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119-658: The basilica of Santa Maria in Cosmedin is in an area of Rome along the Tiber River that once housed the Forum Boarium , the ancient cattle market, and a complex of temples and shrines to Hercules . Archaeologists discovered a platform of ancient tufa under the crypt of the church, which they have tentatively identified as part of the Great Altar of Unconquered Hercules (Latin: Herculis Invicti Ara Maxima ), possibly dating from

238-585: A basilica (Greek Basiliké ) was a large public building with multiple functions that was typically built alongside the town's forum . The basilica was in the Latin West equivalent to a stoa in the Greek East. The building gave its name to the basilica architectural form . Originally, a basilica was an ancient Roman public building, where courts were held, as well as serving other official and public functions. Basilicas are typically rectangular buildings with

357-477: A superstructure above and behind the portico and narthex of the church, consisting of a wall with a small rose window . Pope Eugenius IV (papacy 1431–47) gave Santa Maria in Cosmedin in 1435 to the Benedictine community of San Paolo; after the monks' departure in 1513, the church began to fall into disrepair. In 1718, Cardinal Annibale Albani commissioned a new stucco facade and other refurbishments designed in

476-547: A temple , market halls and public libraries . In the imperial period, statues of the emperors with inscribed dedications were often installed near the basilicas' tribunals, as Vitruvius recommended. Examples of such dedicatory inscriptions are known from basilicas at Lucus Feroniae and Veleia in Italy and at Cuicul in Africa Proconsolaris , and inscriptions of all kinds were visible in and around basilicas. At Ephesus

595-486: A 'family crypt' or 'vault,' in which all members of the family are interred. Many royal families , for example, have vast crypts containing the bodies of dozens of former royalty. In some localities, an above ground crypt is more commonly called a mausoleum , which also refers to any elaborate building intended as a burial place, for any number of people . There was a trend in the 19th century of building crypts on medium to large size family estates, usually subtly placed on

714-430: A 3rd-century mud-brick house at Aqaba had become a Christian church and was rebuilt as a basilica. Within was a rectangular assembly hall with frescoes and at the east end an ambo , a cathedra , and an altar. Also within the church were a catecumenon (for catechumens ), a baptistery, a diaconicon , and a prothesis : all features typical of later 4th century basilica churches. A Christian structure which included

833-782: A Christian basilica erected by Constantine was taken over by his opponents, the Donatists . After Constantine's failure to resolve the Donatist controversy by coercion between 317 and 321, he allowed the Donatists, who dominated Africa , to retain the basilica and constructed a new one for the Catholic Church . The original titular churches of Rome were those which had been private residences and which were donated to be converted to places of Christian worship. Above an originally 1st century AD villa and its later adjoining warehouse and Mithraeum ,

952-583: A Greek quarter ( schola graeca ), a compound initially populated by Greek, Syrian, and Egyptian merchants and by functionaries of the imperial government in Constantinople during the Byzantine Papacy of 537–752, when the popes were approved by and subject to the Byzantine emperors. Several waves of eastern refugees added to the population as they fled from wars and persecution, the encroachment of Islam , and

1071-559: A basilica constructed in her honour in southern Gaul . The Basilica Hilariana (built c.  145–155 ) was designed for the use of the cult of Cybele . The largest basilica built outside Rome was that built under the Antonine dynasty on the Byrsa hill in Carthage . The basilica was built together with a forum of enormous size and was contemporary with a great complex of public baths and

1190-495: A central nave and aisles , and usually a raised platform at the end opposite the door. In Europe and the Americas, the basilica remained the most common architectural style for churches of all Christian denominations, though this building plan has become less dominant in buildings constructed since the late 20th century. The Catholic Church has come to use the term to refer to its especially historic churches, without reference to

1309-460: A central nave flanked by two or more longitudinal aisles , with the roof at two levels, being higher in the centre over the nave to admit a clerestory and lower over the side-aisles. An apse at one end, or less frequently at both ends or on the side, usually contained the raised tribunal occupied by the Roman magistrates . The basilica was centrally located in every Roman town, usually adjacent to

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1428-603: A commercial function integral to their local trade routes and economies. Amphorae discovered at basilicas attest their economic uses and can reveal their position in wider networks of exchange. At Dion near Mount Olympus in Macedonia , now an Archaeological Park , the latter 5th century Cemetery Basilica , a small church, was replete with potsherds from all over the Mediterranean , evidencing extensive economic activity took place there. Likewise at Maroni Petrera on Cyprus,

