The church and its decoration constitute one of the most ambitious creations of Byzantine art, reflecting the importance of Christianity at the heart of Byzantine civilization. Whether through the sums expended on their construction, the complexity and subtlety of the iconography, or the nobility of their ambitions, the church becomes the most remarkable structure of Byzantine culture. It is found in all regions, in every city, and also outside the empire, in regions under Byzantine influence or adhering to Orthodox rites.

Beyond its artistic character, the church is not merely a canvas for iconography. The religious ceremonial and the Byzantines’ perception of it are well-known, and the church thus emerges as a religious experience finely tuned to Byzantine liturgy. Regardless of the churches, whether those of bishops, imperial or private foundations, or catholicons (the main churches of monasteries), they all observe the same rite and largely adhere to the same standards.

However, the architecture and iconographic programs of the churches did not remain uniform throughout Byzantine history; instead, they were in constant evolution and dialogue with the changes experienced by Byzantine society, and sometimes external influences. The crisis of the 7th and 8th centuries, when the ravaged empire had to struggle for its survival and experienced a period of profound spiritual upheaval with Iconoclasm, marks a significant rupture in this regard. Subsequently, the architecture and iconography of the churches largely solidified, although more nuanced changes appeared over the centuries.

The Proto-Byzantine Church.

Layout and interior design.

After the time of Constantine (306-337 C.E.), a standardized church architecture emerges, which caracterised the Proto-Byzantine era. The basilical plan for congregational worship dominates construction. The basilica church is based on Roman civil assembly halls, and usually presents a longitudinal nave flanked by side aisles or galleries (upper level in the church, above the side aisles and narthex) leading to the sanctuary, sheltered within the aspe. Often, they also featured a square atrium surrounded by porches or porticoes before the entrance of the church itself. Even though common to the whole roman empire, this plan did know regional variations. In Rome and the West, basilicas were for example usually elongated without galleries, as at S. Apollinare Nuovo in Ravenna (late 5th century) or S. Sabina in Rome (6th century). In the East, the buildings were more compact, and galleries were more common, as at St. John Stoudios in Constantinople (458) or the Achieropoiitos in Thessaloniki (early 5th century).

The architecture of early churches mirrors, in its conception, the idea of public spaces, reflecting a time when worshippers actively participated in the four processions accompanying the clergy’s entrance, the reading of the Holy Scriptures, the offering of bread and wine, and communion. The layout of many churches in Constantinople and the Eastern Roman Empire derives from these practices, including Hagia Sophia, St. John of the Studium, St. Mary of the Blachernae, and the Church of the Holy Apostles.

By the 5th century, the liturgy had largely standardized, albeit with some regional variations, which were reflected in the planning and furnishing of basilicas. Generally, the area of the altar was enclosed by a templon barrier, or chancel barrier, serving as a screen separating the nave from the sanctuary. In the curvature of the apse, semicircular seating (the synthronon) for the officiants was constructed. The altar itself was covered by a ciborium, a canopy or baldachin raised above it—sometimes also above a throne or tomb. Within the nave, an ambo or raised pulpit was intended for Gospel readings.

Discover some exemples of early byzantine basilicas:

However, some monuments already use a different plan. The Church of the Holy Apostles in Constantinople (6th century) uses a plan in Greek cross with five domes. Other churches, like the Basilica of San Vitale in Ravenna (6th century), are built following an octagonal centered plan.

In that sense, Hagia Sophia, considered the pinnacle of Byzantine architecture, offers a combined plan of the basilica and the plan in Greek cross.

Iconography and ornament.

Iconography often depicted the life of Christ, starting from his birth and frequently portraying miracles, a theme gradually fading into obscurity. An example can still be found in the Church of Saint Apollinaris in Classe in Ravenna. These narratives accompanied the faithful throughout the nave. However, the sanctuary was treated as a distinct entity, with iconographic themes directly or symbolically related to the celebration of the Eucharist. This can be observed in the Church of San Vitale in Ravenna (consecrated in 547). The mosaics flanking the altar arches depict prefigurations of the Eucharist in the Old Testament. Those in the apse depict the opening procession of the Byzantine liturgy: at the forefront, the Gospel representing Christ carried by the deacon, accompanied by another deacon swinging a censer. Following them is the bishop (in this case, Maximian) carrying the processional cross and wearing his stole of office. Possibly depicted next is the bishop’s patron, Julian the Argentarius. Behind him comes Emperor Justinian, positioned at the center of the panel, offering a golden vessel to the church. He is accompanied by members of his court, followed by soldiers. His wife Theodora is depicted on the mosaic panel opposite: in Byzantine ritual, men and women were separated. These accurate depictions of processions find their counterpart in the celestial world evoked by the vault of the apse. The church’s patron saint, St. Vitale, and its deceased founder, Bishop Ecclesius, advance towards an eternally youthful Christ to receive from his hands the crown rewarding their virtuous lives. In Constantinople, only one mosaic adorning the apse of a 6th-century church remains, that of Kalenderhane Camii. The mosaic depicts the Presentation of Christ in the Temple by his parents, and the moment when the prophet Simeon takes him in his arms. The choice of scenes depicted was rarely insignificant. In the West, this scene is the Presentation at the Temple, emphasizing the offering prefiguring Christ’s sacrifice. In Byzantine art, it is the encounter with God, emphasizing the figure of Simeon who recognizes the Savior. Thus, he hastens with outstretched arms towards the Child, and his feet overflow onto the panel’s border. It is the desire of Christ – literally the body of Christ – that becomes a central theme of Middle Byzantine art. Unlike the images in Ravenna, where the characters are motionless and static, the mosaic in Constantinople shows Simeon’s movement forward, with a third dimension expressed by the shadows and lights, attesting to the survival of Hellenistic pictorial tradition in Constantinople, akin to the contemporary mosaics of the Grand Palace of the Emperors.

