Major examples of Byzantine architecture Hagia Sophia and St Mark's.

1. LECTURE 5
History Of Architecture III
Ar. Reshma P R,
Asst. Professor
Thejus college of architecture
MODULE 1: PART B
BYZANTINE ARCHITECTURE

2. Hagia Sophia, Istanbul, Turkey
• One of the great buildings of the world and is
the master piece of Byzantine architecture.
• “Church of Holy wisdom” (in Latin) – chief church
in Constantinople.
• Built by order of Justinian, in A.D.532-537, on the
site of two successive churches of the same
name, first one in 360 AD (Built during the time
of Constantine).

3. • The architects were Anthemius of Tralles and
Isidorus of Miletus.
• Both were mathematicians and scientists
skilled in mechanics, geometry, and
engineering.
• These talents were all needed to design and
supervise the construction of the
exceptionally large Hagia Sophia.
Isidorus of Miletus

4. Cathedral of Constantinople
(Orthodox Church)
537 CE 1453 CE 1934 CE
Mosque Museum
2020 CE
Mosque
TIMELINE
• A.D.532-537: Cathedral of Constantinople constructed during the reign of Justinian I. (on the site of
two successive churches of the same name, first one in 360 AD (Built during the time of Constantine).
• AD 1453: Ottoman sultan Mehmet defeated the Byzantine Empire and captured Constantinople. He
turned the church into a mosque as an emblem of Muslim triumph over the city. (The structure served
as an imperial mosque and subsequent sultans added minarets, a school, library and a fountain, completing its transformation
into a mosque complex.)
• AD 1934: Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the war hero who founded the Turkish Republic in 1923, had
Hagia Sophia made into a museum in 1934, as part of his reforms to build a secular country.
• AD 2020: The museum is again converted into Mosque by the order of current president Erdogan
(In July 2020, after the Council of State annulled the Cabinet's 1934 decision to establish the Hagia Sophia as museum and
revoking the monument's status, Erdogan ordered its reclassification as a mosque)

5. • In plan it is a basilica with a
central dome, complemented by
pairs of semi domes at the front
and rear.
• This configuration is at once linear,
with dominant longitudinal axis,
and centralized, with a dome on
piers at it’s core.
• Aisles with galleries above range
on either side, while a colonnaded
atrium (no longer extant) and
groin-vaulted double narthex
precede the church proper.
Hagia Sophia- Plan
Aisle
Projecting
apse
(east)
Inner Narthex
Outer Narthex
Piers
Piers (resist outer thrust of the
dome to north and south
Aisle
Gallery Above
Gallery Above
Semi
domes
Exedra
central space
(107 feet
square)
(Dome over
pendentives)
Nave
Atrium
(Now
destroyed)

6. Hagia Sophia
Axonometric view of Hagia Sophia

7. Hagia Sophia

8. • Its 107 foot diameter central dome, supported on
pendentives, rises 180 feet above the floor and is
flanked by two lower semi domes of the same
diameter, a clear span of nearly 250 feet.
DOME
PENDENTIV
E
107 Feet
180 Feet
Semi dome
Gallery
250 Feet (clear span)
piers
Hagia Sophia : Features
47 Feet

9. • The piers are Connected above by semicircular arches, and supporting a dome 107 feet in diameter.
• The brick used does constitute a relatively light construction material and the vaults are amazingly thin to
minimize both the thrust and weight.
107 feet
Hagia Sophia : Features

10. • The forty windows at the base of the dome are set between
buttresses that stabilize the junction of dome and pendentives
Windows at base of the dome
Buttresses that stabilize the junction of
dome and pendentives
(added after the earthquake damage)

11. • From this point the load is transferred to four great stone piers, which are further
buttressed by being extended above the gallery vaults to join in great barrel vaults
along the sides of the church
• The masonry mass of the four piers is more obvious on the outside than internally.
Main piers / Columns
Barrel vaults Gallery vaults Buttresses (25x70 feet)

12. • The semi domes, which appear to brace the narthex
and apse end, probably contribute little to the
structure’s integrity, however satisfying they are
visually.

13. Hagia Sophia
• The domical method of construction governs the plan.

14. • Anthemius and Isidorus’s structural
daring overstepped the physical
limits of their materials, and the first
great dome collapsed in 558 AD.
• It was reconstructed with a steeper
pitch and ribbed construction in 563
AD.
• But the western half of the dome fell
again in 989 AD
• Following repairs, the eastern half
collapsed in 1346 AD
• The replacement dome is the one on
the building today.