1547-463: A community of Greek monks there. The church was built with a nave and two aisles, but it culminated at the east end with three full apses , an eastern feature unusual for a Roman church, but one that had reached the West by the sixth century. In the rebuilding, the tall columns from the structure that preceded the diaconia were retained and were visible (and still are) in the entrance wall and embedded in

1666-476: A crypt is most often a stone chambered burial vault used to store the deceased. Placing a corpse into a crypt can be called immurement , and is a method of final disposition , as an alternative to, for example, cremation . Crypts are usually found in cemeteries and under public religious buildings, such as churches or cathedrals , but are also occasionally found beneath mausolea or chapels on personal estates. Wealthy or prestigious families will often have

1785-507: A large basilica church had been erected by 350, subsuming the earlier structures beneath it as a crypt. The basilica was the first church of San Clemente al Laterano . Similarly, at Santi Giovanni e Paolo al Celio , an entire ancient city block – a 2nd-century insula on the Caelian Hill – was buried beneath a 4th-century basilica. The site was already venerated as the martyrium of three early Christian burials beforehand, and part of

1904-542: A large central disc of porphyry , a costly purple stone highly prized by Roman emperors. The Cosmati also provided and decorated the bishop's throne and the pulpits and candlestick inside the schola cantorum . The current ciborium, the canopy over the altar, was designed by Deodato of the Cosmati; it was installed in 1294 and is in a Gothic style not common in Rome. At the time of Pope Callixtus's renovation, an extensive fresco cycle

2023-602: A new Church of St Euphemia in Constantinople in 680, though Cyril Mango argued the translation never took place. Subsequently, Asterius's sermon On the Martyrdom of St Euphemia was advanced as an argument for iconodulism at the Second Council of Nicaea in 787. In the late 4th century, a large basilica church dedicated to Mary, mother of Jesus was constructed in Ephesus in the former south stoa (a commercial basilica) of

2142-605: A new aqueduct system running for 82 miles (132 km), then the longest in the Roman Empire. The basilica at Leptis Magna , built by the Septimius Severus a century later in about 216 is a notable 3rd century AD example of the traditional type, most notable among the works influenced by the Basilica Ulpia. The basilica at Leptis was built mainly of limestone ashlar , but the apses at either end were only limestone in

2261-563: A process akin to baptism. In the eastern cemetery of Hierapolis the 5th century domed octagonal martyrium of Philip the Apostle was built alongside a basilica church, while at Myra the Basilica of St Nicholas was constructed at the tomb of Saint Nicholas . At Constantinople the earliest basilica churches, like the 5th century basilica at the Monastery of Stoudios , were mostly equipped with

2380-602: A rare example of an Antique statue that has never been underground. According to the Liber Pontificalis , Constantine was also responsible for the rich interior decoration of the Lateran Baptistery constructed under Pope Sylvester I (r. 314–335), sited about 50 metres (160 ft). The Lateran Baptistery was the first monumental free-standing baptistery, and in subsequent centuries Christian basilica churches were often endowed with such baptisteries. At Cirta ,

2499-507: A small cruciform crypt ( Ancient Greek : κρυπτή , romanized :  kryptḗ , lit.   'hidden'), a space under the church floor beneath the altar. Typically, these crypts were accessed from the apse's interior, though not always, as at the 6th century Church of St John at the Hebdomon , where access was from outside the apse. At Thessaloniki, the Roman bath where tradition held Demetrius of Thessaloniki had been martyred

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2618-415: A statue perhaps of the emperor, while the entrances were from the long sides. The Roman basilica was a large public building where business or legal matters could be transacted. As early as the time of Augustus , a public basilica for transacting business had been part of any settlement that considered itself a city, used in the same way as the covered market houses of late medieval northern Europe, where

2737-578: A third-century Roman cleric martyred on February 14. There are, however, two other Valentines with commemorations on that day, so the specific identity is not certain. A scene from the 1953 romantic comedy Roman Holiday was filmed in Santa Maria in Cosmedin. In the scene, Joe (played by Gregory Peck ) shocks Princess Ann (played by Audrey Hepburn ) by pretending to lose his hand in the Bocca della Verità . Basilica In Ancient Roman architecture ,

2856-467: A valuable source for the history of the Basilica, have been collected and published by Vincenzo Forcella. There are three doors leading from the new narthex into the church. The center door is created of marble elements from older Roman buildings, with medieval carvings signed by a "Giovanni of Venice" (IOHANNIS DE VENETIA ME FECIT). Scholars differ on whether it is from the eleventh or twelfth century, so it

