Editing Basilica

{{short description|Type of building in classical and church architecture}}
{{About|a form of building|the designation "basilica" in canon law|Basilicas in the Catholic Church| the Byzantine code of law|Basilika|the genus of moth|Basilica (moth)|other uses}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2020}}
[[File:BasilicaSemproniaReconstruction.jpg|thumb|Digital reconstruction of the 2nd century BC [[Basilica Sempronia]], in the [[Forum Romanum]]]]
[[File:Basilica Ulpia J Guadet 1867.jpg|thumb|19th century reconstruction of the 2nd century AD [[Basilica Ulpia]], part of the [[Trajan's Forum]], Rome]]
[[File:Երերույքի Տաճար 05.jpg|thumb|Ruins of [[Yererouk]] basilica 4th–5th century AD]]
[[File:Byzantine church of Mushraba Syria.jpg|thumb|Ruins of the late 5th century AD basilica at Mushabbak, Syria]]
[[File:Vitruvius the Ten Books on Architecture Basilica at Fano.png|thumb|Reconstruction of the basilica at [[Fano]] from a [[:Wikisource:Ten Books on Architecture/Book V|description]] by its architect [[Vitruvius]]|alt=]]{{Use British English|date=April 2011}}

In [[Ancient Roman architecture]], a '''basilica''' (Greek '''Basiliké''') was a large public building with multiple functions that was typically built alongside the town's [[Forum (Roman)|forum]]. The basilica was in the [[Latin West]] equivalent to a [[stoa]] in the Greek East. The building gave its name to the ''basilica'' [[architectural form]].

Originally, a basilica was an [[ancient Roman architecture|ancient Roman]] public building, where courts were held, as well as serving other official and public functions. Basilicas are typically rectangular buildings with a central [[nave]] flanked by two or more longitudinal [[aisle]]s, with the roof at two levels, being higher in the centre over the [[nave]] to admit a [[clerestory]] and lower over the side-aisles. An [[apse]] at one end, or less frequently at both ends or on the side, usually contained the raised [[Tribune (architecture)|tribunal]] occupied by the [[Roman magistrate]]s. The basilica was centrally located in every Roman town, usually adjacent to the forum and often opposite a temple in imperial-era forums.<ref>Henig, Martin (ed.), ''A Handbook of Roman Art'', Phaidon, p. 55, 1983, {{ISBN|0714822140}}; Sear, F. B., "Architecture, 1, a) Religious", section in Diane Favro, et al. "Rome, ancient." Grove Art Online. [[Oxford Art Online]]. Oxford University Press. Retrieved 26 March 2016, [http://www.oxfordartonline.com/subscriber/article/grove/art/T073405pg3 subscription required]</ref> Basilicas were also built in private residences and imperial palaces and were known as "palace basilicas".

In [[late antiquity]], [[Church (building)|church buildings]] were typically constructed either as [[Martyrium|martyria]], or with a basilica's architectural plan. A number of monumental Christian basilicas were constructed during the latter reign of [[Constantine the Great]]. In the [[First Council of Nicaea|post Nicene]] period, basilicas became a standard model for Christian spaces for congregational [[worship]] throughout the [[Mediterranean Basin|Mediterranean]] and [[Europe]]. From the early 4th century, Christian basilicas, along with their associated [[catacombs]], were used for [[burial]] of the dead.

By extension, the name was later applied to Christian [[Church (building)|churches]] that adopted the same basic plan. It continues to be used in an architectural sense to describe rectangular buildings with a central [[nave]] and [[Aisle#Church architecture|aisle]]s, and usually a raised platform at the end opposite the door. In Europe and the Americas, the basilica remained the most common architectural style for churches of all Christian denominations, though this building plan has become less dominant in buildings constructed since the late 20th century.

The [[Catholic Church]] has come to use [[Basilicas in the Catholic Church|the term]] to refer to its especially historic churches, without reference to the [[architectural form]].

== Origins ==
[[File:Basilika (Pompeji).jpg|thumb|Remains of the Basilica of Pompeii, interior (120 BC)]]
[[File:Pompei (28968934492).jpg|thumb|Basilica of Pompeii, tribunal]]
The Latin word ''[[wikt:basilica#latin|basilica]]'' derives from {{Langx|grc|βασιλικὴ στοά|lit=royal ''stoa''|translit=basilikḗ stoá}}. The first known basilica—the [[Basilica Porcia]] in the [[Roman Forum]]—was constructed in 184&nbsp;BC by [[Cato the Elder|Marcus Porcius Cato (the Elder)]].<ref name=":0" /> After the construction of Cato the Elder's basilica, the term came to be applied to any large covered hall, whether it was used for domestic purposes, was a commercial space, a military structure, or religious building.<ref name=":0">{{Citation|title=basilica|year=2007|url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780192801463.001.0001/acref-9780192801463-e-314|work=The Oxford Dictionary of the Classical World|editor-last=Roberts|editor-first=John|publisher=Oxford University Press|language=en|doi=10.1093/acref/9780192801463.001.0001|isbn=978-0-19-280146-3|url-access=subscription}}</ref>

The plays of [[Plautus]] suggest that basilica buildings may have existed prior to Cato's building. The plays were composed between 210 and 184 BC and refer to a building that might be identified with the ''Atrium Regium''.<ref name=":2">{{Citation|last=Dumser|first=Elisha Ann|title=Basilica|year=2010|url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780195170726.001.0001/acref-9780195170726-e-164|encyclopedia=The Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Greece and Rome|editor-last=Gagarin|editor-first=Michael|publisher=Oxford University Press|language=en|doi=10.1093/acref/9780195170726.001.0001|isbn=978-0-19-517072-6|url-access=subscription}}</ref> Another early example is the basilica at [[Pompeii]] (late 2nd century&nbsp;BC). Inspiration may have come from prototypes like [[Athens]]'s [[Stoa Basileios]] or the [[hypostyle]] hall on [[Delos]], but the [[architectural form]] is most derived from the audience halls in the royal palaces of the [[Diadochi]] kingdoms of the [[Hellenistic period]]. These rooms were typically a high nave flanked by colonnades.<ref name=":2" />

These basilicas were rectangular, typically with central nave and aisles, usually with a slightly raised platform and an apse at each of the two ends, adorned with a statue perhaps of the emperor, while the entrances were from the long sides.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=Te2dAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA117 ''The Oxford Dictionary of Christian Art and Architecture''] (2013 {{ISBN|978-0-19968027-6}}), p. 117</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sacredarchitecture.org/articles/the_eschatological_dimension_of_church_architecture|title=The Institute for Sacred Architecture – Articles – The Eschatological Dimension of Church Architecture|website=sacredarchitecture.org}}</ref> The Roman ''basilica'' was a large public building where business or legal matters could be transacted. {{Clarify span|As early as the time of [[Augustus]], a public basilica for transacting business had been part of any settlement that considered itself a city, used in the same way as the covered market houses of late medieval northern Europe, where the meeting room, for lack of urban space, was set ''above'' the arcades, however.|date=June 2020}}{{Citation needed|date=June 2020}} Although their form was variable, basilicas often contained interior [[colonnade]]s that divided the space, giving aisles or arcaded spaces on one or both sides, with an apse at one end (or less often at each end), where the magistrates sat, often on a slightly raised [[dais]]. The central aisle {{En dash}} the nave {{En dash}} tended to be wider and taller than the flanking aisles, so that light could penetrate through the [[clerestory]] windows.{{Citation needed|date=June 2020}}

In the late Republican era, basilicas were increasingly monumental; [[Julius Caesar]] replaced the Basilica Sempronia with his own [[Basilica Julia]], dedicated in 46 BC, while the Basilica Aemilia was rebuilt around 54 BC in so spectacular a fashion that [[Pliny the Elder]] wrote that it was among the most beautiful buildings in the world (it was simultaneously renamed the ''Basilica Paulli''). Thereafter until the 4th century AD, monumental basilicas were routinely constructed at Rome by both private citizens and the emperors. These basilicas were reception halls and grand spaces in which élite persons could impress guests and visitors, and could be attached to a large country [[Roman villa|''villa'']] or an urban ''[[domus]]''. They were simpler and smaller than were civic basilicas, and can be identified by inscriptions or their position in the archaeological context. [[Domitian]] constructed a basilica on the [[Palatine Hill]] for his imperial residential complex around 92 AD, and a palatine basilica was typical in imperial palaces throughout the imperial period.<ref name=":2"/>

== Roman Republic ==
[[File:Giuliano da Sangallo Rilievo della Basilica Emilia 1480.jpg|thumb|Remains of the 2nd century BC Basilica Aemilia by [[Giuliano da Sangallo]] in the 15th century AD]]
Long, rectangular basilicas with internal [[peristyle]] became a quintessential element of Roman [[urbanism]], often forming the architectural background to the city forum and used for diverse purposes.<ref name=":18">{{Citation|last=Donati|first=Jamieson C.|title=The City in the Greek and Roman World|date=4 November 2014|url=http://www.oxfordhandbooks.com/view/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199783304.001.0001/oxfordhb-9780199783304-e-011|work=The Oxford Handbook of Greek and Roman Art and Architecture|editor-last=Marconi|editor-first=Clemente|edition=online|publisher=Oxford University Press|doi=10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199783304.013.011|isbn=978-0-19-978330-4|url-access=subscription}}</ref> Beginning with Cato in the early second century BC, politicians of the [[Roman Republic]] competed with one another by building basilicas bearing their names in the [[Forum Romanum]], the centre of [[History of Rome|ancient Rome]]. Outside the city, basilicas symbolised the influence of Rome and became a ubiquitous fixture of Roman {{Lang|la|[[Colonia (Roman)|coloniae]]}} of the late Republic from {{Circa|100 BC}}. The earliest surviving basilica is the basilica of [[Pompeii]], built 120 BC.<ref name=":18"/> Basilicas were the administrative and commercial centres of major Roman settlements: the "quintessential architectural expression of Roman administration".<ref name=":25"/> Adjoining it there were normally various offices and rooms housing the ''curia'' and a shrine for the [[tutela]].<ref name=":1">{{Citation|last=Darvill|first=Timothy|title=basilica|year=2009|url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780199534043.001.0001/acref-9780199534043-e-400|work=The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Archaeology|publisher=Oxford University Press|language=en|doi=10.1093/acref/9780199534043.001.0001|isbn=978-0-19-953404-3|url-access=subscription}}</ref> Like [[Thermae|Roman public baths]], basilicas were commonly used as venues for the display of honorific statues and other sculptures, complementing the outdoor public spaces and thoroughfares.<ref name=":242"/>

Beside the Basilica Porcia on the ''Forum Romanum'', the [[Basilica Aemilia]] was built in 179 BC, and the [[Basilica Sempronia]] in 169 BC.<ref name=":2" /> In the Republic two types of basilica were built across Italy in the mid-2nd to early 1st centuries BC: either they were nearly square as at [[Fanum Fortunae]], designed by [[Vitruvius]], and [[Cosa]], with a 3:4 width-length ratio; or else they were more rectangular, as Pompeii's basilica, whose ratio is 3:7.<ref>Vitruvius, ''De architectura'', V:1.6–10</ref><ref name=":2"/>

The basilica at [[Ephesus]] is typical of the basilicas in the Roman East, which usually have a very elongated footprint and a ratio between 1:5 and 1:9, with open porticoes facing the ''[[agora]]'' (the Hellenic forum); this design was influenced by the existing tradition of long ''stoae'' in Hellenistic [[Asia (Roman province)|Asia]].<ref name=":2" /> Provinces in the west lacked this tradition, and the basilicas the Romans commissioned there were more typically Italian, with the central nave divided from the side-aisles by an internal colonnade in regular proportions.<ref name=":2"/>
[[File:Efes (Ephesos) - panoramio - Yağmur Aydın (7).jpg|thumb|Ruins of the Basilica-''stoa'' at Ephesus]]
[[File:Tunis Carthage Musée 2.jpg|thumb|Model of the Antonine basilica on [[Byrsa]] Hill, Carthage]]
[[File:Basílica Baelo 002.jpg|thumb|Ruins of the Trajanic basilica at [[Baelo Claudia]]]]
[[File:Leptis Magna, Al-Khums, Libya 4.jpg|thumb|Ruins of the Severan basilica at [[Leptis Magna]]]]
[[File:P1040656 (3).jpg|thumb|Ruins of the basilica at [[Volubilis]], 217/'8. (After [[anastylosis]])]]

