Eastern Medieval Architecture: The Building Traditions of Byzantium and Neighboring Lands (Onassis Series in Hellenic Culture)

The rich and diverse architectural traditions of the Eastern Mediterranean and adjacent regions are the subject of this book. Representing the visual residues of a "forgotten" Middle Ages, the social and cultural developments of the Byzantine Empire, the Caucasus, the Balkans, Russia, and the Middle East parallel the more familiar architecture of Western Europe. The book offers an expansive view of the architectural developments of the Byzantine Empire and areas under its cultural influence, as well as the intellectual currents that lie behind their creation. The book alternates chapters that address chronological or regionally-based developments with thematic studies that focus on the larger cultural concerns, as they are expressed in architectural form. Cover 1 EASTERN MEDIEVAL ARCHITECTURE 4 COPRIGHT 5 ONASSIS SERIES IN HELLENIC CULTURE 6 TABLE OF CONTENTS 8 MAPS 12 AUTHOR’S PREFACE 14 INTRODUCTION 20 PART ONE: LATE ANTIQUITY Third to Seventh Centuries 28 CHAPTER ONE: ROME, THE DOMUS ECCLESIAE, AND THE CHURCH BASILICA 30 CHAPTER TWO: A TALE OF TWO CITIES Constantinople and Jerusalem in the Time of Constantine 48 CHAPTER THREE: RITUAL SETTINGS I Liturgy, Initiation, Commemoration 64 CHAPTER FOUR: RITUAL SETTINGS II Pilgrimage, Relics, and Sacred Space 88 CHAPTER FIVE: MAKERS, METHODS, AND MATERIALS 108 CHAPTER SIXR: EGIONAL DEVELOPMENTS, EAST AND WEST 128 CHAPTER SEVEN: SECULAR ARCHITECTURE Cities, Houses, and Fortications 164 CHAPTER EIGHT: INNOVATIVE ARCHITECTURE 202 CHAPTER NINE: THE BASILICA TRANSFORMED Hagia Sophia in Constantinople 226 CHAPTER TEN: JUSTINIAN’S BUILDING PROGRAM AND SIXTH ̋CENTURY DEVELOPMENTS 246 PART TWO: THE TRANSITIONAL PERIOD Seventh to Ninth Centuries 270 CHAPTER ELEVENL: THE TRANSITIONAL PERIOD WITHIN BYZANTIUM 272 CHAPTER TWELVE: TRANSFORMATION AT THE EDGES OF EMPIRE 294 PART THREE: THE MIDDLE BYZANTINE CENTURIES Ninth to Twelfth Centuries 328 CHAPTER THIRTEEN: NEW CHURCH ARCHITECTURE AND THE RISE OF MONASTICISM 330 CHAPTER FOURTEEN: SECULAR ARCHITECTURE AND THE FATE OF THE CITY 360 CHAPTER FIFTEEN: CONSTANTINOPLEAS AN ARCHITECTURAL CENTER 380 CHAPTER SIXTEEN: MASTER BUILDERS AND THEIR CRAFT 408 CHAPTER SEVENTEEN: DEVELOPMENT OF REGIONAL STYLES IMiddle Byzantine Greece and Macedonia 432 CHAPTER EIGHTEEN: DEVELOPMENT OF REGIONAL STYLES IIMiddle Byzantine Anatolia 458 CHAPTER NINETEEN: DEVELOPMENT OF REGIONAL STYLES III The Caucasus: Armenia and Georgia 482 CHAPTER TWENTY: CONTESTED LANDS Architecture at the Time of the Crusades 506 CHAPTER TWENTYONE: THE EXOTIC WEST Venice, Southern Italy, and Sicily 534 CHAPTER TWENTY ̋TWO: EXPORTING A CULTURE/ IMPORTING A CULTURE Bulgaria, Kievan Rus’, and Serbia 558 PART FOURTHE: LATE BYZANTINE AND POST-BYZANTINE CENTURIES Thirteenth to Sixteenth Centuries 586 CHAPTER TWENTYTHREE: THE DIFFICULT THIRTEENTH CENTURY 588 CHAPTER TWENTYFOUR: PALAIOLOGAN CONSTANTINOPLE AND A NEW ARCHITECTURAL IDIOM 622 CHAPTER TWENTY FIVE: OLD AND NEW Greek Cities and Landscapes 648 CHAPTER TWENTYSIX: REGIONAL DIVERSITY Bulgaria, Serbia, and Romania 676 CHAPTER TWENTYSEVEN: RIVAL POWERS The Ottomans and Russia 706 EPILOGUE: AN ENDURING LEGACY 732 GLOSSARY 741 ABBREVIATIONS (BASED ON DUMBARTON OAKS) 750 FOR FURTHER RESEARCH 752 BIBLIOGRAPHY 754 INDEX 784 Aside from Hagia Sophia, the monuments of the Byzantine East are poorly understood today. This is in sharp contrast to the well-known architectural marvels of Western Europeâs Middle Ages. In this landmark survey, distinguished art historian Robert Ousterhout introduces readers to the rich and diverse architectural traditions of the medieval Eastern Mediterranean. The focus of the book is the Byzantine (or East Roman) Empire (324-1453 CE), with its capital in Constantinople, although the framework expands chronologically to include the foundations of Christian architecture in Late Antiquity and the legacy of Byzantine culture after the fall of Constantinople in 1453. Geographically broad as well, this study includes architectural developments in areas of Italy, the Caucasus, the Near East, the Balkans, and Russia, as well as related developments in early Islamic architecture. Alternating chapters that address chronological or regionally-based developments with thematic studies that focus on the larger cultural concerns, the book presents the architectural developments in a way that makes them accessible, interesting, and intellectually stimulating. In doing so, it also explains why medieval architecture in the East followed such a different trajectory from that of the West. Lavishly illustrated with hundreds of color photographs, maps, and line drawings, Eastern Medieval Architecture will establish Byzantine traditions to be as significant and admirable as those more familiar examples in Western Europe, and serve as an invaluable resource for anyone interested in architectural history, Byzantium, and the Middle Ages. The rich and diverse architectural traditions of the Eastern Mediterranean and adjacent regions are the subject of this book. Representing the visual residues of a “forgotten” Middle Ages, the social and cultural developments of the Byzantine Empire, the Caucasus, the Balkans, Russia, and the Middle East parallel the more familiar architecture of Western Europe. The book offers an expansive overview of the architectural developments of the Byzantine Empire and areas under its cultural influence, as well as of the intellectual currents that lie behind their creation. The book alternates chapters that address chronological or regional developments with thematic studies that focus on the larger cultural concerns, as they are expressed in architectural form. The rich and diverse architectural traditions of the Eastern Mediterranean and adjacent regions are the subject of this book, including the social and cultural developments of the Byzantine Empire, the Caucasus, the Balkans, and Russia, as well as parallel developments in Crusader and early Islamic architecture. The rich and diverse architectural traditions of the Eastern Mediterranean and adjacent regions are the subject of this text, including the social and cultural developments of the Byzantine Empire, the Caucasus, the Balkans, and Russia, as well as parallel developments in Crusader and early Islamic architecture