Medieval and Manuscripts

12th-century Byzantine domes

The larger scale of some Byzantine buildings of the 12th century required a more stable support structure for domes than the four slender columns of the cross-in-square type could provide. The use of piers as part of large cruciform plans is documented, a practice that had been out of fashion for several centuries. A variant of the cross-in-square, the "so-called atrophied Greek cross plan", also provided greater support for a dome than the typical cross-in-square plan by using four piers projecting from the corners of an otherwise square naos, rather than four columns.

Also on this shelf

See also

• ▸Bolton Priory
• ▸1623
• ▸Abbey of Saint-Jean-des-Vignes

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