== Early Empire ==
Beginning with the [[Forum of Caesar]] ({{Langx|la|forum Iulium|links=no}}) at the end of the Roman Republic, the centre of Rome was embellished with a series of [[imperial fora]] typified by a large open space surrounded by a peristyle, honorific statues of the imperial family ({{Langx|la|[[gens]]|label=none}}), and a basilica, often accompanied by other facilities like a [[Roman temple|temple]], [[market halls]] and [[public libraries]].<ref name=":18" /> In the imperial period, statues of the emperors with inscribed dedications were often installed near the basilicas' tribunals, as Vitruvius recommended. Examples of such dedicatory inscriptions are known from basilicas at [[Lucus Feroniae]] and [[Veleia (Italy)|Veleia]] in Italy and at [[Cuicul]] in [[Africa Proconsolaris]], and inscriptions of all kinds were visible in and around basilicas.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Hurlet |first=Frédéric |date=6 January 2015 |chapter=The Roman Emperor and the Imperial Family |chapter-url=http://oxfordhandbooks.com/view/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780195336467.001.0001/oxfordhb-9780195336467-e-010 |editor-last=Bruun |editor-first=Christer |editor-last2=Edmondson |editor-first2=Jonathan |title=The Oxford Handbook of Roman Epigraphy |edition=Online |publisher=Oxford University Press |volume=1 |pages=178–201 |language=en |doi=10.1093/oxfordhb/9780195336467.013.010 |isbn=978-0-19-533646-7}}</ref>

At Ephesus the basilica-''stoa'' had two storeys and three aisles and extended the length of the civic ''agora''<nowiki/>'s north side, complete with colossal statues of the emperor Augustus and his imperial family.<ref name=":25" />

The remains of a large subterranean [[Neopythagorean]] basilica dating from the 1st century AD were found near the [[Porta Maggiore]] in Rome in 1917, and is known as the [[Porta Maggiore Basilica]].{{Citation needed|date=June 2020}}<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Bagnani|first=Gilbert|date=1919|title=The Subterranean Basilica at Porta Maggiore |url=https://doi.org/10.2307/295990|journal=The Journal of Roman Studies|volume=9|pages=78–85|doi=10.2307/295990 |jstor=295990 |s2cid=163868898 |url-access=subscription}}</ref>

After its destruction in 60 AD, [[Londinium]] ([[London]]) was endowed with its first forum and basilica under the [[Flavian dynasty]].<ref name=":16">{{Cite book|last=Merrifield|first=Ralph|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=39wl2I48e7kC&pg=PA61|title=London, City of the Romans|publisher=University of California Press|year=1983|isbn=978-0-520-04922-2|location=Berkeley and Los Angeles|pages=61–67|language=en}}</ref> The basilica delimited the northern edge of the forum with typical nave, aisles, and a tribunal, but with an atypical semi-basement at the western side.<ref name=":16" /> Unlike in [[Gaul]], basilica-forum complexes in [[Roman Britain]] did not usually include a temple; instead a shrine was usually inside the basilica itself.<ref name=":16" /> At Londinium however, there was probably no temple at all attached to the original basilica, but instead a contemporary temple was constructed nearby.<ref name=":16" /> Later, in 79 AD, an inscription commemorated the completion of the {{Convert|385 x 120|foot|m|abbr=}} basilica at [[Verulamium]] ([[St Albans]]) under the governor [[Gnaeus Julius Agricola]]; by contrast the first basilica at Londinium was only {{Convert|148 x 75|feet|m|abbr=}}.<ref name=":16" /> The smallest known basilica in Britain was built by the [[Silures]] at [[Caerwent]] and measured {{Convert|180 x 100|feet|m|abbr=}}.<ref name=":16" />

When Londinium became a {{lang|la|[[Colonia (Roman)|colonia]]}}, the whole city was re-planned and a new great forum-basilica complex erected, larger than any in Britain.<ref name=":24">{{Cite book|last=Merrifield|first=Ralph|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=39wl2I48e7kC&pg=PA63|title=London, City of the Romans|publisher=University of California Press|year=1983|isbn=978-0-520-04922-2|location=Berkeley and Los Angeles|pages=68–72|language=en}}</ref> Londinium's basilica, more than {{Convert|500|feet|m|abbr=}} long, was the largest north of the [[Alps]] and a similar length to the modern [[St Paul's Cathedral]].<ref name=":24" /> Only the later basilica-forum complex at [[Treverorum]] was larger, while at Rome only the {{Convert|525|foot|m|abbr=}} Basilica Ulpia exceeded London's in size.<ref name=":24" /> It probably had arcaded, rather than [[Post and lintel|trabeate]], aisles, and a double row of square offices on the northern side, serving as the administrative centre of the {{lang|la|colonia}}, and its size and splendour probably indicate an imperial decision to change the administrative capital of Britannia to Londinium from [[Camulodunum]] ([[Colchester]]), as all provincial capitals were designated ''coloniae''.<ref name=":24" /> In 300 Londinium's basilica was destroyed as a result of the rebellion led by the ''[[Augustus (title)|Augustus]]'' of the break-away [[Britannic Empire]], [[Carausius]].<ref>{{Cite web|last=Johnson|first=Ben|title=The Remains of London's Roman Basilica and Forum|url=https://www.historic-uk.com/HistoryMagazine/DestinationsUK/Londons-Roman-Basilica-Forum/|access-date=2020-06-29|website=Historic UK|language=en-GB}}</ref> Remains of the great basilica and its arches were discovered during the construction of [[Leadenhall Market]] in the 1880s.<ref name=":24" />

At [[Corinth]] in the 1st century AD, a new basilica was constructed in on the east side of the forum.<ref name=":25">{{Citation|last=Davis|first=Thomas W.|title=New Testament Archaeology Beyond the Gospels|url=http://oxfordhandbooks.com/view/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199369041.001.0001/oxfordhb-9780199369041-e-34|work=The Oxford Handbook of Early Christian Archaeology|pages=45–63|year=2019|editor-last=Caraher|editor-first=William R.|publisher=Oxford University Press|language=en|doi=10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199369041.013.34|isbn=978-0-19-936904-1|editor2-last=Davis|editor2-first=Thomas W.|editor3-last=Pettegrew|editor3-first=David K.|url-access=subscription}}</ref> It was possibly inside the basilica that [[Paul the Apostle]], according to the ''[[Acts of the Apostles]]'' ([[Acts 18|''Acts'' 18:12–17]]) was investigated and found innocent by the [[Suffect Consul]] [[Lucius Junius Gallio Annaeanus]], the brother of [[Seneca the Younger]], after charges were brought against him by members of the local [[Jewish diaspora]].<ref name=":25" /> Modern tradition instead associates the incident with an open-air inscribed ''[[bema]]'' in the forum itself.<ref name=":25" />

The emperor [[Trajan]] constructed his own imperial forum in Rome accompanied by his [[Basilica Ulpia]] dedicated in 112.<ref name=":30" /><ref name=":2" /> [[Trajan's Forum]] ({{Langx|la|forum Traiani|links=no}}) was separated from the [[Temple of Trajan]], the [[Ulpian Library]], and his famous [[Trajan's Column|Column]] depicting the [[Trajan's Dacian Wars|Dacian Wars]] by the Basilica.<ref name=":30">{{Citation|last=Campbell|first=John Brian|title=Trajan|url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780198706779.001.0001/acref-9780198706779-e-640|work=The Oxford Companion to Classical Civilization|year=2014|editor-last=Hornblower|editor-first=Simon|others=Eidinow, Esther (asst ed.)|edition=2nd|publisher=Oxford University Press|language=en|doi=10.1093/acref/9780198706779.001.0001|isbn=978-0-19-870677-9|editor2-last=Spawforth|editor2-first=Antony|url-access=subscription}}</ref><ref name=":2" /> It was an especially grand example whose particular symmetrical arrangement with an apse at both ends was repeated in the provinces as a characteristic form.<ref name=":2" /> To improve the quality of the [[Roman concrete]] used in the Basilica Ulpia, volcanic [[scoria]] from the [[Bay of Naples]] and [[Mount Vesuvius]] were imported which, though heavier, was stronger than the [[pumice]] available closer to Rome.<ref name=":23">{{Cite web|last=Lancaster|first=Lynne|editor-last=Oleson|editor-first=John Peter|title=Roman Engineering and Construction|url=https://www.oxfordhandbooks.com/view/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199734856.001.0001/oxfordhb-9780199734856-e-11|website=The Oxford Handbook of Engineering and Technology in the Classical World|year=2009|language=en|doi=10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199734856.001.0001|isbn=9780199734856}}</ref> The Bailica Ulpia is probably an early example of [[Tie rod|tie bars]] to restrain the lateral thrust of the [[barrel vault]] resting on a colonnade; both tie-bars and scoria were used in contemporary work at the [[Baths of Trajan]] and later the Hadrianic domed vault of the [[Pantheon, Rome|Pantheon]].<ref name=":23" />

In early 123, the [[Augusta (title)|''augusta'']] and widow of the emperor Trajan, [[Pompeia Plotina]] died. [[Hadrian]], successor to Trajan, [[Deified Roman emperor|deified]] her and had a basilica constructed in her honour in southern [[Gaul]].<ref>{{Citation|last1=Birley|first1=Anthony R.|title=Hadrian|url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780198706779.001.0001/acref-9780198706779-e-302|work=The Oxford Companion to Classical Civilization|year=2014|editor-last=Hornblower|editor-first=Simon|others=Eidinow, Esther (asst ed.)|edition=2nd|publisher=Oxford University Press|language=en|doi=10.1093/acref/9780198706779.001.0001|isbn=978-0-19-870677-9|last2=Hornblower|first2=Simon|last3=Spawforth|first3=Antony|editor2-last=Spawforth|editor2-first=Antony|url-access=subscription}}</ref>

The [[Basilica Hilariana]] (built {{Circa|145–155}}) was designed for the use of the cult of [[Cybele]].<ref name=":2" />

The largest basilica built outside Rome was that built under the [[Antonine dynasty]] on the [[Byrsa]] hill in [[Carthage]].<ref name=":10">{{Citation|last1=Weech|first1=William Nassau|title=Carthage|url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780198706779.001.0001/acref-9780198706779-e-127|work=The Oxford Companion to Classical Civilization|year=2014|editor-last=Hornblower|editor-first=Simon|others=Eidinow, Esther (asst ed.)|edition=2nd|publisher=Oxford University Press|language=en|doi=10.1093/acref/9780198706779.001.0001|isbn=978-0-19-870677-9|last2=Warmington|first2=Brian Herbert|last3=Wilson|first3=Roger J. A.|editor2-last=Spawforth|editor2-first=Antony|url-access=subscription}}</ref> The basilica was built together with a forum of enormous size and was contemporary with a great complex of public baths and a new aqueduct system running for {{Convert|82|mile|km|abbr=}}, then the longest in the Roman Empire.<ref name=":10" />

The basilica at [[Leptis Magna]], built by the [[Septimius Severus]] a century later in about 216 is a notable 3rd century AD example of the traditional type, most notable among the works influenced by the Basilica Ulpia.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":2" /> The basilica at Leptis was built mainly of [[limestone]] [[ashlar]], but the apses at either end were only limestone in the outer sections and built largely of [[rubble masonry]] faced with brick, with a number of decorative panels in ''[[opus reticulatum]]''.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Wilson|first=Andrew I.|year=2003|title=Opus reticulatum panels in the Severan Basilica at Lepcis Magna|url=https://www.academia.edu/435555|journal=Quaderni di Archeologia della Libya|volume=18|pages=369–379}}</ref> The basilica stood in a new forum and was accompanied by a programme of Severan works at Leptis including ''thermae'', a new harbour, and a public fountain.<ref name=":18" /> At [[Volubilis]], principal city of [[Mauretania Tingitana]], a basilica modelled on Leptis Magna's was completed during the short reign of [[Macrinus]].<ref>{{Cite book|last=Rogerson|first=Barnaby|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=89pTDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT283|title=In Search of Ancient North Africa: A History in Six Lives|publisher=Haus Publishing|year=2018|isbn=978-1-909961-55-5|location=London|pages=283|language=en}}</ref>

=== Basilicas in the Roman Forum ===
[[File:Defaced bust of Augustus - Ephesus Museum.jpg|thumb|Bust of [[Augustus]] from the basilica-''stoa'' of [[Ephesus]], defaced with a [[Christian cross]]<ref name=":242">{{Citation|last=Kristensen|first=Troels Myrup|title=Statues|url=http://oxfordhandbooks.com/view/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199369041.001.0001/oxfordhb-9780199369041-e-19|work=The Oxford Handbook of Early Christian Archaeology|year=2019|pages=332–349|editor-last=Caraher|editor-first=William R.|publisher=Oxford University Press|language=en|doi=10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199369041.013.19|isbn=978-0-19-936904-1|editor2-last=Davis|editor2-first=Thomas W.|editor3-last=Pettegrew|editor3-first=David K.|url-access=subscription}}</ref>]]
* Basilica Porcia: first basilica built in Rome (184 BC), erected on the personal initiative and financing of the censor Marcus Porcius Cato (Cato the Elder) as an official building for the [[tribune of the plebs|tribunes of the plebs]]
* [[Basilica Aemilia]], built by the censor [[Marcus Aemilius Lepidus (consul 187 BC)|Aemilius Lepidus]] in 179&nbsp;BC
* [[Basilica Sempronia]], built by the censor [[Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus (consul 177 BC)|Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus]] in 169&nbsp;BC
* [[Basilica Opimia]], erected probably by the consul [[Lucius Opimius]] in 121&nbsp;BC, at the same time that he restored the [[temple of Concord]] (Platner, Ashby 1929)
* [[Basilica Julia]], initially dedicated in 46 BC by [[Julius Caesar]] and completed by Augustus 27 BC to AD 14
* [[Basilica Argentaria]], erected under [[Trajan]], emperor from AD 98 to 117
* [[Basilica of Maxentius and Constantine]] (built between AD 308 and 312)

