Byzantine architecture

It is called Byzantine architecture to the architectural style that was in force during the Byzantine Empire (Eastern Roman Empire) since the fall of the Roman Empire of the West in the fifth century. The capital of the Eastern Empire was Constantinople (Constantinopolis or city of Constantine), whose previous name was Byzantium and, currently, Istanbul , and this from the year 330, moment that other authors set as the beginning of Byzantine architecture.

Byzantine architecture is inscribed within the framework of Byzantine art , and covers a long period of time, beginning in the fourth century and brought to an abrupt end by the fall of Constantinople into the hands of the Ottoman Turks in 1453, already in the 20th century. XV Due to its long duration, it is usually divided for its study into three differentiated periods: an initial period, an intermediate period and a final period.

As regards the geographical framework in which the Byzantine architectural style is produced, it coincides in general terms with the geographical extension of the Byzantine Empire, with what was changing in time due to the historical and political circumstances of that kingdom. throughout the more than ten centuries of validity of said style. However, the areas with the greatest presence of Byzantine architecture correspond to the territories of present-day Turkey and Greece , not forgetting Bulgaria , Romania and large parts of Italy , together with Syria and Palestine. In addition, as a result of the expansion of Christianity among the Slavic peoples carried out from the 8th century by the Byzantine Orthodox Church , the Byzantine architecture was extended by the current Ukraine , Russia and Belarus , passing some of its architectural elements (as per example the bulging domes ) to become a hallmark of the Orthodox churches, which have been maintained to this day.

On the other hand, the Byzantine art was an art of official type, 1 in function of the relations of the ecclesiastical power with the civil power, that was sustained with the support of the Church. And the very existence of the Byzantine Empire was linked to the expansion of the Orthodox faith and Byzantine art. 2

Due to the historical circumstances and the geographical area in which it was created and in which it was present, Byzantine architecture received, on a base formed essentially by Roman architecture , strong influences from other architectural styles, especially styles from the Middle East area . On the other hand, in addition to the already pointed influence on the architectural styles of countries related to the Orthodox Church, it should be noted that from the area of Ravenna , in Italy, at its western end of distribution, influenced the Carolingian architecture and, through of this, in the Romanesque architecture , while from the south of Italy, especially in the area of Sicily , contributed some of its characteristics to the version adapted in the area of Norman architecture , which was one of the variants of the Romanesque architecture.

Some of the distinctive characteristics of Byzantine architecture are, in addition to the already indicated form of the domes, the use of brick as a construction material to replace the stone , the massive use of mosaics as a decorative element to replace the sculptures , the greater elevation of the buildings as a result of the enhancement of the domes , and the finding of a system that allows to combine the constructive use for said domes, of a support of square plan , but that allows the finishing by means of a drum in a round dome, in many occasions with prolongation of a wavy eaves .

Structural evolution
As early as the building of Constantine’s churches in Palestine there were two chief types of plan in use: the basilican, or axial, type, represented by the basilica at the Holy Sepulchre, and the circular, or central, type, represented by the great octagonal church once at Antioch. Those of the latter type we must suppose were nearly always vaulted, for a central dome would seem to furnish their very raison d’etre. The central space was sometimes surrounded by a very thick wall, in which deep recesses, to the interior, were formed, as at the noble Church of Saint George, Thessaloniki (5th century), or by a vaulted aisle, as at Santa Costanza, Rome (4th century); or annexes were thrown out from the central space in such a way as to form a cross, in which these additions helped to counterpoise the central vault, as at the Mausoleum of Galla Placidia, Ravenna (5th century). The most famous church of this type was that of the Holy Apostles, Constantinople. Vaults appear to have been early applied to the basilican type of plan; for instance, at Hagia Irene, Constantinople (6th century), the long body of the church is covered by two domes.
At Saint Sergius, Constantinople, and San Vitale, Ravenna, churches of the central type, the space under the dome was enlarged by having apsidal additions made to the octagon. Finally, at Hagia Sophia (6th century) a combination was made which is perhaps the most remarkable piece of planning ever contrived. A central space of 100 ft (30 m) square is increased to 200 ft (60 m) in length by adding two hemicycles to it to the east and the west; these are again extended by pushing out three minor apses eastward, and two others, one on either side of a straight extension, to the west. This unbroken area, about 260 ft (80 m) long, the larger part of which is over 100 ft (30 m) wide, is entirely covered by a system of domical surfaces. Above the conchs of the small apses rise the two great semi-domes which cover the hemicycles, and between these bursts out the vast dome over the central square. On the two sides, to the north and south of the dome, it is supported by vaulted aisles in two storeys which bring the exterior form to a general square.
At the Holy Apostles (6th century) five domes were applied to a cruciform plan; the central dome was the highest. After the 6th century there were no churches built which in any way competed in scale with these great works of Justinian, and the plans more or less tended to approximate to one type. The central area covered by the dome was included in a considerably larger square, of which the four divisions, to the east, west, north and south, were carried up higher in the vaulting and roof system than the four corners, forming in this way a sort of nave and transepts. Sometimes the central space was square, sometimes octagonal, or at least there were eight piers supporting the dome instead of four, and the nave and transepts were narrower in proportion.

