Christian Architecture

Today in class we had a lecture about Christian Architecture. We first learned about basilicas. Basilicas are a building that are meant for worship. They are basically an older version of a church because they serve the same purpose of talking and spreading the religion. They are large buildings with some sort of point of direction, whether that is to the front of the building, or to the center. They are quite beautiful buildings because they have lots of detail and decorations to really help create a sacred feel in the buildings.

We also learned about the difference in Constantinople and Roman Basilicas. One of them has a more a more direct forward view to the end of the building while the other has a more centered viewpoint. Also One is longer than the other. The longer building has the focus point at the end of the building while the shorter one has the more centered focus point.

We also watched a video about Christian/Roman architecture. In the video they showed and talked about how they built a very large Basilica. What I found the most interesting was how they found ways around issue that they had, even without our modern technology. I also found it interesting how they did not have architects deign the basilica, but they had engineers. Though this seemed quite helpful because they were able to solve issues that could have ruined the whole building they were not dealt with.


Old St. Peter's Basilica: