by Alexander Van Millingen
Ramsay Traquair
W. S. George
A. E. Henderson
At the beginning of the fifth century, which is a suitable point from which to date the rise of Byzantine architecture, three principal types of church plan prevailed in the Roman world:—
I. The Basilica: an oblong hall divided into nave and aisles, and roofed in wood, as in the Italian and Salonican examples, or with stone barrel-vaults, as in Asia Minor and Central Syria.
II. The Octagonal or Circular plan covered with a stone or brick dome, a type which may be subdivided according as the dome rests upon the outer walls of the building, or on columns or piers surrounded by an ambulatory.
The Pantheon and the so-called Temple of Minerva Medica at Rome are early examples of the first variety, the first circular, the second a decagon in plan. S. George at Salonica is a later circular example. An early instance of the second variety is found in S. Constanza at Rome, and a considerable number of similar churches occur in Asia Minor, dating from the time of Constantine the Great or a little later.
III. The Cross plan. Here we have a square central area covered by a dome, from which extend four vaulted arms constituting a cross. This type also assumes two distinct forms:
(1) Buildings in which the ground plan is cruciform, so that the cross shows externally at the ground level. Churches of this class are usually small, and were probably sepulchral chapels rather than churches for public worship. A good example is the tomb of Galla Placidia at Ravenna.
(2) In the second form of the Cross church the cross is enclosed within a square, and appears only above the roofs of the angle chambers. An example is seen in the late Roman tomb at Kusr en Nûeijîs in Eastern Palestine. In this instance the central square area is covered with a dome on continuous pendentives; the four arms have barrel-vaults, and the angles of the cross are occupied by small chambers, which bring the ground-plan to the square. The building is assigned to the second century, and shows that true though continuous pendentives were known at an early date.
Another example is the Praetorium at Musmiyeh, in Syria, which probably dates from between 160 and 169 A.D. At some later time it was altered to a church, and by a curious foreshadowing of the late Byzantine plan the walls of the internal cross have entirely disappeared from the ground-plan. The dome rests on four columns placed at the inner angles of the cross, and the vaulted cross arms rest on lintels spanning the space between the columns and the outer walls.
From these three types of building are derived the various schemes on which the churches of the Byzantine Empire were planned.
Of the basilican form the only example in Constantinople that retains its original plan is St. John the Baptist of the Studion , erected c. 463 A.D.
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| St Sophia /Aya Sofya |
The church of SS. Sergius and Bacchus and the baptistery of St. Sophia represent respectively the two varieties of the octagonal plan. In the former the dome rests on piers surrounded by an ambulatory; in the latter the dome rests upon the outer walls of the buildings. Both are foundations of Justinian the Great.
The church of S. Mark at Venice was built on the plan of the Holy Apostles. It is a cruciform church with aisles, but the galleries which might have been expected above them are omitted. The central dome rests on four piers, and four smaller domes cover the arms.
Professor Strzygowski gives examples of cross-planned cells in the catacombs of Palmyra, and in many Eastern rock tombs.Such cross plans are found also in the Roman catacombs. These subterranean chapels, of course, do not show the external treatment, yet there can be little doubt that the external cross plan was originally sepulchral, and owes its peculiar system of planning to that fact. On the other hand, it was adopted in such churches as S. Mark's at Venice and in the French examples of Périgord for aesthetic or traditional reasons.
In passing now to a consideration of the distinct forms developed from these pre-Byzantine types of church building, the classification adopted by Professor Strzygowski may be followed. In his Kleinasien he has brought forward a series of buildings which show the manner in which a dome was fitted to the oblong basilica, producing the domed basilica (Küppelbasilica), an evolution which he regards as Hellenistic and Eastern. In contrast to this, Strzygowski distinguishes the domed cross church (Kreutzküppelkirche), of which St. Theodosia in Constantinople is the typical example and which is a Western development. A comparison of the two forms is of great importance for the study of certain Constantinople churches.
