorrence

of cremation, based on their belief in the bodily resurrection of the
dead at the Second Coming ofChrist.

• Cremation had been practiced often by the lower classes of Romans

as a less expensive funeral ceremony.

• wealthy members of the Christian communities to purchase burial

cemeteries for their own funeral ceremonies.

THE CATACOMBS
Early Christian worship and burial
• Underground quarries for burial purposes were then developed where the rock was more
easily worked.
• more than 175,000 Christians buried in these Roman catacombs
• catacombs are not a unique phenomenon, it seems that Christian worship in in them
remained unique to Rome.
• Christian worship itself began when fierce persecutions arose, causing churches to be closed
in the city, forcing the Christians underground.
• Because they were burial places, catacombs had the right of asylum by law
• Hiding and asylum were not the only things the early Christians used the catacombs for.
• Paintings, frescoes, and evensome sculptures found within the catacombs reveal an intriguing
form of worship through art
• The burial chambers of the common people were often more b
• are, usually with just the inscription “In Christ,” while some of the more distinguished had
inscriptions, pictures, and
• decorations of various kinds

THE CATACOMBS
Early Christian worship and burial
• dead bodies could not be within two Roman miles (about 2960 meters) from the city walls,
and so necropolis grew up, or rather under, the countryside.
• The bedrock of Rome is a soft and porous volcanic rock called tufa, through which Romans
cut countless miles of tunnels, lined with niches for bodies, and larger chambers for the funeral
feasts and for religious ceremonies for the dead.
• Families visited the shrines in the catacombs and celebrated meals at the tomb, to honor
ancestors, to help the spirits feel comfortable in the afterlife, and to appease the spirits of the
dead that could wreak havoc on the living.

THE CATACOMBS
Early Christian worship and burial
 THE CATACOMBS
Early Christian worship and burial
BASILICAN CHURCHES erected over the burial place of the saint to which it
was dedicated.
Approach to the church was through an atrium or open forecourt surrounded
by arcades.
1) Propylaeum- the entrance building of a sacred precinct, whether church or
imperial palace.
2) Atrium- in early Christian, Byzantine, and medieval architecture, the
forecourt of a church; as a rule enveloped by four colonnaded porticoes.
3) Narthex- the entrance hall or porch proceding the nave of a church.
4) Nave- the great central space in a church. In longitudinal churches, it
extends from the entrance to the apse (or only to the crossing if the church
has one) and is usually flanked by side aisles.
5) Side Aisle- one of the corridors running parallel to the nave of a church and
separated from it by an arcade or colonnade.
6) Crossing- the area in a church where the transept and the nave intersect.
7) Transept- in a cruciform church, the whole arm set at right angles to the
nave. Note that the transept appears infrequently in Early Christian churches.
Old St. Peter's is one of the few example of a basilica with a transept from this
period. The transept would not become a standard component of the
Christian church until the Carolingian period.

CHURCH PLANNING
CHURCH PLANNING
CHURCH PLANNING
8) Apse- a recess, sometimes rectangular but usually semicircular, in the wall
at the end of a Roman basilica or Christian church. The apse in the Roman
basilica frequently contained an image of the Emperor and was where the
magistrate dispensed laws. In the Early Christian basilica, the apses contained
the "cathedra" or throne of the bishop and the altar.
9) Nave elevation- term which refers to the division of the nave wall into
various levels. In the Early Christian basilica the nave elevation usually is
composed of a nave colonnade or arcade and clerestory.

10) Clerestory- a clear story, i.e. a row of windows in the upper part of a wall.
In churches, the clerestory windows above the roofs of the side aisles permit
direct illumination of the nave.
11) A CHOIIR which was necessary owing to the growth of the ritual was
enclosed by a low screen wall or cancelli(chancel) was provided with an
ambo or pulpit on either side from which the gospel and epistles were read in
the apse or scantuary, the bishop took the central place.
THE ALTER in front of the apse, was placed immediately over the burial place
of the saint and adapted fr the celebration of christian rites.

12) A CIBORIUM (tabernacle or baldachino) was erected on columns over

the alter.

CHURCH PLANNING-BASILICAN CONCEPT

CHURCH PLANNING
CHURCH PLANNING-evolution
Basilican churches have either closely spaced columns carrying the entablature or more
widely spaced columns carrying semicircular arches,

BASILICAN CHURCHES WITH 3 OR 5 AISLES COVERED BY A SIMPLE TIMBER ROOF IS TYPICAL

OF THE EARLY CHRISTIAN STYLE.

