Early Christian Architecture
Tattie Ignacio
The Spread of Christianity
Paul spread Christianity to the Greek and Roman cities of the ancient Mediterranean world
The Roman Empire then had a polytheistic religion
Christianity was considered to be illegal and Christians would be prosecuted this resulted them to worship in secret.
Christians first worshipped along side Jews in synagogues and private houses
But due to the latter separation between the Jews and Christians, they continued worshipping in private houses of the wealthier Christians about 70CE
Dura-Europosa border town on the banks of the Euphrates in what is today Syria. Here, during the town's second and third century Roman period, altars to pagan
gods, Jewish synagogues, and perhaps the earliest Christian church all coexisted.
One guy changed it all
Emperor Constantine
Quick Background
Emperor Constantine, also known as Constantine the Great, was the Emperor of the Roman Empire from 306-337 AD
Son of Flavius Valerius Constantus, a roman army officer who then became the deputy emperor in the west.
Rose and became military tribune under the emperor Diocletian and Galerius
Became senior western emperor Then acclaimed emperor by the city
Eboracum after his fathers death Becomes ruler of the west and east/ emperor
after defeating the emperors Maxenteius and Licinius
In the 4th century , Emperor Constantine defeated, rival, Maxentius at the Battle of the Milvian Bridge. Accounts of the battle describe how Constantine saw a sign in the heavens portending his victory. Eusebius, Constantine's principal biographer, describes the sign as the Chi Rho, the first two letters in the Greek spelling of the name Christos.
After that victory Constantine became the principal patron of Christianity.
In 313 he issued the Edict of Milan which granted religious toleration
Christians were now free to worship publicly and create worship spaces
Basilica
Made first for public events: law courts, army drill halls etc. (Civic Basilicas)
All basilicas had a semicircular wall at the end which is called an apse
Basilica Ulpia
Found in Trajan, Rome
Basilica of Maxentius and Constantine
-Largest Building in the Roman forum
Some Basilicas were then converted for the use of the Christian Church
Palace Basilica of Constantine
Design as an Imperial hall then converted Became the official seat of the bishop of
Rome then
Attention was also directed in the fourth century church to the veneration of spots associated with Christian martyrs
This type of building is called a martyrium
Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem
The Rotunda of the Anastasis
Old St. Peter’s Basilica
It is believed to have built on the site of the burial of St. Peter, the principal disciple of Christ and the first Bishop of Rome
The tomb of St. Peter was said to be in the apse of the church
Created the concept of a cross shape. The axes allowed for the concentration of attention to be on the tomb of Peter
Basillica of San Clemente, Rome
One Example of Basillicas that were built on top of the houses where early Christians worshipped
the 10 parts of a Basilica
1) Propylaeum
the entrance building of a sacred precinct, whether church or imperial palace.
2) Atrium
in early Christian, Byzantine, and medieval architecture, the forecourt of a church; as a rule enveloped by four colonnaded porticoes.
3) Narthex
the entrance hall or porch proceding the nave of a church.
4) Nave
the great central space in a church. In longitudinal churches, it extends from the entrance to the apse (or only to the crossing if the church has one) and is usually flanked by side aisles.
5) Side Aisle
one of the corridors running parallel to the nave of a church and separated from it by an arcade or colonnade.
6) Crossing
the area in a church where the transept and the nave intersect.
7) Transept in a cruciform church, the
whole arm set at right angles to the nave. Note that the transept appears infrequently in Early Christian churches. Old St. Peter's is one of the few example of a basilica with a transept from this period. The transept would not become a standard component of the Christian church until the Carolingian period
8) Apse a recess, sometimes
rectangular but usually semicircular, in the wall at the end of a Roman basilica or Christian church. The apse in the Roman basilica frequently contained an image of the Emperor and was where the magistrate dispensed laws. In the Early Christian basilica, the apses contained the "cathedra" or throne of the bishop and the altar.
9) Nave elevation
Term which refers to the division of the nave wall into various levels. In the Early Christian basilica the nave elevation usually is composed of a nave colonnade or arcade and clerestory.
10) Clerestory
a clear story, i.e. a row of windows in the upper part of a wall. In churches, the clerestory windows above the roofs of the side aisles permit direct illumination of the nave.
https://www.oneonta.edu/faculty/farberas/arth/arth212/Early_Christian_Basilica.html
http://chayacassano.commons.gc.cuny.edu
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kww4142_Bjw
http://www.earlychristianhistory.info/frac.html
http://webspace.webring.com/people/pa/auldkirk/2earlychristian.html
Top Related