The Hagia Sophia Built in or around 6th Century AD the Hagia Sophia which; means “Holy Wisdom”, was originally a cathedral in Constantinople (which is now Istanbul Turkey) during the Byzantine Empire. In the beginning it had served as a cathedral for the Constantine. The original was built of wood. During the riots of 404 AD the Hagia Sophia was mostly destroyed by fire and was rebuilt in 405 AD. The second church was destroyed during a revolt in 532 AD. The construction of the Hagia Sophia was a challenge during this time. The dome roof required a lot of support. In the end it was resting on pendentives: spherical triangles that arise from the huge piers that carry the weight of the cupola. The Byzantine had decorated the inside of
Iconoclasm means the rejection or destruction of religious images as heretical. “In 726, all the icons, religious pictures and statues were removed from Hagia Sophia by the orders of Emperor Leo the Isaurian, as he was against the veneration of the images.” (Hagiasophia.com) With its vaulted and domed ceilings, artists were able to utilize the curved surfaces for dramatic effect or to compliment narratives. The Hagia Sophia was filled with frescos and mosaics of religious events and royalty of the Byzantine period. Many of the mosaics were destroyed, and the frescos were covered up with several layers of
Beginning with the wood construction of the domed ceiling, to the current marble and rock structures throughout the building. “The church has a rectangular shape, and the square nave measuring 102 feet is covered with a central dome that is carried on four pendentives. The arcade around the dome is unbroken with 40 arched windows to bring the light inside. Excluding the two narthexes and the large atrium, the basilica measures 229 x 245 ft. The atrium measures 157 x 106 ft. and the total length of the construction measures 442 ft.” (http://www.hagiasophia.com). Later in time vestibules were built to give royalty privacy and protection during services and meetings. Art works such as the marble jars on the main floor were brought from other countries to decorate the church. Mosaics were made depicting royalty and their signatures at the time. The library created in the time of Mahmut I for school children and other scholars boasted a display of his calligraphic signature called a “Tugra.” The library’s front side has six columns, and in between there are bronze grills that closed the
With the Pantheon being built over 1700 years ago, it’s amazing that architects are still using features and techniques from this work of architecture in modern creations. The use of this type of classical architecture will continue to be used in works for public space due to its remarkable exterior appearance and it’s long lasting structural durability. When both Jesse hall and the Pantheon are compared it is possible to see their similarities from the types of domes that top each, their external facades, and their interior plan. While they share many similarities, the differences that Bell and Binder used in their creation make this work of architecture unique to many other public spaces.
... middle of paper ... ... Using sculpture around the Alter of Grace and images on the wall and ceiling he pictures the story of the ’the Fourteen Holy Helpers and gives the kind of imagination to the level of reality as cited by (Lanciani and Rodolfo 1892). All these Baroque architectural elements were applied to the building to get the people attention to the focal point.
...k of the former mayors of the town, the same priest Ariceaga promoted the construction of a formal, same Chapel began in 1730 and was completed in 1747; and from 1748 mass, the doctrine to children and the Feast was celebrated in it. In 1753 the chapel consisted of 26 meters long and 8 wide. It had all the ornaments and the implements necessary to celebrate the mass, and had sacristy, House and cemetery, with a length of 17 meters by almost 9 of bandwidth. The introduction of the railway affected the whole of the main square and the appearance of the temple, and in 1955 was covered the facade original; soon after stood up a fence on the edge of the sidewalk and the temple was isolated. In 1961 it was erected in a Vicariate and in 1965 it was given the shape it has today, after being constructed the façade and the gateway to the East; in 1976 he erected in parish.