== Late antiquity ==
[[File:DSC 0272 Eufrazijeva bazilika.jpg|thumb|[[Euphrasian Basilica]], [[Poreč]], mid-6th century]]
[[File:Thessiloniki -- Church of the Acheiropoietos 04.jpg|thumb|222x222px|Church of the Acheiropoietos's arcaded single side aisles]]
[[File:Bethlehem-Nativity-132.jpg|thumb|Church of the Nativity's trabeate doubled side aisles]]
[[File:RP08546 (7831627328).jpg|thumb|Ruins of the domestic basilica at the ''[[Villa Romana del Casale]]'', [[Piazza Armerina]], 4th century]]
The aisled-hall plan of the basilica was adopted by a number of religious cults in [[late antiquity]].<ref name=":0"/> At [[Sardis]], a [[Sardis Synagogue|monumental basilica]] housed the city's [[synagogue]], serving the local [[Jewish diaspora]].<ref>{{Citation|last=Goodman|first=Martin David|title=synagogue|url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780198706779.001.0001/acref-9780198706779-e-608|work=The Oxford Companion to Classical Civilization|year=2014|editor-last=Hornblower|editor-first=Simon|others=Eidinow, Esther (asst ed.)|edition=2nd|publisher=Oxford University Press|language=en|doi=10.1093/acref/9780198706779.001.0001|isbn=978-0-19-870677-9|editor2-last=Spawforth|editor2-first=Antony|url-access=subscription}}</ref> New religions like Christianity required space for congregational worship, and the basilica was adapted by the early Church for worship.<ref name=":1"/> Because they were able to hold large number of people, basilicas were adopted for Christian liturgical use after [[Constantine the Great]]. The early churches of Rome were basilicas with an apsidal tribunal and used the same construction techniques of columns and timber roofing.<ref name=":0"/>

At the start of the 4th century at Rome there was a change in burial and [[Funeral|funerary]] practice, moving away from earlier preferences for inhumation in cemeteries {{En dash}} popular from the 2nd and 3rd centuries AD {{En dash}} to the newer practice of burial in [[Catacombs of Rome|catacombs]] and inhumation inside Christian basilicas themselves.<ref>{{Citation|last=Morris|first=Ian|title=dead, disposal of|url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780198706779.001.0001/acref-9780198706779-e-194|work=The Oxford Companion to Classical Civilization|year=2014|editor-last=Hornblower|editor-first=Simon|others=Eidinow, Esther (asst ed.)|edition=2nd|publisher=Oxford University Press|language=en|doi=10.1093/acref/9780198706779.001.0001|isbn=978-0-19-870677-9|editor2-last=Spawforth|editor2-first=Antony|url-access=subscription}}</ref> Conversely, new basilicas often were erected on the site of existing early Christian cemeteries and ''martyria'', related to the belief in [[Resurrection of Jesus|Bodily Resurrection]], and the cult of the sacred dead became monumentalised in basilica form.<ref name=":26"/> Traditional civic basilicas and ''[[Bouleuterion|bouleuteria]]'' declined in use with the weakening of the [[curial class]] ({{Langx|la|curiales|links=no}}) in the 4th and 5th centuries, while their structures were well suited to the requirements of congregational liturgies.<ref name=":26">{{Citation|last=Talloen|first=Peter|title=Asia Minor|url=http://oxfordhandbooks.com/view/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199369041.001.0001/oxfordhb-9780199369041-e-24|work=The Oxford Handbook of Early Christian Archaeology|pages=494–513|year=2019|editor-last=Caraher|editor-first=William R.|publisher=Oxford University Press|language=en|doi=10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199369041.013.24|isbn=978-0-19-936904-1|editor2-last=Davis|editor2-first=Thomas W.|editor3-last=Pettegrew|editor3-first=David K.|url-access=subscription}}</ref> The conversion of these types of buildings into Christian basilicas was also of symbolic significance, asserting the dominance of Christianity and supplanting the old political function of public space and the city-centre with an emphatic Christian social statement.<ref name=":26"/> Traditional monumental civic amenities like [[Gymnasium (ancient Greece)|''gymnasia'']], [[Palaestra|''palaestrae'']], and ''thermae'' were also falling into disuse, and became favoured sites for the construction of new churches, including basilicas.<ref name=":26"/>

Under Constantine, the basilica became the most prestigious style of church building, was "normative" for church buildings by the end of the 4th century, and were ubiquitous in western Asia, North Africa, and most of Europe by the close of the 7th century.<ref name=":172" /> Christians also continued to hold services in synagogues, houses, and gardens, and continued practising [[baptism]] in rivers, ponds, and Roman bathhouses.<ref name=":172" /><ref name=":17" />

The development of Christian basilicas began even before Constantine's reign: a 3rd-century [[Mudbrick|mud-brick]] house at [[Aqaba]] had become a Christian church and was rebuilt as a basilica.<ref name=":172">{{Cite web|last=Stewart|first=Charles Anthony|editor-last=Caraher|editor-first=William R.|editor2-last=Davis|editor2-first=Thomas W.|editor3-last=Pettegrew|editor3-first=David K.|title=Churches|url=https://www.oxfordhandbooks.com/view/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199369041.001.0001/oxfordhb-9780199369041-e-8|website=The Oxford Handbook of Early Christian Archaeology|year=2019|language=en|doi=10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199369041.001.0001|isbn=9780199369041}}</ref> Within was a rectangular assembly hall with [[fresco]]es and at the east end an [[Ambon (liturgy)|ambo]], a [[cathedra]], and an altar.<ref name=":172" /> Also within the church were a catecumenon (for [[catechumens]]), a baptistery, a [[diaconicon]], and a [[Prothesis (altar)|prothesis]]: all features typical of later 4th century basilica churches.<ref name=":172" /> A Christian structure which included the prototype of the triumphal arch at the east end of later Constantinian basilicas.<ref name=":172" /> Known as the [[Megiddo church (Israel)|Megiddo church]], it was built at Kefar 'Othnay in [[Palestine (region)|Palestine]], possibly c. 230, for or by the [[Roman army]] stationed at [[Legio]] (later [[Lajjun]]).<ref name=":172" /> Its dedicatory inscriptions include the names of women who contributed to the building and were its major patrons, as well as men's names.<ref name=":172" /> A number of buildings previously believed to have been Constantinian or 4th century have been reassessed as dating to later periods, and certain examples of 4th century basilicas are not distributed throughout the Mediterranean world at all evenly.<ref name=":19">{{Citation|last1=Caraher|first1=William R.|title=The Archaeology of Early Christianity: The History, Methods, and State of a Field|url=http://oxfordhandbooks.com/view/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199369041.001.0001/oxfordhb-9780199369041-e-1|work=The Oxford Handbook of Early Christian Archaeology|pages=xv–27|editor-last=Caraher|editor-first=William R.|publisher=Oxford University Press|language=en|doi=10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199369041.013.1|isbn=978-0-19-936904-1|last2=Pettegrew|first2=David K.|date=28 February 2019|editor2-last=Davis|editor2-first=Thomas W.|editor3-last=Pettegrew|editor3-first=David K.|url-access=subscription}}</ref> Christian basilicas and ''martyria'' attributable to the 4th century are rare on the Greek mainland and on the [[Cyclades]], while the Christian basilicas of Egypt, [[Cyprus (island)|Cyprus]], [[Syria (region)|Syria]], [[Transjordan (region)|Transjordan]], [[Hispania]], and [[Gaul]] are nearly all of later date.<ref name=":19" /> The basilica at Ephesus's ''Magnesian Gate'', the episcopal church at [[Laodicea on the Lycus]], and two extramural churches at [[Sardis]] have all been considered 4th century constructions, but on weak evidence.<ref name=":26"/> Development of [[Pottery#Archaeology|pottery chronologies]] for Late Antiquity had helped resolve questions of dating basilicas of the period.<ref name=":21">{{Citation|last=Moore|first=R. Scott|title=Pottery|url=http://oxfordhandbooks.com/view/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199369041.001.0001/oxfordhb-9780199369041-e-17|work=The Oxford Handbook of Early Christian Archaeology|year=2019|pages=295–312|editor-last=Caraher|editor-first=William R.|publisher=Oxford University Press|language=en|doi=10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199369041.013.17|isbn=978-0-19-936904-1|editor2-last=Davis|editor2-first=Thomas W.|editor3-last=Pettegrew|editor3-first=David K.|url-access=subscription}}</ref>

Three examples of a ''basilica discoperta'' or "[[hypaethral]] basilica" with no roof above the nave are inferred to have existed.<ref name=":4">{{Citation|last=Johnson|first=Mark J.|title=Basilica Discoperta|url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780195046526.001.0001/acref-9780195046526-e-0669|work=The Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium|year=2005|editor-last=Kazhdan|editor-first=Alexander P.|orig-year=1991|publisher=Oxford University Press|language=en|doi=10.1093/acref/9780195046526.001.0001|isbn=978-0-19-504652-6|url-access=subscription}}</ref> The 6th century [[Anonymous pilgrim of Piacenza]] described a "basilica built with a ''[[quadriporticus]]'', with the middle atrium uncovered" at [[Hebron]], while at [[Pécs]] and near [[Salona]] two ruined 5th buildings of debated interpretation might have been either roofless basilica churches or simply courtyards with an [[exedra]] at the end.<ref name=":4" /> An old theory by [[Ejnar Dyggve]] that these were the architectural intermediary between the Christian [[Martyrium (architecture)|''martyrium'']] and the classical [[Heroon|''heröon'']] is no longer credited.<ref name=":4" />

The magnificence of early Christian basilicas reflected the patronage of the emperor and recalled his imperial palaces and reflected the royal associations of the basilica with the [[Hellenistic Kingdoms]] and even earlier monarchies like that of [[Pharaonic Egypt]].<ref name=":172" /> Similarly, the name and association resounded with the Christian claims of the royalty of [[Christ]] – according to the ''[[Acts of the Apostles]]'' the earliest Christians had gathered at the royal ''Stoa'' of Solomon in [[Jerusalem]] to assert Jesus's royal heritage.<ref name=":172" /> For early Christians, the [[Bible]] supplied evidence that the [[First Temple]] and [[Solomon's palace]] were both [[hypostyle]] halls and somewhat resembled basilicas.<ref name=":172" /> Hypostyle synagogues, often built with apses in Palestine by the 6th century, share a common origin with the Christian basilicas in the civic basilicas and in the pre-Roman style of hypostyle halls in the Mediterranean Basin, particularly in Egypt, where pre-classical hypostyles continued to be built in the imperial period and were themselves converted into churches in the 6th century.<ref name=":172" /> Other influences on the evolution of Christian basilicas may have come from elements of domestic and palatial architecture during the pre-Constantinian period of Christianity, including the reception hall or {{Langx|la|aula|label=none}} ({{Langx|grc|αὐλή|translit=aulḗ|lit=courtyard|links=no}}) and the [[Atrium (domus)|''atria'']] and [[Triclinium|''triclinia'']] of élite Roman dwellings.<ref name=":172" /> The versatility of the basilica form and its variability in size and ornament recommended itself to the early [[Christian Church]]: basilicas could be grandiose as the Basilica of Maxentius in the ''Forum Romanum'' or more practical like the so-called Basilica of [[Bahira]] in [[Bosra]], while the ''Basilica Constantiniana'' on the [[Lateran Hill]] was of intermediate scale.<ref name=":172" /> This basilica, begun in 313, was the first imperial Christian basilica.<ref name=":172" /> Imperial basilicas were first constructed for the Christian [[Eucharist]] [[Christian liturgy|liturgy]] in the reign of Constantine.<ref name=":17" />