The architectural character of these churches is rendered impressive and dignifies by the
LONG PERSPECTIVE OF COLUMNS which carry the eye along to the sanctuary.

A treatement combined with the comparitively low ceiling made these churches appear
longer than they really are.

An arch of triumph figurative of the transition through death to eternal life gave entrance
to the scantuary with the high alter in the centre standing free under its baldachino
upheld by marble columns.

The vista was rounded off by an apse lined with marble slabs and crowned with a semi-
dome encrusted with glittering golden mosaics in which christ appears surrounded by
prophets, saints and martyrs.

CHURCH PLANNING-BASILICAN CONCEPT

Timber roofs covered the central nave. Only king and queen trusses were used.
The side aisles were occasionally vaulted and the apse was usually domed.
Walls- hand laid rubble concrete faced with brick or stone and someto=imes plaster.
Mosaic decoration was added internally and sometimes externally on west
facades.
Little regard was paid to architectural effect.

CHURCH PLANNING-BASILICAN CONCEPT

CHURCH PLANNING-BASILICAN CONCEPT
Introduction of colour with glass mosaics gave richness and mystery to interiors.
Decorated wit mosaic in the apse semi-dome and wall, on the triumph arch, and on
walls above the nave arcade.
Sometimes piers and arch soffits were likewise treated.

MOSAICS:
PURELY DECORATIVE
SUBJECT MATTER WAS OF A PREDICATORY,VOTIVE OR CEREMONIAL NATURE.
LIFE LIKE FIGUERES WITH LARGE STARING EYES BRILLIANT COLOURED VESTURE AND
DANGLING FEET SET IN LANDSCAPE.
METHOD OF EXECUTION- COARSE AND BOLD.
NO ATTEMPT OF NEATNESS OF JOINT RESULTING IN THE VITALITY AND IRIDESCENCE
WHICH CHARACTERIZED THE BEST EXAMPLESS OF THIS ART.

CHURCH PLANNING-BASILICAN CONCEPT

CHURCH PLANNING-BASILICAN CONCEPT
❑1099-1108
❑REBUILT OVER AN EARLIER CHURCH (foundations of which still survive in
the crypt)
❑Basilican plan for christian ritual
❑An atrium or open rectangular forecourt surrounded by arcades,forms an
imposing approach to the church
❑In the centre of this is a fountain of water for ablutions
❑Followed by the narthex or entrance porch
❑Opening into the nave and single aisle.
❑In the apse semi-dome is an early 12C
❑Mosaic depicting the triumph over the cross
❑Now decorated in baroque style.

Crypt-an underground room or vault beneath a church, used as a chapel or burial place

ST.CLEMENT, ROME
ST.CLEMENT, ROME
ST. CLEMENTE BASILICA, ROME
The Basilica di San Clemente (Basilica of St. Clement) is an early Christian
basilica in Rome dedicated to Pope St. Clement (d. 99 AD).
The church has a beautiful interior, but it is especially notable for its three
historical layers.
Archaeologically speaking, the structure is a three-tiered complex of
buildings:
1) The present basilica built just before the year 1100 during the height of
the Middle Ages.
2) Beneath the present basilica is a 4th century basilica that had been
converted out of the home of a Roman nobleman, part of which had in the
1st century briefly served as an early church, and the basement of which had
in the 2nd century briefly served as a mithraeum.
Mithraeum, or Temple of Mithras . Mithras was a sun god of Persian origin
whose cult was for men only and involved secret initiation rituals in small,
cave-like structures.
3) The home of the Roman nobleman had been built on the foundations of
a republican era building that had been destroyed in the Great Fire of 64.

ST.CLEMENT, ROME
BEFORE THE 4th CENTURY
The lowest levels of the present basilica are remnants of the foundation of
a republican era building that was destroyed in the Great Fire of 64.
At this time, the home was owned by the family of Roman
consul and martyr Titus Flavius Clemens, who was one of the first among the
Roman senatorial class to convert to Christianity.
At this level there are two separate buildings, an insula (apartment building)
and mansion were built here, separated by a narrow Roman street.
In the early 3rd century, the inner courtyard of the insula was made into a
Mithraeum, or Temple of Mithras.
The insula is a brick building in the courtyard of which there is a Mithraic
temple. The mansion is a more magnificent, rectangular structure, constructed
around a courtyard.
The sound of rushing water can be heard throughout this area. It comes from,
maybe a 1st-century aqueduct running towards the Tiber via the Cloaca
Maxima, the main sewer of ancient Rome..

