Hoa lec ii (byzantine architecture)

LECTURE-II
BYZANTINE ARCHITECTURE
AR. HENA TIWARI
LECTURE-II
AR. HENA TIWARI

LECTURE-II
AR. HENA TIWARI
BASIC BYZANTINE CHURCH
Characteristic Features
•Noval development of dome to
cover square or polygonal plan of
churches or dome.
•Domical roof became the chief
motif of design
•Various types of domes were
used:
Simple
Compound
Melon
Onion

LECTURE-II
AR. HENA TIWARI
•The domes were placed on square
or polygonal plan by means of
spherical pendentives.
•Placing small domes around large
central dome was very effective.
• Domes were constructed without
centering with radiating bricks or
light weight pumic stones.
•Use of cement was continued.
•Brick work in concrete was first completed and settled before
covering the interior with marble slab.
•Exterior facades were decorated with various design patterns in
brick work.

LECTURE-II
AR. HENA TIWARI
•They prepared concrete from lime sand crushed tiles and
bricks
•They used columns decoratively as well as structurally to
support the galleries and semi – circular arches.
•Mouldings were rare.
•Interior were radiant with beautiful payments.
•Walls were coveres with marble mosaics and fresco
decorations.
•Byzentine architecture is devoid of sculptures.
•Expressed fully in flat coloured glass mosaics.
•Over church walls, arch and vaults one can see Bible scenes,
group of saints .

LECTURE-II
AR. HENA TIWARI
Church of the Saints Sergius and Bacchus
•This Byzantine building with a
central dome plan was erected in the
sixth century by Justinian.
•It is one of the most important early
Byzantine buildings in Istanbul.
•The building stands on a plan
measuring 33m X 28m.
•It has four colonnade exedrae.
•The dome supported on spherical
pendentives is 15.8m in dia. & 22m
high. PLAN

LECTURE-II
AR. HENA TIWARI
•The exterior masonry of the structure adopts the usual technique
of that period which uses bricks sunk in thick beds of mortar.
• The walls are reinforced by chains made of small stone blocks.
•The building, the central plan has the shape of an octagon
inscribed in an irregular quadrilateral.
• It is surmounted by a beautiful umbrella dome in sixteen
compartments with eight flat sections alternating with eight
concave ones, standing on eight polygonal pillars.
•The narthex lies on the west side, opposed to an antechoir.
ARCHITECTURE
Exterior

LECTURE-II
AR. HENA TIWARI
•Many effects in the building were later used in Hagia Sophia:
the exedrae expand the central nave on diagonal axes, colorful
columns screen the ambulatories from the nave, and light and
shadow contrast deeply on the sculpture of capitals
and entablature.
•In front of the building there is a portico (which replaced
the atrium) and a court (both added during the Ottoman period),
with a small garden, a fountain for the ablutions and several small
shops.

LECTURE-II
AR. HENA TIWARI
•Inside the edifice there is a beautiful two-storey colonnade which
runs along the north, west and south sides, and bears an elegant
inscription in twelve Greek hexameters dedicated to
the Emperor Justinian, his wife, Theodora, and Saint Sergius,
the patron-saint of the soldiers of the Roman army.
• For some unknown reason, Saint Bacchus is not mentioned.
•The columns are alternately of verd antique and red Synnada
marble; the lower storey has 16, while the upper has 18.
•Many of the column capitals still bear the
monograms of Justinian and Theodora.
Interior

LECTURE-II
AR. HENA TIWARI
Interior north-west (1914).

LECTURE-II
AR. HENA TIWARI
Colonnades.

LECTURE-II
AR. HENA TIWARI
The gallery.

