Urban Architecture and Space

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In Byzantium

Byzantine architecture, which reached its apogee in the sixth century during the reign of Emperor Justinian I (527–565), was essentially the development and implementation of the profound architectural transformations introduced by the Romans, particularly during the Empire years. These developments, which had a lasting impact on the history of later European architecture, can be better understood through an examination of the principle triumphs of Roman architecture.

The Roman builders mainly used mortar, whereas Greek builders—which, for prestigious edifices at least—mainly constructed their edifices with blocks of dressed stone that were joined by a system of pins. This technical expertise was used to create expansive vaults, the first examples of which can be seen in the thermae (1^st century BC) in Baiae, in Campania, Italy. The continued success of this tradition led to the development of the great imperial thermae; the latest dated examples were the thermae of Diocletian in Rome, constructed at the beginning of the Empire’s Christianization. The Pantheon, which was reconstructed in the second century AD, was surmounted with a dome, which for many centuries remained the largest in the Roman world.

The second main contribution of Roman architecture lay in the importance given to internal spaces and their decoration, to the detriment of their external appearance. It’s considered that the octagonal room in the Domus Aurea Palace—that Nero (54–68) constructed in Rome—marked the beginning of this passion for remarkable interiors.

One of the finest examples of this architectural virtuosity—just over half a century after the Domus Aurea—was the Villa Hadriana, which was constructed by Emperor Hadrian (117–138) in Tivoli.

This knowledge formed the basis for the development of Byzantine architecture, and has survived in the form of religious architecture, and, to a slightly lesser degree, military architecture. However, there are very few surviving examples of civil architecture, whether in the form of grand residences or humble houses. Military architecture introduced no innovations to the principles of siege technology inherited from the Hellenic era (this was notably defined in the treatise of Philo of Byzantium) and its main contribution was the construction or reconstruction of city ramparts. These works were mainly carried out before the sixth century. That said, Constantinople’s ramparts, which were reconstructed at the beginning of the fifth century during the reign of Theodosius II (408–450), resisted every siege until 1204, when the army of the Fourth Crusade finally took the city.

Many churches were constructed during the epoch of Justinian. Most of them still followed the basilical plan—another Roman inheritance, which was adapted to Christian worship— during the reign of Constantine (324–337); this is attested by the Emperor’s choices for the first basilicas he built in Rome. Several edifices have survived from the sixth century and their architecture or even their decorations are relatively unchanged. The best conserved of these is probably Sant’Apollinare in Classe, Ravenna. Another good example is St Demetrios in Thessaloniki, whose interior still has its original plan despite major restoration work carried out later, and the Acheiropoietos, which is also in Thessaloniki. These churches were built to welcome large numbers of worshipers, and their interiors are embellished with rich decorations in marble and mosaics—paintings were used in more modest buildings—, culminating in a large image placed in the apse, where Christ was usually represented.

In addition to the basilicas, churches with central plans were constructed in the fourth century. St Vital in Ravenna, which was constructed according to an octagonal plan during Justinian’s reign, is the finest surviving example of this. The presence of a dome embellished the internal space and introduced the dimension of celestial symbolism. These two advantages resulted in a combination of the two types of plan and produced the layout of the Basilica of Hagia Sophia in Constantinople, which remains a masterpiece of world architecture and whose plan has never been identically copied. The construction of domed basilicas lasted from the sixth to the eighth century. The influence of Justinian architecture was also apparent on two other buildings with several domes. One of these hasn’t survived—the Basilica of the Holy Apostles in Constantinople—and the other example has been partially conserved: the Basilica of St John in Ephesus. San Marco church in Venice, which was rebuilt in the eleventh century, is probably a relatively faithful copy of the Basilica of the Holy Apostles. It gives us a good idea of the visual impact of Byzantine architecture, particularly due to its wealth of mosaic decorations. In Venice, this impression of an ensemble remains authentic, even though most of the mosaics are not Byzantine.

Byzantine architecture subsequently produced more modest buildings and no longer involved the construction of large cathedral churches. A variety of factors related to the political and religious aspects of the Byzantine Empire led to the predominance of monasteries and the construction of small private churches. The monasteries themselves could also be quite modest and were very often built on the initiative of donors, such as the Emperor, prominent people close to the imperial court, and even officials of lower rank. In the tenth century at the latest, churches were built according to a plan that was a double cross within a square. A central dome was supported by four vaulted arms, which combine with the corner compartments to form a square. In the West, this central area was preceded by a narthex, and in the East it was followed by a sanctuary that comprised a triple apse. In the Empire’s capital, the Church of the Myrelaion (today the Bodrum Camii), and the Church of Constantine Lips (today Fenar Isa Camii) are typical examples from the early tenth century. These churches were often the monastery’s katholikon, or main church, and their size was directly related to the monastery’s wealth and the number of monks it was capable of accommodating. Consequently—and quite logically—, one of the largest of these was the Katholikon of the Pantokrator Monastery in Constantinople, founded by Jean II Komnenos (reigned 1118–1143). Two special cases are the churches of the monasteries of Hosios Loukas and Daphne in Greece, both in terms of their size, the wealth of their mosaic decorations—which links them with the monastery of Nea Moni at Chios, founded by Constantine IX Monomachos (reigned 1042–1055)—, and their innovative plans, where the transition of the dome’s circular form and the square structure on which it sits are supported by corner squinches, rather than pendentives, as was generally the case in Byzantine churches.