Proto-Byzantine architecture reaches its peak with the construction of Hagia Sophia under Justinian, an unparalleled example of Byzantine genius. Its general layout, a nave flanked by side aisles and galleries, follows the basilical plan, as seen in St. John of Stoudios but with a new remarkable feature: a 30-meter diameter dome.

Thus, early or paleo-Christian churches stand out from later constructions. The crises of the 7th and 8th centuries, during which the empire, ravaged and struggling for survival, experiences iconoclasm, a major religious crisis, account for these changes. The evolution of the christian ceremony evolves. The procession in which the faithful originally participated were replaced by a more static ritual, governed by the appearances and presentations of the clergy. The plan of the later churches will then change : they become more compact and less open to the exterior, while their inner decoration are not anymore adorned with free narrative compositions, but with more strictly defined subjects.

The middle Byzantine Church.

The interior spaces of the church.

Middle Byzantine churches typically featured three distinct areas, each serving different functions reflected in their decoration. When entering a church from west to east, visitors would first encounter a vestibule called the narthex. Next was the nave, intended for gathering the congregation during ceremonies. Finally, closing off the church to the east was the sanctuary, known as the bema, reserved for the clergy.

The three types of plans of middle Byzantine churches

At the end of the iconoclasm, and unlike the West which retains in Gothic architecture the long naves of basilical plans, the Byzantines abandon processional spaces in favor of centered, smaller spaces. Upon entering the nave, the faithful immediately perceive the entirety of the church, unlike the basilica which revealed itself gradually as one advanced. The middle Byzantine church is a centripetal structure, drawing the gaze towards the dome – and thus the heavens – and whose plans, based on the cross, circle, and octagon, were designed with rigorous symmetry. In the West, Gothic architecture strives to build higher and lighter; in Byzantium, the focus is on the subtlety of the plan and the refinement of detail.

This change in orientation was determined by several factors. Constantinople possessed numerous churches from the protobyzantine period such as Hagia Sophia or the Holy Apostles; but outside the capital, few cities had the need or resources for the construction and maintenance of such vast buildings, except perhaps for new cities like Venice or Sofia. Furthermore, the evolution of the liturgy, which abandons processions and becomes more static, requires less space. Finally, this new type of architecture is closely linked to the rise of private church foundations, within palaces or large aristocratic mansions, whose reduced scale was more suited to the private sphere. The plan of middle Byzantine churches is also inspired by civilian architecture, where domes and central plans were not uncommon, for example in reception halls or bedrooms.

Three major types of domed church plans spread throughout the Byzantine sphere: the cross under the dome, the cross inscribed in a square with four columns, and the octagon under the dome.

Churches with cross-in-square plan.

The floor plan in the shape of a cross surmounted by a dome, the simplest, appears from the end of Iconoclasm. At the crossing of the church’s arms, vaulted in a barrel shape, four pendentives ensured the transition from the square to the circle of the dome. Not only was this plan simple, but it also did not require columns, and it became popular in more remote regions where columns were scarce and masonry teams less experienced. Thus, Nifont, the first bishop of Pskov, chose it for the church of the Mirozhsky (erected in 1153-56) Monastery. Alexios Komnenos chose it for the church of Nerezi in North Macedonia (12th century). Furthermore, the cross-in-square plan offered vast flat wall surfaces to painters, and variations could be introduced by adding a second floor or multiplying the bays. (ex Hosios Loukas)

The square plan surmounted by a dome resting on four columns.

