Architecture In The Byzantine Empire

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Ankara had been one of the important settlements in the Byzantine Empire. The significance that it had in that time period can be related to location of Ankara or as it’s called in Byzantine period: Ancyra. Ancyra was one of the four stops which lay in the roads used for military and economic causes. Byzantine Empire used Ancyra as base for their military and economic benefits; therefore, structuring of the city didn’t become more of an issue when it’s considered with other significant cities of Byzantine such as Nicomedia, Nicaea and Constantinople. Instead, they preferred to transform buildings which are built by Roman Empire and Arabs in order to their needs. According to historian, there is only one building which is constructed by Byzantines,…show more content…
The church is built with the stones which are coming from the quarries around the city. (Eyice) However, after many restorations it passed on, the current situation of the building allows people to barely see the first stones used for construction in Byzantine era. The overall shape of the church can be described as “T” or “cross” which is a frequently faced style in the eastern religious architecture. Even though it’s accepted as a pure example of Byzantine architectural style, there are some features of it which makes it differentiable. The most notable differentiation of St. Clement from the other churches built in same era is the place of the dome. The dome of St. Clement church is placed in the center of the building which makes the shape of it more like “+” than T-shape. According to followed style of that era, nave (central area) is bigger than the transept and apse parts of the church; therefore, the building was taking T-shape. (Jerphanion) Another feature of the St. Clement which makes it differentiable is the wall put up the exterior of the apse. Apse, diaconicon and prothesis parts of the church –which are considered as the required elements of eastern religious architecture- are covered with a wall which also more angled view to the church. (Jerphanion) The dome construction of St. Clement is made properly according to rule which used Ravenna previously: building on pendentives. In St. Clement, concave spherical triangles of masonry rising from the square corner and bending inward to form circular base of the dome. (Marien) Another feature of the church which is frequently faced characteristic of eastern religious architecture is the windows of the church. As it’s known, the windows were not large because of the pressure exerted by the dome on the walls. The same situation can be seen in St. Clement.

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