In the last centuries of Byzantine architecture a greater variety of constructions emerged, although they were still variations on the same basic theme: the double inscribed cross. Exterior decorations became richer (the Holy Apostles at Thessaloniki, fourteenth century), the central dome became more slender (Gračanica monastery, fourteenth century), the central space was more open (Constantinople, Monastery of the Kyriotissa, today called Kalenderhane Camii, twelfth century), but the principles remained the same. And the interior decorations, whether in the form of mosaics or paintings, were still a fundamental part of the internal spaces. Contemporary visitors can still see this in the mosaics and the marble decorations in the Katholikon of the Monastery of Hosios Loukas in Greece, and in the paintings of the funerary chapel of the Church of the Monastery of Christ at Chora (today Kariye Camii).

J. -M. S.

In Islam

In Islam, architecture mainly developed in urban environments. Towns were religious, political, administrative, and commercial centres, as well as places for the dissemination of knowledge. On Fridays, the entire Muslim community assembled in the Great Mosque in the town centre. As these urban areas expanded, more religious centres were required; each new district was organized around its Great Mosque. Around the Great Mosque was a trading area called the sūq, with specialized sectors, while the buildings of the rulers and the administration were generally in the vicinity of the Mosque.

Islamic architecture was greatly influenced by the conquest of Syria and the choice of Damascus as capital of the Empire, and was also marked by classical and Byzantine influences in the Umayyad period. This period did indeed produce many monuments—mainly mosques and palaces—which had strongly classicizing elements: the Dome on the Rock (691) in Jerusalem, which reproduced the octagonal form of the classical martyrium, and the Great Mosque in Damascus (706–714), which was built on an antique site and integrated existing walls, are both adorned with mosaics with Romano-Byzantine motifs. The ‘desert castles’ were based on the plans of the Roman castrum (‘Anjar) and were decorated with frescoes (Qusayr Amra, early eighth century) or mosaics (Khirbat al-Mafjar, Qasr al-Hallabat, and Qasr al-Hair, eighth century) with classical subject matter. The conquest of territories in the East can also be seen in Umayyad architecture: the reception hall of the citadel of Amman is a room with four iwāns (vaulted room overlooking a courtyard), crowned with a dome; the stucco decorations of Khirbat al-Mafjar were inspired by Sassanid motifs, and the decorations of the castle of Mshattā (743) bore the same motifs in stone.

After the Abbasid revolution and the transfer of power to the east, the Iranian-Sassanid traditions became increasingly predominant in architecture—edifices were no longer being built in stone, but also in brick and were adorned with stucco, stones, and paintings. The layout of the mosques became standardized with the construction of vast, pillared prayer halls, which were generally oblong. Variations mainly focused on the mihrab’s axis—the axis was widened or a dome was added—and the decision to build arcades perpendicular or parallel to the qibla wall, with columns and pillars, and a flat roof or vaulted ceiling. Architectural creation was stimulated by the foundation of new towns, cities, and capitals by the Abbasid sovereigns: the round city of Baghdad was founded in 762 by al-Mansūr, while the city of Samarra, which is famous for its helicoidal minarets, was founded by al-Mutasim in 836.

In North Africa the Mesopotamian influence was blended with classical and Berber influences, as attested by the lustred tiles of the mihrab in the Great Mosque of Kairouan (ninth century), and the helicoidal minaret and the decorations of the Ibn Tulun Mosque (876–879) in Cairo. During this period, T-plan mosques developed (Great Mosques of Kairouan, Tunis, and Sousse) and the ribāt—monastery fortress—for soldiers engaged in the jihad (Monastir, Sousse).

Andalusia is a land of mixed influences par excellence, as attested by several of the region’s architectural elements: in the Great Mosque of Córdoba, the hypostyle form is combined with classical and Visigoth traditions, resulting in a unique style, in which can be seen the nostalgia for the Umayyad architecture of Syria (arcading on two floors, mosaics, ablaq or alternation of polychrome stones in the masonry).

In the tenth century, the Abbasid Empire began to disintegrate, and this resulted in greater regionalization of Islamic architecture.

In 970, in Egypt, the Fatimids established a new capital, Cairo, a city-palace reserved for the caliph, which attests to the fusion of Maghribian and Iranian traditions in Fatimid architecture (muqarnas or niches with alveolate structures, and Persian arches). The mosques (al-Azhar, 972, and al-Hakim, 990–1013) were always built according to the traditional Arab plan (naves parallel to the qibla wall and the attention paid to the mihrab’s bay). After the construction of a new enclosing wall by the vizier Badr al-Jamali, stone replaced bricks: thus, the façade of the al-Aqmar payer hall (1125) transposed the motifs of al-Azhar into stone. Funerary architecture also developed during this period (the Aswan necropolis, twelfth century). The conquest of Syria and Egypt by the Ayyubids produced syncretic architecture, which had a particular impact on improving stone carving techniques (arches and vaults with voussoirs), which was essential for building robust military edifices (the citadels of Aleppo and Damascus).