The Hagia Sophia was constructed first and it was meant as the main church of the Byzantine Empire. It is said that they built the Hagia Sophia in only 5 years, while it took nearly a century for the Notre Dame cathedral to be completed. While it did have what some would consider an extremely short construction time, they did have many issues with the dome. It nearly collapsed more than a few times. Once the builders and architects figured a plan to keep it stable, one on looker said, ”it is as if the Dome is suspended from Heaven itself”. The Dome of the rock was constructed for Christians, Jews, and Muslims but was to attract new followers to Malik’s Islamic brotherhood. The project for the construction had many issues, not only with the Dome itself, but also with revolts that would postpone construction for years. Once completed, many followers believed that Jerusalem was the third holiest place in the world due to Muhammed’s journey to Heaven in order to talk to God. The art within the Hagia Sophia was beautiful Mosaics and paintings of the Virgin Mary with Jesus. These were meant to represent how holy the building was. When the Muslims claimed the Hagia Sophia they did not want to destroy it due to beliefs so they renovated the building. They did this by breaking down images of humans and animals due to their belief that no images of figures
Travertine TRAVERTINE is a form of massive calcium carbonate, CaCO3 resulting from deposition by springs or rivers. It is often beautifully colored and banded as a result of the presence of iron compounds or other (e.g., organic) impurities. This material is variously known as calc-sinter and calcareous tufa and (when used for decorative purposes) as onyx marble, Mexican onyx, and Egyptian or Oriental alabaster. Travertine is generally less coarse-grained and takes a higher polish than stalactite and stalagmite, which are similar in chemical composition and origin. Travertine, the stone of the Colosseum and St. Peters as well as of several structures in New York and Philadelphia, is not a volcanic tufa but calcareous sediment that was deposited on the ground by the hot springs that first began to flow during the earliest eruptions of the Alban volcanoes. The best quality, in fact the only reliable one in Latium, is that which is found between Bagni and the Sabine hills below Tivoli. Lanciani, who has fascinatingly described the quarries there, estimated that five and a half million cubic meters of stone had been extracted from the ancient quarry alone. And yet, because of its position under a flat grass-grown plain, the Romans did not discover the existence of this remarkable stone till after the middle of the second century B. C.; and even after that they failed for a century to develop a system of extracting the stone in a sufficiently easy way to make the extensive use of it practicable. In the later decades of the second century B. C. it displaced peperino for inscriptional monuments for obvious reasons. Its employment in large structures cannot with certainty be posited before the construction of the Mulvian bridge in 109,...
When Emperor Constantine found the city of Constantinople, it was soon to become the capital of the Eastern Roman Empire. But the Christin city needed a great church to represent it’s great value, so the Hagia Sophia was built (Krystek, Lee). The Hagia Sophia was built by the Byzantine Empire in 537 C.E., which was an Empire influenced greatly by the greek and roman styles (Krystek, Lee). It has a square base with a large dome on the top. Round arcs surrounded the large dome, adding mystical beauty to the Hagia Sophia (Krystek, Lee). Also, multiple colors of bricks were used to create patterns on the outside of the Hagia Sophia. On the inside, the walls are made of marble with glass panes which bring beautiful sunlight into the large museum (Krystek, Lee). The Hagia Sophia is very significant because it was rebuilt many times. The first church was built and then burnt down in 404 C.E. (Krystek, Lee). It was then rebuilt and burned down by riots in 502 C.E. (Krystek, Lee). Then the 3rd church was built by Justinian. After long periods of time, Sultan Mehmed conquered Constantinople and changed it to an islamic city, converting the church to a mosque (Krystek, Lee). In 1934, President Ataturk changed the mosque to a museum for the people and tourists, instead of a sacred place of worship (Krystek, Lee).
Washington Square Park is home to thousands of New York University Students, families leisurely strolling through the park on afternoons, people cooling off at the fountain during the summer, couples lounging on the green grass, and even home to the New York City Pillow Fight held during the summer. At the center of Greenwich Village, it provides an escape from the busy traffic and city surrounding it. Most importantly, it is home to the Washington Square Arch.
...ral (138 ½ feet), Michelangelo’s St. Peter’s (137 ½) and Wren’s St. Paul’s (109 feet). Until steel and concrete technology advanced in the 19th century, no single spaces were larger than these. Bibliography Dirimtekin, Feridun. [1964]. Saint Sophia Museum. Istanbul: Touring and Automobile Club of Turkey. Fossati, Gaspare. 1852. Aya Sofia, Constantinople : as recently restored by order of H. M. the sultan Abdul-Medjid. London: R. & C. Colnagni & Co. James Stevens Curl. Classical Architecture: an introduction to its vocabulary and essentials, with a select glossary of terms. New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold, 1992. ISBN 0-442-30896-5. NA260.C87. interior photo of circular space (photo of the prostyle octstyle portico of the Pantheon) William L. MacDonald. The Architecture of the Roman Empire I. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1982. ISBN 0-300-02818-0. LC 81-16513
The Byzantine mosaic was an early Christian predecessor whereby it clear cuts the religious tales drawn from the bible. There was a combination of forces between the political and religious authority which gave the emperor power over the architecture and art of Byzantine Empire. The Roman Empire was collapsing due to the interruption by German tribes hence they were not able to teach manners and morals according to the artistic and cultural ways of the mosaics hence they were unable to determine art of the early Christianity while the art of Byzantine
