University of Santo Tomas

College of Architecture

HISTORY OF ARCHITECTURE I:
Byzantine Architecture
By: Ar. Chris Luna, uap

The Iconoclastic Movement by Emperor Leo

III forbade all representations of human or
animal forms in sculptures which affected
Byzantine church architecture.

Christian Church developed two centers:

1. The Roman Catholic, the Western Church in
Rome (Latin Church)
2. The Eastern Orthodox, the Eastern Church
in Constantinople (Greek Church)

The Split of the Churches:

The Roman Catholic (Gk. word katholikos,
meaning general or universal) owed its
allegiance to Rome.
The Orthodox, meaning true or correct
belief acknowledges the honorary primacy of
the patriarch of Constantinople. An important characteristic of the Byzantine
style of ornamentation is the absence of
sculptured figures, while colored pictures are
generally flat and stylized.

ARCHITECTURAL CHARACTER

The Edict of Milan (AD 313) by Constantine

& Licinius granted the toleration of Christians
which followed the building of churches.

Byzantine churches are distinguished by the

centralized type of plan, having a dome over the
nave.

The dome became the prevailing motif of

Byzantine architecture.

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The east end of the church is cut off from the

nave by an iconostas (screen of pictures).

Flat roofs were combined with domes

Clay made into bricks and rubble for concrete

were the building materials.

Small windows and arcades with open courts

were chief features.

Types of Dome:
1. Simple dome dome and pendentive are
parts of the same sphere.

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College of Architecture

3. Melon-shaped dome (with convolutions or

ribs)

ORNAMENTS:
A pendentive is a triangular curved overhanging 1. Mosaic from glass, tiles and marble
surface to support a circular dome over a square
or polygonal compartment

2. Compound dome - dome constructed

separately from the pendentive.

a. dome on top of a pendentive

Ornament Motifs:
b. dome raised on a drum on top of a a. Fish (Ikhthus) is mentioned and given
pendentive symbolic meaning several times in the Gospels.
It is also a symbol for Jesus

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b. Dove symbol of peace and unity. e. Grapevine the idea of the vital union of the
believers with Christ and among each other is
symbolized by the vine and its branches.

c. Peacock - emblem of immortality and

resurrection.

f. Endless Knot emblem of eternity

d. Lamb (Good Shepherd) - refers to Jesus'

role as a sacrifice atoning for the sins of man in
Christian theology.

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g. The Chi Rho is formed by superimposing the Floor Pavements

first two letters of the word "Christ" in Greek, chi
= ch and rho = r. It invokes the crucifixion of Opus Alexandrinum - utilized tiny,
Jesus as well as symbolizing his status as the geometrically shaped pieces of coloured stone
.
Christ and glass paste that were arranged in intricate
geometric patterns dotted with large disks of
semiprecious stones.

Opus Sectile is made from larger, specially cut

h. Symbolic groups of saints pieces, usually of tile or stone.

2. Fresco painting - The art of painting on

fresh, moist plaster with pigments dissolved
in water.
Columns are massive with cubiform capitals
often with dosseret block to support the voissoir
of an arch.

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EXAMPLES:

Hagia Sophia Section

Hagia Sophia, Istanbul, Turkey (from the Greek:
, "Holy Wisdom" is a former Orthodox
patriarchal basilica, later a mosque and now a
museum.

Hagia Sophia Plan

Interior

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Little Hagia Sophia, formerly the Church of the

Saints Sergius and Bacchus, is a former Eastern
Hagia Irene or Hagia Eirene "Holy Peace",
Orthodox Church dedicated to Saints Sergius
sometimes known also as Saint Irene, is an
and Bacchus in Constantinople, converted into a
Eastern Orthodox Church located in the outer
mosque during the Ottoman Empire.
courtyard of Topkap Palace in Istanbul, Turkey.

Today, the Hagia Irene serves mainly as a

concert hall for classical music performances,
due to its extraordinary acoustic characteristics
and impressive atmosphere.
Many of the concerts of the Istanbul
International Music Festival have been held here
every summer since 1980
This Byzantine building with a central dome plan
was erected in the sixth century by Justinian,
likely was a model for Hagia Sophia ("Holy
Wisdom"), and is one of the most important early
Byzantine buildings in Istanbul.

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College of Architecture

Church of St. Mary Pammakaristos, Istanbul

Monastery Church at Hosios Loukas, Phocia,
Greece

Gracanica Monastery, Kosovo, Serbia

The facing was executed using the cloisonn

technique: the stones are framed all round with
bricks.

The Church of the Holy Apostles is the oldest

church in Athens.

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St. Mark, Venice is popular for the

representation of the incidents from the old and S. Basil has 9 unique onion domes, each with 9
new testaments individual chapels. Each dome is different and
painted in the most brilliant colors.

Both the exterior and interior of St. Marks are

lavishly decorated with elaborate mosaic, much The architect was Postnik Yakovlev
of it in shimmering gold.

S. Basil the Blessed Cathedral, Red Square,

Moscow is a Russian Orthodox cathedral built
by Ivan IV in 1555. It is the most recognizable
symbol of Russia

It has strangeness that astonishes by its

unexpectedness, complexity and dazzling
interleaving of the manifold details of its design.

The building's design, shaped as a flame of a

bonfire rising into the sky, has no analogues in
Russian architecture

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The Interiors:

NOTHING FOLLOWS

Topic Sources and References:

History of Architecture 20 edition Sir
th

Banister Fletcher, Architectural Press, 1996.

Byzantine Architecture PowerPoint Arch.
Ma. Vicenta Sanchez, UST College of
Architecture
Various internet articles related to the topic

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