10th-century Byzantine domes

The cross-in-square is the most common church plan from the 10th century until the fall of Constantinople in 1453.Rosser 2011 137 This type of plan, with four columns supporting the dome at the crossing, was best suited for domes less than 7 m us wide and, from the 10th to the 14th centuries, a typical Byzantine dome measured less than 6 m us in diameter. For domes beyond that width, variations in the plan were required such as using piers in place of the columns and incorporating further buttressing around the core of the building.Ousterhout 2008a 201–202 The distinctive rippling eaves design for the roofs of domes began in the 10th century. In mainland Greece, circular or octagonal drums became the most common.Krautheimer 1986 379 Constantinople thumb|right|alt=Interior of the Panagia church at the monastery of Hosios Loukas, showing the central dome supported on four columns|The Hosios Loukas Panagia church near Distomo, Greece In the Middle Byzantine period, more complex plans emerge, such as the integrated chapels of Theotokos of Lips, a monastic church in Constantinople that was built around 907. It included four small chapels on its second floor gallery level that may have been domed.Ousterhout 2008a 359 The palace chapel of the Myrelaion in Constantinople was built around 920 as a cross-in-square church and remains a good example.Ousterhout 2008a 359 Another example of a 10th century cross-in-square church in Constantinople is A. Ioannēs en tō Troullō.Higuchi Nasu 2019 534-536 John I Tzimiskes built a chapel with a dome and two semidomes near the Great Palace and dedicated to Christ the Savior. It may have been built on an elevated platform. It was demolished in 1804.Bartolomé 2026 24 Greece The earliest cross-in-square in Greece is the Panagia church at the monastery of Hosios Loukas, dated to the late 10th century, but variations of the type can be found from southern Italy to Russia and Anatolia. They served in a wide variety of church roles, including domestic, parish, monastic, palatial, and funerary.Ousterhout 2008a 359 Other examples of 10th century cross-in-square churches include the katholicon of the Great Lavra monastery, A. Germanos in Prespa bg Свети Герман (Герман), Panagia Panaxiotissa Church, Church of the Holy Apostles in Athens, the katholikon of Vatopedi monastery, the chapel of A. Dēmētrios at Vatopedi monastery, the katholikon of the Monastery of Iviron, the A. Ioannēs prod. chapel at the Monastery of Iviron, and the old katholikon of Xenophontos Monastery.Higuchi Nasu 2019 534-536 Cyprus A. Antonios in Kellia, Cyprus is a 10th century cross-in-square church.Higuchi Nasu 2019 534-536 Southern Italy In southern Italy, examples include the 8th or 10th century Tempietto di Seppannibale it Tempietto di Seppannibale, the 10th century church of San Giorgio dei Martiri it Chiesa di San Giorgio degli Armeni, and the 10th century church of San Pietro in Otranto it Chiesa di San Pietro (Otranto).Camerlenghi 2019 122 That southern Italy was reconquered and ruled by a Byzantine governor from about 970 to 1071 explains the relatively large number of small and rustic Middle Byzantine-style churches found there, including the Cattolica in Stilo and S. Marco in Rossano. Both are cross-in-square churches with five small domes on drums in a quincunx pattern and date either to the period of Byzantine rule or after.Krautheimer 1986 401-402 See also Domes List of Roman domes History of architecture References Citations 25em 20em Sources 35em Bartolomé Alfredo Calahorra 2026 The Great Palace Cambridge University Press Cambridge, England https://www.cambridge.org/core/elements/abs/great-palace/C0312B828AF9296A7BDC99D2ACBCD7C9 978-1-009675-512 10.1017/9781009675512 2514-3891 Camerlenghi Nicola 2019 The Millennial Gap in Dome Construction in Rome Gesta 58 2 103–135 University of Chicago Press 10.1086/704636 211439130 https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/abs/10.1086/704636?journalCode=ges subscription Higuchi Ryo Nasu Satoshi 2019 The derivation of cross-in-square churches in terms of their interior tectonic configuration: The genealogy of cross-in-square churches during the Middle Byzantine period (1) Japan Architectural Review 2 4 John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd on behalf of Architectural Institute of Japan 530–544 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/2475-8876.12116 10.1002/2475-8876.12116 free Krautheimer Richard 1986 Early Christian and Byzantine Architecture Yale University Press New Haven, CT 4th https://books.google.com/books?id=WXwX7fQ2DkUC 978-0-300-05294-7 Ousterhout Robert G. 2008 Master Builders of Byzantium University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology Philadelphia, PA paperback https://archive.org/details/masterbuildersof2008oust registration 978-1-934536-03-2 Ousterhout 2008a Rosser John H. 2011 Historical Dictionary of Byzantium Scarecrow Press Lanham, MD 2nd https://books.google.com/books?id=1AXBIPOJ9lgC 978-0-8108-7477-0 Category:Byzantine architecture Category:Domes Category:History of structural engineering