This was the most popular plan in Constantinople and the Aegean region. John II Komnenos used it for his churches of the Pantocrator. In the Palaiologan period, Martha Glabas also chose it for the funerary chapel built in memory of her husband between 1310 and 1315. At ground level, it is a space with each corner occupied by a marble column. At an intermediate level, the angles above the columns are vaulted and outline the arms of a cross. Above, ribbed vaults cover these arms, and in the center, pendentives ensure the transition to the drum dome. The successive forms, square, cross, circle, constitute a rigorously elaborated ensemble. This unity could be expanded by apses placed at the ends of the cross arms (example of the polylobed plan of the Holy Apostles in Athens). The interior decoration with marble cladding harmonized with monolithic marble columns, and the vaults could receive mosaics and frescoes at various heights.

The cube surmounted by a dome resting on eight arches.

It is the least common and most elegant of the three plans, and is applied for instance for the catholicon built to house the relics of Saint Luke at the beginning of the 11th century in Stiris, Greece. The diagonal arches that top the cube’s corners house trompes, and the formers widen to trace the arms of the cross. Compared to the plan with four columns, this layout allows for the widening and unification of the nave. Thus, the dome of Hosios Loukas, with a diameter of 8.5 meters, is relatively large for a Middle Byzantine church.

Iconography and ornament.

The three different plans each offered a different framework for the images, and the decoration was never exactly the same, even within the same type. Moreover, most medieval monuments are in poor condition, and none have survived intact to the present day. This is a particularly regrettable loss in Constantinople, which often influenced other regions of the empire and where the quality of production was superior. However, what has come down to us presents a certain coherence that allows us to establish a synthesis of the principles governing the decorative program. Three Greek churches, in particular, allow this: Hosios Loukas in Stiris, Nea Moni in Chios, and the Church of the Dormition in Daphni.

In the Byzantine conception of church space, the figures engage in dialogue with each other and with the faithful, who receive the impression of being surrounded by the assembly of saints and participating in the events they witness. Artists seek to project the image into the viewer’s space: the subtle modulation of characters against a neutral background of gold and blue contributes to this effect. There is no attempt to create an illusionistic perspective in the background, as in the Renaissance.

Within churches, two different levels of religious images can be found. At the lower level, at the level of the faithful, individual images of saints are presented frontally, fixing their gaze upon the visitor. In addition to frescoes, icons were added, hung on the architrave of the templon or displayed on a support. Generally, the saints were grouped by category: military, monks, wonder-workers, women, and bishops. According to Orthodox tradition, visitors were first required to circulate to venerate the images of the saints. The traditional greeting to the image began with a prostration, a triple reverence also performed before the emperor. Then, the ground was touched with the right hand before making the sign of the cross. Next, the image was touched and kissed, a rite called aspasmos. Finally, the saint was spoken to, prayers were offered, and possibly a candle was offered.

In contrast to the images of the saints, which are close to the faithful, the image of Christ on the vaults was out of reach. Its significance was more spiritual and profound. The bust of Christ in the dome, the culmination of Byzantine decoration, was the key to the whole. On the rim of the dome, beneath Christ, the twelve apostles were represented. The iconography of Christ in bust form, in a circular medallion holding the Gospel in his left hand and blessing with his right hand, already existed in the 6th century. However, the innovation lies in placing it at the top of the dome. It is believed that the first was installed at Hagia Sophia in the 9th century. The Christ Pantocrator can mean “almighty” but also “containing all.” In the church, he thus covers and contains all the space he covers. The image is made to be seen from below: one enters under this image to assimilate with Christ, for it is beneath his all-seeing eye that the faithful participate in the liturgical ritual, the culmination of which is communion. In the Middle Ages, this event occurred only a limited number of times, after meticulous preparation involving fasting and confession, and the rite was interpreted as an assimilation to Christ. In the Byzantine rite, the bishop or priest administered communion to the faithful at the entrance to the bema, under the dome.

The dome thus defined a magical space, where man encountered the divine. An important difference between Orthodoxy and Western Christianity lies in the principle of the Incarnation. In the West, the doctrine of salvation is linked to the notion of redemption from sin through the sacrifice of Christ, hence the centrality of the crucifix. In the Orthodox idea, salvation is accomplished through the very Incarnation of divinity in a man, Jesus. Saint Athanasius summarizes the idea in his maxim: “God became man so that man might become God.” Thus, the body of Christ takes on extraordinary centrality in thought, and therefore in Byzantine art. Many Byzantine theologians developed this notion: Pseudo-Dionysius and Maximus the Confessor in the 6th and 7th centuries, and then Symeon the New Theologian in the 11th century.