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| St.Theodosia |
Church of SS. Sergius and Bacchus
Church of S. Irene
Church of S. Andrew in Krisei
Church of S. Mary Panachrantos
Church of S. Theodosia
Church of S. Mary Diaconissa
Church of SS. Peter and Mark
Church of the Myrelaion
Church of S. John the Baptist in Trullo
Church of S. Thekla
Church of S. Saviour Pantepoptes
Church of S. Saviour Pantokrator
Church of S. Theodore
Monastery of Manuel
Balaban Aga Mesjedi
Church of the Gastria
Church of S. Mary of the Mongols
Bogdan Serai
Church of S. Saviour in the Chora
Mosaics and Frescoes in the Church of S. Saviour in the Chora
...
LIST OF EMPERORS
Constantine I. the Great 306-337
Constantius II. 337-361
Julian 361-363
Jovian 363-364
Valens 364-378
Theodosius I. the Great 378-395
Arcadius 395-408
Theodosius II. 408-450
Marcian 450-457
Leo I. 457-474
Leo II. 474-474
Zeno 474-491
Anastasius I. 491-518
Justin I. 518-527
Justinian I. the Great 527-565
Justin II. 565-578
Tiberius 578-582
Maurice 582-602
Phocas 602-610
Heraclius 610-641
Heraclius Constantine III. and Heracleonas 641-642
Constans II. 642-668
Constantine IV. 668-685
Justinian II. 685-695
Leontius 695-697
Tiberius III. 695-697
Justinian II. (restored) 705-711
Philippicus 711-713
Anastasius II. 713-715
Theodosius III. 715-717
Leo III. the Isaurian 717-740
Constantine V. Copronymus 740-775
Leo IV. 775-779
Constantine VI. 779-797
Irene 797-802
Nicephorus I. 802-811
Stauracius 811-
Michael I. Rhangabe 811-813
Leo V. the Armenian 813-820
Michael II. the Amorian 820-829
Theophilus 829-842
Michael III. 842-867
Basil I. 867-886
Leo VI. the Wise 886-912
Constantine VII. Porphyrogenitus 912-958
Co-Emperors
Alexander 912-913
Romanus I. Lecapenus 919-945
Constantine VIII. and Stephanus, sons of Romanus I. reigned five weeks in 944
Romanus II. 958-963
Basil II. Bulgaroktonos 963-1025
Co-Emperors
Nicephorus II. Phocas 969-976
John I. Zimisces 963-1025
Constantine IX. 976-1025
Constantine IX. (sole Emperor) 1025-1028
Romanus III. Argyrus 1025-1028
Michael IV. 1034-1042
Michael V. 1042
Zoe and Theodora 1042
Constantine X. Monomachus 1042-1054
Theodora (restored) 1054-1056
Michael VI. Stratioticus 1056-1057
Isaac I. Comnenus 1057-1059
Constantine XI. Ducas 1059-1067
Michael VII. Ducas 1067-1078
Co-Emperor
Romanus IV. Diogenes 1067-1078
Nicephorus III. Botoniates 1078-1081
Alexius I. Comnenus 1081-1118
John II. Comnenus 1118-1143
Manuel I. Comnenus 1143-1180
Alexius II. Comnenus 1180-1183
Andronicus I. Comnenus 1183-1185
Isaac II. Angelus 1185-1195
Alexius III. Angelus 1195-1203
Isaac II. Angelus (restored),
Alexius IV. Angelus 1203-1204
Nicolas Canabus 1204
Alexius V. Ducas Murtzuphlus 1204
Latin Emperors of Constantinople
Baldwin I. 1204-1205
Henry 1205-1216
Peter 1217-1219
Robert 1219-1228
John of Brienne 1228-1237
Baldwin II. 1227-1361
Byzantine Emperors at Nicaea
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| BYZANTINE CHURCHES IN CONSTANTINOPLE ( 1877 ) |
John III. Ducas 1222-1254
Theodore II. Ducas 1254-1259
John IV. Ducas 1259-1260
Under the Restored Byzantine Empire
Michael VIII. Palaeologus 1260-1282
Andronicus II. Palaeologus 1282-1328
Co-Emperor Michael IX. 1295-1320
Andronicus III. Palaeologus 1328-1341
John V. Palaeologus 1341-1391
Co-Emperor John VI. Cantacuzen 1341-1355
Manuel II. Palaeologus 1391-1425
John VII. Palaeologus 1425-1448
Constantine XII. Palaeologus 1448-1453
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