ST.CLEMENT, ROME
Mithras was a sun god of Persian origin whose cult was for men only and involved
secret initiation rituals in small, cave-like structures.
The Temple of Mithras, is a small artificial cave with stars on the ceiling, long side
benches, and a stone altar with a relief of Mithras slaying the bull.
The decorations show some stucco on the walls and ceiling and the floor has a
herring-bone pattern typical of Roman buildings.

ST.CLEMENT, ROME
4th . 11th CENTURIES
In the 4th century, the ground-floor rooms of this structure and the
courtyard were filled in to the level of the first storey to provide the
foundations for a church in memory of Pope Clement.
The former home of the Clemens family was extended and converted into a
church, acquiring the adjoining insula and other nearby buildings.
The courtyard of this new level became the nave of the church, while the
rooms that once overlooked the old courtyard on either side were converted
into the side aisles and the apse was located approximately over the former
mithraeum.
The Mithraeum continued to exist until 395A.D., when all pagan cults were
outlawed. The property was taken over by the clergy of San Clemente, who
filled it in as a foundation for an apse to the church.
Originally, the 4th-century church interior consisted of a nave and two
timber-roofed aisles with an apse at the west end and a narthex at the
entrance, fronted by an atrium surrounded by arcaded porticoes.
In the narthex, which is the first room, columns embedded in the wall are
visible.

ST.CLEMENT, ROME
ST.CLEMENT, ROME
ST.CLEMENT, ROME
ST.CLEMENT, ROME
4th . 11th CENTURIES
They originally formed part of an open colonnade but after the damage under
the Normans, the colonnades between nave and aisles were walled up.
A third wall running down the nave as well as the apse wall immediately behind
the altar were also added to support the upper church.
Faded frescoes decorate many of the walls, and date from the 6th to 11th
centuries. They depict New Testament scenes and lives of several saints.
The recently-discovered 6th-century baptismal font is polygonal with a round
interior, 2 meters in diameter, and decorated with marble revetments forming
stylized waves.
The completed basilica survived until about 1100 AD when it was found that the
building was unsafe and should be abandoned, as it was located 5 meters below
street level and not structurely safe.
The fourth-century basilica was then filled in with rubble to the top of its pillars
and on this foundation a replica of the old basilica was erected.
Pope Paschal II (1099-1118) built a new church above it in 1108.
Rows of supports were added in the 19th century to add further support.

ST.CLEMENT, ROME
ST.CLEMENT, ROME
THE SECOND BASILICA -UPPER CHURCH
The main, upper church of San Clemente is one of the most richly decorated
churches in Rome.
The vast majority of its architecture and art dates from its construction in the
early 12th century. The entrance is on the left aisle.

ST.CLEMENT, ROME
THE SECOND BASILICA -UPPER CHURCH
The current basilica was rebuilt in one campaign by Cardinal Anastasius,
between 1099-1120, after the original church was burned to the ground during
the Norman sack of the city under Robert Guiscard in 1084.
Its original entrance (a side entrance is ordinarily used today) is through an
axial peristyle (B on plan) surrounded by arcades, which now serves as
a cloister.
The basilica church behind it is in three naves divided by arcades on ancient
marble or granite columns, with Cosmatesque inlaid paving.
The 12th-century schola cantorum (E on plan) incorporates marble elements
from the original basilica.
Behind it, in the presbytery is a ciborium (H on plan) raised on four gray-violet
columns over the shrine of Clement in the crypt below.
The episcopal seat stands in the apse, which is covered with mosaics on the
theme of the Triumph of the Cross that are a high point of Roman 12th century
mosaics.

schola cantorum - choir

CRYPT- underground room below the chapel used as a burial place

ST.CLEMENT, ROME
ST.CLEMENT, ROME
THE SECOND BASILICA –APSE

The carved and gilded coffered ceilings of nave and aisles, fitted with
paintings, date from the 18th century., as do the stucco decor, Ionic
capitals and frescos.
The most striking sight is the 12th-century apse mosaic, in a goldenbronze
color and featuring a large crucifix in the center.
Growing from and around the crucifix are vines, associating the cross with
the Tree of Life.
The apse is richly decorated with frescoes and mosaics.
Starting from the bottom, there is a strip with purely decorative motifs,
followed by a border with floral decoration.
Christ and the Apostles are depicted in mosaic in the form of the Lamb of
God flanked by a flock of twelve lambs.
The apsidal arch is also decorated with mosaics