As most laypeople could not read, the narrative in images presented in churches struck them, and the image could persuade them of the reality of the Incarnation, and consequently of the reality of salvation. The cycle of narrative scenes covering the vaults unfolds all around the nave and is read from left to right, starting with the Annunciation. It often covers the same themes as the architrave of the templon, which roughly correspond to the major feasts of the liturgical year. However, some subjects from the official list are often excluded, while others are represented. The narrative cycle includes fewer scenes than in the early Byzantine period, but the list can be extended if necessary. After the Annunciation came the Nativity, then the Presentation in the Temple and the Baptism in the Jordan. These scenes strongly emphasize the materiality of the body of Christ. The Transfiguration, which follows, emphasizes its magical aspect. This is a typically Byzantine subject, where the metamorphosis of Christ is commemorated in the Orthodox calendar, although it is not in the West.

Themes associated with the death and resurrection of Christ are the most important in the narrative cycle, and Byzantine art elaborates on them at length. In Middle Byzantine art, Christ is often depicted naked – the sex is concealed, but it is a well-drawn male body, with broad shoulders, as at Daphni. The Deposition from the Cross is sometimes depicted, as at Nea Moni. This scene refers to one of the most spectacular moments of the Byzantine liturgy: the Great Entrance, where the deacon carried the offerings of bread and wine to the altar, accompanied by the censer and the chants of the Cherubic Hymn, opening the Eucharist proper. The theme of the Lamentation of Christ is not found in the Bible, and presents another type of veneration of the body of Christ. This scene emphasizes the pain of the Virgin, and was introduced into monumental art in the 12th century, when a new sensitivity entered the art of the time, as in the church of St. Panteleimon in Nerezi, North Macedonia. It can also be related to the funerary practices of medieval Greece, which included passionate outpourings, consisting of embracing and kissing the deceased. The Resurrection typically concluded the cycle: it is the Anastasis. In the West, the theme is often treated by showing the holy women discovering the empty tomb. The Byzantines prefer the more theatrical narrative of Christ freeing Adam, recounted in the apocryphal Gospel of Nicodemus. “Anastasis” means in Greek “rising” and “resurrecting”: Christ’s resurrection simultaneously raises all the dead. To express the supernatural aspect of the scene, Christ is depicted larger than the other characters.

The decoration of the bema (sanctuary). This part of the church was reserved for the clergy, and it was there that the transformation of bread and wine into the body and blood of Christ took place. The bema was masked by the templon, adorned with an increasing number of icons from the 10th century onwards. 11th-century monastic sources indicate that the templon was closed by a curtain during the solemn recitation of the consecration prayer. The rites of the altar thus became more secret. As in the early Byzantine churches, the Eucharist remains the main theme of the sanctuary, but the staging is modified. The frescoes of Sopocani in Serbia illustrate the iconographic program in the 13th century. At the lower level, a cloud of bishops reproduces the accomplishment of the liturgy, dressed in a model of chasuble with a black cross pattern on a white background that emerged in the 11th century. They carry the manuscripts used by the clergy for their secret prayers. They thus surround the actual celebrants and read the same texts. Above, a second procession evokes the celebration of the Last Supper. The apostles, six on each side, advance to receive the Eucharist from the hands of Christ, who is depicted twice, offering the wine on one side and the bread on the other. Their outstretched hands express the fervent desire for the body of Christ that will seal their mystical union.

The vault of the apse was the canonical place of the Virgin holding the Child. This proto-Byzantine tradition was revived after iconoclasm in the mosaics of Hagia Sophia. Since the Eucharistic rite reproduces the mystery of God made man, it was appropriate to recall the Incarnation above the altar. Sometimes, other scenes could also be included; for example, at Hosios Loukas, the Pentecost.

The cross was the true heart of the sanctuary. It was carried at the head of religious processions, but its usual place was behind the altar. It was to it that all the greetings and liturgical prayers were addressed. The veneration of the Cross, common in the early Christian era, remains an undisputed tradition, even by the iconoclasts, for whom it is indeed one of the only accepted figurative motifs. In the Byzantine church, the cross is omnipresent: in its very plan, in the vestments of the celebrant, in the sign made by the clergy and the faithful, in the Christ of the dome adorned with a cruciferous nimbus. While in the West, the crucifix is often treated realistically, with narrative allusions to the death of Christ, the Byzantines treat the cross abstractly, as a cosmic symbol of God’s victory over death. The walls were then lined with the monks’ stalls. The narthex was also occasionally used for foot washing on Maundy Thursday, as well as for funeral rites. The series of saints adorning the nave could extend onto the walls of the narthex, but the subjects of the ceiling served to remind the monks of their collective solidarity in Christ. Foot washing is often depicted. At Nea Moni in Chios, the betrayal of Judas, the Ascension, and Pentecost are also represented. The use of the narthex for funeral rites explains why the theme of the Last Judgment is sometimes depicted there.