2975-658: Is 3:7. The basilica at Ephesus is typical of the basilicas in the Roman East, which usually have a very elongated footprint and a ratio between 1:5 and 1:9, with open porticoes facing the agora (the Hellenic forum); this design was influenced by the existing tradition of long stoae in Hellenistic Asia . Provinces in the west lacked this tradition, and the basilicas the Romans commissioned there were more typically Italian, with

3094-453: Is a stone chamber beneath the floor of a church or other building. It typically contains coffins , sarcophagi , or religious relics . Originally, crypts were typically found below the main apse of a church, such as at the Abbey of Saint-Germain en Auxerre , but were later located beneath chancel , naves and transepts as well. Occasionally churches were raised high to accommodate a crypt at

3213-514: Is carved "ALFANUS FIER TIBI FECIT VIRGO MARIA" (Alfanus had this made for you, Virgin Mary). The open narthex of the renovated church contains the tomb of Alfanus, partly decorated with a damaged mosaic depicting the Virgin Mary between Popes Gelasius II and Callixtus II. On the walls are several panels of inscriptions recording monetary gifts to the church. The inscriptions found in Santa Maria in Cosmedin,

3332-627: Is in the Ancient Greek κρύπτω , the first person singular indicative of the verb "to conceal, to hide". First known in the early Christian period, in particular North Africa at Chlef and Djemila in Algeria , and Byzantium at Saint John Studio in Constantinople where Christian churches have been built over mithraea , the mithraeum has often been adapted to serve as a crypt. The famous crypt at Old St. Peter's Basilica , Rome, developed about

3451-473: Is possible this was the door to the church before the narthex was added. The nave floor in the renovated church was a creation of the Cosmati family, Roman architects, sculptors, and decorators, who specialized in pavements formed of slabs of marble and semi-precious stones set in gold and colored mosaics , called opus Alexandrinum . Santa Maria in Cosmedin is thought to have a particularly beautiful floor with

3570-686: Is the Great Basilica in Philippopolis ( Plovdiv , Bulgaria) from the 4th century AD. In the late 4th century the dispute between Nicene and Arian Christianity came to head at Mediolanum ( Milan ), where Ambrose was bishop. At Easter in 386 the Arian party, preferred by the Theodosian dynasty , sought to wrest the use of the basilica from the Nicene partisan Ambrose. According to Augustine of Hippo ,

3689-768: The Acts of the Apostles ( Acts 18:12–17 ) was investigated and found innocent by the Suffect Consul Lucius Junius Gallio Annaeanus , the brother of Seneca the Younger , after charges were brought against him by members of the local Jewish diaspora . Modern tradition instead associates the incident with an open-air inscribed bema in the forum itself. The emperor Trajan constructed his own imperial forum in Rome accompanied by his Basilica Ulpia dedicated in 112. Trajan's Forum (Latin: forum Traiani )

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3808-671: The Basilica Constantiniana on the Lateran Hill. This basilica became Rome's cathedral church, known as St John Lateran , and was more richly decorated and larger than any previous Christian structure. However, because of its remote position from the Forum Romanum on the city's edge, it did not connect with the older imperial basilicas in the fora of Rome. Outside the basilica was the Equestrian Statue of Marcus Aurelius ,

3927-563: The Church of Antioch . The Council of 410 stipulated that on Sunday the archdeacon would read the Gospels from the bema . Standing near the bema , the lay folk could chant responses to the reading and if positioned near the šqāqonā ("a walled floor-level pathway connecting the bema to the altar area") could try to kiss or touch the Gospel Book as it was processed from the deacons ' room to

4046-447: The Church of the East developed at typical pattern of basilica churches. Separate entrances for men and women were installed in the southern or northern wall; within, the east end of the nave was reserved for men, while women and children were stood behind. In the nave was a bema , from which Scripture could be read, and which were inspired by the equivalent in synagogues and regularised by

4165-603: The Flavian dynasty . The Basilica of the Virgin Mary was probably the venue for the 431 Council of Ephesus and the 449 Second Council of Ephesus , both convened by Theodosius II . At some point during the Christianisation of the Roman world, Christian crosses were cut into the faces of the colossal statues of Augustus and Livia that stood in the basilica- stoa of Ephesus; the crosses were perhaps intended to exorcise demons in