If we draw a square and divide each side into three so that the middle parts are greater than the others, and then divide the area into nine from these points, we approximate to the typical setting out of a plan of this time. Now add three apses on the east side opening from the three divisions, and opposite to the west put a narrow entrance porch running right across the front. Still in front put a square court. The court is the atrium and usually has a fountain in the middle under a canopy resting on pillars. The entrance porch is the narthex. Directly under the center of the dome is the ambo, from which the Scriptures were proclaimed, and beneath the ambo at floor level was the place for the choir of singers. Across the eastern side of the central square was a screen which divided off the bema, where the altar was situated, from the body of the church; this screen, bearing images, is the iconostasis. The altar was protected by a canopy or ciborium resting on pillars. Rows of rising seats around the curve of the apse with the patriarch’s throne at the middle eastern point formed the synthronon. The two smaller compartments and apses at the sides of the bema were sacristies, the diaconicon and prothesis. The ambo and bema were connected by the solea, a raised walkway enclosed by a railing or low wall.

The continuous influence from the East is strangely shown in the fashion of decorating external brick walls of churches built about the 12th century, in which bricks roughly carved into form are set up so as to make bands of ornamentation which it is quite clear are imitated from Cufic writing. This fashion was associated with the disposition of the exterior brick and stone work generally into many varieties of pattern, zig-zags, key-patterns etc.; and, as similar decoration is found in many Persian buildings, it is probable that this custom also was derived from the East. The domes and vaults to the exterior were covered with lead or with tiling of the Roman variety. The window and door frames were of marble. The interior surfaces were adorned all over by mosaics or frescoes in the higher parts of the edifice, and below with incrustations of marble slabs, which were frequently of very beautiful varieties, and disposed so that, although in one surface, the coloring formed a series of large panels. The better marbles were opened out so that the two surfaces produced by the division formed a symmetrical pattern resembling somewhat the marking of skins of beasts.

Periods
Although in the first moments of its existence the Byzantine architecture was not distinguished especially from the Roman architecture , of which in its first babblings it constituted only a mere regional derivation, the long evolution in the time of it allowed the consolidated emergence of a distinctive architectural style, which was otherwise very permeable to the influences received from oriental architecture.

One of the features that were maintained throughout the period of its existence was the use of brick for the architecture of the churches , which replaced the stone, which was the building material used in its predecessor Roman architecture; to which is added a freer interpretation of the classical orders , the substitution of the sculptures as decorative elements of the buildings by the mosaics or the enhancement of the domes, which rise to a greater height than in other previous architectural styles.

The period covered by Byzantine architecture can be divided for the purposes of its study into three clearly differentiated subperiods: an initial period (or First Age of Gold ), an intermediate period (or Second Golden Age ) and a final period (or Third Age) of Gold ).

Intermediate period
The intermediate period, or Second Golden Age of Byzantine art, is characterized by the predominance of churches with a Greek cross plan with a domed cover over a drum and a prominent undulating cornice at the outer base.

To this compositional scheme correspond, for example, the cathedral of Athens , the church of the monastery of Daphni , which uses horns instead of pendentives , and the monastic assemblies of Mount Athos in Greece.

This new type of church takes shape in the missing church of Nea de Constantinople (881), built by Basilio I.

For this period in Byzantine architecture we are faced with the problem posed by iconoclasm , which ruined many of the buildings of the early period. Thus, in regard to large-scale buildings of the early period of the intermediate period, in Greece only the Basilica of St. Sophia , in Thessaloniki , survives. Another building of importance, the church of the Assumption of Nicaea , survived until the twentieth century, although it was destroyed in the 1920s in the fighting framed in the Greco-Turkish War ; However, at least several photographs of the temple have come to us.

