ARCHITECTURE, CHURCH

ARCHITECTURE, CHURCH. The house-church at Dura-Europas (ca. 200–250) is the oldest one yet discovered. The earliest Christians worshiped secretly in both houses and catacombs, and no distinctive architecture seems to have been developed until Christianity became the official religion of the Empire. Even then, the early (Christian) basilica design (drawings #1, #2) employed in the construction of the Constantinian churches was largely adoptive and is called the “long design.” Simultaneously, the adoptive round or polygonal domed church (drawings #3, #4), technically termed the “central-plan design,” was constructed by Constantinian imperial patrons. The focuses of the two designs are radically different. Apparent from the drawings, one can see that the basilica design draws attention to the transept and apse at one end, while the round domed design focuses toward the center.

New and original designs appeared in the next few centuries with cruciform exterior shapes (drawing #7), and notably with a dome sprung off four reinforced columns (drawings #5, #6) in a transformed basilica-type construction. This evolved into a domed cruciform design, whether the cross was the shape of the exterior walls or only inscribed within rectangular basilica walls. Russian churches (drawing #8) largely followed Byzantine floor plans, but with the significant addition of cupolas of varying types. Although the drums and “onion domes” are primarily an exterior aesthetic feature that beautifully blossom in flat terrain and expansive sky, they are also well-suited to handle the heavy snow loads of the northern climes.

Identifying the function of interior areas of ancient and modern churches is relatively easy, if one keeps in mind the fact that the architectural structures follow liturgical function and not vice versa. Classically churches, East and West, are internally divided into three parts, the narthex or vestibule, the nave or main body, and the altar area at the east end, apsed at the high place or easternmost niche. A baptistry, permanent or portable, is frequently found in the narthex or forecourt (atrium), since these areas are associated with teaching, penance, and Baptism (qq.v.). The nave is not only the place “where the believers stand,” but the central place of liturgy (q.v.) other than the altar. In the pontifical Divine Liturgy the bishop begins the service in the nave, and during daily services frequently stands or sits on his throne in the southeast corner of the nave, the altar being used only minimally. The wall separating the nave from the altar area is the iconostasis (q.v.), which may range from an ornate railing to a full wall, ceiling to floor, covered with icons (q.v.).

The altar area is partitioned into three parts. The bema or central part is the altar proper, with the ambo in front and the apse and high place behind the square table. The prothesis (preparation of the bread and wine) is the name of the room north of the bema, and the procession of the Holy Gifts in the Great Entrance proceeds from this room to the bema; but frequently the prothesis table is moved into the bema proper and the procession is correspondingly adjusted. The north altar room may also be used to collect food for the poor, as a reliquary, etc. The south altar room is the diaconicon, a sacristy for the servers, vestments, and liturgical utensils (qq.v.). (See Icon; Iconostasis; Liturgical Utensils.)

Architecture Drawing #1

Architecture Drawing #2

DRAWINGS: 1. Interior of the Constantinian basilica (i.e., long church), Church of the Nativity, Bethlehem, A.D. 326. 2. Conjectural elevation of Constantinian basilica, Old St. Peter’s, Rome, ca. A.D. 333. 3. Central plan church, Santa Costanza, Rome, ca. A.D. 350. 4. Cross section of Santa Costanza. 5. Byzantine foundations indicating floor plan of Hagia Sophia (q.v.), 532–537, Architects Anthemius of Tralles and Isidorus of Miletus. 6. Domed basilica, Hagia Sophia, combining long and central plan; the dome is sprung from pendentives (i.e., dome-on-dome construction). 7. Central plan dome with cruciform basilica influence, Mausoleum of Galla Placidia, Ravenna, A.D. 425–450; first successful example of combining the long and central plan. 8. Square plan Russian church enclosing a Greek cross with a large dome at the cross’s center; cupolas (onion domes) adorn the roof like great candle flames, helping to bear the snow load.