3. BUILDINGS OF THE EARLY CHRISTIAN PERIOD IN THE ROMAN EMPIRE.

During the Early Christian period, some very interesting buildings were constructed, which are mentioned in the following paragraphs. The materials and the ways of their structure were simple.

First a reference must be made to the Basilica of Constantine in Rome.

On the upper level of the basilica, above the domes, there were windows.

It should be noted that in the niche of this building, which was housed with a quarter sphere, there was a statue of Constantine the Great, 12 meters high.

 

In Jerash there were the first expressions of the Christian world, such as "agapes" (dinners). In the basilicas of Jerash, the galleries of the four sides of their atriums were transformed into narthexes. Aisles were created inside them. These were shaped sometimes with columns and sometimes with pillars.

The most famous churcheses of Jerash of the Early Christian period were its metropolis (400 AD) and the church of St. Theodore (ca. 496 AD).

In Rome of the early Christian period and specifically around 606 to 607 BC the Pantheon was transformed into a Christian church of Santa Maria the Martyr. The architect of the conversion is probably Apollodorus of Damascus.

Well known churches built in Rome of Early Christian times were also the following:

Saint Paul outside the walls (385 AD).

Saint John of Lateran (324 AD).

Santa Maria Maggiore (432-440 AD).

Saint Lawrence outside the walls (4th - 5th centuries AD).

The Church of the Holy Cross of Jerusalem in Rome (325 AD).

Santa Sabina. (422-432 AD).

In the period 271-275 AD. the Aurelian walls of Rome were also built.

In the period 186 - 200 AD the Porta Nigra of Trier, made of gray porphyry, was also constructed.

During the early Christian times, the forum of Trajan in Rome was constructed by the architect Apollodorus.

The basilicas Ulpia and Aemilia stood out in it.

In addition, the Basilica Julia was built in the Roman forum.

During the same period, the fortress "Castelo Sant Angelo" was built on the river Tiber. This building was originally the mausoleum of Hadrian.

The first Christian basilica built in Rome was that of St. John of Lateran (313 or 324 AD). Its plot was granted by Constantine the Great to the first Christian bishop. The dimensions of the floor plan were 50 meters x 75 meters and it was made of cast material. It was simple, like all buildings of this type. It was street, ie its composition was not based on entrances on the sides. It was five-aisled. It had a skylight, which was created by the elevation of its middle aisle. The skylight rested on colonnades with entablatures. Also in the building there was a transverse aisle (very original form), which consisted simply of two rooms that rested on the sides of the basilica. These rooms were independent and did not interfere with the overall composition. They reached the straight line of the arch. There were also skylights on the side aisles of the basilica.

Today, on the site of the original temple, is that of Boromini, of the Baroque era. The original, Constantine temple, was rebuilt with the help of its foundations.

Another important early Christian building was St. Peter in Rome, built around 320-329 AD. It was built over a martyrdom of the 2nd AD century. The church was three-aisled with an elevated middle aisle, a portico, a patio and a transverse aisle between the main area of ​​the basilica and the arch. The transverse aisle had a different function from the main area of ​​the church. Until 400 AD it acted as martyrdom. Funeral dinners were also held there.

There were 15 pairs of columns on the axis of the building and 22 pairs on the side aisle. The temple had been used as a spool, which is common in Byzantine architecture. This was done especially in the columns of the basilicas because their marble was an expensive material. The differentiation created by the cops inside the church became a feature of Byzantine architecture.

In the atrium of St. Peter there was a famous octagonal fountain. Its material was porphyry. There were two decorative peacocks in it, symbols of the Christian religion.

Next to the basilica of St. Peter the mausoleum of the Honorius dynasty was.

Its Constantine phase was preserved until 1506 AD. It was then that the first fixing operations took place. Bramante designed the new church of St. Peter during the late Renaissance.

The so-called Afentelli's Basilica was built in the Greek island Lesvos during the same period.

During the period 432 - 440 AD. the construction of the pericentric baptistery of St. John of Lateran took place.

In Rome, in 350 AD, the central mausoleum of Santa Constantia was built, which had crypts. Constantia was the daughter of Constantine the Great. Her mausoleum had a rich, golden set of interior decorations, representing cupids, vines, etc.

The basilica of St. Sebastian, outside the walls of Rome, was built between 312-313 AD. It was located near the catacombs. The side aisle surrounds the temple. There were small buildings around, which later evolved.

Santa Agnes outside the walls of Rome originally had the form of catacombs (4th century AD). Later, during the 7th AD. century, the construction evolved into a basilica.

The first phase of St. Lawrence outside the walls of Rome was in the form of a small chapel (4th century AD). In 580 AD the building developed into a basilica.

The church of the Nativity in Bethlehem has a first phase dating back to 333 AD while its second phase dates back to the 6th AD. century. It is a five-aisled basilica with a central martyrdom.

The Basilica of the Resurrection in Jerusalem was built during the period 326 - 336 AD. The pronaos has survived from it, which today determines its length. During the 12th AD century  a semicircular section with perimeter chapels and a perimeter corridor were added to it by the Crusaders.

During the early Christian period, Theodosius the Great built the temple of St. John the Baptist in Jerusalem (379-395 AD), too.

Much later, during the period 705 - 708 AD. The mosque in Damascus was built by the great caliph Al Walid. The building has a temple-shaped façade with amazing orthomarbling and a mosaic with a landscape.

The plan of the Damascus mosque is very similar to that of St. John in Jerusalem. However, in the mosque there is no division into different parts, since no sacraments are performed in it. Also the entrance to the mosque is from its long side, ie there is no street character. The temple faces Mecca.

Another church in Rome, built between 422 and 432 AD, is that of Santa Sabina. Valuable materials were used in it.

The construction of Santa Maria of Kosmedi also took place during the early Christian period. Cops were used here again. Inside there are two-column capitals, marble deposits, sanctuary dam and sole. The entrance of the main corridor to the sanctuary is called solea. The windows are closed with carved stone curtains. There is a trivial window in the narthex. The temple has many phases. Thus the bell tower of the temple is much later, dating back to the Romanesque era. There is an amazing early Christian art in Agia Maria of Kosmedi.