In the Florence Cathedral, Florence, Italy, there is a cathedral church whose octagonal dome, built without the aid of scaffolding, was considered the greatest engineering feat of the early Renaissance. Dedicated to Santa Maria del Fiore, Our Lady of the Flower, it is also known as the Duomo, after the Italian word for cathedral. Created by many great Early Modern artists, this piece of architecture is a perfect example the Renaissance style. We can come to a better understanding of why this is so by exploring what the characteristics of the Renaissance “style”. To understand the properties of the Florence Cathedral that fit the Early Modern style, I will begin with a description and its history. The cathedral's architectural style, although greatly influenced by French Gothic elements remained distinctively Florentine, especially the geometric patterns of red, green, and white marble on the building's exterior. Construction of the cathedral began in 1294 on the site of a Christian church founded in the 6th or 7th century and continued until 1436. Several celebrated Italian architects were involved in the project, including Giotto, Arnolfo di Cambio, Andrea Orcagna, and, most notably, Filippo Brunelleschi, who was responsible for designing and building the dome. The cathedral's exterior is ornamented with sculpture and mosaics by Italian artists Donatello, Nanni di Banco, and Domenico Ghirlandaio, among others. The building's stained-glass windows are the work of the Italian architect and artist Lorenzo Ghiberti, and the interior is decorated with sculpture and fresco paintings by several Renaissance masters. Construction of the campanile (bell tower), situated to the right of the entrance to the Duomo, was begun by Giotto and completed according to his plans in 1359, after his death. Nearly 278 ft high, the campanile is embellished with red, green, and white marble panels of relief sculpture by Italian artists Andrea Pisano and Luca della Robbia, and niches with sculpted figures by Donatello and other masters. Facing the cathedral and campanile is a smaller, octagonal structure, the Baptistery of San Giovanni, noted for its gilt-bronze doors, elaborately worked in high relief by Andrea Pisano and Lorenzo Ghiberti. With that background information about the cathedral, one question comes to mind: what is it that makes the Renaissance style distinct? Renaissa...
One of the most striking features of a Byzantine style church is the extensive use of iconography, with images often covering most if not all of the walls inside the sanctuary. Upon entering this sacred space, we see the scriptures come to life through the imagery, colors, and events that are depicted. The icons speak to us in a theologically correct way and convey deep meaning about spiritual realities that are often beyond our comprehension. And while the cumulative effect of so many images is quite powerful, each individual icon offers us the same experience. A good example can be seen in the icon of the Annunciation.
The San Vitale is primarily built of brick with a marble and mosaic interior. The ground plan consists of a octagonal organization with a central dome supported by a tall cylindrical drum. Separated by clerestory windows, is a dome in a concentric form of clay tubed rings and seven curved exedras connected to vaulted semi domes. At the main entrance of this chapel is a narthax making it off access from the adjustment apsidal chapels. On either side of the narthax is two projecting towers, one being a spiral stair tower and the other a bell tower. Connecting the central dome area and the ambulatory is 8 strong masonry pillars. The outer prism incorporates two levels of galleries with eccentric mosaics from floor to ceiling. Whether marble or mosaic stone, the monument fills t...
There is a Romanesque style in the arched windows and the brick walls. The Beaux-Arts tradition is a T-shaped floor plan. The building measures 75 feet in diameter with three wings. The Rotunda’s walls are made of Italian marble and the floors have mosaic tile. The statue in the center of the floor is called “Three Muses.”
Therefore its threshold represents the dichotomy to the interior is such a shocking transition to the spirit. This supports the conjecture that the most powerful connection to the sacred reality is present in the rites of passage going from the profane to sacred worlds. The sacred view of water represents formlessness. The material used as the flooring of the Hagia Sophia is striated with wave like curves that look similar to ripples in water. Because it symbolizes formlessness the floor of the temple is representative of the chaos of the profane world and the large distance between the floor and dome further emphasizes the distance that separates the world form the glory of God. tmedia of the enormous hemispheric Dome of the
The Colosseum or Coliseum was originally known as the Flavian Amphitheatre. The building was constructed by the emperors of Flavian dynasty, following the reign of Nero. The name ‘Colosseum’ is derived from the Latin word ‘Colosseus’ meaning colossal (‘Facts about the Colosseum’, n.d.). It was the largest amphitheatre of the Roman Empire and in the world (Guinness World Records, 2013). It was also considered as one of the greatest works of Roman architecture and engineering. The Colosseum could hold between 50,000 to 80,000 spectators. (William, 2005) It was used for gladiatorial contests and public spectacles such as animal hunts, mock sea battles, executions, reenactments of famous battles, and dramas based on Classical mythology. The building is used for entertainment in the early medieval era. It was later reused for different purposes such as housing, workshops, a Christian shrine, a fortress, a quarry, and quarters for a religious order (‘BBC's History of the Colosseum p. 1’ ,2012).