Basilica churches were not economically inactive. Like non-Christian or civic basilicas, basilica churches had a commercial function integral to their local trade routes and economies. [[Amphorae]] discovered at basilicas attest their economic uses and can reveal their position in wider networks of exchange.<ref name=":21" /> At [[Dion, Pieria|Dion]] near [[Mount Olympus]] in [[Macedonia (Roman province)|Macedonia]], now an [[Archaeological Park of Dion|Archaeological Park]], the latter 5th century ''Cemetery Basilica'', a small church, was replete with [[potsherd]]s from all over the [[Mediterranean Basin|Mediterranean]], evidencing extensive economic activity took place there.<ref name=":21" /><ref>{{Cite book|last1=Fragoulis|first1=K. |last2=Minasidis |first2=C. |last3=Mentzos |first3=A. |date=2014 |editor-last=Poulou-Papadimitriou |editor-first=Natalia |editor-last2=Nodarou |editor-first2=Eleni | editor-last3=Kilikoglou |editor-first3=Vassilis |title=Pottery from the Cemetery Basilica in the Early Byzantine City of Dion |series=LRCW 4 Late Roman Coarse Wares, Cooking Wares and Amphorae in the Mediterranean, 2 volume set: Archaeology and archaeometry. The Mediterranean: a market without frontiers |location=Oxford, UK |publisher=British Archaeological Reports |pages=297–304 |doi=10.30861/9781407312514 |isbn=978-1-4073-1251-4}}</ref> Likewise at [[Maroni Petrera]] on Cyprus, the amphorae unearthed by archaeologists in the 5th century basilica church had been imported from North Africa, Egypt, [[Palestine (region)|Palestine]], and the [[Aegean basin]], as well as from neighbouring [[Asia Minor]].<ref name=":21" /><ref>{{Cite book|last=Manning|first=Sturt W.|title=The late Roman church at Maroni Petrera: survey and salvage excavations 1990–1997, and other traces of Roman remains in the lower Maroni Valley, Cyprus|publisher=A. G. Leventis Foundation|others=Manning, Andrew; Eckardt, Hella|year=2002|isbn=9963-560-42-3|location=Nicosia, Cyprus|pages=78|oclc=52303510}}</ref>

According to [[Publius Flavius Vegetius Renatus|Vegetius]], writing c. 390, basilicas were convenient for [[Foot drill|drilling]] soldiers of the [[Late Roman army]] during inclement weather.<ref name=":2" />

=== Basilica of Maxentius ===
[[File:RomaBasilicaMassenzioDaPalatino.JPG|thumb|Remains of the [[Basilica of Maxentius]] and Constantine in Rome. The building's northern aisle is all that remains.]]
[[File:Dehio 6 Basilica of Maxentius Floor plan.jpg|thumb|Floor plan of the Basilica of Maxentius and Constantine]]
[[File:Konstantinbasilika Trier Innen.JPG|thumb|The 4th-century [[Aula Palatina|Basilica of Constantine]] at [[Trier]] was a palatine basilica, used for receiving Constantine's political [[Patronage in ancient Rome|clients]]. The apse windows are in fact smaller than the side windows, producing an optical illusion of still greater size and distance.]]

The 4th century [[Basilica of Maxentius]], begun by [[Maxentius]] between 306 and 312 and according to [[Aurelius Victor]]'s ''De Caesaribus'' completed by Constantine I, was an innovation.<ref name=":29" /><ref>Aurelius Victor, ''de Caesaribus'', {{Smallcaps|xl}}:26</ref> Earlier basilicas mostly had wooden roofs, but this basilica dispensed with timber trusses and used instead [[cross-vault]]s made from [[Roman brick]]s and [[Roman concrete|concrete]] to create one of the ancient world's largest covered spaces: 80 m long, 25 m wide, and 35 m high.<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":29">{{Cite journal|last=Förtsch|first=Reinhard|year=2006|title=Basilica Constantiniana|url=https://referenceworks.brillonline.com/entries/brill-s-new-pauly/basilica-constantiniana-e213290|journal=Brill's New Pauly|language=en}}</ref> The [[Vertex (geometry)|vertices]] of the cross-vaults, the largest Roman examples, were 35 m.<ref name=":29" /> The vault was supported on [[marble]] monolithic columns 14.5 m tall.<ref name=":29" /> The foundations are as much as 8 m deep.<ref name=":23" /> The vault was supported by brick latticework ribs ({{Langx|la|bipedalis|links=no}}) forming lattice ribbing, an early form of [[rib vault]], and distributing the load evenly across the vault's span.<ref name=":23" /> Similar brick ribs were employed at the [[Baths of Maxentius]] on the [[Palatine Hill]], where they supported walls on top of the vault.<ref name=":23" /> Also known as the {{Langx|la|Basilica Constantiniana|lit=Basilica of Constantine|label=none}} or {{Langx|la|Basilica Nova|lit=New Basilica|label=none}}, it chanced to be the last civic basilica built in Rome.<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":29" />

Inside the basilica the central nave was accessed by five doors opening from an entrance hall on the eastern side and terminated in an apse at the western end.<ref name=":29" /> Another, shallower apse with niches for statues was added to the centre of the north wall in a second campaign of building, while the western apse housed a colossal [[acrolith]]ic statue of the emperor Constantine enthroned.<ref name=":29" /> Fragments of this statue are now in the courtyard of the Palazzo dei Conservatori on the [[Capitoline Hill]], part of the [[Capitoline Museums]]. Opposite the northern apse on the southern wall, another monumental entrance was added and elaborated with a [[portico]] of [[Porphyry (geology)|porphyry]] columns.<ref name=":29" /> One of the remaining marble interior columns was removed in 1613 by [[Pope Paul V]] and set up as an honorific column outside [[Santa Maria Maggiore]].<ref name=":29" />

=== Constantinian period ===
[[File:20140819-20140819- HLB9362.jpg|thumb|[[Aula Palatina]], [[Constantine the Great|Constantine]]'s basilica at [[Trier]], c. 310]]
In the early 4th century [[Eusebius]] used the word basilica ({{Langx|grc|βασιλική|translit=basilikḗ}}) to refer to Christian churches; in subsequent centuries as before, the word basilica referred in Greek to the civic, non-ecclesiastical buildings, and only in rare exceptions to churches.<ref name=":3">{{Citation|last1=Johnson|first1=Mark J.|title=Basilica|url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780195046526.001.0001/acref-9780195046526-e-0668|work=The Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium|year=2005|editor-last=Kazhdan|editor-first=Alexander P.|orig-year=1991|publisher=Oxford University Press|language=en|doi=10.1093/acref/9780195046526.001.0001|isbn=978-0-19-504652-6|last2=Wilkinson|first2=John|url-access=subscription}}</ref> Churches were nonetheless basilican in form, with an apse or tribunal at the end of a nave with two or more aisles typical.<ref name=":3" /> A [[narthex]] (sometimes with an exonarthex) or [[Vestibule (architecture)|vestibule]] could be added to the entrance, together with an [[Atrium (architecture)|atrium]], and the interior might have [[transept]]s, a [[pastophorion]], and [[Gallery (theatre)|galleries]], but the basic scheme with clerestory windows and a wooden [[truss roof]] remained the most typical church type until the 6th century.<ref name=":3" /> The nave would be kept clear for liturgical processions by the clergy, with the [[laity]] in the galleries and aisles to either side.<ref name=":3" /> The function of Christian churches was similar to that of the civic basilicas but very different from temples in contemporary [[Graeco-Roman polytheism]]: while pagan temples were entered mainly by priests and thus had their splendour visible from without, within Christian basilicas the main ornamentation was visible to the congregants admitted inside.<ref name=":172" /> Christian priests did not interact with attendees during the rituals which took place at determined intervals, whereas pagan priests were required to perform individuals' sacrifices in the more chaotic environment of the temple precinct, with the temple's façade as backdrop.<ref name=":172" /> In basilicas constructed for Christian uses, the interior was often decorated with [[fresco]]es, but these buildings' wooden roof often decayed and failed to preserve the fragile frescoes within.<ref name=":19" /> Thus was lost an important part of the early history of [[Early Christian art and architecture|Christian art]], which would have sought to communicate early Christian ideas to the mainly illiterate Late Antique society.<ref name=":19" /> On the exterior, basilica church complexes included cemeteries, baptisteries, and [[Baptismal font|fonts]] which "defined ritual and liturgical access to the sacred", elevated the social status of the Church hierarchy, and which complemented the development of a Christian historical landscape; Constantine and his mother [[Helena (empress)|Helena]] were patrons of basilicas in important Christian sites in the [[Holy Land]] and Rome, and at Milan and Constantinople.<ref name=":19" />

Around 310, while still a self-proclaimed ''augustus'' unrecognised at Rome, Constantine began the construction of the ''Basilica Constantiniana'' or {{Langx|la|[[Aula Palatina]]|lit=palatine hall|label=none}}, as a reception hall for his imperial seat at [[Trier]] ({{Langx|la|[[History of Trier#Roman Empire|Augusta Treverorum]]|label=none}}), capital of [[Belgica Prima]].<ref name=":2" /> On the exterior, Constantine's palatine basilica was plain and utilitarian, but inside was very grandly decorated.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Thomas|first=Edmund|year=2010|editor-last=Barchiesi|editor-first=Alessandro|editor2-last=Scheidel|editor2-first=Walter|title=Architecture|url=https://www.oxfordhandbooks.com/view/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199211524.001.0001/oxfordhb-9780199211524-e-054|website=The Oxford Handbook of Roman Studies|pages=837–858|language=en|doi=10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199211524.001.0001|isbn=9780199211524}}</ref>

In the reign of Constantine I, a basilica was constructed for the [[Pope]] in the [[Castra Nova equitum singularium|former barracks]] of the ''[[Equites singulares Augusti]]'', the [[cavalry]] arm of the [[Praetorian Guard]].<ref name=":12">{{Citation|last=Davis|first=Raymond Peter|title=Constantine I|url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780198706779.001.0001/acref-9780198706779-e-174|work=The Oxford Companion to Classical Civilization|year=2014|editor-last=Hornblower|editor-first=Simon|others=Eidinow, Esther (asst ed.)|edition=2nd|publisher=Oxford University Press|language=en|doi=10.1093/acref/9780198706779.001.0001|isbn=978-0-19-870677-9|editor2-last=Spawforth|editor2-first=Antony|url-access=subscription}}</ref> (Constantine had disbanded the Praetorian guard after his defeat of their emperor Maxentius and replaced them with another bodyguard, the ''[[Scholae Palatinae]]''.)<ref name=":12" /> In 313 Constantine began construction of the ''Basilica Constantiniana'' on the Lateran Hill.<ref name=":172" /> This basilica became Rome's [[cathedral]] church, known as [[St John Lateran]], and was more richly decorated and larger than any previous Christian structure.<ref name=":172" /> However, because of its remote position from the ''Forum Romanum'' on the city's edge, it did not connect with the older imperial basilicas in the fora of Rome.<ref name=":172" /> Outside the basilica was the [[Equestrian Statue of Marcus Aurelius]], a rare example of an Antique statue that has never been underground.<ref name=":242"/>

According to the ''[[Liber Pontificalis]]'', Constantine was also responsible for the rich interior decoration of the [[Lateran Baptistery]] constructed under [[Pope Sylvester I]] (r. 314–335), sited about {{Convert|50|m|ft|abbr=}}.<ref name=":17" /> The Lateran Baptistery was the first monumental free-standing baptistery, and in subsequent centuries Christian basilica churches were often endowed with such baptisteries.<ref name=":17" />

At [[Cirta]], a Christian basilica erected by Constantine was taken over by his opponents, the [[Donatism|Donatists]].<ref name=":12" /> After Constantine's failure to resolve the Donatist controversy by coercion between 317 and 321, he allowed the Donatists, who dominated [[Africa (Roman province)|Africa]], to retain the basilica and constructed a new one for the [[Catholic Church]].<ref name=":12" />

The original [[titular church]]es of Rome were those which had been private residences and which were donated to be converted to places of Christian worship.<ref name=":172" /> Above an originally 1st century AD villa and its later adjoining [[Horreum|warehouse]] and [[Mithraeum]], a large basilica church had been erected by 350, subsuming the earlier structures beneath it as a crypt.<ref name=":172" /> The basilica was the first church of [[San Clemente al Laterano]].<ref name=":172" /> Similarly, at [[Santi Giovanni e Paolo al Celio]], an entire ancient [[city block]] – a 2nd-century [[Insula (building)|''insula'']] on the [[Caelian Hill]] – was buried beneath a 4th-century basilica.<ref name=":172" /> The site was already venerated as the ''martyrium'' of three early Christian burials beforehand, and part of the ''insula'' had been decorated in the style favoured by Christian communities frequenting the early [[Catacombs of Rome]].<ref name=":172" />

By 350 in [[History of Sofia|Serdica]] ([[Sofia]], [[Bulgaria]]), a monumental basilica – the [[Saint Sophia Church, Sofia|Church of Saint Sophia]] – was erected, covering earlier structures including a Christian chapel, an oratory, and a cemetery dated to c. 310.<ref name=":172" /> Other major basilica from this period, in this part of Europe, is the [[Great Basilica, Plovdiv|Great Basilica]] in [[Philippopolis (Thrace)|Philippopolis]] ([[Plovdiv]], Bulgaria) from the 4th century AD.

