DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.32867#0212
CHAPTER VI
ARCHITECTURE OF THE SIXTH CENTURY
THE sixth century was the final epoch in the great post-classical period of Northern
Syria. It was the century that saw the elaboration and perfection of all the
architectural motives that had been initiated and developed in thc two centuries pre-
ceding. It was the century which produced the Church of St. Simeon Stylites 1 at
Kal'at Sim'an, the most magnificent early Christian ruin in the world, and the splendid
churches of Kalb Lauzeh, Der Termanin, Bankusa, and Ruweha, besides numerous
tombs and dwellings of great beauty. It should be borne in mind that this same
century witnessed the culmination of the Byzantine style in the capital of the Eastern
Empire, which Constantine had established beside the Bosporus, and the extension of
that style throughout Greece, and even to Italy. Yet this architecture of Northern
Syria bears no closer relation to that style than it does to the Greek architecture of
the time of Alexander the Great, from which, in reality, it traces a more direct descent
than from the purely Roman architecture of the early empire.
The sixth-century architecture of Northern Syria represents the development of a
local style already two, if not three, centuries old. The methods of construction, com-
position, and ornament already established were simply carried to a higher degree of
expression. The elemental forms of ground plans and the arrangement of superstruc-
tures were not materially altered ; minor innovations were introduced in these matters,
it is true, but the distinguishing features of the edifices of this century are mainly those
which pertain to ornament. The progress of exterior decoration and of interior cm-
bellishment had been marked during two hundred years; it now assumed its final, or
what became perforce its final, form.
Some minor innovations of plan and arrangement are to be found in the buildings
of this epoch. In the churches these are particularly noticeable in the form of the apse
and in the general scheme of proportions. In many instances the apse is wholly ex-
posed; even in churches of basilical plan, its whole depth often protrudes beyond the
side chambers, or shows between them, as it had begun to do in the century preceding.
1 This church was undoubtedly begun and carried well on toward completion in the latter part of the fifth century,
but it is in large measure the prototype of the sixth-century churches, and belongs to the last epoch.
ARCHITECTURE OF THE SIXTH CENTURY
THE sixth century was the final epoch in the great post-classical period of Northern
Syria. It was the century that saw the elaboration and perfection of all the
architectural motives that had been initiated and developed in thc two centuries pre-
ceding. It was the century which produced the Church of St. Simeon Stylites 1 at
Kal'at Sim'an, the most magnificent early Christian ruin in the world, and the splendid
churches of Kalb Lauzeh, Der Termanin, Bankusa, and Ruweha, besides numerous
tombs and dwellings of great beauty. It should be borne in mind that this same
century witnessed the culmination of the Byzantine style in the capital of the Eastern
Empire, which Constantine had established beside the Bosporus, and the extension of
that style throughout Greece, and even to Italy. Yet this architecture of Northern
Syria bears no closer relation to that style than it does to the Greek architecture of
the time of Alexander the Great, from which, in reality, it traces a more direct descent
than from the purely Roman architecture of the early empire.
The sixth-century architecture of Northern Syria represents the development of a
local style already two, if not three, centuries old. The methods of construction, com-
position, and ornament already established were simply carried to a higher degree of
expression. The elemental forms of ground plans and the arrangement of superstruc-
tures were not materially altered ; minor innovations were introduced in these matters,
it is true, but the distinguishing features of the edifices of this century are mainly those
which pertain to ornament. The progress of exterior decoration and of interior cm-
bellishment had been marked during two hundred years; it now assumed its final, or
what became perforce its final, form.
Some minor innovations of plan and arrangement are to be found in the buildings
of this epoch. In the churches these are particularly noticeable in the form of the apse
and in the general scheme of proportions. In many instances the apse is wholly ex-
posed; even in churches of basilical plan, its whole depth often protrudes beyond the
side chambers, or shows between them, as it had begun to do in the century preceding.
1 This church was undoubtedly begun and carried well on toward completion in the latter part of the fifth century,
but it is in large measure the prototype of the sixth-century churches, and belongs to the last epoch.