The Ottoman Turks heavily modified the building, adding in multiple additions, prayer halls, and four large stone minarets. Today the Hagia Sophia is no longer a Mosque and is a secular museum that can be admired by anyone who visits modern Istanbul. Ravenna was conquered by the Byzantines in CE , and they quickly made it their regional capital city on the Italian mainland.
Shortly after the completion of the church, the Byzantines took Ravenna from the Ostrogoths, and they made several modifications to the church to suit their own preferences. The plan of the church matches the original linear plan of an ancient Roman Basilica, with a long central nave flanked by two parallel halls.
The Byzantine Mosaics in the church are some of the best-preserved examples still in existence. They depict various scenes from the bible as well as notable landmarks throughout Ravenna.
The walls of Constantinople Constantinople has been named Istanbul since were the last great fortification system of antiquity. They were modified continuously over time but the major constructions were done by Constantine the Great in the 4th century , and Theodosius II in the 5th century. The walls wrapped the entire city, creating a large land wall on the western edge, and a smaller but still formidable sea wall along the eastern, northern, and southern edges of the city.
The sea walls, which defended against naval assaults from the waters of the Bosphorus and Golden Horn were less impressive than the western land walls, and traces of them within modern-day Istanbul are often hard to find. The western land wall, which was constructed mainly by Theodosius II from CE , was a massive three-tiered system of walls, towers, and moats that were a marvel of military architecture.
These walls are often referred to as the Theodosian Walls and are still largely intact today. They helped the Byzantine Empire defend Constantinople against countless sieges for about years. Finally, in , The Ottoman Empire was able to conquer the city with the help of cannons after a 7-week siege.
During the middle of the 6 th century , the Byzantine Empire was reaching a high point, after conquering parts of Italy, North Africa, and Spain under the rule of Justinian the Great. All of the wealth and prosperity generated in these conquests helped to fund large-scale building projects throughout the Byzantine Empire. The Basilica of San Vitale is a great example of a centrally planned church, a popular building typology in Byzantine Architecture.
The church, like a lot of other religious buildings on this list, is famous for its exquisite Byzantine Mosaics. The mosaics in this church contain some of the greatest depictions of Emperor Justinian the Great and his wife Theodora. This cistern named the Basilica Cistern due to its proximity to an older basilica, is an incredible example of Byzantine infrastructure and urban planning.
The enclosed space is truly massive, able to hold 2,, cubic feet of water or about 32 Olympic size swimming pools worth of liquid. Within the cistern, there are marble columns, some of which are richly decorated with column capitals, medusa heads, and ornate carvings. Today the Basilica Cistern is open to the public and visitors can walk on elevated pathways in-between the vast network of columns.
Thessaloniki was a leading city within the Byzantine Empire. It was an important seaport and contained a formidable fortification system rivaling that of the Byzantine capital, Constantinople. These walls were largely built during the reign of Theodosius I, around CE. Over the centuries a lot of the walls were added to and modified. Thessaloniki, like many other cities throughout Greece, contained an Acropolis. The Acropolis of Thessaloniki was located at one of the highest points within the city limits.
The walls began around the Heptapyrgion and stretched down to the harbor below. The Heptapyrgion was a castle-like structure that functioned as the cities major defensive citadel. Later on, when Thessaloniki was controlled by the Ottman Empire, the Heptapyrgion was expanded and eventually converted into a prison. The church is built in the Roman Basilica style with a linear construction, with the nave and aisles all pointing towards the altar.
The most significant part of the basilica is the apse, which is lavishly decorated with Byzantine Mosaics. The Monastery of the Pantocrator is the second-largest Byzantine Religious building that still exists in Istanbul.
The Monastery is actually made up of two separate churches and a smaller chapel. These buildings were all constructed using brick masonry, with mortar joints that are much wider than the bricks themselves. This technique was typically used in Byzantine Architecture from this period and can be seen in many different buildings all over Greece, Anatolia, and the Balkans.
After the Ottoman conquest of Constantinople , the Monastery was converted into a mosque, and it remains as such to this day. Now called the Zeyrek Mosque, the interior of the building more closely resembles other mosques in Istanbul, but traces of the older Byzantine Architecture can still be seen.
Ankara Castle is a large hilltop fortification located in Ankara, the modern capital of Turkey. Although the original construction date is unknown, many historians believe it was during the reign of Emperor Constans II. Ankara Castle is located in the heart of the old city, on top of a high point that provided views to all of the surrounding areas. The castle is a typical example of military construction from the time period and was built by the Byzantines to help secure the eastern edges of their empire.
Today Ankara castle is a highly visited attraction within the otherwise modern city of Ankara. Although Byzantine control of Syria was relatively short-lived when compared to their control of modern-day Greece and Turkey; the Byzantines were still able to create several great works of architecture in the region. The monastery, like so much of the buildings on this list, was created during the rule of Justinian I, also known as Justinian the Great. Throughout the middle ages, Our Lady of Saidnaya Monastery was an important pilgrimage site, visited by many on the road to Jerusalem.