=== Valentinianic–Theodosian period ===
In the late 4th century the dispute between [[Nicene Christianity|Nicene]] and [[Arian Christianity]] came to head at ''[[Mediolanum]]'' ([[Milan]]), where [[Ambrose]] was bishop.<ref name=":22">{{Cite web|last=Perkins|first=Pheme|date=8 November 2018|editor-last=Uro|editor-first=Risto|editor2-last=Day|editor2-first=Juliette J.|editor3-last=Roitto|editor3-first=Rikard|editor4-last=DeMaris|editor4-first=Richard E.|title=Ritual and Orthodoxy|url=https://www.oxfordhandbooks.com/view/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780198747871.001.0001/oxfordhb-9780198747871-e-41|website=The Oxford Handbook of Early Christian Ritual|language=en|doi=10.1093/oxfordhb/9780198747871.001.0001|isbn=9780198747871}}</ref> At [[Easter]] in 386 the [[Arianism|Arian]] party, preferred by the [[Theodosian dynasty]], sought to wrest the use of the basilica from the Nicene partisan Ambrose.<ref name=":22" /> According to [[Augustine of Hippo]], the dispute resulted in Ambrose organising an 'orthodox' [[sit-in]] at the basilica and arranged the miraculous invention and translation of [[martyr]]s, whose hidden remains had been revealed in a [[Vision (spirituality)|vision]].<ref name=":22" /> During the sit-in, Augustine credits Ambrose with the introduction from the "eastern regions" of [[antiphon]]al chanting, to give heart to the orthodox congregation, though in fact music was likely part of Christian ritual since the time of the [[Pauline epistles]].<ref>Augustine of Hippo, ''Confessiones'', {{Smallcaps|ix}}:7:15–16</ref><ref name=":22" /> The arrival and reburial of the martyrs' uncorrupted remains in the basilica in time for the Easter celebrations was seen as powerful step towards divine approval.<ref name=":22" />

At [[Philippi]], the market adjoining the 1st-century forum was demolished and replaced with a Christian basilica.<ref name=":25" /> Civic basilicas throughout Asia Minor became Christian places of worship; examples are known at Ephesus, [[Aspendos]], and at [[Magnesia on the Maeander]].<ref name=":26"/> The ''Great Basilica'' in [[Antioch of Pisidia]] is a rare securely dated 4th century Christian basilica and was the city's cathedral church.<ref name=":26" /> The mosaics of the floor credit Optimus, the bishop, with its dedication.<ref name=":26" /> Optimus was a contemporary of [[Basil of Caesarea]] and corresponded with him c. 377.<ref name=":26" /> Optimus was the city's delegate at the [[First Council of Constantinople]] in 381, so the 70 m-long single-apsed basilica near the city walls must have been constructed around that time.<ref name=":26" /> [[Pisidia]] had a number of Christian basilicas constructed in Late Antiquity, particularly in former ''bouleuteria'', as at [[Sagalassos]], [[Selge]], [[Pednelissus]], while a civic basilica was converted for Christians' use in [[Cremna]].<ref name=":26"/>

At [[Chalcedon]], opposite Constantinople on the Bosporus, the relics of [[Euphemia]] – a supposed Christian martyr of the Diocletianic Persecution – were housed in a ''martyrium'' accompanied by a basilica.<ref name=":27">{{Citation|last=Klein|first=Konstantin|title=Chalcedon|url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780198662778.001.0001/acref-9780198662778-e-966|work=The Oxford Dictionary of Late Antiquity|year=2018|editor-last=Nicholson|editor-first=Oliver|publisher=Oxford University Press|language=en|doi=10.1093/acref/9780198662778.001.0001|isbn=978-0-19-866277-8|access-date=2020-07-08}}</ref> The basilica already existed when [[Egeria (pilgrim)|Egeria]] passed through Chalcedon in 384, and in 436 [[Melania the Younger]] visited the church on her own journey to the Holy Land.<ref name=":27" /> From the description of [[Evagrius Scholasticus]] the church is identifiable as an aisled basilica attached to the ''martyrium'' and preceded by an ''atrium''.<ref>Evagrius Scholasticus, ''Ecclesiastical History'', II.3: "The precinct consists of three huge structures: one is open-air, adorned with a long court and columns on all sides, and another in turn after this is almost alike in breadth and length and columns but differing only in the roof above." {{Cite book|title=The Ecclesiastical History of Evagrius Scholasticus|publisher=Liverpool University Press|year=2000|isbn=978-0-85323-605-4|editor-last=Whitby|editor-first=Michael|series=Translated Texts for Historians 33|pages=63–64 & notes 24–27|language=en|doi=10.3828/978-0-85323-605-4|doi-broken-date=1 November 2024 }}</ref> The [[Council of Chalcedon]] (8–31 October 451) was held in the basilica, which must have been large enough to accommodate the more than two hundred bishops that attended its third session, together with their translators and servants; around 350 bishops attended the Council in all.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Ecclesiastical History of Evagrius Scholasticus|publisher=Liverpool University Press|year=2000|isbn=978-0-85323-605-4|editor-last=Whitby|editor-first=Michael|series=Translated Texts for Historians 33|pages=63–64 & notes 24–27|language=en|doi=10.3828/978-0-85323-605-4|doi-broken-date=1 November 2024 }}</ref><ref>{{Citation|last=Papadakis|first=Aristeides|title=Chalcedon, Council of|url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780195046526.001.0001/acref-9780195046526-e-0963|work=The Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium|year=2005|editor-last=Kazhdan|editor-first=Alexander P.|orig-year=1991|edition=online|publisher=Oxford University Press|language=en|doi=10.1093/acref/9780195046526.001.0001|isbn=978-0-19-504652-6|access-date=2020-07-09|url-access=subscription}}</ref> In an [[ekphrasis]] in his eleventh [[sermon]], [[Asterius of Amasea]] described an icon in the church depicting Euphemia's martyrdom.<ref name=":27" /> The church was restored under the patronage of the ''patricia'' and daughter of [[Olybrius]]'','' [[Anicia Juliana]].<ref>{{Citation|last=Haarer|first=Fiona|title=Anicia Juliana|url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780198662778.001.0001/acref-9780198662778-e-271|work=The Oxford Dictionary of Late Antiquity|year=2018|editor-last=Nicholson|editor-first=Oliver|publisher=Oxford University Press|language=en|doi=10.1093/acref/9780198662778.001.0001|isbn=978-0-19-866277-8|access-date=2020-07-09}}</ref> [[Pope Vigilius]] fled there from Constantinople during the [[Three-Chapter Controversy]].<ref>{{Citation|last=Neil|first=Bronwen|title=Vigilius|url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780198662778.001.0001/acref-9780198662778-e-4991|work=The Oxford Dictionary of Late Antiquity|year=2018|editor-last=Nicholson|editor-first=Oliver|publisher=Oxford University Press|language=en|doi=10.1093/acref/9780198662778.001.0001|isbn=978-0-19-866277-8|access-date=2020-07-09}}</ref>  The basilica, which lay outside the walls of Chalcedon, was destroyed by the Persians in the [[Byzantine–Sasanian War of 602–628]] during one of the Sasanian occupations of the city in 615 and 626.<ref>{{Citation|last=Foss|first=Clive F. W.|title=Chalcedon|url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780195046526.001.0001/acref-9780195046526-e-0962|work=The Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium|year=2005|editor-last=Kazhdan|editor-first=Alexander P.|orig-year=1991|edition=online|publisher=Oxford University Press|language=en|doi=10.1093/acref/9780195046526.001.0001|isbn=978-0-19-504652-6|access-date=2020-07-09|url-access=subscription}}</ref> The relics of Euphemia were reportedly [[Translation (relic)|translated]] to a new [[Palace of Antiochos#Church of Saint Euphemia|Church of St Euphemia]] in Constantinople in 680, though [[Cyril Mango]] argued the translation never took place.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Bardill|first=Jonathan|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YS_AAzcjdK8C&pg=PA57|title=Brickstamps of Constantinople|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2004|isbn=978-0-19-925522-1|pages=56–57|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Mango|first=Cyril|year=1999|title=The Relics of St. Euphemia and the Synaxarion of Constantinople|journal=Bollettino della Badia Greca di Grottoferrata|volume=53|pages=79–87}}</ref> Subsequently, Asterius's sermon ''On the Martyrdom of St Euphemia'' was advanced as an argument for [[iconodulism]] at the [[Second Council of Nicaea]] in 787.<ref>{{Citation|last=McEachnie|first=Robert|title=Asterius of Amaseia|url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780198662778.001.0001/acref-9780198662778-e-508|work=The Oxford Dictionary of Late Antiquity|year=2018|editor-last=Nicholson|editor-first=Oliver|publisher=Oxford University Press|language=en|doi=10.1093/acref/9780198662778.001.0001|isbn=978-0-19-866277-8|access-date=2020-07-08}}</ref>

In the late 4th century, a large basilica church dedicated to [[Mary, mother of Jesus]] was constructed in [[Ephesus]] in the former south ''stoa'' (a commercial basilica) of the Temple of Hadrian ''Olympios''.<ref name=":162">{{Citation|last=Thonemann|first=Peter|title=Ephesus|date=22 March 2018 |url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780198662778.001.0001/acref-9780198662778-e-1664 |work=The Oxford Dictionary of Late Antiquity|editor-last=Nicholson|editor-first=Oliver|publisher=Oxford University Press|language=en|doi=10.1093/acref/9780198662778.001.0001|isbn=978-0-19-866277-8}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Van Dam|first=Raymond|url=http://oxfordhandbooks.com/view/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199271566.001.0001/oxfordhb-9780199271566-e-017|chapter=Chapter 16: The East (1): Greece and Asia Minor|title=The Oxford Handbook of Early Christian Studies|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2008|pages=323–343 |editor-last=Ashbrook Harvey|editor-first=Susan|doi=10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199271566.003.0017|isbn=978-0199271566 |editor-last2=Hunter|editor-first2=David G.}}</ref> Ephesus was the centre of the Roman province of [[Asia (Roman province)|Asia]], and was the site of the city's famed [[Temple of Artemis]], one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.<ref name=":152">{{Citation|last1=Calder|first1=William Moir|title=Ephesus|url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780198706779.001.0001/acref-9780198706779-e-246|work=The Oxford Companion to Classical Civilization|year=2014|editor-last=Hornblower|editor-first=Simon|others=Eidinow, Esther (asst ed.)|edition=2nd|publisher=Oxford University Press|language=en|doi=10.1093/acref/9780198706779.001.0001|isbn=978-0-19-870677-9|last2=Cook|first2=John Manuel |last3=Roueché |first3=Charlotte|last4=Spawforth|first4=Antony|editor2-last=Spawforth|editor2-first=Antony|url-access=subscription}}</ref> It had also been a centre of the [[Roman imperial cult]] in Asia; Ephesus was three times declared {{transliteration|grc|[[neokoros]]}} ({{lit.|temple-warden}}) and had constructed a [[Temple of the Sebastoi]] to the [[Flavian dynasty]].<ref name=":152" /> The Basilica of the Virgin Mary was probably the venue for the 431 [[Council of Ephesus]] and the 449 [[Second Council of Ephesus]], both convened by [[Theodosius II]].<ref name=":162" /> At some point during the Christianisation of the Roman world, Christian crosses were cut into the faces of the colossal statues of [[Augustus]] and [[Livia]] that stood in the basilica-''stoa'' of Ephesus; the crosses were perhaps intended to [[exorcise]] [[demons]] in a process akin to baptism.<ref name=":242"/> In the eastern cemetery of [[Hierapolis]] the 5th century domed octagonal ''martyrium'' of [[Philip the Apostle]] was built alongside a basilica church, while at [[Myra]] the [[St. Nicholas Church, Demre|Basilica of St Nicholas]] was constructed at the tomb of [[Saint Nicholas]].<ref name=":26"/>

At [[Constantinople]] the earliest basilica churches, like the 5th century basilica at the [[Monastery of Stoudios]], were mostly equipped with a small cruciform crypt ({{Langx|grc|κρυπτή|translit=kryptḗ|lit=hidden}}), a space under the church floor beneath the altar.<ref name=":32">{{Citation|last=Johnson|first=Mark J.|title=Crypt|url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780195046526.001.0001/acref-9780195046526-e-1298|work=The Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium|year=2005|editor-last=Kazhdan|editor-first=Alexander P.|orig-year=1991|publisher=Oxford University Press|language=en|doi=10.1093/acref/9780195046526.001.0001|isbn=978-0-19-504652-6|url-access=subscription}}</ref> Typically, these crypts were accessed from the apse's interior, though not always, as at the 6th century Church of St John at the [[Hebdomon]], where access was from outside the apse.<ref name=":32" /> At Thessaloniki, the [[Roman bath]] where tradition held [[Demetrius of Thessaloniki]] had been martyred was subsumed beneath the 5th century basilica of [[Hagios Demetrios]], forming a crypt.<ref name=":32" />