ST.CLEMENT, ROME
ST.CLEMENT, ROME
ST.CLEMENT, ROME
ST.CLEMENT, ROME
ST.CLEMENT, ROME
❑Erected by CONSTANTINE
The design was a typical basilica form.
entered through an atrium called Garden of Paradise that
enclosed a garden with fountains.
❑Near the site of martyrdom of st.Peter in the circus of nero.
❑Was pulled down to make way for the present cathedral.
❑The atrium led through the narthex to the great nave with
double aisles terminating in five arches.
❑Central arch was called the arch of the triumph.
❑Beyond was the beam and the semicircular apse with the
pope’s seat against the centre of the wall.
❑The priest stood behind the altar faced west.
❑Chancel was at the west end.
❑The approach to st.Peter’s was through the city, on the opposite
side of Tiber.
❑A hundred ancient columns of coloured stones was used
throughout.
❑These separating the nave from the first pair of aisles carried a
strong entablature.
❑The wall above was punctuated by clerestory windows.
The old, five-aisled basilica was 118 meters long, 64 meters wide
and had 88 columns, that is, 22 in each
row.

ST.PETERS, ROME
ST.PETERS, ROME
❑Constantine took these columns from the Temple of Solomon and gave them to the
church
❑It was built in the shape of a Latin cross, and had a gabled roof which was timbered
on the interior and which stood at over 100 feet (30 m) at the centre.
❑ mosaic of Constantine and Saint Peter, who presented a model of the church to
Christ.
❑walls, were painted with frescoes of scenes from both the Old and New Testament.
❑The exterior however, unlike earlier pagan temples, was not lavishly decorated.

ST.PETERS, ROME
Later, a bell-tower, with 12 windows on each of its six
storeys was built, as was a double-portico that was
used for papal blessings.

The interior of the basilica was resplendent with rare

marble, mosaics of all colours, shining metals,
draperies, tapestries and precious stones. The floor
around the tomb of St. Peter was covered with gold
and silver.

The church was falling to ruin by the 15th century.

Reluctantly, the decision was made to demolish it,
but on the brighter side, another decision was made,
to erect an even greater one, the basilica as it exists
today, on the same site.

In 1505, Pope Julius II, made a decision to demolish

the ancient building and replace it with something
grander.

St. Peter’s Basilica was rebuilt in the 16th century by

Renaissance masters including Bramante,
Michelangelo and Bernini.

ST.PETERS, ROME
ST.PETERS, ROME
ST.PETERS, ROME
ST.PETERS, ROME
ST.PETERS, ROME
ST.PETERS, ROME
ST.PETERS, ROME
ST.PETERS, ROME
ST.PETERS, ROME
ST.PETERS, ROME
ST.PETERS, ROME
ST.PETERS, ROME
IN the 5th and 6th C, some of the most executing experiments of christian
architecture were directed at fusing the forms of congregational and
occasional buildings.

Two outstanding constructions of this series

SAN VITALE IN RAVENNA
HAGIA SOPHIA IN CONSTANTINOPLE
BOTH BELONG TO THE REIGN OF EMPEROR JUSTINIAN.

SAN VITALE, RAVENNA

❑Indepted to constantinople for its ideas and effects
❑In the scantuary a mosaic panel shows emperor justinian endowed with the
imperor purple.
❑He is flanked by the army and the religious rules by the sword and the book.
❑Responsible to christ alone who is figured in the apse, enthroned upon the globe
and attended by angles and saint, in the act of receiving from the bishop of
ravenna, a model of the very church.

PLAN
❑Centrally disposed
❑Eight wedge shaped piers, connected by arches, carry a cupola on a tall drum.
❑This core is set within a second octagon, two storeys high, that reaches upto the
base of the drum.
❑Basic scheme as seen in the rotunda of the HOLY SEPULCHRE at JERUSALEM
❑The novelty of san vitale was to counteract the sense of focused height with a
strong longitudinal path towards the apse, fixed by an entrance atrium and the deep
chancel.
❑The nave is a luminous centralized space, tall and uplifting-expanded into the
encircling corridor both at aisle and gallery level by means of seven niches broken
into by triplets of arches.
❑Oblique views prevailed throughout.