Regarding the time of the Macedonian dynasty , which is traditionally considered as the compendium of Byzantine art , it has not left us great achievements either. It is presumed that the missing Theotokos Panachrantos , or votive church of the Immaculate Mother of God, of Constantinople, the work of Basil I, which corresponds to the remains under the modern Fenari Isa Camii mosque, has served as a model for many buildings with a plant in the shape of a cross inscribed in a circle, such as the monastery of Ossios Loukas (in Greece, year 1000), the monastery of Néa Moní (island of Chios , a project long cherished by Constantine IX ) or the monastery of Dafni ( Chaidari , locality in Attica near Athens).

The plant in the shape of a cross inscribed in a circle is, by the way, the most expanded form towards the territories covered by the Orthodox Byzantine missionaries who in the times of the Macedonian dynasty crossed the territories of the Slavic peoples to proceed to its Christianization . The St. Sophia Cathedral in Ohrid (in the current Republic of Macedonia ) or the St. Sophia Church in Kiev (in present-day Ukraine ) are eloquent testimony to the use of the drum dome, which over time become increasingly tall and slender.

Final period
The final period or Third Golden Age covers the time lapse between the thirteenth and fifteenth centuries, coinciding with the dynasties of the Comnenus and Palaiologos ; In it predominate the plants of churches covered by domed abulbadas on circular drums or polygonal .

The Elmali kilise belongs to the Comnenos period in Cappadocia ; in Constantinople, the church of the Pantocrator (today known as the Zeyrek mosque ) and the church of the Theotokos Kyriotissa (Virgin of the Throne) (today known as Kalenderhane Camii ). Also numerous churches have been conserved in the Caucasus , Russia, Bulgaria, Serbia and other Slavic countries, as well as in Sicily (Cappella Palatina of the Palazzo dei Normanni) or Venice ( basilica of San Marcos , cathedral of Santa María de la Asunción in Torcello ).

To the period of the Paleólogos belong a dozen of churches in Constantinople, especially San Salvador de Chora (today Kahriye Camii ) and Theotokos Pammakaristos (Holy Mother of God) (today Fetiye Camii ). A characteristic of all of them is that of not accentuating verticality, giving priority to the horizontal structure, which does not endow them with the magnificence of other churches in Constantinople. The only one that does not comply with the rule is the church of Saint Sophia of Trebizond . At this stage correspond in Greece the Church of the Holy Apostles of Salonica , the fourteenth century, the church of Mistra , in the Peloponnese, and some monasteries of Mount Athos.

Features
Byzantine architecture maintained several elements of Roman architecture and Eastern Paleochristian architecture , such as materials (brick and stone for exterior cladding and mosaic interiors), semicircular arches , classical column as support, etc. But they also brought new features among which the new dynamic concept of the elements and a new spatial sense stand out and, above all, its most important contribution, the systematic use of the vaulted roof , especially the dome on pendentives , that is, spherical triangles in the angles that facilitate the passage of the square floor to the circular one of the dome. These hemispherical vaults were constructed by concentric courses of brick, like crowns of decreasing radius reinforced externally with mortar , and were conceived as a symbolic image of the divine cosmos.

Another contribution of great transcendence was the decoration of capitals , of which there were several types; thus, the Theodosian type is a Roman heritage, used during the fourth century as an evolution of the Corinthian and carved by trepan, resembling wasps; another variety was the flat-faced cubic capital decorated with reliefs on two planes. In both cases it was obligatory to place on them a cornice or truncated- pyramid piece decorated with various Christian motifs and symbols.

In the typology of the temples , according to the plant, there are many plants with a centralized plan, no doubt consistent with the importance given to the dome, but the number of churches with a basilical plan and cruciform churches with the same sections (plan of Greek cross).

In almost all cases it is common that the temples, in addition to the body of the main nave, have an atrium or narthex , of early Christian origin, and the presbytery preceded by iconostasis , so named because on this openwork enclosure the painted icons were placed.

Structural evolution
In the early days of the first period of Byzantine architecture, the church buildings in the regions of Palestine and Syria during the time of Emperor Constantine II were made according to two different models of the building’s floor: the basilical or axial plan , as happens for example in the church of the Holy Sepulcher of Jerusalem , and the circular or central floor, as is the case of the now lost great octagonal church that existed in Antioch .