In Anatolia, the Seljuks of Rum also transposed in stone the forms of the brick architecture they had inherited from their Asian origins and their passage in Persia: iwân with flat frames, pishtaks (large gateways), pointed arches, ogee vaults, and muqarnas.

This architecture is characterized by structural economy and a profusion of decorative elements. The hypostyle (pillared) mosque had quite varied plans: parallel arcades at Diyarbakir, Dunaysir, and Mardin, but perpendicular at Sivas, and vaults on intersecting arcades in the Ala al-Din Mosque at Nigde (1223). The madrasahs with a court closed by a dome (Cukur Madrasah in Tokat and the Karatay Madrasah in Konya), or open and framed by two or four iwāns (the Karatay madrasah in Antalya), tombs—turriform (türbe) or with a dome (kümbet)—, and the caravanserais (large lodges for caravans, with an enclosing wall, courtyard, and mosque) were then built in great numbers.

In the Maghreb and Spain, the reforming drive of the Almoravids and Almohads strongly influenced architecture, and associated austerity—in the work on the materials, which were mainly brick and stone—and a marked taste for ornamentation (elaborate decorations, polylobed aches, and muqarnas). The Quaraouiyin in Fez (1142), the Tinmal mosque (1153), and the Kutubiya mosque in Marrakech (1158) illustrate the continuation of T-plan mosques. And the square minaret originates from the Kairouan model (Kutubiya in Marrakech, and the Giralda in Seville).

In the middle of the thirteenth century, Islamic architecture was influenced by two major movements: the architecture of the Nasrids and the Marinids in the west, and, in the east, the architecture of the Mamluks. Architecture in Spain and Morocco was characterized by its ornamental richness. The Alhambra (1333–1391) is an excellent illustration of this decorative richness, with its muqarnas domes, carved stucco, openwork claustrae (mashrabiyya), architectural ceramics with strongly coloured geometric motifs, polylobed and festooned arches, and marquetry ceilings. This ornamental virtuosity was also characteristic of the construction of the Marinid madrasas (the Attarin, al-Sahrij, and Bu-Inaniya Madrasahs in Fez).

In Syria and Egypt, the Mamluks—while they were strongly influenced by Ayyubid architecture (careful arrangement of masonry, undecorated walls, the finesse of the decorations, and ablaq)—were also inspired by the architectural forms of their predecessors or contemporaries. These included the Crusaders of the Levant (siege architecture), the Persians (cruciform plan inspired by the madrasas with courtyards, and large iwāns), and the Seljuks (quality bonds and geometric decorations). The vitality and stability of the Mamluk regime encouraged the development of a strong architectural activity in many varied areas: religious edifices (the mosque of Hassan in Cairo, 1356–1362; madrasas of the sultan Hassan in Cairo, 1347–1361), funerals (mausoleums, the funerary complex of sultan Qaitbai in Cairo, 1472) and commercial buildings (al-Qatanin suq in Jerusalem, 1336; khan muqarnas. The facings, which were discrete and used little colour, were adorned with original decorations, wide epigraphic bands, or coats-of-arms. Yunis in Gaza, 1387; caravanserais). These edifices were characterized by their domes, fine minarets, and monumental entrances adorned with original decorations, wide epigraphic bands, or coats-of-arms.

With the domination of the Ottoman Empire in the sixteenth century—and despite its extent—there was concurrent development of a relatively homogenous architectural style, which satisfied new criteria for quality. Due to a troubled historical context, its architecture only stabilized after the capture of Constantinople (1453) and the discovery of Hagia Sophia. Indeed, while the first Ottoman mosques were pillared and crowned with small domes (Ulu Cami, Bursa and Eski Cami de Edirne), Ottoman architecture developed its characteristic form based on the Hagia Sophia model: a mosque with a central dome (Bayezid mosque, Istanbul, 1501–1506), in the middle of religious complexes (kulliyes) with many functions. The famous Sinan—under the patronage of Suleiman the Magnificent—gave the Ottoman mosques more grandiose proportions by augmenting the buttressing with lateral domes and creating more slender minarets. In his three masterpieces, the Sehzade Djami (1543), the Suleymaniye (1550) in Istanbul, and the Selimiye of Edirne (1570), Sinan optimized the omnipresent light, accentuated the architectural verticality, and refined the articulation of the proportions and outlines of the buildings, to create lighter and clearer spaces.

Despite influences from many traditions, Islamic architecture was in no way an aggregation of local or dynastic traditions. The architects managed to transcend inherited elements to create their own architectural aesthetics, and paid particular attention to ornamentation (combinations of colour, relief, and materials) based on recurrent architectonic elements (domes, columns, and arcades).

J. B.