The ancient Roman Empire was divided into Eastern Rome (Byzantine) and the Western Roman Empire; European medieval architecture refers to the nearly 1,000 years from the fall of the Western Roman Empire to the Renaissance; European medieval art is mainly divided into three parts: Byzantine art, Roman style art, Gothic art. These three art forms all express religious art of Christian ideas, whether using paintings, glass or other various decorations, most of which are expressed in churches. Pay attention to decoration.

Byzantine architecture is the continuation of ancient Rome in the East

Early period (4th-6th century AD)

Middle period (7th-12th century AD)

Late period (13th-15th century AD)

1. Building type: The most important Byzantine architecture is religious architecture. In order to adapt to the needs of Orthodox rituals and combine with local traditions, the church formed local characteristics.

2. Structure: The main achievement of Byzantine architecture is the creation of a structural method to support the dome on four or more independent pillars, that is, the use of sail arches, which solves the problem of transition of the covered dome on a square plane.

3. Space: As a characteristic of Byzantine architecture, the new centralized church was created using the experience of Asia Minor, using a dome to cover a larger space. When a group of such domes are brought together, the space they cover forms a wide, varied and seemingly infinite space.

4. Plan: The plane of the church developed into a cross plane on the basis of the Basilica, that is, the Greek cross. Starting from the 9th century, churches with a Greek cross plane became the most common shape of Byzantine churches.

5. Appearance: The actual appearance is already determined by the internal space, which lacks expressiveness and does not use column colonnade.

6. Interior decoration: luxurious and gorgeous, with mosaic art and colorful mosaics reaching a high level.

7. Technology: It has been further developed based on the technology of Roman concrete domes and has its own characteristics.

1. Masonry method: erect four column piers at the four corners of the central square plane, and build four arches of the same size above them along the four sides of the square. Then, a dome with the diagonal diameter of the square plane is built between the four arches; then the dome is cut horizontally.

2. Definition: The remaining part of the spherical triangle located at the four corners between the horizontal cut and the four arches is called the sail arch.

3. Function: This structural system not only enables the perfect transition between the dome and the square plane, but also can transfer the load to the four column piers without the need for continuous load-bearing walls, completing a centralized composition under the dome's command.

Hagia Sophia of Tarsus in Constantinople

St. Mark's Basilica

St. Basil's Cathedral

1. Byzantine architecture brought together the experience of Roman architecture and the techniques of Eastern architecture, and developed its own unique architectural style;

2. He has made remarkable achievements in the dome structure, complex internal space composition and decoration;

3. In Byzantine architecture, the church is a focal point. Its appearance is simple, its interior is complex, and it has strong local characteristics;

4. All structures use an arch system, especially the practice of using sail arches to cover domes on a square or polygonal plane. Most of the windows are collective, which not only become the main light source for internal lighting, but also play a role as a foil. Colorful mosaics are commonly used indoors for decoration. The moldings and capitals have arbitrary changes on the classical basis;

5. Byzantine architecture had a certain influence on Italian Renaissance architecture and Russian architecture;

6. When the Arabs established an Islamic country, they learned many architectural experiences directly from Byzantium, which became an important part of Islamic architectural style.