EARLY CHRISTIAN ARCHITECTURE
It was in the low, gloomy, dimly lighted subterranean galleries known as
catacombs, hewn in the living rock near Rome, that Christian
architecture may be said to have had its first crude beginnings. The
passages in the walls of which the graves of the dead were hollowed out,
widened at intervals into spacious vaulted halls, where the persecuted
followers of the crucified Redeemer met in secret for worship or to take
part in the funeral services for those they had lost.
It was long taken for granted that it was not until the first issue in
A.D. 313 of the Edict of Milan by Constantine, Emperor of the West, and
Licinius, Emperor of the East, that the professors of the new faith
ventured to erect above ground buildings for the exercise of the rites
of their religion, but recent discoveries prove that Christian churches
were built as early as the 3rd century in many parts of the Roman
empire. To quote but two cases in point, relics of a circular one with a
small apse at the eastern end have been found at Antepellius in Asia
Minor, and of one of the basilican type at Silchester in England.
Moreover, heathen temples were occasionally converted into churches,
whilst basilicas were sometimes used for Christian services just as they
were.
[Illustration: Plan of a Basilica]
Some few early Christian churches were possibly modelled on classic
tombs such as those referred to in the chapter on Roman architecture,
but the more usual form was the basilican, the altar having been placed
on the raised platform within the semicircular apse at the eastern end,
the bishops and clergy occupying the seats assigned in halls of justice
to the praetor and his assessors, whilst the congregation met in the nave
and aisles. Ere long, however, to this general plan was added the
distinctive feature of transepts or transverse passages running across
the entrance to the apse, thus giving to the whole building the form of
a cross. Later structural changes were the erection of an arch above the
altar, the heightening of the nave, the connecting of the columns
between the nave and aisles by arches instead of horizontal architraves,
the introduction of windows, to which the collective name of the
clerestory or the clear-story was given, in the semicircular heads of
the arches and more rarely into the upper part of the low external walls
of the aisles, the apse, which was gradually lengthened eastwards, being
left comparatively dark, the only light proceeding from the main body of
the church. Simultaneously with or in some cases earlier than these
alterations, a portico known as the narthex was added at the western
end, extending across the whole width of the nave and aisles, for the
use of those, such as catechumens or penitents, who were not privileged
to enter the church itself. The narthex in its turn was set within an
atrium or outer colonnaded court, in the centre of which was a fountain,
used by worshippers for ablutions before entering the consecrated
building.
A minor characteristic of early Christian churches was the richness of
the internal decoration, mosaics that is to say, patterns or pictures
made of many coloured pieces of glass or stone, combined in certain
examples with marble carvings and gilding, adorned the vaulting, the
wall, and even the floor, a kind of mosaic known as the _opus
alexandrinum_ being generally used for the last, the whole producing a
very gorgeous but harmonious effect.
One of the most interesting existing early Christian churches, that
remains very much what it was when first completed, is that of the
Nativity at Bethlehem, built in A.D. 327 by the Empress Helena when on
her quest for the True Cross, with the Convent to which it originally
belonged, that was destroyed by the Turks in 1236 and later restored by
the Crusaders. The Church of the Nativity rises above a natural cave now
converted into a crypt or vaulted subterranean chamber. It is of
cruciform plan, and though its unpretending exterior is of brick, the
interior has four rows of massive stone pillars dividing the nave from
the aisles, which as well as the choir at the eastern end have
semicircular apses.
Contemporary with this humble building, that is closely associated with
all the most sacred memories of the early Church, were the vast
basilican places of worship erected at Rome by Constantine and his
immediate successors, which have unfortunately been either destroyed or
so much modified as to retain little of their distinctive character. The
Cathedral of S. Peter occupies the site of one of them, which had five
aisles, a nave 80 feet wide, a comparatively small apse, and a noble
atrium; the Church of S. Giovanni in Laterano retains but a few details
of its predecessor of the same name, but that of S. Paolo fuori le Mura
or St. Paul without the walls, built by Theodosius in 386, is supposed
to be a true copy, so far as structure is concerned, of the grand
basilica destroyed by fire in 1823. It has a nave 280 feet long by 78
wide, and the whole building is 400 feet in length by 200 wide. A noble
arch spans the intersection of the transepts, and lofty columns with
richly carved capitals divide the nave from the aisles and the latter,
of which there are five, from each other, but the roof is only a flat
wooden one, the external walls are wanting in dignity and solidity,
whilst the height, 100 feet only, is quite out of proportion with the
otherwise noble dimensions.
Another very fine early basilican church in Rome is that of S. Maria
Maggiore, occupying the site of a 5th century building, some of the
marble columns of which with Ionic capitals have been incorporated in
the later structure. The Churches of S. Agnese and S. Lorenzo are also
of basilican plan, and have both the somewhat rare feature of galleries
over the aisles. The former is but little altered since its erection,
whilst the latter has gone through a long series of vicissitudes. It was
founded in the 4th century and greatly added to in the 5th by Sixtus
III, who joined a second church on to it, so that it had an apse at each
end. Both these apses, with the walls between the earlier and the later
buildings, were pulled down in the 13th century by order of Pope
Honorius III, who had the earlier church converted into a choir and the
later into a nave, with very satisfactory results.
