Midterm - Medieval Architecture 412

Dedicated to all gods, signified Romans wanting to bring order (imperial authority) to gods/cosmos/new and foreign societies

Pantheon | Imperial Roman

Ancient Roman civic building, located in the Forum of Trajan

Basilica Ulpia | Imperial Roman

Commemorative monument with spiral registers depicting Trajan’s army and victories

Column of Trajan | Imperial Roman

Second largest Roman public baths, used hypocausts (under floor heating systems)

Baths of Caracalla | Imperial Roman

Typical Roman military camp, featuring cardo (ns) and decumanus (ew)

Castrum

Walled, provincial Imperial Roman “kit” city. Where Arch of Trajan is located.

City of Thamugadi/Timgad | Imperial Roman

Multi-religion/cultural town, Eastern border of the Roman Empire. Well preserved, provided insight into outskirt towns and how Roman culture interacted w bordering cultures (example of syncretism)

City of Dura Europos | Late Antique/Roman

Religious buildings, such as these, share art styles and decor which reveals the multiculure and multilanguage community where this building is located

Synagogue at Dura Europos | Late Antique/Roman

Early Christian space for worship, teaching, and baptism.

Domus Ecclesiae/House-Church | Late Antique/Roman

Arch placed in relation to procession pathway, colossal scultpture of Sol, and Meta Sudans fountain. Uses spolia to preserve monuments and legitimize this person as emperor.

Arch of Constantine | Constantinian

Civic (law court) basilica begun by [X], [Y] continued building after his defeat of [X]. 

Basilica of Maxentius/Constantine (Basilica Nova) | Constantinian

Where tomb of St. [X] lies, holy place of importance, basilica built over shrine by Constantine so Christians could have a proper place of worship. Located on Vatican Hill.

Old St. Peter’s Basilica | Constantinian

Martyrium, aedicule inside the Rotunda of Anastasis (Resuurection) houses tomb of Christ. Features centralized martyrium with centralized basilica built by Constantine. The MOST important pilgrimage site.

Church of the Holy Sepulcher | Constantinian

uses political topography: city at edge of Europe and Asia, easy to defend - surrounded by water on 3 sides, access to trade routes. Basileia = Imperial Palace, Sacerdotium = Hagia Sophia, Senate = Augustaion Forum (balance)

Plan of Constantinople | Early Byzantine

Identify the red dots

Hagia Sophia (ecclesiastic power), Augustaion Forum (senate, balance), Great Palace (secular power), Column of Constantine (arrow, celebrating Const. expansion of Byzantium), Hippodrome (secular power, sports arena, community and entertainment, as well as place for Emperor to present to public) | Early Byzantine

Protected Constantinople for 1000+ years, outer area consisted of market gardens where families could grow food to sell

Land Walls of Theodosius II | Early Byzantine

Cross plan (cubes attached to cubes), tomb of Galla Placidia, daughter of Emperor Theodosius I, cross shape is iconastic depiction of Christ

Mausoleum of Galla Placidia | Early Byzantine

double shell octagon plan, attached to the palace of the Bishop of Ravenna

San Vitale | Justinianic

Ecclesiastic power of Byz. Empire and Constantinople, Justininian builds cathedral unlike any other to reestablish his power - both longitudinal (narthex, long nave, apse, nave 2x wide as aisles) and centralized (piers create squared spaces, dome over naos creates focal point)

Hagia Sophia | Justinianic

private church for wealthy individuals in imperial family, centralized plan, vaulted, domed, masons playing with brick mortaring (recessed brickwork)

Myrelaion | Middle Byzantine

Built as thanks to God for victory in battles, A. Domed Cross-in-Square (old church), B. Domed Octagon Plan (new church)

Hosios Loukas Monastery, A. Theotokos B. Katholikon | Middle Byzantine

Domed Octagon Plan (plans include a Middle Byzantine Church, no tripartite apse), situated by fertile fields (fertility = Mary, mother of Christ), Theodore Metochites rebuilds and renovates - adds extra narthex, adds paraklession (private side chapels), decorated with frescos in palaiologan style (flowey, three-dimensional, back to natural/classic depiction)

Chora Monastery/Kariye Camii | Late Byzantine

Example of how Byzantine was influencing neighboring regions, Domed Cross-in-Square Plan, cloissone brickwork, using Middle Byzantine plan with added paraklession (private side chapels), highly decorated niches, layers of arching (taller proportions), making statement that says “I am the Emperor of Serbia in the same way as the Emperor of Byzantine”

Church of the Gracanica Monastery | Late Byzantine

Label top to bottom

Apse, Crossing, Transepts, Nave, Aisles, Narthex, Atrium

Label yellow, blue, teal

Yellow = Golden Horn

Blue = Bosphorus

Teal = Sea of Marmara

Label order of growth 1-3

1. Akropolos with Greek colony named Byzantion

2. 2nd Cent. CE Roman city

3. Constantinian, then Early Byz. city with two lands walls in 4th + 5th Cent.

Label 1-8

1. ambo

2. solea

3. altar

4. templon

5. bema

6. ciborium

7. kathedra

8. synthronon

Label the parts (left to right, top to bottom)

Narthex, Naos, prothesis, kyrios/main apse, diakonikon

Joggled Voussoirs

offset layers of brick, way of ruler establishing own identity while still establishing unity with the Roman Empire

Temple

Building for the Roman state religion (pagan, polytheistic)

Polytheism

belief/worship of more than one god

Monotheism

belief/worship in only one god

Forum

Centre of day-to-day life in Rome; commerce, politics, religion, law, and public meetings/events happened here

Basilica

Colonnaded hall with a longitudinal axis, usually with an apse on at least one side (multi-function building)