SAN VITALE, RAVENNA

INSPIRED FROM THE ROTUNDA OF
JERUSALEM

SAN VITALE, RAVENNA

The church has an OCTAGONAL PLAN with an octagonal domed core,
vaulted and resting on eight piers and arches,
then encircled by an ambulatory and a gallery.

SAN VITALE, RAVENNA

SAN VITALE, RAVENNA
BUILDING CONSTRUCTION:
❑Simple brick construction
❑Cupola made of interlinked hollow tubes of terra-cotta
The Basilica of San Vitale is the most famous monument
of Ravenna, Italy and is one of the most important
examples of Byzantine art and architecture in western
Europe.
The building is one of the eight structures in Ravenna
that was included as UNESCO World Heritage Sites in
1996.
The church is built on the site of St. Vitali.s martyrdom.
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 building combines Roman elements (the dome,
shape of doorways, stepped towers) with Byzantine
(polygonal apse, capitals, narrow bricks, etc.).
It was begun by Bishop Ecclesio in 527, and completed
by the 27th Bishop of Ravenna, Maximian in 548.
The construction of the church was sponsored by a
Greek banker, Julian the Silversmith.

SAN VITALE, RAVENNA

SAN VITALE, RAVENNA
SAN VITALE, RAVENNA
While the exterior is plain brick and blocky, rather massive,
the interior, is enhanced by the overlay of marble and mosaic
on the walls, obscuring the mass of the walls.
Inside, the great triumphal arch is decorated with 15 mosaic
medallions, depicting Jesus Christ, the twelve Apostles and
Saint Gervasius and Saint Protasius, the sons of Saint Vitale.
The cross vaulting in the presbytery is richly ornamented with
mosaic festoons of leaves, fruit and flowers, converging on a
crown encircling the Holy Lamb.
The crown is supported by four angels, and every surface is
covered with a profusion of flowers, stars, birds and animals,
including many peacocks.
Above the arch, on both sides, two angels hold a disc and
beside them a representation of the cities of Jerusalem and
Bethlehem.
All these mosaics are executed in the Hellenistic-Roman
tradition: lively and imaginative, with rich colors and a certain
perspective, and with a vivid depiction of the landscape,
plants and birds. They were finished when Ravenna was still
under Gothic rule.

SAN VITALE, RAVENNA

SAN VITALE, RAVENNA
SAN VITALE, RAVENNA
SAN VITALE, RAVENNA
.The Basilica of S. Vitale, a brick masonry church, is composed by two concentric
octagonal prisms.
The outer and lowest one contains two levels of galleries, covered by a systems
of vaults built in the XII cent.
The upper one, the matrimoneum, was reserved for married women.
The, inner and highest one climaxes with the dome over the octagonal drum
connected to the pillars by a series of semi-circular arches.
The external pillars are connected by thick walls stiffened by a couple of built-in
columns at regular intervals.
The dome has a spherical shape with a diameter of approximately 16 m. It is
constructed of concentric rings
made of clay tubes that narrow towards the top.
The octagons are both covered by timber roofs.
The east side opens to the presbytery(sanctuary) and the apse.
Nearly opposite, the main entrance is preceded by a narthex built tangent to
one of the sides of the external
octagon.
Two towers are situated at the two sides of the narthex, one of which became
a bell tower in the X-XII
Centuries.

SAN VITALE, RAVENNA

DIVINE WISDOM:
❑Dedicated to christ as holy wisdom
❑Layout of a congregational basilica married to a vaulted superstructure. (neither
dominated)
❑Architects- anthemios and isidoros.
❑Ensured the flow towards the sanctuary by using screen walls between the nave,
by using screen walls between the nave, aisles and galleries.
❑Beyond the immediate usable space close to the floor, the church swells into a
magnificent system of vaults of mounting height.
❑Four broad arches hold aloft and central dome of brick(50m above the floor)
❑Dome’s base is a band of light made up of forty round headed windows.
❑To the east and west, lower half domes reach out towards the sanctuary and
entrance vestibule.

Myriad shafts of light used rhythmically augment the sense of mystery.

❑ Had open courts on all sides
❑ On the south side of the church was the patriarch’s residence.
❑ Four exterior stair ramps gave access to the galleries where the
unbaptised followed the service.