The largest and oldest basilica churches in Egypt were at [[Pbow]], a [[coenobitic]] monastery established by [[Pachomius the Great]] in 330.<ref name=":8">{{Citation|last1=Trilling|first1=James|title=Pbow|url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780195046526.001.0001/acref-9780195046526-e-4170|work=The Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium|year=2005|editor-last=Kazhdan|editor-first=Alexander P.|orig-year=1991|publisher=Oxford University Press|language=en|doi=10.1093/acref/9780195046526.001.0001|isbn=978-0-19-504652-6|last2=Kazhdan|first2=Alexander P.|url-access=subscription}}</ref> The 4th century basilica was replaced by a large 5th century building (36 × 72 m) with five aisles and internal colonnades of pink granite columns and paved with limestone.<ref name=":8" /> This monastery was the administrative centre of the Pachomian order where the monks would gather twice annually and whose library may have produced many surviving [[manuscript]]s of biblical, Gnostic, and other texts in Greek and [[Coptic language|Coptic]].<ref name=":8" /> In [[North Africa]], late antique basilicas were often built on a doubled plan.<ref name=":9">{{Citation|last1=Loerke|first1=William|title=North Africa, Monuments of|url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780195046526.001.0001/acref-9780195046526-e-3856|work=The Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium|year=2005|editor-last=Kazhdan|editor-first=Alexander P.|orig-year=1991|publisher=Oxford University Press|language=en|doi=10.1093/acref/9780195046526.001.0001|isbn=978-0-19-504652-6|last2=Kiefer|first2=Katherine M.|url-access=subscription}}</ref> In the 5th century, basilicas with two apses, multiple aisles, and doubled churches were common, including examples respectively at [[Archaeological site of Sbeitla|Sufetula]], [[Tipasa]], and [[Djémila]].<ref name=":9" /> Generally, North African basilica churches' [[altar]]s were in the nave and the main building medium was ''[[opus africanum]]'' of local stone, and ''[[spolia]]'' was infrequently used.<ref name=":9" />

The Church of the East's [[Council of Seleucia-Ctesiphon]] was convened by the [[Sasanian Emperor]] [[Yazdegerd I]] at his capital at [[Ctesiphon]]; according to ''[[Synodicon Orientale]]'', the emperor ordered that the former churches in the [[Sasanian Empire]] to be restored and rebuilt, that such clerics and [[Asceticism|ascetics]] as had been imprisoned were to be released, and their [[Nestorianism|Nestorian Christian]] communities allowed to circulate freely and practice openly.<ref name=":28">{{Cite book |last=Walker |first=Joel |year=2012 |chapter=Chapter 31: From Nisibis to Xi'an: The Church of the East in Late Antique Eurasia |chapter-url=http://oxfordhandbooks.com/view/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780195336931.001.0001/oxfordhb-9780195336931-e-31 |editor-last=Johnson |editor-first=Scott Fitzgerald |title=The Oxford Handbook of Late Antiquity |publisher=Oxford University Press |pages=994–1052 |doi=10.1093/oxfordhb/9780195336931.013.0031}}</ref>

In eastern [[Syria (region)|Syria]], the [[Church of the East]] developed at typical pattern of basilica churches.<ref name=":28" /> Separate entrances for men and women were installed in the southern or northern wall; within, the east end of the nave was reserved for men, while women and children were stood behind. In the nave was a ''bema'', from which [[Scripture]] could be read, and which were inspired by the equivalent in synagogues and regularised by the [[Church of Antioch]].<ref name=":28" /> The Council of 410 stipulated that on [[Sunday]] the [[archdeacon]] would read the [[Gospel]]s from the ''bema''.<ref name=":28" /> Standing near the ''bema'', the [[Laity|lay folk]] could chant responses to the reading and if positioned near the ''šqāqonā'' ("a walled floor-level pathway connecting the ''bema'' to the altar area") could try to kiss or touch the [[Gospel Book]] as it was processed from the [[deacons]]' room to the ''bema'' and thence to the [[altar]].<ref name=":28" /> Some ten Eastern churches in eastern Syria have been investigated by thorough [[archaeology]].<ref name=":28" />

A Christian basilica was constructed in the first half of the 5th century at [[Olympia, Greece|Olympia]], where the [[Statue of Zeus at Olympia|statue of Zeus]] by [[Phidias]] had been noted as one of the [[Seven Wonders of the Ancient World]] ever since the 2nd century BC list compiled by [[Antipater of Sidon]].<ref name=":11" /><ref>{{Citation|last=Brodersen|first=Kai|title=Seven Wonders of the ancient world|url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780198706779.001.0001/acref-9780198706779-e-581|work=The Oxford Companion to Classical Civilization|year=2014|editor-last=Hornblower|editor-first=Simon|others=Eidinow, Esther (asst ed.)|edition=2nd|publisher=Oxford University Press|language=en|doi=10.1093/acref/9780198706779.001.0001|isbn=978-0-19-870677-9|editor2-last=Spawforth|editor2-first=Antony|url-access=subscription}}</ref> Cultural tourism thrived at Olympia and [[Ancient Greek religion]] continued to be practised there well into the 4th century.<ref name=":11">{{Citation|last1=Morgan|first1=Catherine A.|title=Olympia|url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780198706779.001.0001/acref-9780198706779-e-449|work=The Oxford Companion to Classical Civilization|year=2014|editor-last=Hornblower|editor-first=Simon|others=Eidinow, Esther (asst ed.)|edition=2nd|publisher=Oxford University Press|language=en|doi=10.1093/acref/9780198706779.001.0001 |isbn=978-0-19-870677-9 |last2=Hornblower |first2=Simon |last3=Spawforth |first3=Antony |editor2-last=Spawforth|editor2-first=Antony|url-access=subscription}}</ref> At [[Nicopolis]] in [[Epirus]], founded by [[Augustus]] to commemorate his victory at the [[Battle of Actium]] at the end of the [[Last war of the Roman Republic]], four early Christian basilicas were built during Late Antiquity whose remains survive to the present.<ref name=":14" /> In the 4th or 5th century, Nicopolis was surrounded by a new city wall.<ref name=":14">{{Citation |last1=Purcell |first1=Nicholas |title=Nicopolis |url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780198706779.001.0001/acref-9780198706779-e-439 |work=The Oxford Companion to Classical Civilization|year=2014|editor-last=Hornblower|editor-first=Simon|others=Eidinow, Esther (asst ed.) |edition=2nd |publisher=Oxford University Press|language=en|doi=10.1093/acref/9780198706779.001.0001|isbn=978-0-19-870677-9|last2=Murray|first2=William M.|editor2-last=Spawforth|editor2-first=Antony|url-access=subscription}}</ref>

In [[Bulgaria]] there are major basilicas from that time like [[Elenska Basilica]] and the [[Red Church (Bulgaria)|Red Church]].

<gallery class="center" widths="250px" heights="180px">
File:Santa Sabina (Rome) - Esterno.jpg|[[Santa Sabina]], Rome, 422–432.
File:Rom, Basilika Santa Sabina, Innenansicht.jpg|Interior of Santa Sabina, with ''[[spolia]]'' [[Corinthian columns]] from the [[Temple of Juno Regina (Aventine)|Temple of Juno ''Regina'']].
File:Theodore Studite (Menologion of Basil II).jpg|Basilica church of the [[Monastery of Stoudios]], Constantinple, 5th century, as depicted in the [[Menologion of Basil II]], c. 1000.
File:Antioch of Pisidia 2870.jpg|Apse of the ruined ''Great Basilica'', Antioch in Pisidia. The floor dates to late 4th century, and the walls to the 5th or 6th century. The building has a semi-circular interior and a polygonal exterior.
File:Elenska-bazilika-orto.jpg|Bird's eye view of the [[Elenska Basilica]] complex, [[Pirdop]], Bulgaria.
File:RedChurchAerial2.jpg|The [[Red Church (Bulgaria)|Red Church]], [[Perushtitsa]], Bulgaria.

</gallery>

{{Wide image|The interior of the St. John Stoudios (Imrahor) Monastery.jpg|800px|Ruins of the Stoudios Monastery, with [[verd antique]] colonnade and [[Cosmatesque]] floor ''in situ''}}

=== Leonid period ===
On [[Crete]], the Roman cities suffered from repeated earthquakes in the 4th century, but between c. 450 and c. 550, a large number of Christian basilicas were constructed.<ref name=":13">{{Citation|last1=Laidlaw|first1=William Allison|title=Crete, Greek and Roman|url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780198706779.001.0001/acref-9780198706779-e-184|work=The Oxford Companion to Classical Civilization|year=2014|editor-last=Hornblower|editor-first=Simon|others=Eidinow, Esther (asst ed.)|edition=2nd|publisher=Oxford University Press|language=en|doi=10.1093/acref/9780198706779.001.0001|isbn=978-0-19-870677-9|last2=Nixon|first2=Lucia F.|last3=Price|first3=Simon R. F.|editor2-last=Spawforth|editor2-first=Antony|url-access=subscription}}</ref> Crete was throughout Late Antiquity a [[Roman province|province]] of the [[Diocese of Macedonia]], governed from Thessaloniki.<ref name=":13" />

Nine basilica churches were built at [[Nea Anchialos]], ancient [[Phthiotic Thebes]] ({{Langx|grc|Θη̑βαι Φθιώτιδες|translit=Thḗbai Phthiṓtides}}), which was in its heyday the primary port of [[Thessaly]]. The [[episcopal see]] was the three-aisled ''Basilica A'', the [[Hagios Demetrios|Church]] of St [[Demetrius of Thessaloniki]], and similar to the [[Church of the Acheiropoietos]] in [[Thessaloniki]].<ref name=":5">{{Citation|last=Gregory|first=Timothy E.|title=Nea Anchialos|url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780195046526.001.0001/acref-9780195046526-e-3728|work=The Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium|year=2005|editor-last=Kazhdan|editor-first=Alexander P.|orig-year=1991|publisher=Oxford University Press|language=en|doi=10.1093/acref/9780195046526.001.0001|isbn=978-0-19-504652-6|url-access=subscription}}</ref> Its atrium perhaps had a pair of towers to either side and its construction dates to the late 5th/early 6th century.<ref name=":5" /> The Elpidios Basilica {{En dash}} ''Basilica B'' {{En dash}} was of similar age, and the city was home to a large complex of ecclesiastical buildings including ''Basilica G'', with its luxurious mosaic floors and a mid-6th century inscription proclaiming the patronage of the bishop Peter. Outside the [[defensive wall]] was ''Basilica D'', a 7th-century cemetery church.<ref name=":5" />

[[Stobi]], ({{Langx|grc|Στόβοι|translit=Stóboi}}) the capital from the late 4th century of the province of [[Macedonia Salutaris|Macedonia II Salutaris]], had numerous basilicas and six palaces in late antiquity.<ref name=":6">{{Citation|last=Kazhdan|first=Alexander P.|title=Stobi|url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780195046526.001.0001/acref-9780195046526-e-5149|work=The Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium|year=2005|editor-last=Kazhdan|editor-first=Alexander P.|orig-year=1991|publisher=Oxford University Press|language=en|doi=10.1093/acref/9780195046526.001.0001|isbn=978-0-19-504652-6|url-access=subscription}}</ref> The ''Old Basilica'' had two phases of geometric pavements, the second phase of which credited the bishop Eustathios as patron of the renovations. A newer episcopal basilica was built by the bishop Philip atop the remains of the earlier structure, and two further basilicas were within the walls.<ref name=":6" /> The ''Central Basilica'' replaced a [[synagogue]] on a site razed in the late 5th century, and there was also a ''North Basilica'' and further basilicas without the walls.<ref name=":6" /> Various mosaics and sculptural decorations have been found there, and while the city suffered from the [[Ostrogoths]] in 479 and an earthquake in 518, ceasing to be a major city thereafter, it remained a bishopric until the end of the 7th century and the ''Basilica of Philip'' had its ''[[templon]]'' restored in the 8th century.<ref name=":6" />

The [[Small Basilica, Plovdiv|Small Basilica]] of [[Philippopolis (Thrace)|Philippopolis]] (Plovdiv, Bulgaria) in [[Thrace]] was built in the second half of the 5th century AD.

