What was significant about the decoration of the interior of the Hagia Sophia?
Mosaics in Hagia Sophia. This Byzantine building is famous for the mosaics that decorate several of its interior walls. … The motifs used for creating the mosaics were mostly imperial portraits and religious images of Christ. They were created over many years by the different Byzantine royal families.
What was the Hagia Sophia decorated with?
In addition to its impressive architecture, Hagia Sophia also exhibited an interior decorated with marble revetments on the floor and the lower sections of the walls, spoliated columns, intricate carvings, as well as lavish mosaic decorations reserved for the upper sections and the galleries.
Why does it look like the Hagia Sophia?
The study has begun analyzing the construction of the dome of Hagia Sophia. Its structure comes due the transition from erecting half spherical dome on circular plan to be above a square plan.
What was the primary decorative medium for the interior of Byzantine churches?
While brick, stone, or a mixture of both to create decorative patterns were the materials most often used for Byzantine churches, many were simply converted pagan temples or other secular buildings.
Who invented Pendentive?
The Romans were the first to experiment with pendentive domes in the 2nd-3rd century AD. They saw the supporting of a dome over an enclosed square or polygonal space as a particular architectural challenge.
What is the most famous example of Gothic church?
Clearly one of most famous churches in the world, Notre Dame de Paris is a stunning example of French Gothic architecture marked by its archetypal facade, twin towers and breathtaking rose windows.
What was the most common form of decoration in Byzantine churches?
The mosaic and icon were the most common forms. Byzantine church architecture is typically central rather than longitudinal, and the central dome (surrounded by groupings of smaller or semi-domes) is supported by means of pendentives. Construction is of brick arranged in decorative patterns and mortar.
Why were Romanesque churches so much larger than ones from previous periods?
Their churches had to be larger than previous ones in order to accommodate increased numbers of priests and monks and allow access to pilgrims who wished to view the saints’ relics kept in the churches.