LECTURE-II
AR. HENA TIWARI

LECTURE-II
AR. HENA TIWARI
Hagia Sophia (S. Sofia) 532-37
Architects: Anthemius of Tralles and
Isidorus of Miletus
Location: Istanbul, Turkey
ARCHITECTURE
•The church was designed in the form of Greek Cross 91.5m X 99m
with the top dome at 54.8m from the ground.
•Central space of 32.6m square has four massive stone piers measuring
7.6m X 18.3m pierced by arches to form aisles and galleries.
•Stone piers support four semi circular arches forming a spherical
pendative on which rests the dome 32.6m in dia and 54.8 m above the
ground.

LECTURE-II
AR. HENA TIWARI
•Hagia Sophia is one of the greatest
surviving examples of Byzantine
architecture.
• Its interior is decorated
with mosaics and marble pillars and
coverings of great artistic value.
•The vast interior has a complex
structure.
•The nave is covered by a central
dome which at its maximum is 55.6 m
(182 ft 5 in) from floor level and rests
on an arcade of 40 arched windows.

LECTURE-II
AR. HENA TIWARI
•At the western entrance side and eastern liturgical side, there
are arched openings extended by half domes of identical
diameter to the central dome, carried on smaller semi-
domed exedras; a hierarchy of dome-headed elements built up to
create a vast oblong interior crowned by the central dome, with a
clear span of 76.2 m (250 ft).
•Interior surfaces are sheathed with polychrome marbles, green
and white with purple porphyry, and gold mosaics.
•The exterior, clad in stucco, was tinted yellow and red during
restorations in the 19th century

LECTURE-II
AR. HENA TIWARI
•The Imperial Gate was the
main entrance between the
exo- and eso narthex.
• It was reserved only for the
emperor.
• The Byzantine mosaic above
the portal depicts Christ and
an unnamed Emperor.
•A long ramp from the
northern part of the outer
narthex leads up to the upper
gallery.
West side of the upper gallery

LECTURE-II
AR. HENA TIWARI
•The upper gallery is laid out in a horseshoe shape that
encloses the nave until the apse.
• Several mosaics are preserved in the upper gallery, an area
traditionally reserved for the empress and her court.
•The best-preserved mosaics are located in the southern part
of the gallery.
•The upper gallery contains runic graffiti presumed to be from
the Varangian Guard.

LECTURE-II
AR. HENA TIWARI
•The dome of Hagia Sophia has spurred particular because of
the innovative way the original architects envisioned it.
•The curved surface of dome produces extraordinary effects of
resonance.
• The cupola is carried on four spherical
triangular pendentives.
•The pendentives implement the transition from the circular
base of the dome to the rectangular base below,restraining the
lateral forces of the dome and allow its weight to flow
downwards.
•Hagia Sophia is famous for the light that reflects everywhere
in the interior of the nave, giving the dome the appearance of
hovering above this.

LECTURE-II
AR. HENA TIWARI
•This effect was achieved by inserting forty windows around
the base of the original structure. Moreover, the insertion of the
windows in the dome structure lowers its weight.
•One of the minarets (at southwest) was built from red brick
while the other three were built from white limestone and sand
stone.
•Two huge marble lustration (ritual purification) urns are
carved from single blocks of marble.
•The Marble Door inside the Hagia Sophia is located in the
southern upper enclosure, or gallery.
• It was used by the participants in synods, they entered and
left the meeting chamber through this door.

LECTURE-II
AR. HENA TIWARI
•At the northwest of the building there is a column with a
hole in the middle covered by bronze plates.
•This column goes by different names; the perspiring
column, the wishing column, the sweating column or the
crying column.
• The column is said to be damp when touched and have
supernatural power. The legend states that since St.
Gregory the Miracle Worker appeared at the column in year
1200, the column is moist. It is believed that touching the
moisture cures many illnesses.

LECTURE-II
AR. HENA TIWARI
Capital, Hagia Sophia (Sofia) 532-37

LECTURE-II
AR. HENA TIWARI
Mosaics with geometric pattern
decorate the upper imperial
gallery
Detail of relief on the Marble Door.

Hoa lec ii (byzantine architecture)

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