DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.24719#0083
04
THE BYZANTINE CHURCH AND ITS CEREMONIES.
THE FORM AND CONSTRUCTION OF
BYZANTINE CHURCHES.
We have stated above that the Byzantine church was generally divided into three
parts, — the narthex, the naos, and the berna. The Latin church differed from it in having no
separation between the worshippers. As we see from the churches of St. Clement and St.
Athanasius at Rome, the women were not in any way separated from the men.
The various forms of the churches of the East may be classified under five separate heads,
under the following appellations:—
TpouTv^wra. (troullota), domed ;
RuXi'vdpwroL (,cylindrota), with cylindrical vaults;
0oA«)ra (tholota), with pyramidal vaults;
KuxAosi&j (cycloide), circular ;
Apa^ixa (dromica), elongated.
The churches called xa.g.apcoTa (camarota, vaulted) and arraapwra. (in the form of a cross)
will come under the above heads. The churches TpovXXmTu are those that have domical roofs.1
The term is derived from trulla or trillion, signifying a vault or a centre; whence the large
church built by Justinian was called Trulla. In this church was held the Council which
takes its name from it •— in Trullo. It may be mentioned that the dome fell down in the
time of Justinian, and damaged the ciborium and altar ; hut it was shortly afterwards repaired.
These domes were not always built of stone; some were formed of numerous pieces of wood
meeting in the centre in the form of a buckler. The dome of this church, according to
Allatius, was of cypress, — a wood that never decays.
The roof of the church of the Resurrection was of a similar description, and was vaulted with
wood. Basil the Macedonian covered it with plates of gold. The church of St. Mark, on the
hill of Taurus, at Constantinople, of immense size, was also covered with a vault of wood,
erected by Theodosius the Great. It was overthrown by an earthquake, and repaired by the
Roman, Lacapenus the Ancient.
The churches called troullota differed but little from the cylindrota,t from the cycloides,
or from the tliolota (doro twv QoX(otwv), in which rafters met in the centre of the roof, giving
it an elevated form.
The Etymologicum Magnum says, — “A tholus is a round house, or circular edifice, so
called from its form; it is built of stone. We say in the feminine also tholus.”
John Pliocas, the author of a manuscript entitled The Sites of Palestine, which was
translated into Latin by Leo Allatius, hut which is still in manuscript, describes the church
of Sion in the following terms :—“ There is a castle where is situated Holy Sion, the mother
of churches, The church is of remarkable grandeur. It is finished with a roof vaulted
throughout its length. In the midst stands the temple, having a roof in the form of a
vault, which is raised on a circular plan like a tholus,2 To the right there is another temple
of the same form, but very small, which, according to tradition, was built in the times
of the Apostles. In the middle of the monastery there was a temple with a round roof.”
The term tholota is also applied to smaller edifices and to chambers, such as those
constructed by the anchorites, which we have mentioned in our account of Cappadocia. Leo
Allatius cites a passage, taken probably from Pliocas, which is explicit on this subject: — “As
John had remained five years in the monastery, he retired alone to Mount Lycus, and upon the
summit of the mountain he made three tholi, and there shut himself up; — one tholus was for
the wants of the body;3 the second was the place where he cooked and eat; the third, wdiere
he prayed.” And in the life of John the Eleemosynary, “he made the tholus contiguous.”
1 Tt]v opo<l>i)v rp<mXXtOT>)v zyovrsi. xpovoic,, tog Xeycrat, run>'AttocttoXwv aveytpdtig.
2 KvXivSpioT>)v Kal ovrog txwv TPV opotpijv. And later: T« 3 O aXXog tig rag xPtiat rVC eap/cog.
SeZiti /Liepei, vaog t-tpug OciXiotoq, vavv irpacpcTaTvc, tv rotc
THE BYZANTINE CHURCH AND ITS CEREMONIES.
THE FORM AND CONSTRUCTION OF
BYZANTINE CHURCHES.
We have stated above that the Byzantine church was generally divided into three
parts, — the narthex, the naos, and the berna. The Latin church differed from it in having no
separation between the worshippers. As we see from the churches of St. Clement and St.
Athanasius at Rome, the women were not in any way separated from the men.
The various forms of the churches of the East may be classified under five separate heads,
under the following appellations:—
TpouTv^wra. (troullota), domed ;
RuXi'vdpwroL (,cylindrota), with cylindrical vaults;
0oA«)ra (tholota), with pyramidal vaults;
KuxAosi&j (cycloide), circular ;
Apa^ixa (dromica), elongated.
The churches called xa.g.apcoTa (camarota, vaulted) and arraapwra. (in the form of a cross)
will come under the above heads. The churches TpovXXmTu are those that have domical roofs.1
The term is derived from trulla or trillion, signifying a vault or a centre; whence the large
church built by Justinian was called Trulla. In this church was held the Council which
takes its name from it •— in Trullo. It may be mentioned that the dome fell down in the
time of Justinian, and damaged the ciborium and altar ; hut it was shortly afterwards repaired.
These domes were not always built of stone; some were formed of numerous pieces of wood
meeting in the centre in the form of a buckler. The dome of this church, according to
Allatius, was of cypress, — a wood that never decays.
The roof of the church of the Resurrection was of a similar description, and was vaulted with
wood. Basil the Macedonian covered it with plates of gold. The church of St. Mark, on the
hill of Taurus, at Constantinople, of immense size, was also covered with a vault of wood,
erected by Theodosius the Great. It was overthrown by an earthquake, and repaired by the
Roman, Lacapenus the Ancient.
The churches called troullota differed but little from the cylindrota,t from the cycloides,
or from the tliolota (doro twv QoX(otwv), in which rafters met in the centre of the roof, giving
it an elevated form.
The Etymologicum Magnum says, — “A tholus is a round house, or circular edifice, so
called from its form; it is built of stone. We say in the feminine also tholus.”
John Pliocas, the author of a manuscript entitled The Sites of Palestine, which was
translated into Latin by Leo Allatius, hut which is still in manuscript, describes the church
of Sion in the following terms :—“ There is a castle where is situated Holy Sion, the mother
of churches, The church is of remarkable grandeur. It is finished with a roof vaulted
throughout its length. In the midst stands the temple, having a roof in the form of a
vault, which is raised on a circular plan like a tholus,2 To the right there is another temple
of the same form, but very small, which, according to tradition, was built in the times
of the Apostles. In the middle of the monastery there was a temple with a round roof.”
The term tholota is also applied to smaller edifices and to chambers, such as those
constructed by the anchorites, which we have mentioned in our account of Cappadocia. Leo
Allatius cites a passage, taken probably from Pliocas, which is explicit on this subject: — “As
John had remained five years in the monastery, he retired alone to Mount Lycus, and upon the
summit of the mountain he made three tholi, and there shut himself up; — one tholus was for
the wants of the body;3 the second was the place where he cooked and eat; the third, wdiere
he prayed.” And in the life of John the Eleemosynary, “he made the tholus contiguous.”
1 Tt]v opo<l>i)v rp<mXXtOT>)v zyovrsi. xpovoic,, tog Xeycrat, run>'AttocttoXwv aveytpdtig.
2 KvXivSpioT>)v Kal ovrog txwv TPV opotpijv. And later: T« 3 O aXXog tig rag xPtiat rVC eap/cog.
SeZiti /Liepei, vaog t-tpug OciXiotoq, vavv irpacpcTaTvc, tv rotc