Churches of central plant
It must be assumed that the churches with a central floor should almost always have a vaulted roof, since the existence of a central dome was their real reason for being. The central space was surrounded by a wall of great thickness, in which deep hollows appeared by its inner face, as it happens in the church of San Jorge de Salonica (V century), or by an ambulatory with a barrel vault , as it is the case in the mausoleum of Santa Constanza in Rome (IV century).

The deep openings existing in the central space would thus form the arms of a cross, thus contributing to the support of the central vault of the building, as happens for example in the case of the Mausoleum of Gala Placidia in Ravenna , dated in the 5th century.

The most famous of the churches belonging to this type was possibly the church of the Holy Apostles , which was also located in the city of Constantinople. The supports for the vaults were later also applied to the churches built with a basilica plan, as is the case, for example, in the church of Santa Irene , also located in Constantinople, from the 6th century, in which the long nave of the church Its body is covered by two domes adjacent to each other.

In the church of Saints Sergius and Bacchus of Constantinople and in the church of San Vital in Ravenna , churches with a central floor plan, the space under the dome is enlarged with the addition of the apses to the octagon .

Finally, in the church of Santa Sofía de Constantinopla, dated in the 6th century, a combination was devised that represents an interesting and innovative architectural project: the square central space of 30 meters on each side was increased to 60 meters with the addition of two hemicycles on the east and west sides; said hemicycles are subsequently enlarged again by adding three smaller apses to the east side and two others to the west side.

This uninterrupted area of almost 80 meters long and more than 30 meters wide was internally covered by a dome cover system. On the other hand, on the roofs of the apses , two large semicircles rise that in turn cover the hemicycles, behind which the large dome above the central square emerges. The latter is supported on its north and south sides by covers to two planes that give the whole set a square external appearance.

Greek cross churches inscribed in a square
Main article: Crossed churches inscribed
In the church of the Holy Apostles of Salonica , from the sixth century, on a cruciform plan , five domes were arranged, with the central one located at the highest level. No other church built after the sixth century can compete in grandiosity with this work of Justinian I , and the plants of the churches will tend to assimilate to a unique type. A central area covered by the dome was inscribed in a square of a significantly larger size: the space on each of the sides clearly identified a nave and a transept . Sometimes the central space was square, although sometimes it was octagonal , or at least eight pilasters that supported the dome instead of just four, with nave and transept of a proportionally smaller size.

If we draw a square and divide each of its sides into three parts, the central part being larger, and starting from the points obtained, we divide the area again and we will get an idea of an architectural project typical of this stage. From the points of the divisions on the east side three apses were developed, while on the west façade a narrow portico of entrance, the narthex , was opened. Facing this was a square space, the atrium: sometimes there is a central fountain under a baldachin supported by columns . Just below the center of the dome was the pulpit , from which the Scriptures were proclaimed, the choir of the singers being under the pulpit. On the east side of the central square was the iconostasis , to separate the bema , where the altar was located, from the body of the church. Bema was the area of the church that was reserved for clergy and ministers, similar to the presbytery . The altar was protected by a baldachin or ciborium supported on pilasters . A few rows of seats framed the circumference of the apse, with the throne of the patriarch in the central point to the east forming the synthronon (collective throne). The two minor sectors and the absidiolos next to the bema were the Pastoforia ( prothesis and diaconicon ). The pulpit and the bema were adjacent to the solea , a step leaning against the walls .

Influences of other styles
The continued influences of oriental origin are evident in various aspects, such as the exterior decoration of the walls of the churches built around the twelfth century, in which the engraved bricks are arranged in an ornamental way clearly inspired by the Kufic script . This was associated with the external arrangement of bricks and stones according to a wide variety of designs; This decorative use is probably of oriental origin, a port that similar decorations can be found in various buildings in Persia , in the so – called Medo-Persian architecture .

The domes and vaults were externally covered with lead or with Roman-type (flat) tiles . The doors and windows were made of marble . The interior surfaces of the buildings were completely decorated in their higher parts with mosaics or frescoes and in the lower part with marble slabs coverings, of varied origins and colorations, arranged so that the different colorations formed a series of wide panels. The marbles of higher quality were cut so that the two surfaces obtained form a symmetrical design similar to the skin of the animals.