Centralized Planning

having walls equidistant from a center point (features: piers create squared spaces, dome over naos that creates focal point)

Longitudinal Planning

having a single, axial focus and line of the plan (features: narthex, long nave leading to apse, nave 2x as wide as aisles)

Apse

Vaulted semi-circular termination of a building

Coffer

Decorative, patterned indentation in the surface of a ceiling or arch

Oculus

Circular opening in a dome (or wall)

Revetment

decorative facing (stone/stucco/marble/etc) that covers a surface constructed of a less decorative material (brick/concrete/etc)

Hypocaust

under-floor heating system

Insula

A tenement/apartment block, mixed use building (restaurants, shops, communal kitchens and latrines, with apartments on upper floors)

Cardo

Main north-south street that meets at center with decumanus, buildings designed around these streets

Decumanus

Main east-west street that meets at center with cardo, buildings designed around these streets

Castrum

Roman military camp. Rectangular plan with cardo (main north-south street) and decumanus (main east-west street) that meet at center

Peristyle House

Residence organized around an open courtyard or garden surrounded by a colonnade, with rooms stemming off; can have several interior courtyards

Syncretic/Syncretism

Combination or coexistence of characteristics of multiple cultures within one broader society or group

Mystery Cult

Religions in which participation is reserved for those who have learned the beliefs and undergone initiation ceremony

Domus Ecclesiae

“house-church”, Early Christian space for worship, teaching and baptism

Chi Rho

monogram for Christ (it is the first two letters in Greek: Χριστος); often combined with the

cross. It is an aniconic representation of Christ, as the cross was.

Spolia

reused materials (marbles, sculpture, fresco, etc), taken for victory or economic purposes

Clerestory

area of nave wall extending above the side aisles

Catechumen

those pledged to the Church, but not yet fully initiated (i.e. not yet baptized)

Martyrium

shrine, place of remembrance for an event or life of a (holy) person

Ambulatory

Semicircular/polygonal circulation spaces enclosing an apse of straight ended sanctuary

Tessera

small, cubic pieces of cut stone or glass used to make up mosaics

Relic/Reliquary

physical remain of a holy person. Place or event (bone fragment, piece of a

shroud, earth from a holy site); the box made to contain such relics

Mausoleum

monumental burial space

Sepulcher

burial place

Anastasis

Greek, meaning “resurrection”; the term for the resurrection of Jesus Christ at the site

of his tomb in Jerusalem, one of the events of the Passion of Christ

Mese

the main, processional boulevard that led from Constantinople’s gate to the heart of the imperial quarter

Sphendone

the semi-circular end of a hippodrome; the massive supporting structure at the Constantinople hippodrome

Spina

the elevated plinth (“spine”) that ran down the center of the hippodrome

Obelisk

tall, four-sided monument with a pyramidal top made in ancient Egypt (one stood

in the hippodrome on a newly carved base)

Kathisma

imperial box at the hippodrome, which connected directly to the imperial Great

Palace

Bostan

market garden at the edge of the land wall of Theodosius

Aqueduct

infrastructure to transport water; typically arched stone/brick construction with a covered channel at its top

Palace Chapel

A chapel associated with a residence (esp. that of an emperor) and generally designated for private use by its owner or occupants

Double Shell Octagon

a building whose outer walls and interior space are created with two concentric octagons.

Pendentive

Concave sections of a sphere, resting on arch (not flat walls) used to transition from a rectilinear base to a rounded form (a dome)  

Basket Capital

a capital of the Byzantine style with interlaced bands like those of a basket

Chancel Barrier/Templon

a barrier separating the nave from the sanctuary near the altar.

Theotokos

(‘bearer of God’); epithet of the Virgin Mary as the mother of God domed cross-in-square plan

Recessed Brick

Brickwork where some bricks sit further back than others

Cloisonné Brick

brickwork with a mix of stone and brick

Dentilation

Type of molding, small rectangular/tooth-like cube used in a repeated series as decoration

Pseudo-Kufic

style of decoration that imitates the Arabic script, especially Kufic (can indicate victory over Islamic states, admiration for the decor style, or indicates a belonging to a larger culture of design)

Iconostasis

Icon-filled chancel barrier between the nave and bema

Katholikon

The major church building of a monastery, corresponding to a conventual church in Western Christianity.

Naos

main worship space between narthex and sanctuary, implies a centrally planned space

Kyrios Apse

The main apse

Prothesis

Left/North apse, where communion is prepped and eucharist is stored (preparation area)

Diakonikon

Right/South apse, housed liturgical garments and sacred texts (treasury/storage)

Sanctoral

having to do with saints or the holy

Pantokrator

“all-seeing” or “all-powerful” or “all-embracing”: bust image of Christ depicted as stern protector of the faithful; holds bible in left arm, right hand is raised in a speaking gesture (seen in domes of churches, but also icon and manuscript paintings

Selective Narrative

Mathews’ term for the set of images in the Middle Byzantine church that focuses on Christ’s (human) life and especially his body to emphasize the post-Iconoclastic, Orthodox position that Christ was both divine and human in nature

Palaiologan

period of a Late Byzantine imperial dynasty (the Palailogos family), that connotes the last, late flowering of Byzantine culture and art

Parekklesion

side chappel

Arcosolia

niches covered by arches, often used as spaces for burial sarcophagi

Anastasis

resurrection (specifically refers to Christ’s resurrection, and the ‘Harrowing of Hell’ Christ bringing people put of Hell with him at the Resurrection

Roman Kit

Provided unity, affirmed power, met needs of the people, defined inside vs outside,

Remember parts with MCBBEFT - Market, Commemorative monument, Basilica, Baths, Entertainment, Temple