Byzantine architecture: What was it really?

Question

What did they draw their architecture from? Romans? Greeks? Etruscans? Nords? Or did they innovate something completely different? I thought that since their ancestors were Greek, they'd have classical architecture sort of melded into a Medieval type(I know that sounds wierd). What do you guys think about Byzantine architecture?

Answer 1

The main Byzantine architecture that survives are churches. They are mostly built of stone, brick and mortar. They are mostly built in the form of a Greek cross as oposed to the Latin cross. With the "Greek cross" the nave and the transept are about the same length. While with the "Latin cross" plan the nave, or central aisle is longer than the transept aisle. Often the church exteriors are plain but the interiors are elaborately decorated with mosaics or frescoes. A high screen, the iconostasis, separated the sanctuary from the rest of the church. Often there is a large fresco of "Christ in Judgement" at the rear. Byzantine churches almost always have domes. Sometimes a large dome is surrounded by smaller domes, like St. Mark's in Venice. Its these churches with many domes that really give Byzantine churches their "eastern appearance". Hagia Sophia in Istanbul was the largest Byzantine church ever built. After being used as a mosque for centuries it serves as a museum today. I think Byzantine architecture is a combination of earlier Greek and Roman forms. They both used mosaics. The column was taken from the Greek, but the dome and the arch were Roman inventions. I hope that this has been a help to you.

Answer 2

Byzantine architecture is the architecture of the Byzantine Empire. The empire gradually emerged as a distinct entity after AD 330, when Constantine moved the capital of the Roman Empire to Byzantium, which was later renamed Constantinople and is now Istanbul.

Answer 3

Neo-Byzantine architecture is an architectural revival style, of the mid- to late 19th and early 20th centuries, most frequently seen in religious, institutional and public buildings. Neo-Byzantine architecture incorporates elements of the Byzantine style associated with Eastern and Orthodox Christian architecture dating from the 5th through 11th centuries, notably that of Byzantium (Constantinople, or modern-day Istanbul).

The style is characterized by round arches, vaults and domes, brick and stucco surfaces, symbolic ornamentation, and the use of decorative mosaics. It was developed primarily in Imperial Russia and Eastern Europe, where it evolved a long way from Sophia Cathedral of 1782 to Alexander Nevsky Cathedral in Sofia of 1882. It was popularized in Russia by Konstantin Ton, who combined it with Neoclassical and Russian Revival stylistic elements at will.

Answer 4

Yeah they did