Editing Byzantine architecture (section)

==Overview of extant monuments==
[[File:Istanbul_Hagia_Irene_IMG_8067_1920.jpg|thumb|280px|[[Hagia Irene]] is a former Greek [[Eastern Orthodox Church]] located in the outer courtyard of [[Topkapı Palace]] in Istanbul. It is the only Byzantine church in [[Istanbul]] that has not been converted into a mosque. The Hagia Irene today operates as a museum and concert hall.]]

Buildings increased in geometric [[Cruciform|complexity]], [[brick]] and plaster were used in addition to [[Rock (geology)|stone]] in the decoration of important public structures, [[classical orders]] were used more freely, [[mosaic]]s replaced carved decoration, complex [[dome]]s rested upon massive [[Pier (architecture)|piers]], and windows filtered light through thin sheets of [[alabaster]] to softly illuminate interiors. Most of the surviving structures are sacred, with secular buildings having been destroyed.

===Early architecture===
[[File:SantApollininner.jpg|thumb|left|The [[basilica]] of [[Sant'Apollinare Nuovo]] in [[Ravenna]] (6th century)]]
Prime examples of early Byzantine architecture date from the Emperor [[Justinian I]]'s reign and survive in [[Ravenna]] and Istanbul, as well as in [[Sofia]] (the [[Church of St Sophia, Sofia|Church of St Sophia]]). [[File:Basilica of Hagia Sofia, Bulgaria.jpg|thumb|left|[[Saint Sofia Church, Sofia|Saint Sofia Church, Bulgaria]], 6th century AD]] One of the great breakthroughs in the history of Western architecture occurred when Justinian's architects invented a complex system providing for a smooth transition from a square plan of the church to a circular dome (or domes) by means of [[pendentive]]s.

In Ravenna, the longitudinal [[basilica]] of [[Sant'Apollinare Nuovo]], and the octagonal, centralized structure of the church of [[Basilica of San Vitale|San Vitale]], commissioned by Emperor Justinian but never seen by him, was built. Justinian's monuments in Istanbul include the domed churches of [[Hagia Sophia]] and [[Hagia Irene]] (both discussed in more detail below), but there is also an earlier, smaller church of Saints Sergius and Bacchus (locally referred to as "[[Little Hagia Sophia]]"), which might have served as a model for both in that it combined the elements of a longitudinal basilica with those of a centralized building.

[[File:Millingen H Eirene section.svg|thumb|The 6th-century church of [[Hagia Irene]] in [[Istanbul]] was substantially rebuilt after an earthquake in the 8th century.]]

Other structures include the ruins of the [[Great Palace of Constantinople]], the innovative [[walls of Constantinople]] (with 192 towers) and [[Basilica Cistern]] (with hundreds of recycled classical columns). A mosaic in the church begun [[Ostrogoth|by the Ostrogoths]], San Apollinare in Nuovo in Ravenna, depicts an early Byzantine palace.

[[Hagios Demetrios]] in [[Thessaloniki]], [[Saint Catherine's Monastery]] on [[Mount Sinai]], [[Jvari (monastery)|Jvari Monastery]] in present-day [[Georgia (country)|Georgia]], and three [[Armenia]]n churches of [[Echmiadzin]] all date primarily from the 7th century and provide a glimpse on architectural developments in the Byzantine provinces following the age of Justinian.

Remarkable engineering feats include the 430 m long [[Sangarius Bridge]], the pointed arch of [[Karamagara Bridge]], as well as the dome of the Church of [[Hagia Sophia]].

=== Middle Byzantine architecture ===
In the [[Macedonian dynasty]], it is presumed that [[Basil I]]'s votive church of the [[Theotokos of the Pharos]] and the ''[[Nea Ekklesia]]'' (both no longer existent) served as a model for most [[cross-in-square]] sanctuaries of the period, including the [[Cattolica di Stilo]] in southern Italy (9th century), the monastery church of [[Hosios Lukas]] in Greece (c. 1000), [[Nea Moni of Chios]] (a pet project of [[Constantine IX]]), and the [[Daphni Monastery]] near [[Athens]] (c. 1050). All three of the later churches display the important shifts in architectural design that occurred following the end of Iconoclasm, when architectural design and decoration became more standardized.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Ousterhout |first=Robert |url=https://pressbooks.pub/smarthistoryguidetobyzantineart/chapter/middle-byzantine-church-architecture/ |title=Smarthistory Guide to Byzantine Art |date=2021 |publisher=Smarthistory |editor-last=Freeman |editor-first=Evan |chapter=Middle Byzantine Church Architecture}}</ref>