<gallery widths="200" heights="160">
File:Mosque of Eski Djouma Thessalonica Transversal section Longitudinal section - Texier Charles - 1864.jpg|Drawing of the 5th century [[Church of the Acheiropoietos]] by [[Charles Texier]], 1864
File:Church of the Acheiropoietos (Thessaloniki) by Joy of Museums.jpg|[[House of Leo|Leonid]] basilica [[Church of the Acheiropoietos]], Thessaloniki, 450–60
File:Basilique à tours - mosaïque Louvre.jpg|5th-century mosaic of a basilica ([[Louvre]])
</gallery>

=== Justinianic period ===
[[Justinian I]] constructed at Ephesus a large basilica church, the [[Basilica of St. John|Basilica of St John]], above the supposed tomb of [[John the Apostle]].<ref name=":152"/> The church was a domed cruciform basilica begun in 535/6; enormous and lavishly decorated, it was built in the same style as Justinian's [[Church of the Holy Apostles]] in Constantinople.<ref name=":162"/><ref name=":26"/> The Justinianic basilica replaced an earlier, smaller structure which [[Egeria (pilgrim)|Egeria]] had planned to visit in the 4th century, and remains of a {{Convert|2130|foot|m|abbr=}} aqueduct branch built to supply the complex with water probably dates from Justinian's reign.<ref name=":162"/><ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Öziş|first1=Ünal|last2=Atalay|first2=Ayhan|last3=Özdemir|first3=Yalçın|date=1 December 2014|title=Hydraulic capacity of ancient water conveyance systems to Ephesus|url=https://iwaponline.com/ws/article/14/6/1010/28490/Hydraulic-capacity-of-ancient-water-conveyance|journal=Water Supply|language=en|volume=14|issue=6|pages=1010–1017|doi=10.2166/ws.2014.055|issn=1606-9749|doi-access=free|url-access=subscription}}</ref> The Ephesians' basilicas to St Mary and St John were both equipped with [[Baptistery|baptisteries]] with filling and draining pipes: both [[Baptismal font|fonts]] were flush with the floor and unsuitable for [[infant baptism]].<ref name=":17">{{Cite web|last=Rutherford|first=H. Richard|editor-last=Caraher|editor-first=William R.|editor2-last=Davis|editor2-first=Thomas W.|editor3-last=Pettegrew|editor3-first=David K.|title=Baptisteries in Ancient Sites and Rites|url=https://www.oxfordhandbooks.com/view/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199369041.001.0001/oxfordhb-9780199369041-e-10|website=The Oxford Handbook of Early Christian Archaeology|year=2019|language=en|doi=10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199369041.001.0001|isbn=9780199369041}}</ref> As with most Justinianic baptisteries in the [[Balkans]] and [[Asia Minor]], the baptistery at the Basilica of St John was on the northern side of the basilica's nave; the 734 m<sup>2</sup> baptistery was separated from the basilica by a 3 m-wide corridor.<ref name=":17" /> According to the 6th century [[Syriac language|Syriac]] writer [[John of Ephesus]], a [[Syriac Orthodox Church|Syriac Orthodox]] Christian, the [[Heterodoxy|heterodox]] [[Miaphysitism|Miaphysites]] held [[ordination]] services in the courtyard of the Basilica of St John under cover of night.<ref name=":162"/> Somewhat outside the ancient city on the [[Ayasuluk Hill|hill of Selçuk]], the Justinianic basilica became the centre of the city after the 7th century [[Arab–Byzantine wars]].<ref name=":162"/>

At Constantinople, Justinian constructed the largest domed basilica: on the site of the 4th century basilica Church of [[Holy Wisdom]], the emperor ordered construction of the huge domed basilica that survives to the present: the [[Hagia Sophia]].<ref name=":19" /> This basilica, which "continues to stand as one of the most visually imposing and architecturally daring churches in the Mediterranean", was the cathedral of Constantinople and the patriarchal church of the [[Patriarch of Constantinople]].<ref name=":19" /> Hagia Sophia, originally founded by Constantine, was at the social and political heart of Constantinople, near to the [[Great Palace of Constantinople|Great Palace]], the [[Baths of Zeuxippus]], and the [[Hippodrome of Constantinople]], while the headquarters of the [[Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople|Ecumenical Patriarchate]] was within the basilica's immediate vicinity.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Valérian |first=Dominique |date=1 February 2013 |chapter=Chapter 14: Middle East: 7th–15th Centuries |chapter-url=http://oxfordhandbooks.com/view/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199589531.001.0001/oxfordhb-9780199589531-e-14 |editor-last=Clark |editor-first=Peter |title=The Oxford Handbook of Cities in World History |publisher=Oxford University Press |pages=263–264 |doi=10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199589531.013.0014}}</ref>

The mid-6th century Bishop of [[Poreč]] ({{langx|la|Parens}} or {{lang|la|Parentium}}; {{langx|grc|Πάρενθος|Párenthos|links=no}}) replaced an earlier 4th century basilica with the magnificent Euphrasian Basilica in the style of contemporary basilicas at [[Ravenna]].<ref name=":7">{{Citation|last=Kinney|first=Dale|title=Poreč|url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780195046526.001.0001/acref-9780195046526-e-4421|work=The Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium|year=2005|editor-last=Kazhdan|editor-first=Alexander P.|orig-year=1991|publisher=Oxford University Press|language=en|doi=10.1093/acref/9780195046526.001.0001|isbn=978-0-19-504652-6|url-access=subscription}}</ref> Some column [[Capital (architecture)|capitals]] were of marble from Greece identical to those in [[Basilica of San Vitale]] and must have been imported from the Byzantine centre along with the columns and some of the ''[[opus sectile]]''.<ref name=":7" /> There are [[Conch (architecture)|conch]] mosaics in the basilica's three apses and the fine ''opus sectile'' on the central apse wall is "exceptionally well preserved".<ref name=":7" />

The 4th century basilica of [[Saint Sophia Church, Sofia|Saint Sophia Church]] at Serdica (Sofia, Bulgaria) was rebuilt in the 5th century and ultimately replaced by a new monumental basilica in the late 6th century, and some construction phases continued into the 8th century.<ref name=":20">{{Citation|last1=Rizos|first1=Efthymios|title=Serdica|url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780198662778.001.0001/acref-9780198662778-e-4297|work=The Oxford Dictionary of Late Antiquity|year=2018|editor-last=Nicholson|editor-first=Oliver|publisher=Oxford University Press|language=en|doi=10.1093/acref/9780198662778.001.0001|isbn=978-0-19-866277-8|last2=Darley|first2=Rebecca}}</ref> This basilica was the cathedral of Serdica and was one of three basilicas known to lie outside the walls; three more churches were within the walled city, of which the [[Church of Saint George, Sofia|Church of Saint George]] was a former Roman bath built in the 4th century, and another was a former Mithraeum.<ref name=":20" /> The basilicas were associated with cemeteries with Christian inscriptions and burials.<ref name=":20" />

Another basilica from this period in Bulgaria was the [[Belovo Basilica]] (6th century AD).

The [[Miaphysitism|Miaphysite]] convert from the [[Church of the East]], [[Ahudemmeh]] constructed a new basilica {{circa|565}} dedicated to [[Saint Sergius]] at ''ʿ''Ain Qenoye (or ''ʿ''Ain Qena according to [[Bar Hebraeus]]) after being ordained bishop of [[Dioceses of the Syriac Orthodox Church#Iraq|Beth Arbaye]] by [[Jacob Baradaeus]] and while proselytizing among the [[Bedouin]] of [[Arbayistan]] in the Sasanian Empire.<ref name=":15">{{Cite journal|last=Oates|first=David|date=1962|title=Qasr Serīj: A Sixth Century Basilica in Northern Iraq|journal=Iraq|volume=24|issue=2|pages=78–89|doi=10.2307/4199719|jstor=4199719|s2cid=164090791 |issn=0021-0889}}</ref> According to Ahudemmeh's biographer this basilica and its ''martyrium'', in the upper [[Tigris]] valley, was supposed to be a copy of the Basilica of St Sergius at Sergiopolis ([[Resafa]]), in the middle [[Euphrates]], so that the Arabs would not have to travel so far on pilgrimage.<ref name=":15" /> More likely, with the support of [[Khosrow I]] for its construction and defence against the [[Nestorians]] who were [[Miaphysites]]' rivals, the basilica was part of an attempt to control the frontier tribes and limit their contact with the Roman territory of Justinian, who had agreed in the 562 [[Fifty-Year Peace Treaty]] to pay 30,000 [[Solidus (coin)|''nomismata'']] annually to Khosrow in return for a demilitarization of the frontier after the latest phase of the [[Roman–Persian Wars#Byzantine–Sasanian wars|Roman–Persian Wars]].<ref name=":15" /> After being mentioned in 828 and 936, the basilica at ''ʿ''Ain Qenoye disappeared from recorded history, though it may have remained occupied for centuries, and was rediscovered as a ruin by [[Carsten Niebuhr]] in 1766.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Simpson|first=St John|date=1994|title=A Note on Qasr Serij|journal=Iraq|language=en|publisher=British Institute for the Study of Iraq|volume=56|pages=149–151|doi=10.2307/4200392|jstor=4200392|doi-access=free}}</ref> The name of the modern site Qasr Serīj is derived from the basilica's dedication to St Sergius.<ref name=":15" /> Qasr Serīj's construction may have been part of the policy of toleration that Khosrow and his successors had for Miaphysitism {{En dash}} a contrast with Justinian's persecution of heterodoxy within the Roman empire.<ref name=":15" /> This policy itself encouraged many tribes to favour the Persian cause, especially after the death in 569 of the [[Ghassanid Kingdom]]'s  Miaphysite king [[al-Harith ibn Jabalah]] ({{Langx|la|Flavius Arethas}}, {{Langx|grc|Ἀρέθας}}) and the 584 suppression by the Romans of his successors' dynasty.<ref name=":15" />

<gallery widths="200px" heights="200px">
File:StSophiaChurch-Sofia-10.jpg|[[Saint Sophia Church, Sofia|Saint Sophia]], Serdica ([[Sofia]]), built 4th–8th centuries
File:Nave looking towards the entrance - Sant'Apollinare Nuovo - Ravenna 2016.jpg|[[Ostrogothic Kingdom|Ostrogothic]] ''Basilica of Christ the Redeemer'', Ravenna, 504. [[Basilica of Sant'Apollinare Nuovo|Rededicated 561 to St Apollinaris]]
File:Basilica di Sant'Apollinare in Classe (interno).JPG|[[Basilica of Sant'Apollinare in Classe]] near [[Ravenna]] in [[Italy]]
File:Church of the Nativity, Bethlehem, Palestine 04155u original.jpg|[[Justinian I|Justinianic]] [[Church of the Nativity]], Bethlehem, after 529
File:Ephesos Saint John the Theologian plan rotated.png|Floor plan of the Justinianic [[Basilica of St. John|Basilica of St John]], Ephesus, after 535/6
File:Bosra basilica di BahiraHPIM3296.JPG|Interior of the ruined Basilica of [[Bahira]], [[Bosra]]
File:Βασιλική Αγίου Αχιλλείου.jpg|Ruins of the 10th-century Church of [[Achillius of Larissa]], on the eponymous island of [[Small Prespa Lake|Agios Achilleios, Mikra Prespa]], a typical basilica church<ref>{{Citation|last=Ćurčić|first=Slobodan|title=Church Plan Types|url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780195046526.001.0001/acref-9780195046526-e-1105|work=The Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium|year=2005|editor-last=Kazhdan|editor-first=Alexander P.|orig-year=1991|publisher=Oxford University Press|language=en|doi=10.1093/acref/9780195046526.001.0001|isbn=978-0-19-504652-6}}</ref>
File:2011-Belovo Basilica.jpg|[[Belovo Basilica]], [[Belovo Municipality]], Bulgaria
</gallery>

=== Palace basilicas ===
[[File:Transeptarm.PNG|thumb|Floor plan of a Christian church of basilical form, with part of the [[transept]] shaded. Either the part of the nave lying to the west in the diagram or the choir may have a hall structure instead. The choir also may be aisleless.]]

In the [[Roman imperial period|Roman Imperial period]] (after about 27 BC), a basilica for large audiences also became a feature in palaces. In the 3rd century of the Christian era, the governing elite appeared less frequently in the forums.

<blockquote>They now tended to dominate their cities from opulent palaces and country villas, set a little apart from traditional centers of public life. Rather than retreats from public life, however, these residences were the forum made private.
:— Peter Brown, in Paul Veyne, 1987</blockquote>

Seated in the [[tribune (architecture)|tribune]] of his basilica, the great man would meet his dependent ''[[Patronage in ancient Rome|clientes]]'' early every morning.

[[Constantine the Great|Constantine]]'s basilica at [[Trier]], the [[Aula Palatina]] (AD 306), is still standing. A private basilica excavated at [[Bulla Regia]] (Tunisia), in the "House of the Hunt", dates from the first half of the 5th century. Its reception or audience hall is a long rectangular nave-like space, flanked by dependent rooms that mostly also open into one another, ending in a semi-circular apse, with matching [[transept]] spaces. Clustered columns emphasised the "crossing" of the two axes.

