Byzantine architecture  

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Byzantine architecture is the architecture of the Byzantine Empire, or Eastern Roman Empire.

The Byzantine era is usually dated from 330 AD, when Constantine the Great moved the Roman capital to Byzantium, which became Constantinople, until the fall of the Byzantine Empire in 1453. However, there was initially no hard line between the Byzantine and Roman empires, and early Byzantine architecture is stylistically and structurally indistinguishable from earlier Roman architecture. This terminology was introduced by modern historians to designate the medieval Roman Empire as it evolved as a distinct artistic and cultural entity centered on the new capital of Constantinople (modern-day Istanbul) rather than the city of Rome and its environs.

Its architecture dramatically influenced the later medieval architecture throughout Europe and the Near East, and became the primary progenitor of the Renaissance and Ottoman architectural traditions that followed its collapse.

Characteristics

When the Roman Empire became Christian (after having extended eastwards) with its new capital at Constantinople, its architecture became more sensuous and ambitious. This new style with exotic domes and richer mosaics would come to be known as "Byzantine" before it traveled west to Ravenna and Venice and as far north as Moscow. Most of the churches and basilicas have high-riding domes, which created vast open spaces at the centers of churches, thereby heightening the light. The round arch is a fundamental of Byzantine style. Magnificent golden mosaics with their graphic simplicity brought light and warmth into the heart of churches. Byzantine capitals break away from the Classical conventions of ancient Greece and Rome with sinuous lines and naturalistic forms, which are precursors to the Gothic style.

The richest interiors were finished with thin plates of marble or stone. Some of the columns were also made of marble. Other widely used materials were bricks and stone.

See also




Unless indicated otherwise, the text in this article is either based on Wikipedia article "Byzantine architecture" or another language Wikipedia page thereof used under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License; or on research by Jahsonic and friends. See Art and Popular Culture's copyright notice.

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