Byzantine architecture developed from 330-1453 AD in the Byzantine Empire with Constantinople as its capital. It had a profound influence on architecture in Europe and the Near East. Key characteristics included the basilica and central plans with domes. The Hagia Sophia, commissioned by Emperor Justinian in the 6th century, was revolutionary with its massive scale and use of pendentives to place a dome on a square base. Byzantine architecture emphasized religious experiences and had styles like mosaics and domes that spread throughout Europe and to Islamic architecture, continuing its legacy into modern times.

1. Compartive Civilizations 12
Byzantine Architecture
History of Architecture III

2. Overview
Early Christian architecture (313 -800 AD)
Byzantine Architecture(330-1453 AD and later)
[Constantine 272 – 337 AD, Justanian I
482 – 565]
Muslim Architecture (7th century onward)
Romanesque Architecture (12th to 16th century)
Gothic Architecture (12th to 16th century)
Renaissance Architecture (15th to 19th century)
Modern Architecture (20th century onwards)

3. Byzantine architecture is the architecture of the
Byzantine Empire, also known as the Later Roman or
Eastern Roman Empire. This terminology is used by
modern historians because the medieval Roman Empire
evolved as a distinct artistic and cultural entity. This new
empire had its center on the new capital of Constantinople
rather than the city of Rome. The empire endured for more
than a millennium, dramatically influencing Medieval
architecture throughout Europe and the Near East, and
becoming the primary progenitor of the Renaissance and
Ottoman architectural traditions that followed after its
collapse.
[progenitor – ancestral heritage or lineage]

4. But approaching any
work of Byzantine
architecture outside
of its deep connection
to religion gives us an
incomplete picture of
this tradition. While
the Byzantines were
the heirs of the
Roman Empire, they
turned away from the
gods of antiquity to
embrace Christianity

5. Christianity became the
official religion of the
Empire, and faith would
help maintain the
authority and prominence
of Constantinople
Much of Byzantine
architecture was created to
express religious
experience and mediate
between the believer and
God.

6. Taken in its architectural
context, the iconography
of the mosaics and
frescoes shows the
believer within scenes of
the Old Testament and the
lives of Christ and Mary
Mother of God.
[iconography – images
and symbols that are
associated with a person
or subject.]

7. In 330 AD, Constantine the Great transferred the
capital of the Roman Empire to the city of
Byzantion on the shores of the Bosporus. During
the early Byzantine period (330-700), the Empire
included Eastern Europe, the Roman Near East,
Egypt and portions of North Africa.
Byzantine world would soon extend into areas of
Russia, which were never before Romanized.
Constantinople remained as the geographic and
symbolic centre of this cultural and political
sphere until its conquest and collapse in 1453.

8. Introduction
Byzantine
architecture was
a continuation
and refinement
of Roman styles
and techniques.
The basilica
plan continued
in use – as in the
Church of S.
Apollinare in
Classe,
Ravenna.

9. S. Apollinare In Classe -
Ravenna
The characteristic
nave, side aisles, apse
and clerestory
windows are all
clearly evident.

10. S. Apollinare In Classe -
Ravenna
The exterior
similarly reveals
the basilica style,
though this is a
building less
grand and
imposing than the
Basilica of
Constantine in
Rome.

11. Central Plan Churches
Sta. Constanza in Rome (350 AD), the mausoleum for
Constantine’s daughter, provided a model for Christian
architects who sought to use the more perfect form of the
circle in their designs, without the massive drum of the
Pantheon.
Curiously, the idea originated in Roman bath houses.

12. Sta. Constanza - Rome

13. Sta. Constanza – Rome
Note the annular
vaulting of the
surrounding aisle.

14. S. Vitale - Ravenna
Circular, central
plan churches
were very difficult
to build.
Octagons
supporting domes
became a popular
and simpler to
construct
alternative.

15. S. Vitale - Ravenna

16. S. Vitale - Ravenna
Note how a series of
large supporting piers
rises to support the
dome.
Gone is the
Pantheon’s great drum
and windowless walls.

17. S. Vitale - Ravenna
Around the central
space run side aisles,
beyond the flanking
pillars, which gives
additional space in a
similar fashion to that
of a basilica design.

18. S. Vitale - Ravenna
The austere
brick exterior
belied an
incredibly
ornate
interior of
veined
marble and
intricate
mosaics.

19. Emperor Justinian
In the 6th century, the Emperor Justinian embarked on
an ambitious building programme.
He vastly enlarged the empire, but also decided to
build the most magnificent building on the planet.
His capital was packed with subject people from all
around his vast empire – brand new people with
enormous skills.

20. Justinian’s Building Projects

21. Hagia Sophia
The architects
Anthemius of
Tralles and
Isodorus of
Miletus were
commissioned to
create the
greatest interior
to that time.

22. Hagia Sophia
The architects
overcame a significant
engineering problem –
how to place a dome
upon a square base.

23. Building Domes
Octagonal buildings
achieved this through
transitional arches or
corbelling features in
an architectural design
known as a squinch

24. Building Domes
Squinch in
the Ibn Tulun
Mosque in
Cairo, Egypt.

25. Building Domes
Arthemius and
Isodorus’ soloution
was revolutionary.
They used triangular
transition features
from four massive
support piers to a
drum and then to the
shallow dome above.

26. Hagia Sophia
This 1852 lithography
clearly shows two of
the great pendentives.
Beyond them can be
seen one of the apses,
whose half dome
serves to resist the
outward thrust of the
building and to enlarge
the great interior
space.

27. Hagia Sophia
The building was enormous and complex, requiring
tremendous mathematical precision.
Figure Cutaway isometric from Great Architecture of the World

28. Hagia Sophia

29. Hagia Sophia
Figure : Sections and Elevations from Bannister Fletcher 1924

30. Hagia Sophia
Hagia Sophia – as it would have appeared without the
minarets, which were added during the Moslem era.

31. Hagia Sophia
Hagia Sophia – as it appears today in Istanbul.

32. Ultimately, Byzantine architecture in the
West gave way to Romanesque and Gothic
architecture. In the East it exerted a
profound influence on early Islamic
architecture, and in Eastern Europe it has a
great influence on Russian architecture
during the reign of Alexander II.

33. The Byzantine Legacy
Central planned
churches, based on
domes were copied
extensively by later
builders.
St. Basil’s, in
Moscow, is a
particularly exuberant
example.

34. The Byzantine Legacy
Islamic
builders
adopted
the domed
central
plan as a
model for
virtually
all
mosques.
Kapitan Keling Mosque, Penang,
Malaysia
Mosque,
Richmond, BC

35. The Byzantine Legacy
Contact with Constantinople through trade convinced even
the Venetians to adopt this style of Church.
San Marco Cathedral is the direct result.

36. The Byzantine Legacy
Byzantine
influence is
unmistakable in
Renaissance
structures, like
the dome of the
second St.
Peter’s
Cathedral in
Rome.

37. Romanesque

42. The Byzantine Legacy
And, of course, the tradition continues in Greek Orthodox
churches throughout the world today.

43. Finis