4284-465: The Holy Land and Rome, and at Milan and Constantinople. Around 310, while still a self-proclaimed augustus unrecognised at Rome, Constantine began the construction of the Basilica Constantiniana or Aula Palatina , 'palatine hall', as a reception hall for his imperial seat at Trier ( Augusta Treverorum ), capital of Belgica Prima . On the exterior, Constantine's palatine basilica

4403-648: The architectural form . The Latin word basilica derives from Ancient Greek : βασιλικὴ στοά , romanized :  basilikḗ stoá , lit.   'royal stoa '. The first known basilica—the Basilica Porcia in the Roman Forum —was constructed in 184 BC by Marcus Porcius Cato (the Elder) . After the construction of Cato the Elder's basilica, the term came to be applied to any large covered hall, whether it

4522-617: The bema and thence to the altar . Some ten Eastern churches in eastern Syria have been investigated by thorough archaeology . A Christian basilica was constructed in the first half of the 5th century at Olympia , where the statue of Zeus by Phidias had been noted as one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World ever since the 2nd century BC list compiled by Antipater of Sidon . Cultural tourism thrived at Olympia and Ancient Greek religion continued to be practised there well into

4641-510: The hypostyle hall on Delos , but the architectural form is most derived from the audience halls in the royal palaces of the Diadochi kingdoms of the Hellenistic period . These rooms were typically a high nave flanked by colonnades. These basilicas were rectangular, typically with central nave and aisles, usually with a slightly raised platform and an apse at each of the two ends, adorned with

4760-450: The insula had been decorated in the style favoured by Christian communities frequenting the early Catacombs of Rome . By 350 in Serdica ( Sofia , Bulgaria ), a monumental basilica – the Church of Saint Sophia – was erected, covering earlier structures including a Christian chapel, an oratory, and a cemetery dated to c. 310. Other major basilica from this period, in this part of Europe,

4879-637: The patricia and daughter of Olybrius , Anicia Juliana . Pope Vigilius fled there from Constantinople during the Three-Chapter Controversy . The basilica, which lay outside the walls of Chalcedon, was destroyed by the Persians in the Byzantine–Sasanian War of 602–628 during one of the Sasanian occupations of the city in 615 and 626. The relics of Euphemia were reportedly translated to

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4998-624: The 4th century. At Nicopolis in Epirus , founded by Augustus to commemorate his victory at the Battle of Actium at the end of the Last war of the Roman Republic , four early Christian basilicas were built during Late Antiquity whose remains survive to the present. In the 4th or 5th century, Nicopolis was surrounded by a new city wall. Crypt A crypt (from Greek κρύπτη (kryptē) crypta " vault ")

5117-620: The 6th century, share a common origin with the Christian basilicas in the civic basilicas and in the pre-Roman style of hypostyle halls in the Mediterranean Basin, particularly in Egypt, where pre-classical hypostyles continued to be built in the imperial period and were themselves converted into churches in the 6th century. Other influences on the evolution of Christian basilicas may have come from elements of domestic and palatial architecture during

5236-653: The Basilica Porcia on the Forum Romanum , the Basilica Aemilia was built in 179 BC, and the Basilica Sempronia in 169 BC. In the Republic two types of basilica were built across Italy in the mid-2nd to early 1st centuries BC: either they were nearly square as at Fanum Fortunae , designed by Vitruvius , and Cosa , with a 3:4 width-length ratio; or else they were more rectangular, as Pompeii's basilica, whose ratio

5355-665: The Basilica of Maxentius in the Forum Romanum or more practical like the so-called Basilica of Bahira in Bosra , while the Basilica Constantiniana on the Lateran Hill was of intermediate scale. This basilica, begun in 313, was the first imperial Christian basilica. Imperial basilicas were first constructed for the Christian Eucharist liturgy in the reign of Constantine. Basilica churches were not economically inactive. Like non-Christian or civic basilicas, basilica churches had

5474-454: The Diocletianic Persecution – were housed in a martyrium accompanied by a basilica. The basilica already existed when Egeria passed through Chalcedon in 384, and in 436 Melania the Younger visited the church on her own journey to the Holy Land. From the description of Evagrius Scholasticus the church is identifiable as an aisled basilica attached to the martyrium and preceded by an atrium . The Council of Chalcedon (8–31 October 451)

5593-485: The Great . In the post Nicene period, basilicas became a standard model for Christian spaces for congregational worship throughout the Mediterranean and Europe . From the early 4th century, Christian basilicas, along with their associated catacombs , were used for burial of the dead. By extension, the name was later applied to Christian churches that adopted the same basic plan. It continues to be used in an architectural sense to describe rectangular buildings with

