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Encyclopedia of Religion entry forBasilicaA name applied to Christian churches about the beginning of the fourth century. In Rome before the time of Constantine the Christians seem to have used as places of worship the private basilicas of Roman palaces and sepulchral buildings (sometimes catacombs). In the age of Constantine they built basilicas of their own with distinctive features. In Syria many Christian basilicas have been unearthed in recent years, dating from the fourth century. The earliest of these are not characterized by distinctive features. " It is often only by the inscriptions that certain basilicas can be known as churches, since these are made in exact imitation of the public buildings of the Romans of the previous period " (Camden M. Cobern). " Between the fourth and fifth centuries there was some development in architecture. so that strange styles of capitals and a new and rich Christian symbolism appear. In the fifth century classic models of ornamentation are less and less used. The churches of this era, instead of the nine arches on either side of the nave as in the fourth century, now have seven and sometimes five arches, and the central nave becomes much wider and the apse arch much broader, _while bands of chain and basket work ornament the moldings. The churches are large and magnificent, often having splendid baptisteries in connection with them, and vast inns for the accommodation of pilgrims; they often stand inside of strong forts, whose towers occasionally, as at Kasril-Bengt, rise to six stories in height." The sixth century " saw the elaboration and perfection of all the architectural motifs that had been initiated and developed in the two centuries preceding." To this century belongs the church of St. Simeon Stylites at Kal‘at Siman, described by H. C. Butler as the " most magnificent ruin of early Christian architecture in the world." One church dated A.D 582, " very nearly anticipates by 500 years the Lombard and French Romanesque system, which has vaults constructed above the nave and side aisles." Cobern‘s account is based on Howard Crosby Butler‘s Ancient Architecture in. Syria, 1910. See also the Cath. Diet. citations: Encyc. of Rel., Canney
article created 2006-04-12 , last updated 2006-04-12 |
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