HAGIA SOPHIA
Hagia Sophia was an Orthodox patriarchal basilica, later a mosque and is now
a museum in Istanbul, Turkey
It is said that Hagia Sophia was built on the site of an ancient pagan temple
although there is no proof for it
The first Hagia Sophia was built by Emperor Constantius, son of Emperor
Constantinos I, and was opened for services in 360 AD.
It is assumed that it was a basilica-type structure with a rectangular floor plan,
circular apse and timbered roof. Ancient sources emphasize that the eastern
wall was circular.
Constantius donated gold and silver as well as religious objects to his Church.
Hagia Sophia was first named "Megale Ekklesia" (the Great Church) as it was
the
largest Church in Constantinople.
The Church was named Sophia, which means "Holy Wisdom" during the reign
of
Emperor Constantius.

HAGIA SOPHIA
The original Church was destroyed in 404 AD by mobs, during the riots, when
Emperor Arcadius sent the Patriarch of Constantinople, into exile for his open
criticism of the Empress.
Emperor Theodosius II built a new Church which was completed in 415 AD. The
architect of this second Church was Ruffinos.
It had a covered roof and the remains of this Church, excavated in 1935, show
that a staircase of five steps led to a columned propylaeum in front of the
entrance of the building. Including the imperial entrance, there were three
doorways in the facade. The results of excavations indicate that Hagia Sophia
was 60 metres wide.
During the rebellion of Monophysites in 532, Hagia Sophia was destroyed along
with many other important buildings. This revolt is known as the "Nike Revolt"
in Byzantine history.
Following these events, Emperor Justinian ordered the construction of
a new Church which was to surpass in magnificence all earlier Churches.
The two most famous architects of the age; Anthemius of Tralles (Aydin) and
Isidorus of Miletus, were entrusted with the construction of the building. They
supervised one hundred master builders and ten thousand labourers.

HAGIA SOPHIA
The finest and rarest materials from the four corners of the empire were
brought to Constantinople to be used in the construction of Hagia Sophia.
Columns previously taken to Rome from an Egyptian temple, ivory and gold
icons and ornaments from ancient temples were among them.
The construction was completed in a very short time of five years, ten months
and four days.
Later, the Church was damaged many times by earthquakes and fires, and
had to be repaired and reinforced.
When the Turks conquered Constantinople in 1453, the Church was converted
into a mosque, a place of Islamic worship.
To begin with, Turks preserved the frescoes and mosaic figures of Christian
saints which decorated the walls.
However, in the 16th century, these were completely covered by plaster, since
the Islamic code forbids figural representation.

HAGIA SOPHIA
After it became a mosque, the following changes, necessitated by Islamic
architectural standards, were made:
Sultan Mehmed II "the Conqueror" built an altar (mihrab) in the east, since the
apse should be in the direction of Mecca.
Sultan Bayezid (1484-1512) added a minaret on the north-east corner.
The Turkish architect Sinan, built the two minarets in front of the Church during
the reign of Sultan Murad III (1574-1535). Murad III also had water urns of the
Hellenistic period (300 BC) brought to the mosque from Bergama.
The pulpit (mimber) and preacher’s pew (muezzin mahfili) were added to the
interior during the reign of Murad IV.
In 1739, Sultan Mahmud I built a library and a primary school (mekteh-i sibyan)
in the south.
In 1850, Sultan Abdulmecit added the present day Imperial Pew. During his reign
(1833-1861), important repairs were entrusted to the Swiss architect Gaspare
Fossati. He removed the plaster covering the mosaics and then replastered them.
He decorated these newly plastered areas with frescoes.

HAGIA SOPHIA
The building was completely renovated inside and out.
It remained as a mosque until the fall of the Ottoman empire in the early twentieth
century.
In 1934, the Turkish government secularized the building, converting it into a
museum, and the original mosaics were restored.

HAGIA SOPHIA
The church has a rectangular shape, and the vast square nave measuring 31m
(102ft) is covered with a central dome that is carried on four pendentives.

HAGIA SOPHIA
The narthex outside at the eastern part
of atrium is enclosed, and the inner
narthex is entered by 5 doors, and from
this inner narthex there are 9 doors to the
nave.
Excluding the two narthexes and the
large atrium, the basilica measures 70 x
75 m (229 x 245 ft) .
The atrium measures 48 x 32 m (157 x
106 ft) and the total length of the
construction measures 135 m (442 ft).
The arcade around the dome is
unbroken with 40 arched windows to
bring the light inside.
The accesses to upper galleries are
provided by ramps, which are traditional
feature of Constantinopolitan church
planning.

