Article
The Dome in Byzantine Church Architecture
Byzantina Symmeikta
(2020)
Abstract
The dome was a significant architectural feature in both the Roman and Byzantine periods. It will be argued that there was a continued development in the architectural form and the symbolism of the dome between the two periods but with an expansion of the typology of the dome and significant amplification of its symbolism in the church architecture of the Byzantine era. A comparison will be made as to what distinguished the dome between the two periods. This would be primarily in their function – the use of the dome in secular buildings in the Roman period compared to predominantly religious buildings in the Byzantine. The dome became not only an ubiquitous architectural feature of Byzantine churches of various geometrical types but must be seen as carrying symbolic and theological meanings signifying the dome as heaven and its interior decoration as conveying mystic significance.
Keywords
- Dome,
- Byzantine dome,
- dome terminology,
- dome symbolism,
- dome function,
- dome anthropics,
- commemorative churches,
- congregational churches,
- Παντοκράτορας
Disciplines
Publication Date
February, 2020
DOI
https://doi.org/10.12681/byzsym.20382
Citation Information
https://ejournals.epublishing.ekt.gr/index.php/bz/article/view/20382