Medieval and Manuscripts

6th-century Byzantine domes

The 6th century marks a turning point for domed church architecture. Centrally planned domed churches had been built since the 4th century for very particular functions, such as palace churches or martyria, with a slight widening of use around 500 AD, but most church buildings were timber-roofed halls on the basilica plan. Early vaulted churches were built in Constantinople and west Asia Minor, with domed churches replacing timber-roofed basilicas in Ephesus, Priene, and Pythagoreion. Domed churches required radically different supporting structures compared to timber-roofed basilicas and new vaulting patterns, such as a series on domes on pendentives, can be determined based on the ruins of large masonry piers and fragments of the vaults. Early Byzantine examples include the cruciform Basilica of St. John near Ephesus and the aisleless twin-domed basilica at Philadelphia called the church of St. John. Italian church architecture from the late sixth century to the end of the eighth century was influenced less by the trends of Constantinople than by a variety of Byzantine provincial plans. The sacristy of the Basilica of Saints Felice and Fortunato in Vicenza, Italy, is part of an older cruciform domed church built by General Narses in 554. The style of the church was characteristic of the Byzantine churches of Ravenna. Other 6th century domes in Italy include those of the baptistery of Canosa di Puglia, the Basilica of San Leucio at Canosa, the baptistery of Nocera Superiore, and the Sanctuary of San Prosdocimo in the Abbey of Santa Giustina in Padua. Domes from the 6th century made with ceramic vaulting tubes include a bath at the Theodoric Villa in Galeata (5th-6th centuries), San Vitale in Ravenna, the bath in the Bishop's Palace in Ravenna, a small building near St. Apollinaris in Classe, the baptistery of Santa Maria in Vado, Ferrara, and the martyrium of the Basilica of Sant'Eufemia, Grado. Other 6th century examples of domed constructions may include Nostra Segnora de Mesumundu in Siligo, Sardinia (before 534), Sant’Angelo in Perugia, San Miserino near San Donaci (6th or 7th century), and the Trigona of Cittadella near Noto (6th or 7th century). The Basilica of San Saturnino in Sardinia was built in the 6th century as a Greek-cross martyrium with a central dome.

Also on this shelf

See also

• ▸Chichester
• ▸Armenoi (archaeological site)
• ▸Church of Our Lady of Victories at the Sablon

Uncatalogued shelf

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