DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.25500#0133
84
COMPARATIVE ARCHITECTURE.
Remains.—The old Basilica of St. Peter’s had a
“transept,” or “ bema,” 55 feet wide, and of the height of
the nave (113 feet). Five arches, the centre called the
arch of triumph, gave access from the body of the church.
At the end was a semicircular apse on a raised floor, in the
centre of the back wall of which was the Pope’s seat. The
priest stood behind the altar, and thus the orientation was
the reverse of the English practice.
Other examples :
There were in all thirty-one Basilican churches in Rome,
mostly made up of fragments of earlier pagan buildings.
The interior of these basilicas is impressive and severe, the
repetition of the long rows of columns being grand in the
extreme, as in the interior view of St. Paul’s (No. 45), and
S. Maria Maggiore (No. 46).
There are also important remains at Ravenna, a city well
situated for receiving the influence of Constantinople, and at
one time the seat of an Exarch of the Empire. The
principal building is the octagonal church of San Vitale
(see page 94), which has been included in the Byzantine
style.
At Torcello, near Venice, the foundations of the original
bishop’s throne, surrounded by six rows of seats in the apse,
still exists, giving one a good idea of the Early Christian
arrangements.
BAPTISTERIES
are another description of building met with in Early
Christian architecture. They were originally used only for
the sacrament of baptism; hence the name “ Baptistery.”
The form was derived from the Roman circular temples
and tombs, already described. Until the end of the sixth
century a.d. the baptistery appears to have been a distinct
building; but after this period the font came to be placed
in the vestibule of the church. There was generally one
baptistery in each city, as at Ravenna and Florence, and it
was as a rule a detached building, but usually adjoined the
atrium or fore-court.
In adopting the Roman tombs as their models for these
COMPARATIVE ARCHITECTURE.
Remains.—The old Basilica of St. Peter’s had a
“transept,” or “ bema,” 55 feet wide, and of the height of
the nave (113 feet). Five arches, the centre called the
arch of triumph, gave access from the body of the church.
At the end was a semicircular apse on a raised floor, in the
centre of the back wall of which was the Pope’s seat. The
priest stood behind the altar, and thus the orientation was
the reverse of the English practice.
Other examples :
There were in all thirty-one Basilican churches in Rome,
mostly made up of fragments of earlier pagan buildings.
The interior of these basilicas is impressive and severe, the
repetition of the long rows of columns being grand in the
extreme, as in the interior view of St. Paul’s (No. 45), and
S. Maria Maggiore (No. 46).
There are also important remains at Ravenna, a city well
situated for receiving the influence of Constantinople, and at
one time the seat of an Exarch of the Empire. The
principal building is the octagonal church of San Vitale
(see page 94), which has been included in the Byzantine
style.
At Torcello, near Venice, the foundations of the original
bishop’s throne, surrounded by six rows of seats in the apse,
still exists, giving one a good idea of the Early Christian
arrangements.
BAPTISTERIES
are another description of building met with in Early
Christian architecture. They were originally used only for
the sacrament of baptism; hence the name “ Baptistery.”
The form was derived from the Roman circular temples
and tombs, already described. Until the end of the sixth
century a.d. the baptistery appears to have been a distinct
building; but after this period the font came to be placed
in the vestibule of the church. There was generally one
baptistery in each city, as at Ravenna and Florence, and it
was as a rule a detached building, but usually adjoined the
atrium or fore-court.
In adopting the Roman tombs as their models for these