15. The Narthex of the Hagia Sophia mosque, an inner hall of nine
vaulted bays.
The Imperial Door
in the Narthex
reserved for the
Byzantine emperor
and his procession.
groin-vaulted roof
of narthex

16. •Scale is obtained by the careful gradation of the
various parts from the two-storied arcades to the
aisles and lofty dome.
•The walls and piers are lined with beautifully-
coloured marbles.
•The columns of many-colored marbles are used
constructively to support the galleries which rest on
a variety of groined vaults.
Hagia Sophia :Interiors
Two storied
arcades
Lofty dome
Gallery
Space
Groined
vaults
beautifully-
coloured marbles

17. •The lighting is partly effected by forty small windows
piercing the dome at its base
•Additional light is introduced through twelve windows in
each of the spandrel walls, north and south, under the
great arches which support the dome.
•The bases of the domes of the smaller exedra are also
provided with windows.
The light pours in from windows at many levels playing over
surfaces enriched by marbles and mosaics.
Hagia Sophia :Interiors
Windows at
base of the
dome
(40 numbers)
Windows in the
spandrel wall(12
numbers x 2)
Windows in the base of
smaller exedra.

18. Hagia Sophia
Ordinary people were relegated to the aisles and
Galleries, Women on one side and men on other,
where they can observe the ceremonial function.
Clergy claimed the sanctuary
space before the apse.
Imperial court occupied the region
at the narthex, or entry, end.
The meeting of patriarch and emperor and celebration of
Mass happen under the great dome

19. Hagia Sophia

21. Location: Venice, Italy Period: Begin in AD 830 and rebuilt in AD 1063-89
The columns and marble mosaics to the exterior being added between 1100-1350.
St. Marco /St Mark's, Venice

22. Piazza San Marco, often known in English as St Mark's Square, is the principal public square of Venice, Italy.

23. Holy Apostles, at Constantinople.
• The plan of St Marco is derived from the Church of
the Holy Apostles at Constantinople.
• Which was one of the Justinian prototype of
centralized church on a Greek cross plan
• Erected by Constantine as his own mausoleum and
rebuilt by Justinian from 536-550 AD
• It was demolished in 1469 to provide the site for a
mosque.
An image from a Vatican Codex (12th century)
believed to be a representation of the Church of
the Holy Apostles

24. • The plan of St. Marco is in the form of a Greek cross, of
equal arms, covered by a dome of 42’ in diameter in
the centre (crossing of arms)
• Hemispherical internal domes cover each arm of the
Greek-cross plan.
St. Marco, Venice

25. • Each arm has a central aisle and two side aisles.
• A narthex wrapped around the west end disguises
the cross shape but creates a wide, flat surface for
the grand facade.
• Baptistery on south side
Narthex
Central
aisle
side
aisles
Baptistery
Treasury

26. St. Marco, Venice
pendentives
Barrel vaults
• All domes are set on pendentives, with
barrel vaults connecting the larger pierced
piers that sustain the downward thrust of the
domes.
Barrel vaults

27. St. Marco, Venice
Dome supported by
Pendentives
Barrel vaults
• All domes are set on pendentives, with
barrel vaults connecting the larger
pierced piers that sustain the downward
thrust of the domes.

28. St. Marco, Venice
• The present exterior portal hoods date
from the fifteenth century (west front)
• External dome profiles, raised on a
timber framework above the masonry
work, reflect the shape of Eastern
domes.( in 15th century)
• (resemble the onion domes of Russian
churches)
Eastern
dome on
timber
frame
Masonry
dome
• The basic design concept for S. Marco stems from
Byzantium, much there reflects other architectural
traditions .

29. •The external facade has five entrances, enriched with shafts of
many-colored marbles
St. Marco, Venice

30. •The gallery arcade connects the
piers on either side, the depth of the
gallery being that of the pier.
St. Marco, Venice
Gallery space supported by arcades
Piers supporting the dome

31. •The square piers, which carry the
dome, are pierced on the ground floor
and gallery levels.
St. Marco, Venice
Square piers supporting dome
Openings on the piers

32. • Windows at the base of domes illuminate the upper
regions of the church and allow light to sparkle across
the gold-ground mosaics of the interior
St. Marco, Venice
Windows
at base
of dome
Gold-
ground
mosaics

33. St. Marco, Venice
Coloured
marbles in
lower parts
• The interior is richly veneered with coloured marbles
casing the lower part of the walls and extending in one
great surface over vault and dome a lining of richly
coloured glass mosaic.
coloured
glass mosaic
in upper
areas (over
vault and
dome).

34. St. Marco, Venice