Unfortunately, portions of the building were damaged during the modern Syrian Civil War , but overall the building is still wonderfully preserved despite its age. Like Architecture of Cities? Sign up for our mailing list to get updates on our latest articles and other information related to Architectural History. Chariot racing was a popular pastime in both the Roman Empire and the Byzantine Empire. Just like with gladiatorial combat, chariot racing required a large venue to hold the spectators.
There are several racetracks all over the remnants of the Roman Empire, most notably the Circus Maximus in Rome and the Hippodrome of Constantinople. Roman chariot races were a popular alternative to Gladitorial Games which were held at Roman Amphitheaters. The hippodrome was used for centuries, with much of the construction occurring in the 3rd and 4th centuries , under the reigns of Septimius Severus and Constantine I. At the other end of the racetrack is a monument known as the Walled Obelisk, a massive brick and mortar obelisk that was once completely covered with a marble veneer, although today only the bricks remain.
Those monks quickly began building a massive fortified monastery. The living spaces within the building are completely surrounded by defensive walls which tower over the town below.
Hagia Sophia, meaning sacred wisdom, was a common name for a religious building within the Byzantine Empire. The Hagia Sophia in Trabzon Turkey is not nearly as impressive as the one in Istanbul, but it is still a great example of Byzantine Architecture. Construction began in and at this time Trabzon, formerly known as Trebizond, was actually part of a separate nation, known as the Empire of Trebizond. The Empire of Trebizond formed after the Sack of Constantinople in Today the Hagia Sophia of Trabzon stands only about feet meters from the shores of the Black Sea and is one of several notable Byzantine buildings within the modern city.
Nestled on a steep cliff face 28 miles 46 km north of Trabzon Turkey, the Sumela Monastery is a religious building that was founded in CE , during the reign of Theodosius I. The building was abandoned and rebuilt several times over the centuries, including during the reign of Justinian I. Cathedrals in France and Italy show small influences in their s tructural plans or decoration styles. Islamic architectur e has drawn a considerable amount of inspiration from Byzantine models throughout the ages — from the seventh-century Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem to the sixteenth-century mosques of Sinan in the Ottoman Empire.
In Russia, Romania, and other Orthodox countries the Byzantine architecture persisted even longer, finally giving birth to local schools of architecture. This article has been written by Aashita Amin, Team Kaarwan. Follow us on fb. We do so by organizing hand-crafted travel experiences for the youth. Sign in. Byzantine Architecture — A quick overview. Team Kaarwan Follow. Byzantine Art Byzantine art created between 4th to 15th century differs from Roman art in depicting that which is not seen — the intangible world of Heaven and the spiritual.
Neo-Byzantine Architecture The Byzantine Revival or Neo-Byzantine movement was an architectural revival movement most frequently seen in religious, institutional and public buildings. Influences of Byzantine Architecture The Byzantine inspiration is often felt in the incorporation of mosaic work as part of a decorative scheme but the Romanesque and Gothic styles of architecture are also influenced by the Byzantine construction pattern.
The Iconoclasts felt that no icon could portray both Christ's divine and human nature, and to convey only one aspect of Christ was a heresy.
Those who supported icons argued that, unlike idols which depicted a false god, the images simply depicted the incarnate Christ and that the images derived their authority from Acheiropoieta.
By inserting himself into the debate, the Emperor substituted imperial decree for religious authority, undercutting the influence and power of the church. Subsequently, the state violently supressed monastic clergy and destroyed icons. The era came to an end with a change in imperial power. Following the death of her husband, the Emperor Theophilus, in , the Empress Theodora took the throne and, as she was passionately devoted to the veneration of icons, summoned a council that restored icon worship and deposed the iconoclastic clergy.
The occasion was celebrated at the Feast of Orthodoxy in , and icons were carried in triumphal procession back to the various churches from which they had been taken. Nonetheless, the Iconoclastic Controversy had a notable impact on the later development of art, as the councils that restored the worship of icons also formulated a codified system of symbols and iconographic types that were also followed in mosaics and fresco painting.
The Middle Byzantine era is often called the Macedonian Renaissance, as Basil I the Macedonian, crowned in , reopened the universities and promoted literature and art, renewing an interest in classical Greek scholarship and aesthetics. Greek was established as the official language of the Empire, and libraries and scholars compiled extensive collections of classical texts. The Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, Photios was not only the leading theologian but has been described by the historian Adrian Forescue as "the greatest scholar of his time.
The result was, as Janson and Janson wrote, "an almost antiquarian enthusiasm for the traditions of classical art," displayed in works like the illuminated manuscript, the Paris Psalter c.
Throughout Europe, Byzantine culture and art was seen as the height of aesthetic refinement, and, as a result, many rulers, even those politically antagonistic to the Empire, employed Byzantine artists. In Sicily, which had been conquered by the Normans, Roger II, the first Norman King, recruited Byzantine artists and, as a result, the Norman architecture that developed in Sicily and Great Britain, following the Norman Conquest in , profoundly influenced Gothic architecture.
