Architecture
Byzantium
followed
in the footsteps of Graeco-Roman antiquity as far as the sciences were
concerned. Contrary to popular belief, the Byzantines were responsible for
numerous technological innovations, particularly in architecture and naval
architecture.
One unanswered question in the former field concerns
whether architects were the creators and supervisors of project implementation
or merely master craftsmen.
We do know that in late antiquity special
schools
attended
by students of architecture operated in Constantinople
and other imperial cities,
but specialized study appears to
have disappeared by the 6th century.
Architects in middle and late Byzantium were not specially trained in
academies. Instead, responsibility for designing and overseeing major building
projects fell to civil servants, graduates of schools in Constantinople
that offered instruction in arithmetic, geometry and practical subjects. They
would also consult books on the construction of siege engines, walls, harbours
and other types of building.
Unfortunately no Byzantine architecture handbook has
come down to us, but there can be no doubt that plans were drawn up, and quite
detailed ones at that. Textual references also tell us that architectural
models or mock-ups were made of wax, wood, or stone, though few have survived.
Architects in Byzantine times did not try to outdo
their peers through their work. Yet their art did not stagnate, as can be seen
in the evolution of architectural types and in the particular use of materials to
improve stability, durability and aesthetics.
Glossary (0)
Information Texts (1)
The city:
Constantinople, the capital city of the Byzantine
Empire, was built on the site of the ancient Greek colony of Byzantium, on the
triangular peninsula formed by the Golden Horn,
the Bosporus and the Sea
of Marmara. This was an excellent location that controlled trade
routes linking the Aegean to the Black Sea. Emperor Constantine founded Constantinople
in 330 AD as a city to rival Rome
in splendour, wealth and power. The city grew fast, leading to problems of
space and facilities, so Theodosius I extended it to the west by building new
strong walls that protected Constantinople
until the end of the Byzantine Empire.
The
city was laid out after Rome.
A main road, the Mese Odos, linked the palace to the Golden
Gate. On this road was the Forum, a circular plaza with a statue
of Constantine
mounted on a column, surrounded by public buildings. Theodosius I and Arcadius later
built more forums decorated with their own statues.
Following
the Nika riots in the 6th century, Justinian adorned Constantinople
with magnificent edifices, palaces, baths and public buildings. This time also
saw the construction of Agia Sophia (the Holy Wisdom), the church which served
as the seat of the Ecumenical Patriarchate throughout the Byzantine period.
During
the 7th and 8th centuries Constantinople faced
major problems that threw it into disarray: attacks by the Avars (a siege in
674) and Arabs (attacks in 674 and 717-718); natural disasters (a powerful,
destructive earthquake in 740); and epidemics (plague in 747). Limited building
activity resumed in the 8th and 9th century, mainly concentrated on
strengthening the city's fortifications.
With
the recovery of the Byzantine Empire from the
9th to the 11th century, Constantinople became
the most populated city in Christendom; the majority of inhabitants were
Greek-speaking, but many other ethnic groups lived alongside them, such as
Jews, Armenians, Russians, Italians merchants, Arabs and mercenaries from Western Europe and Scandinavia. Many public, private and church-owned buildings were erected at the time, with
an emphasis on establishing charitable institutions such as hospitals, nursing
homes, orphanages and schools. Higher education flourished, thanks to the care
of the state and the emergence of important scholars. This renaissance lasted
until the mid-11th century, when economic problems due to poor management set
in, compounded by the adverse outcome of imperial operations beyond the borders.
The
Crusaders left Constantinople entirely
unscathed when first passing through, but in the Fourth Crusade of 1204 the
Franks conquered and ransacked the city, slaughtering those inhabitants they
did not take prisoner or drive out. In 1261 the city was retaken by Michael
VIII Palaeologus, who rebuilt most of the monuments and the walls but proved
unable to restore the city to its former splendour and glory. Enfeebled as it
was, the empire was incapable of checking the advance of the Ottomans, and in
1453 Constantinople finally fell into their
hands.
The fall signalled the end of the empire. Nevertheless, the Byzantine intellectual
tradition remained significant, as many scholars settled in the Venetian dominions
of Crete and the Peloponnese,
as well as in European countries, conveying Greek learning to the West.
Bibliography (6)
1. Πετρονώτης, Α., Ο αρχιτέκτων στο Βυζάντιο, Thessaloniki, 1984
2. Προπλάσματα στη Μεσαιωνική αρχιτεκτονική (Βυζάντιο, ΝΑ Ευρώπη, Ανατολία), 2009
3. Μπούρας Χ., Τρόποι εργασίας των Βυζαντινών αρχιτεκτόνων και αρχιμαστόρων, Athens, 2010
4. Dalton, O.M., The Byzantine Astrolabe of Bescia, 1926
5. Vogel, K., XIII. Technology
6. Ousterhout, R., Master Builders of Byzantium, Princeton, 1999
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