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ARCHITECTURAL CHARACTER Report

Early Christian architecture spanned from 300 to 600 AD, continuing Roman traditions and utilizing materials from old Roman temples. Churches were modeled on Roman basilicas and featured various architectural elements, including different types of apses and parts like the nave and transept. Additionally, Christians preferred burial over cremation, leading to the creation of catacombs and monumental tombs as expressions of faith in immortality.

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6 views13 pages

ARCHITECTURAL CHARACTER Report

Early Christian architecture spanned from 300 to 600 AD, continuing Roman traditions and utilizing materials from old Roman temples. Churches were modeled on Roman basilicas and featured various architectural elements, including different types of apses and parts like the nave and transept. Additionally, Christians preferred burial over cremation, leading to the creation of catacombs and monumental tombs as expressions of faith in immortality.

Uploaded by

faithsalvino0717
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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ARCHITECTURAL

CHARACTER
EARLY CHRISTIAN
ARCHITECTURE
• EARLY CHRISTIAN ARCHITECTURE MAY BE TAKEN
TO HAVE LASTED FROM ABOUT 300 TO 600 AD.

• THE EARLY CHRISTIANS, AS ROMAN CRAFTSMEN,


CONTINUED OLD ROMAN TRADITIONS.

• UTILIZED THE MATERIALS AS FAR AS POSSIBLE


FROM ROMAN TEMPLES WHICH HAD BECOME
USELESS FOR THEIR ORIGINAL PURPOSE FOR
THEIR NEW BUILDINGS.
• THEIR CHURCHES, MODELED ON ROMAN
BASILICAS, USED OLD COLUMNS WHICH BY
VARIOUS DEVICES WERE BROUGHT TO A
UNIFORM HEIGHT.

• EARLY CHRISTIAN BUILDINGS HARDLY HAVE THE


ARCHITECTURAL VALUE OF A STYLE PRODUCED
BY THE SOLUTION OF CONSTRUCTIVE PROBLEMS.
BASILIC• IS A RECTANGULAR EARLY
A
CHRISTIAN OR MEDIEVAL CHURCH,
USUALLY HAVING A NAVE OR
CLERESTORIES, TWO OR FOUR
AISLES, ONE OR MORE VAULTED
APSESWERE
• MANY BASILICA CHURCHES AND A TIMBER OUT
ERECTED ROOF.
OF
FRAGMENTS TAKEN FROM OLDER BUILDINGS, AND PRESENT
A CURIOUS MIXTURE OF COLUMNS, CAPITALS AND OTHERS,
ESPECIALLY THOSE AT RAVENNA, EXHIBIT MORE CARE, AND
ARE NOBLE SPECIMENS OF ANCIENT AND SEVERE
ARCHITECTURAL WORK.
BASILIC
A
TYPES OF APSE:

1. SEMI-CIRCULAR
(ITALIAN)
2. POLYGONAL
(GERMAN)
3. SQUARE (ENGLISH)
4. COMPOUND
(FRENCH)
PARTS OF AN EARLY CHRISTIAN
BASILICA
1. PROPYLAEUM – THE ENTRANCE BUILDING OF A SACRED PRECINCT,
WHETHER CHURCH OR IMPERIAL PALACE.
2. ATRIUM – THE FORECOURT OF A CHURCH; AS A RULE ENVELOPED BY
FOUR COLONNADED PORTICOS.
3. NARTHEX – THE ENTRANCE HALL OR PORCH PROCEEDING THE NAVE OF
A CHURCH.
4. NAVE – THE GREAT CENTRAL SPACE IN 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
PARTS OF AN EARLY CHRISTIAN
BASILICA
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. THE TRANSEPT APPEARS
INFREQUENTLY IN EARLY CHRISTIAN CHURCHES. THE
TRANSEPT WOULD NOT BECOME A STANDARD
COMPONENT OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH UNTIL THE CAROLINGIAN PERIOD.
8. APSE – SOMETIMES RECTANGULAR, BUT USUALLY SEMI-CIRCULAR. IN
THE WALL AT THE END OF A ROMAN BASILICA OR CHRISTIAN
CHURCH. IN THE EARLY CHRISTIAN BASILICA, THE APSES
CONTAINED THE “CATHEDRA” OR THRONE OF THE BISHOP
AND THE ALTAR.
PARTS OF AN EARLY CHRISTIAN
BASILICA
10. TRIBUNE – THE BISHOP’S THRONE OCCUPYING A RECESS OR APSE IN
AN EARLY CHRISTIAN CHURCH.
11. BEMA – A TRANSVERSE OPEN SPACE SEPARATING THE NAVE AND THE
APSE OF AN EARLY CHRISTIAN CHURCH, DEVELOPING INTO THE
TRANSEPT OF LATER CRUCIFORM CHURCHES.
12. ALTAR – THE TABLE IN A CHRISTIAN CHURCH UPON WHICH THE
EUCHARIST, THE SACRAMENT CELEBRATING CHRIST’S
LAST SUPPER. A.K.A. COMMUNION TABLE
13. BALDACHIN – AN ORNAMENTAL CANOPY OF STONE OR MARBLE
PERMANENTLY PLACED OVER THE ALTAR IN
A CHURCH. A.K.A. CIBORIUM.
TOMBS OR
CATACOMBS
• CHRISTIANS OBJECTED TO CREMATION, INSISTED ON BURIAL
ON CONSECRATED GROUND.
• LAND FOR BURIALS HAD BECOME SCARCE AND EXPENSIVE.
• MONUMENTAL TOMBS BECAME EXPRESSIONS OF FAITH IN
IMMORTALITY
• CEMETERIES OR CATACOMBS WERE EXCAVATED BELOW
GROUND
• SEVERAL STORIES EXTENDING DOWNWARDS
• USUALLY DOMED AND ENRICHED WITH LAVISH MOSAIC
DECORATIONS.
MAUSOLE • A MONUMENTAL FORM OF TOMB

UM • A HOUSE OF THE DEAD,


ALTHOUGH IS OFTEN AS MUCH A
SYMBOL AS A SEPULCHER.

• THIS TERM HAD BEEN EMPLOYED


FOR LARGE, MONUMENTAL, AND
STATELY TOMBS, USUALLY
ERECTED FOR DISTINGUISHED OR
PROMINENT INDIVIDUALS.

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