All of you must have heard about the famous “Basilica architecture”. In architecture, the word “Basilica” was used to describe a large hall constructed for business transaction and disposition of legal matters. The oldest Basilica, known as “Basilica Porcia” was built by Cato, the Elder in Rome in 184 BC. Some of the early examples of Basilica include the one at Pompeii (built in 2nd century BC). As early as the time of Augustus, a public basilica for transacting business had been part of any agreement that measured itself a city, used like the late medieval covered market houses of northern Europe (in which the meeting room was set above the arcades due to the lack of urban space). Possibly within a month of Constantine’s defeat of Maxentius at the battle of the Milvian Bridge, work began on the church which would be the official seat of the Bishop of Rome, St. John in the Lateran. The church was built on the site previously occupied by the barracks of his former rival. A Christian basilica of the 4th or 5th century stood behind its entirely enclosed forecourt ringed with a colonnade or arcade, like the stoa or peristyle that was its ancestor or like the cloister that was its descendant. Ecclesiastical basilicas were built later, on the basis of semi-public secular Basilicas. The grandeur, size and appearance of this Basilica signaled gradual transfer of civic power into Episcopal hands, underway in the fifth century. In accordance to this rule the Basilicas were divided into two classes, the major and minor basilicas. Other rankings put the cathedral (or co-cathedral) of a bishop ahead of all other churches in the same diocese, even if they have the title of basilica. Well, the above article describes Basilicas to some extent or the other.
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Describing Basilica Architecture
December 31st, 2009Architecture Of Ancient Greece
December 21st, 2009The traces of ancient Greek architecture can be traced back to the 8th century BC. Since the ancient Greek buildings were made up of clay, wood or mud-brick, no remains have been found of them barring a few ground plans. In fact, almost no sources or descriptions exist about the embryonic Greek buildings. However, most of our present day knowledge about Greek architecture comes from the late archaic period, also known as the Periclean age. Temples The temples of ancient Greece were the biggest and most beautiful. They also had a political purpose as they were often built to celebrate civic power and pride, or offer thanksgiving to the patron deity of a city for success in war. Other architectural forms used by the Greeks were the tholos or circular temple, of which the best example is the Tholos of Theodorus at Delphi dedicated to the worship of Athena Pronaia; the propylon or porch, forming the entrance to temple sanctuaries. The most knowledge about ancient Greek architecture comes form late archaic period (550 – 500 BC), the Periclean age (450 – 430 BC), and the early to pure classical period (430 – 400 BC). Examples of Greek architecture can be drawn from Hellenistic and Roman periods and from written sources such as Vitruvius (1st century). Although the ancient Greeks erected buildings of many types, the Greek temple best exemplifies the aims and methods of Greek architecture. The temples were quite different from the modern day church as the altar generally stood in front of the open sky, directly in front of the temple. The temples generally served as storage places and the inner rooms of the temples were mainly strongrooms. In addition to temples, the Greeks also built a number of other kinds of structures. Their public spaces included monumental tombs; agoras, in ancient Greece, the public square or marketplace of a city.