Even more interesting than S. Lorenzo is S. Clemente, Rome, that
consists of two buildings of widely separated dates one above another,
the lower, which now serves as a crypt, supposed to have been built at
the beginning of the 6th century, the upper not until 1108. Both are of
the same general plan as the other basilican churches described, with
certain differences in minor details, including in the more modern
portion a low marble screen dividing the choir and altar from the nave.
[Illustration: Church of S. Clemente]
To many of these early churches fine cloisters, that is to say, arcaded
colonnades encircling the outer walls, were added, those that once
enclosed the ancient basilica of S. Paola fuori le Mura being among the
finest still preserved, that may be said to have anticipated the
beautiful ambulatories of later monastic and collegiate buildings.
In other cities of the Roman empire are many noteworthy early basilican
churches, including S. Apollinare Nuovo within and S. Apollinare in
Classe without the walls of Ravenna, the cathedral of Torcello, that is
connected by a narthex with the later S. Fosca, in which the transition
from the Roman to the Byzantine style is shadowed forth, and the
cathedrals of Parenzo and Grado in Istria, the former retaining almost
intact its beautiful colonnaded atrium, the latter chiefly remarkable
for its fine mosaic pavement.
In addition to the early churches of basilican plan are a few of
circular form, such as that at Rome enshrining the tomb of S. Constanza,
the daughter of Constantine, dating from about A.D. 354, which has a
domed roof and vaulted aisles, the 5th century church of S. Stefano
Rotondo in the same town, the latter, though greatly modified in detail,
still preserving its two concentric ranges of columns, S. Vitale at
Ravenna, and S. George at Salonika, that has a circular nave but an
oblong chancel and apse, whilst the 6th century tomb of Theodoric is
typical of the use of a similar plan in sepulchral monuments.
In the first centuries of the Christian era it was customary for the
ceremony of baptism to be performed in buildings known as baptisteries,
apart from, but close to, cathedrals and important parish churches.
These buildings were as a general rule of circular or octagonal plan
with a tank in the centre of the interior, of size sufficient for the
total immersion of candidates. The earliest and also one of the finest
existing examples is the Baptistery of Constantino that rises close to
S. Giovanni in Laterano, Rome, and is two stories high, with a central
domed roof of timber and flat-ceilinged aisles, the massive porphyry
columns dividing them from the space set apart for the ceremony of
baptism, being surmounted by slender pilasters. Another fine early
Baptistery is that at Nocera, which resembles that of Constantine in
general plan and style.
The Christians of Egyptian descent, to whom the name of Copts has been
given, evolved a style of building that combined with oriental
traditions certain details of western architecture. They were very early
familiar with the dome, and employed it in churches of a basilican
ground-plan even before it was adopted in the Roman Empire. Moreover,
certain of the barrel vaults and arches in Coptic places of worship were
pointed, so that the most distinctive characteristic of Gothic
architecture may be said to have been to some extent anticipated. Except
for the effective feature of the dome the exteriors of these buildings
were plain and unpretending, but the interiors were in many cases
lavishly decorated with marble mosaics. Other peculiarities were the
division of the eastern extremity into three semicircular or square
recesses, each containing an altar, the use of an elaborately carved
screen shutting off the choir or chancel from the nave and aisles, and
the introduction of galleries above the latter for the use of the women
of the congregation.
Specially noteworthy examples of Coptic architecture are the two
churches in Upper Egypt known as the White and Red Convents, the former
supposed by some authorities to be even older than the church of the
Nativity of Bethlehem, the 6th century church of Dair-as-Suriani in the
Desert, and the 8th century S. Sergius or Abu Sargah at Cairo, whilst in
the oasis of El Bagawat have recently been excavated a large number of
sepulchral chapels, dating probably from the 5th century, many of which
have domed cupolas greatly resembling in structure those of considerably
later Byzantine buildings.
In Syria, as well as in Egypt, are many very interesting early Christian
churches, including the vast complex 5th century building at Kalat-Seman
dedicated to S. Simeon Stylites, which has four basilicas, each with an
apse, grouped about a central octagon; the 6th century church at
Sergiopolis; and the smaller contemporaneous ones at Qalb Lorzeh and
Roueiha; all of which, though they resemble in general plan the
basilicas of Rome, have certain details that appear to shadow forth the
characteristics of the Romanesque style, notably in the first the
cruciform bays dividing the nave from the aisles, in the second, the use
of the lobed arch, and in it and the Roueiha building the grouping of
the clerestory windows.
Asia Minor is also rich in examples of early Christian architecture, of
which one of the most remarkable is the 5th century S. Demetrius at
Salonika, of basilican plan with transepts at the eastern end, nave
arcades resembling those of S. Clemente, Rome, and galleries above the
aisles, such as those of the Coptic places of worship quoted above. With
it must be named the 6th century church in the same city, now used as a
mosque, under the name of Eski Djuma, and the considerably later
churches at Bin Bir Kilissi that have only recently been explored and
are of basilican plan with barrel-vaulted roofing.