The Armenian influence
The bitter fights for the control of Armenia between Arabs and Byzantines caused the flight of Armenia of many princes, nobles and soldiers, being its destiny most of the times the Byzantine Empire. Migrations, accompanied by artists and various other types of people, would have influenced Byzantine architecture. Influence on the reverse seems unlikely, because Armenia, intolerant of Byzantium on questions of religious faith, expelled all its dissidents from the country in the year 719. Given the circumstances, it seems difficult to think of an admiration for the Byzantine architecture on the part of the Armenians.

In the 8th and 9th centuries there were no conditions in Armenia for cultural and artistic flourishing. However, the strongholds in which many Armenian princes had been forced to take refuge gave the architects the possibility of acquiring knowledge for the construction of churches and convents dedicated to the memory of the ancestors, where the Masses were to be celebrated by the soul of the dead people. A monument discovered in Ani (Turkey) during archaeological excavations in 1910 had probably been built during those dark times. One part of the beautiful church of Otzoun is 718, and part of Banak belongs to the next century.

Subsequently, the Arabs again allied with the Armenians and, towards the beginning of the tenth century, the architect Manuel built the famous church of the island of Akdamar , the most outstanding work of this period, on Lake Van . During the 9th and 10th centuries various other churches were built, such as the church and convent of Narek , the church of the Savior in Taron , and various churches in Ashtarak , Mazra , Horomos , Noratouz , Dariounk , Oughouzli , Soth , Makenatzotz , Vanevan , Salnapat , Sevan , Keotran (near Yerevan ), Taron (San Juan Bautista), Ishkhan , as well as the convent of Shoghak , all of interest for the presence and richness of their decorations.

Legacy

In the West
Ultimately, Byzantine architecture in the West gave a way to Carolingian, Romanesque, and Gothic architecture. But a great part of current Italy used to belong to the Byzantine Empire before that. Great examples of Byzantine architecture are still visible in Ravenna (for example Basilica di San Vitale which architecture influenced the Palatine Chapel of Charlemagne).

In the East
In the East, Byzantine architectural tradition exerted a profound influence on early Islamic architecture. During the Umayyad Caliphate era (661-750), as far as the Byzantine impact on early Islamic architecture is concerned, the Byzantine artistic heritage formed a fundamental source to the new Islamic art, especially in Syria and Palestine. There are considerable Byzantine influences which can be detected in the distinctive early Islamic monuments in Syria and Palestine, as on the Dome of the Rock (691) at Jerusalem, the Umayyad Mosque (709–715) at Damascus. While the Dome of the Rock gives clear reference in plan – and partially in decoration – to Byzantine art, the plan of the Umayyad Mosque has also a remarkable similarity with 6th- and 7th-century Christian basilicas, but it has been modified and expanded on the transversal axis and not on the normal longitudinal axis as in the Christian basilicas. This modification serves better the liturgy for the Islamic prayer. The original mihrab of the mosque is located almost in the middle of the eastern part of the qibla wall and not in its middle, a feature which can be explained by the fact that the architect might have tried to avoid the impression of a Christian apse which would result from the placement of the mihrab in the middle of the transept. The tile work, geometric patterns, multiple arches, domes, and polychrome brick and stone work that characterize Islamic and Moorish architecture were influenced to some extent by Byzantine architecture.

Post-Byzantine architecture in Eastern Orthodox countries
In Bulgaria, Russia, Romania, Serbia, Belarus, Georgia, Ukraine, Macedonia, and other Orthodox countries the Byzantine architecture persisted even longer, from the 16th up to the 18th centuries, giving birth to local post-Byzantine schools of architecture.

Neo-Byzantine architecture
Neo-Byzantine architecture had a small following in the wake of the 19th-century Gothic revival, resulting in such jewels as Westminster Cathedral in London, and in Bristol from about 1850 to 1880 a related style known as Bristol Byzantine was popular for industrial buildings which combined elements of the Byzantine style with Moorish architecture. It was developed on a wide-scale basis in Russia during the reign of Alexander II by Grigory Gagarin and his followers who designed St Volodymyr’s Cathedral in Kiev, St Nicholas Naval Cathedral in Kronstadt, Alexander Nevsky Cathedral in Sofia, Saint Mark’s church in Belgrade and the New Athos Monastery in New Athos near Sukhumi. The largest Neo-Byzantine project of the 20th century was the Temple of Saint Sava in Belgrade.

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