[[File:20090803 hosiosloukas36.jpg|thumb|upright|External view of the 11th-century monastery of [[Hosios Loukas]] in Greece. It is representative of the Byzantine art during the rule of the [[Macedonian dynasty]] ([[Macedonian art (Byzantine)|Macedonian art]])]]

[[File:St Sophia (Ohrid).jpg|thumb|left|Rear courtyard of [[Church of St. Sophia, Ohrid]], 9th century, [[First Bulgarian Empire]], now [[North Macedonia]]]]

The [[Church of St. Sophia, Ohrid|Hagia Sophia church]] in [[Ochrid]] (present-day [[North Macedonia]]), built in the [[First Bulgarian Empire]] in the time of [[Boris I of Bulgaria]], and [[Saint Sophia Cathedral in Kiev|eponymous cathedral]] in [[Kyiv|Kiev]]<!--See WP:KYIV--> (present-day [[Ukraine]]) testify to a vogue for multiple subsidiary domes set on drums, which would gain in height and narrowness with the progress of time.{{Citation needed | date=June 2019}}

==== Comnenian and Paleologan periods ====
In Istanbul and [[Asia Minor]] the architecture of the [[Komnenian period]] is almost non-existent, with the notable exceptions of the Elmali Kilise and other rock sanctuaries of [[Cappadocia]], and of the Churches of the [[Church of the Pantokrator (Constantinople)|Pantokrator]] and of the [[Kalenderhane Mosque|Theotokos Kyriotissa]] in Istanbul. Most examples of this architectural style and many of the other older Byzantine styles only survive on the outskirts of the Byzantine world, as most significant and ancient churches and buildings were in Asia Minor. During [[World War I]], almost all churches that ended up within the Turkish borders were destroyed or converted into mosques. Some were abandoned as a result of the [[Christian genocides|Greek and Christian genocides]] from 1915 to 1923. Similar styles can be found in countries such as [[Bulgaria]], [[Croatia]], [[North Macedonia]], [[Russia]], [[Serbia]] and other Slavic lands, as well as in [[Sicily]] ([[Cappella Palatina]]) and [[Veneto]] ([[St Mark's Basilica]], [[Torcello Cathedral]]).

In Middle Byzantine architecture "cloisonné masonry" refers to walls built with a regular mix of stone and [[brick]], often with more of the latter. The exterior of the 11th- or 12th-century [[Pammakaristos Church]] in [[Istanbul]] is an example, though it is even more renowned for Late Byzantine additions discussed below.

=== Late Byzantine architecture ===
The [[Paleologus|Paleologan]] period is well represented in a dozen former churches in Istanbul, notably [[Chora Church|St Saviour at Chora]] and [[Pammakaristos Church|St Mary Pammakaristos]]. Unlike their Slavic counterparts, the Paleologan architects never accented the vertical thrust of structures. As a result, the late medieval architecture of Byzantium (barring the [[Hagia Sophia, Trabzon|Hagia Sophia]] of [[Trabzon|Trebizond]]) is less prominent in height.

The [[Church of the Holy Apostles (Thessaloniki)]] is cited as an archetypal structure of the late period with its exterior walls intricately decorated with complex brickwork patterns or with glazed ceramics. Other churches from the years immediately predating the fall of Constantinople survive on [[Mount Athos]] and in [[Mystras|Mistra]] (e.g. [[Brontochion Monastery]]). That site also has preserved secular architecture such as the Palace of the Despots and several houses.  

In the late Byzantine period, c. 1310, a highly ornate [[Parecclesion|parekklesion]] was added to the [[Pammakaristos Church]] in Constantinople for the tomb of Michael Glabas Tarchaniotes, a Byzantine aristocrat and general who lived c. 1235 to c. 1305–08.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Ousterhout |first=Robert |url=https://pressbooks.pub/smarthistoryguidetobyzantineart/chapter/late-byzantine-church-architecture/ |title=Smarthistory Guide to Byzantine Art |date=2021 |editor-last=Freeman |editor-first=Evan |chapter=Late Byzantine Church Architecture}}</ref> It displays the attenuated proportions favored in the late Byzantine era, as well as shifts in style in the mosaics' treatment of figures.