HAGIA SOPHIA
HAGIA SOPHIA
HAGIA SOPHIA
HAGIA SOPHIA
HAGIA SOPHIA
HAGIA SOPHIA
HAGIA SOPHIA
HAGIA SOPHIA
HAGIA SOPHIA
HAGIA SOPHIA
HAGIA SOPHIA
❑Reflects the art of byzantium
❑Glittering resplendent facade of the narthex faces the great piazza of
san marco.
❑This vast open space, paved in marble, forms a great public atrium to the
church.
❑Founded in 830 to recieve the body of st.Mark
❑Burnt down in976
❑Plan transformed to resemble that of church of apostles, constantinople.
1063-1085
❑Transcepts were added, the sanctuary was extended, the narthex was
continued around the sides.
❑Interior altered from basilican to byzantine plan of a greek cross
surmounted by domes.

s.Mark venice
❑5th C to present day
❑Development of the dome to cover polygonal and
square plans for churches, tombs and baptisterie.
❑This is in contrast to the early christian christian timber
trusses and the romanesque system of stone vaults.
❑Centralised type of plan
❑The carcass of brickwork was first completed and
allowed to settle before the interior surface sheathing
of unyielding marble slab was added.
❑The brickwork lent itself externally to decorative
caprices in patterns and banding
❑Internally- covering with marble, mosaic and fresco
decorations.the byzantines took great pains in the
manufacture of bricks-38mm in depth, laid on thick
beds of mortars.
❑Special care was taken in making mortar composed
of lime and sand with crushed pottery tiles or bricks.
❑The decorative character of external facades
depended largely on arrangement of bricks.- laid
horizontally
❑Obliquely
❑In the form of meander fret.
❑Herring-bone pattern)
❑The dome (motif of byzantine architecture)was usually constructed of
bricks or some light porous stone(pumic) or even pottery as at St.vitale
ravenna.
❑zWindows were formed in the lower portion of the dome. Later period, it
was hoisted upon a high drum- a feature which was further developed in
western renaissance architecture byt he addition of an external peristyle.
❑Distinguished by the centralised type of plan havin a dome over the
nave, sometimes supported by semi-domes.
St Mark’s Basilica (Basilica di San Marco in Italian) has
been the seat of the Archbishop of Venice since 1807.
The first St. Mark’s church in Venice was a temporary
building in the Doge.s Palace, constructed in 828.
It was replaced by a new one on the present site in 832.
The new church was burned in a rebellion in 976,
rebuilt in 978, and finally to form the basis of the
present basilica in 1063.
While the basic structure of the building has been little
altered, its decoration changed greatly over time. The
succeeding centuries, especially the fourteenth, all
contributed to its adornment by adding a column,
capitals, or friezes, taken from some ancient building,
to add to the fabric of the basilica.
Gradually, the exterior brickwork was been covered
with various marbles and carvings, some much older
than the building itself.
A new frontage was constructed and the domes were
covered with higher wooden domes in order to blend in
with the Gothic architecture of the redesigned Doge’s
Palace.

s.Mark venice
EARLY CHRISTIAN-Old -St Marks
St. Mark’s Basilica is designed on a Greek cross floorplan and modeled
after Constantine’s Church of the Holy Apostles (now destroyed) and
the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul.
Each arm of the Greek cross has a central nave with side aisle; a
narthex in the west end provides the flat surface for the grand facade.
The exterior of the basilica is divided in three registers: lower, upper,
and domes.
In the lower register of the façade, approximately 52 meters long, five
round-arched portals, enveloped by polychrome marble columns, open
into the narthex through bronze-fashioned doors.
The central arch is larger than the other four, yet all are decorated with
intricate mosaics.
The mosaic farthest to the left portrays Transporting the Body of St.
Mark to the Basilica. The mosaic to the left of the central arch displays
The Venetians Pay Tribute to the Body of St. Mark. The mosaic to the
right of the central arch represents Arrival of St. Mark’s Body in
Venice. The mosaic farthest to the right symbolizes Removal of St.
Mark’s Body from Alexandria. The central mosaic depicts the Last
Judgement.
The mosaics in the upper level arches depict stories from the life of
Jesus.

s.Mark venice
s.Mark venice
s.Mark venice
s.Mark venice
s.Mark venice
s.Mark venice
s.Mark venice
s.Mark venice