Hundreds of Byzantine artists were also employed at the Basilica of San Marco in Venice when construction began in He employed artists from Constantinople at the St. Sophia's Cathedral he built in Kiev in Notable examples of Macedonian Renaissance art were also created in Greece, while the influx of Byzantine artists influenced art throughout Western Europe as shown by the Italian artist Berlinghiero of Lucca's Hodegetria c.
Famed for its wealth and artistic treasures, Constantinople was cruelly sacked and the Empire conquered in by the Crusade Army and Venetian forces under the Fourth Crusade.
The brutal attack upon a Christian city and its inhabitants was unprecedented, and historians view it as a turning point in medieval history, creating a lasting schism between the Catholic and Orthodox churches, severely weakening the Byzantine Empire and contributing to its later demise when conquered by the Turkish Ottoman Empire.
Many notable artworks and sacred objects were looted, destroyed, or lost. Some works, like the Roman bronze works of the Hippodrome, were carried off to Venice where they are still on display, while other works, including sacred objects and altars as well as classical bronze statues, were melted down, and the Library of Constantinople was destroyed. Though the Latins were driven out by , Byzantium never recovered its former glory or power.
Following the Latin Conquest, the Late Byzantine era began to renovate and restore Orthodox churches. However, as the Conquest had decimated the economy and left much of the city in ruins, artists employed more economical materials, and miniature mosaic icons became popular. In icon painting, the suffering of the population during the Conquest led to an emphasis upon images of compassion, as shown in sufferings of Christ. Artistic vitality shifted to Russia, Bulgaria, Romania, and Greece, where regional variations of icon painting developed.
Byzantine art also influenced contemporaneous art in the West, particularly the Sienese School of Painting and the International Gothic Style, as well as painters like Duccio in his Stroganoff Madonna Known for its central plan buildings with domed roofs, Byzantine architecture employed a number of innovations, including the squinch and the pendentive.
The squinch used an arch at the corners to transform a square base into an octagonal shape, while the pendentive employed a corner triangular support that curved up into the dome. The original architectural design of many Byzantine churches was a Greek cross, having four arms of equal length, placed within a square. Later, peripheral structures, like a side chapel or second narthex, were added to the more traditional church footprint. In the 11 th century, the quincunx building design, which used the four corners and a fifth element elevated above it, became prominent as seen in The Holy Apostles in Thessaloniki, Athens, Greece.
In addition to the central dome, Byzantine churches began adding smaller domes around it. Byzantine architecture was informed by Poikilia , a Greek term, meaning "marked with various colors," or "variegated," that in Greek aesthetic philosophy was developed to suggest how a complex and various assemblage of elements created a polysensory experience. Byzantine interiors, and the placement of objects and elements within an interior, were designed to create ever changing and animated interior as light revealed the variations in surfaces and colors.
Variegated elements were also achieved by other techniques such as the employment of bands or areas of gold and elaborately carved stone surfaces. For instance the basket capitals in the Hagia Sophia were so intricately carved, the stone seemed to dematerialize in light and shadow.
Decorative bands replaced moldings and cornices, in effect rounding the interior angles so that images seemed to flow from one surface to another. Photios described this surface effect in one of his homilies: "It is as if one had entered heaven itself with no one barring the way from any side, and was illuminated by the beauty in changing forms Byzantine art developed iconographic types that were employed in icons, mosaics, and frescoes and influenced Western depictions of sacred subjects.
John the Baptist and the Virgin Mary, and, sometimes, additional saints, on either side of him. The Hodegetria developed into the later iconographic types of the Eleusa, meaning tenderness, which showed the Madonna and the Child Jesus in a moment of affectionate tenderness, and the Pelagonitissa, or playing child, icon.
Other iconographic types included the Man of Sorrows, which focused on depicting Christ's suffering, and the Anastasis, which showed Christ rescuing Adam and Eve from hell. These types became widely influential and were employed in Western art as well, though some like the Anastasis only depicted in the Byzantine Orthodox tradition.
Iconostasis, meaning "altar stand," was a term used to refer to a wall composed of icons that separated worshippers from the altar. In the Middle Byzantine period, the Iconostasis evolved from the Early Byzantine templon , a metal screen that sometimes was hung with icons, to a wooden wall composed of panels of icons.
Containing three doors that had a hierarchal purpose, reserved for deacons or church notables, the wall extended from floor to ceiling, though leaving a space at the top so that worshippers could hear the liturgy around the altar.
Some of the most noted Iconostases were developed in the Late Byzantine period in the Slavic countries, as shown in Theophanes the Greek's Iconostasis in the Cathedral of the Annunciation in Moscow. A codified system governed the placement of the icons arranged according to their religious importance.
The Novgorod School of Icon Painting, founded by the Byzantine artist, Theophanes the Greek, became the leading school of the Late Byzantine era, its influence lasting beyond the fall of the Byzantine Empire in Theophanes' work was known for its dynamic vigor due to his brushwork and his inclusion of more dramatic scenes in icons, which were usually only depicted in large-scale works.
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