Historical Dictionary of Byzantium by John H. Rosser

Author:John H. Rosser [Rosser, John H.]
Language: eng
Format: epub, pdf
Publisher: Scarecrow Press
Published: 2011-01-01T16:00:00+00:00

Hagia Sophia, Constantinople. Facing northeast.

Byzantium’s greatest church, whose influence was such that subsequent Byzantine churches had one or more domes. However, no Byzantine church was ever again attempted on this scale. Dedicated to Holy Wisdom (Hagia Sophia), Justinian I’s architects created a church without precedent. Never before had a dome of this size been placed on a square (defined by four massive arches). For western Christians, accustomed to more straightforward basilican church plans, the architecture may have been difficult to comprehend, even enigmatic. However, there is much that is traditional in this church (though not the Ottoman minarets, added after 1453 when Hagia Sophia became a mosque). Its basic plan is that of a Roman basilica, and its centrally planned domed construction were hardly unknown to Roman architecture (e.g., the Pantheon). Nevertheless, the resulting architectural experience differed significantly from churches in the West. Such differences only increased over time. Later in the Middle Ages Byzantine churches appeared dramatically different from Gothic cathedrals. Just as the great religious divide between the eastern and western churches had its origins centuries before the schism of 1054, so, too, did eastern and western church architecture begin to diverge after Justinian I dedicated Hagia Sophia in 537.

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