=== Christian adoption of the basilica form ===
{{See also|Christianised sites}}
[[File:Basilica (arquitetura) PT en.svg|thumb|Structural elements of a gothic basilica.<br />Variations: Where the roofs have a low slope, the [[triforium]] gallery may have own windows or may be missing.|alt=]]

In the 4th century, once the Imperial authorities had decriminalised Christianity with the 313 [[Edict of Milan]], and with the activities of [[Constantine the Great and Christianity|Constantine the Great]] and his mother [[Helena (Empress)|Helena]], Christians were prepared to build larger and more handsome edifices for worship than the furtive meeting-places (such as the [[Cenacle]], [[cave-church]]es, [[house church]]es such as [[Santi Giovanni e Paolo al Celio|that of the martyrs John and Paul]]) they had been using. Architectural formulas for temples were unsuitable due to their pagan associations, and because pagan cult ceremonies and sacrifices occurred outdoors under the open sky in the sight of the gods, with the temple, housing the cult figures and the treasury, as a backdrop. The usable model at hand, when Constantine wanted to memorialise his imperial piety, was the familiar conventional architecture of the basilicas.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.cartage.org.lb/en/themes/Arts/Architec/MiddleAgesArchitectural/EarlyChristianByzantine/BasilicaPlanChurches/BasilicaPlanChurches.htm |title=Basilica Plan Churches |publisher=Cartage.org.lb |access-date=17 February 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120112182738/http://www.cartage.org.lb/en/themes/Arts/Architec/MiddleAgesArchitectural/EarlyChristianByzantine/BasilicaPlanChurches/BasilicaPlanChurches.htm |archive-date=12 January 2012}}</ref>

There were several variations of the basic plan of the secular basilica, always some kind of rectangular hall, but the one usually followed for churches had a central nave with one aisle at each side and an apse at one end opposite to the main door at the other end. In (and often also in front of) the apse was a raised platform, where the altar was placed, and from where the clergy officiated. In secular building this plan was more typically used for the smaller audience halls of the emperors, governors, and the very rich than for the great public basilicas functioning as law courts and other public purposes.<ref>Syndicus, 40</ref> Constantine built a basilica of this type in his palace complex at Trier, later very easily adopted for use as a church. It is a long rectangle two storeys high, with ranks of arch-headed windows one above the other, without aisles (there was no mercantile exchange in this imperial basilica) and, at the far end beyond a huge arch, the apse in which Constantine held state.

<gallery widths="170" heights="170" class="center" caption="Comparison of cross sections of churches">
File:Basilica, cross-section scheme.png|''Basilica'': The central nave extends to one or two storeys more than the lateral aisles, and it has upper windows.
File:Pseudobasilica.png|'''Pseudo-basilica''' (i.e. ''false basilica''): The central nave extends to an additional storey, but it has no upper windows.
File:Stepped hall church.png|Stepped hall: The vaults of the central nave begin a bit higher than those of the lateral aisles, but there is no additional storey.
File:Hall church central nave wider.png|[[Hall church]]: All vaults are almost on the same level.
File:Aisleless church, lateral chapels.png|[[Aisleless church]] with wallside [[pilaster]]s, a [[barrel-vault]] and upper windows above lateral chapels
</gallery>

==== Development ====
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Putting an [[altar]] instead of the throne, as was done at Trier, made a church. Basilicas of this type were built in western Europe, Greece, Syria, Egypt, and Palestine, that is, at any [[Early centers of Christianity|early centre of Christianity]]. Good early examples of the architectural basilica include the [[Church of the Nativity]] at [[Bethlehem]] (6th century), the church of St&nbsp;Elias at [[Thessalonica]] (5th century), and the two great basilicas at [[Ravenna]].

The first basilicas with transepts were built under the orders of [[Emperor Constantine]], both in Rome and in his "New Rome", [[Constantinople]]:

<blockquote>Around 380, [[Gregory Nazianzen]], describing the Constantinian [[Church of the Holy Apostles]] at Constantinople, was the first to point out its resemblance to a cross. Because the [[True Cross|cult of the cross]] was spreading at about the same time, this comparison met with stunning success.
:— [[Yvon Thébert]], in Veyne, 1987</blockquote>

Thus, a Christian symbolic theme was applied quite naturally to a form borrowed from civil semi-public precedents. The first great Imperially sponsored Christian basilica is that of [[Basilica of St. John Lateran|St John Lateran]], which was given to the Bishop of Rome by Constantine right before or around the Edict of Milan in 313 and was consecrated in the year 324. In the later 4th century, other Christian basilicas were built in Rome: [[Santa Sabina]], and [[Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls|St Paul's Outside the Walls]] (4th century), and later [[Basilica di San Clemente|St Clement]] (6th century).

A Christian basilica of the 4th or 5th century stood behind its entirely enclosed [[Courtyard|forecourt]] ringed with a colonnade or arcade, like the stoa or [[peristyle]] that was its ancestor or like the [[cloister]] that was its descendant. This forecourt was entered from outside through a range of buildings along the public street. This was the architectural ground-plan of [[Old St. Peter's Basilica|St. Peter's Basilica]] in Rome, until in the 15th century it was demolished to make way for a modern church built to a new plan.

In most basilicas, the central nave is taller than the aisles, forming a row of windows called a clerestory. Some basilicas in the [[Caucasus]], particularly those of [[Armenia]] and [[Georgia (country)|Georgia]], have a central nave only slightly higher than the two aisles and a single pitched roof covering all three. The result is a much darker interior. This plan is known as the "oriental basilica", or "pseudobasilica" in central Europe. A peculiar type of basilica, known as [[three-church basilica]], was developed in early medieval Georgia, characterised by the central nave which is completely separated from the aisles with solid walls.<ref name="ELL">{{cite book |last1=Loosley Leeming |first1=Emma |title=Architecture and Asceticism: Cultural Interaction between Syria and Georgia in Late Antiquity |date=2018 |publisher=Brill |isbn=978-90-04-37531-4 |pages=115–121 |url=https://brill.com/view/title/38209?lang=en |series=Texts and Studies in Eastern Christianity, Volume: 13}}</ref>

Gradually, in the [[Early Middle Ages]] there emerged the massive [[Romanesque architecture|Romanesque]] churches, which still kept the fundamental plan of the basilica.

In [[First Bulgarian Empire|Medieval Bulgaria]] the [[Great Basilica, Pliska|Great Basilica]] was finished around 875. The architectural complex in [[Pliska]], the first capital of the [[First Bulgarian Empire]], included a [[cathedral]], an [[archbishop]]'s palace and a monastery.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://fakti.bg/kultura-art/141654-vazstanovavaneto-na-golamata-bazilika-oznachava-pamet-rodolubie-i-turizam|title=Възстановяването на Голямата базилика означава памет, родолюбие и туризъм}}</ref> The basilica was one of the greatest [[Christianity|Christian]] [[cathedral]]s in Europe of the time, with an area of {{convert|2920|m2|sqft}}. The still in use [[Church of Saint Sophia, Ohrid|Church of Saint Sophia]] in [[Ohrid]] is another example from Medieval Bulgaria.

In [[Romania]], the word for church both as a building and as an institution is ''[[biserică]]'', derived from the term basilica.

In the [[United States]] the style was copied with variances. An American church built imitating the architecture of an Early Christian basilica, [[St Mary's German Church|St. Mary's (German) Church]] in [[Pennsylvania]], was demolished in 1997.

<gallery widths="220" heights="150px">
File:Old St Peter's Basilica, Rome, about the year 1450 restored from ancient authorities.jpg|[[Old Saint Peter's Basilica|Old St&nbsp;Peter's, Rome]], as the 4th-century basilica had developed by the mid-15th century, in a 19th-century reconstruction
File:Basilica of St. John Lateran (5790154828).jpg|[[Lateran basilica|St John in the Lateran]] is both an architectural and an ecclesiastical basilica.
File:Kloster Bursfelde Westkirche.jpg|[[Romanesque art|Romanesque]] basilica of nowadays [[Evangelical Church in Germany|Lutheran]] [[Bursfelde Abbey]] in [[Germany]]
File:Chester Cathedral (7251396712).jpg|[[Chester Cathedral]] in [[England]], a [[Gothic style]] basilica
File:Nuremberg - St. Sebald church.JPG|[[St. Sebaldus Church, Nuremberg|St. Sebald's]] in [[Nuremberg]] has a basilical nave and a hall choir.
File:14-01-22-palma-de-mallorca-018.jpg|[[Palma Cathedral]] on [[Mallorca]] in [[Spain]] has windows on three levels, one above the aisles, one above the file of chapels and one in the chapels.
File:St Mary's German Church interior December 1987.jpg|A rare American church built imitating the architecture of an Early Christian basilica, [[St Mary's German Church|St. Mary's (German) Church]] in [[Pennsylvania]], now demolished
File:Cathedral Saint Alexander Nevsky (23997180108).jpg|[[Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, Sofia|Alexander Nevsky Cathedral]] in [[Sofia]]
</gallery>

== Catholic basilicas ==
{{Main|Basilicas in the Catholic Church}}
[[File:Petersdom von Engelsburg gesehen.jpg|thumb|[[St Peter's Basilica]], [[Vatican City]], a [[major basilica]] of the Catholic Church, is a central-plan building, enlarged by a basilical nave]]

In the [[Catholic Church]], a basilica is a church with special privileges. It is typically housed in a large and important [[Church (building)|building]]. This designation may be made by the [[Pope]] or may date from time immemorial.<ref>1 CIC 1917, can. 1180 as quoted in ''Basilicas Historical and Canonical Development'', GABRIEL CHOW HOI-YAN, Toronto, Ontario, Canada 13 May 2003 (revised 24 June 2003). "It was not until 1917 that the Code of Canon Law officially recognized de jure churches that had the immemorial custom of using the title of basilica as having such a right to the title.81 We refer to such churches as immemorial."</ref><ref name="imm">The title of minor basilicas was first attributed to the church of [[Basilica di San Nicola a Tolentino|San Nicola di Tolentino]] in 1783. An older minor basilica is referred to as an "immemorial basilica".</ref> Basilica churches are distinguished for ceremonial purposes from other churches. The building does not need to be a basilica in the architectural sense. Basilicas are either major basilicas – of which there are four, all in the [[diocese of Rome]]—or minor basilicas, of which there were 1,810 worldwide {{as of|2019|lc=y}}.<ref name="GCatholic20192">{{cite web|year=2019|title=Basilicas in the World|url=http://www.gcatholic.org/churches/bas.htm|access-date=12 December 2019|website=GCatholic.org}}</ref> The [[Umbraculum]] is displayed in a basilica to the right side (i.e. the Epistle side) of the [[altar]] to indicate that the church has been awarded the rank of a basilica.
{{clear|left}}

== See also ==
{{Portal|Christianity}}
* [[Courthouse]]
* [[Curia]]
* [[Macellum]] – Roman covered market
* [[Market hall]] – modern covered market
* [[Curia#Municipal curiae|Municipal curiae]]
* [[Town hall]]

=== Architecture ===
* [[Architecture of cathedrals and great churches]]
* [[Byzantine architecture]]
* [[Church architecture]]

== References ==
=== Citations ===
{{Reflist}}

=== General and cited sources ===
* {{CathEncy |wstitle =Basilica |author=Gietmann, G. |author2=Thurston, Herbert |name-list-style=amp}}
* {{Cite book |last=Krautheimer |first=Richard |title=Early Christian and Byzantine architecture|year=1992|publisher=Yale University Press|isbn=0-300-05294-4|author-link=Richard Krautheimer|location=New Haven, CT}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070930084621/http://209.128.32.146/frmSiteDetails.aspx?hpid=1464 "Basilica Cathedral of St. John the Baptist Registered Heritage Structure"]. [[Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador]].
* Seindal, René. [http://sights.seindal.dk/sight/1193_Basilica_Porcia.html Basilica Porcia].
* [http://employees.oneonta.edu/farberas/arth/arth212/early_christian_basilica.html Architecture of the basilica]. Art Department, [[SUNY Oneonta]]: ARTH 212.
* Syndicus, Eduard (1962). ''Early Christian Art''. London: Burns & Oates.
* Thayer, W. (1929). [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Gazetteer/Places/Europe/Italy/Lazio/Roma/Rome/_Texts/PLATOP*/basilicae.html "Basilicas of Ancient Rome"]. From Samuel Ball Platner (as completed and revised by Thomas Ashby). ''A Topographical Dictionary of Ancient Rome''. London: Oxford University Press.
* Paul Veyne, ed. ''A History of Private Life I: From Pagan Rome to Byzantium,'' 1987

==External links==
{{Wiktionary|basilica}}
{{Commons category|Basilicas (disambiguation)}}
* [[Vitruvius]], a 1st-century B.C. Roman architect, on [[:Wikisource:Ten Books on Architecture/Book V|how to design a basilica]]

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Basilicas| ]]
[[Category:1st-millennium BC introductions]]
[[Category:Ancient Roman architecture]]
[[Category:Christian terminology]]
[[Category:Roman law]]
[[Category:Types of church buildings]]