The centrally planned building
Fifty metres to the south of Basilica
II lie the ruins of one of the few centrally planned
early Christian
churches found in Greece.
The church dates to the 6th century and is the most imposing monument in early
Christian Amphipolis. It consisted of a central hexagon with uneven sides,
which, with the exception of the east side, were surrounded by an external wall
built around the hexagon to create a corridor 4 metres wide. The remains of two columns of differing size and
type found inside the church point to the existence of a tribune. The
floor in the nave was laid with fine white marble, while equally lavish marble
revetments covered the floor of the corridor. Traces of mosaics uncovered at
various points have been attributed to mosaic decoration on the walls.
The hexagon had a large apse to the
east, which was semicircular on the inside and pentagonal outside. The corridor
ended in two square chambers with marble floors to the east, linked to the
presbytery via gates. Excavations in the southwest corner of the hexagon
unearthed a rectangular chamber with a semicircular conch inscribed in a
rectangle to the west; this was identified as the baptistry, on account of a water
conduit penetrating the eastern wall. Leading off this room to the east was
another smaller chamber. To the west of the church there was an atrium, surrounded
on all four sides by galleries created by rows of two–storey colonnades
with marble floors. Three more
consecutive chambers were unearthed in the north portico.
Glossary (6)
centrally planned building:
architectural form widely used during the early Christian period. Unlike the basilica, which is developed along the long axis, this type of building lends weight to the vertical axis, around which available space is organized. Depending on their form, these buildings can be circular, octagonal or hexagonal, with three or four apses.
Paleo-Christian (early Christian) era:
in Byzantine history, the period that typically starts in 330 AD, when Constantine the Great transferred the capital of the Roman Empire from Rome to his newly-founded city of Constantinople, and ends with the death of Justinian in 565.
gallery or tribune:
upper story of a church above the side naves and the narthex.
conch (Sanctuary niche):
Niche
in the eastern end
of a basilica. Semicircular on the inside, with a horseshoe shaped, rectangular or polygonal exterior.
baptistry:
architectural structure for the Baptismal Rite, used until the introduction of infant baptsim in the 6th century. It could be part of a church or freestanding, in which case it was usually a centrally planned building with a cruciform font embedded in the floor. Its dome was often decorated with the scene of the Baptismal Rite.
atrium:
quadrangular forecourt of basilicas, surrounded by porticos. Porticos had functional purposes: they served as a waiting place before entering the church for the celebration of the Divine Liturgy and provided shelter for the congregation. Generally, the atrium isolated the church from the surrounding space. It contained fountains for the symbolic cleansing of the hands and feet and for performing the service of Sanctification.
Information Texts (1)
The basilica II:
The ruins of Basilica II were excavated on the
town’s north-eastern edge, a short distance to the northeast of Basilica I. It
is a three nave basilica with a narthex
and an almost
semicircular conch to the east. The interior of the church
was decorated with marble revetments; the floor of the nave was laid with
marble, while that in the side aisles and narthex was decorated with mosaics.
The basilica also had a four-sided atrium to the west, with three rectangular chambers intended for religious use incorporated in
the north side. Construction work on the church dates to the second quarter of the
sixth century, while the rooms to the north of the church were built shortly
after, in the third quarter.
Bibliography (1)
1. Ζήκος Ν., Αμφίπολις. Παλαιοχριστιανική και βυζαντινή Αμφίπολις, Athens, 1989
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