5712-510: The Great . The early churches of Rome were basilicas with an apsidal tribunal and used the same construction techniques of columns and timber roofing. At the start of the 4th century at Rome there was a change in burial and funerary practice, moving away from earlier preferences for inhumation in cemeteries – popular from the 2nd and 3rd centuries AD – to the newer practice of burial in catacombs and inhumation inside Christian basilicas themselves. Conversely, new basilicas often were erected on

5831-439: The Maeander . The Great Basilica in Antioch of Pisidia is a rare securely dated 4th century Christian basilica and was the city's cathedral church. The mosaics of the floor credit Optimus, the bishop, with its dedication. Optimus was a contemporary of Basil of Caesarea and corresponded with him c. 377. Optimus was the city's delegate at the First Council of Constantinople in 381, so the 70 m-long single-apsed basilica near

5950-605: The Mediterranean world at all evenly. Christian basilicas and martyria attributable to the 4th century are rare on the Greek mainland and on the Cyclades , while the Christian basilicas of Egypt, Cyprus , Syria , Transjordan , Hispania , and Gaul are nearly all of later date. The basilica at Ephesus's Magnesian Gate , the episcopal church at Laodicea on the Lycus , and two extramural churches at Sardis have all been considered 4th century constructions, but on weak evidence. Development of pottery chronologies for Late Antiquity had helped resolve questions of dating basilicas of

6069-401: The Temple of Hadrian Olympios . Ephesus was the centre of the Roman province of Asia , and was the site of the city's famed Temple of Artemis , one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. It had also been a centre of the Roman imperial cult in Asia; Ephesus was three times declared neokoros ( lit.   ' temple-warden ' ) and had constructed a Temple of the Sebastoi to

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6188-446: The administrative and commercial centres of major Roman settlements: the "quintessential architectural expression of Roman administration". Adjoining it there were normally various offices and rooms housing the curia and a shrine for the tutela . Like Roman public baths , basilicas were commonly used as venues for the display of honorific statues and other sculptures, complementing the outdoor public spaces and thoroughfares. Beside

6307-511: The amphorae unearthed by archaeologists in the 5th century basilica church had been imported from North Africa, Egypt, Palestine , and the Aegean basin , as well as from neighbouring Asia Minor . According to Vegetius , writing c. 390, basilicas were convenient for drilling soldiers of the Late Roman army during inclement weather. The 4th century Basilica of Maxentius , begun by Maxentius between 306 and 312 and according to Aurelius Victor 's De Caesaribus completed by Constantine I,

6426-449: The archaeological context. Domitian constructed a basilica on the Palatine Hill for his imperial residential complex around 92 AD, and a palatine basilica was typical in imperial palaces throughout the imperial period. Long, rectangular basilicas with internal peristyle became a quintessential element of Roman urbanism , often forming the architectural background to the city forum and used for diverse purposes. Beginning with Cato in

6545-474: The basilica became the most prestigious style of church building, was "normative" for church buildings by the end of the 4th century, and were ubiquitous in western Asia, North Africa, and most of Europe by the close of the 7th century. Christians also continued to hold services in synagogues, houses, and gardens, and continued practising baptism in rivers, ponds, and Roman bathhouses. The development of Christian basilicas began even before Constantine's reign:

6664-447: The basilica- stoa had two storeys and three aisles and extended the length of the civic agora 's north side, complete with colossal statues of the emperor Augustus and his imperial family. The remains of a large subterranean Neopythagorean basilica dating from the 1st century AD were found near the Porta Maggiore in Rome in 1917, and is known as the Porta Maggiore Basilica . After its destruction in 60 AD, Londinium ( London )

6783-435: The central nave divided from the side-aisles by an internal colonnade in regular proportions. Beginning with the Forum of Caesar (Latin: forum Iulium ) at the end of the Roman Republic, the centre of Rome was embellished with a series of imperial fora typified by a large open space surrounded by a peristyle, honorific statues of the imperial family ( gens ), and a basilica, often accompanied by other facilities like

6902-407: The city walls must have been constructed around that time. Pisidia had a number of Christian basilicas constructed in Late Antiquity, particularly in former bouleuteria , as at Sagalassos , Selge , Pednelissus , while a civic basilica was converted for Christians' use in Cremna . At Chalcedon , opposite Constantinople on the Bosporus, the relics of Euphemia – a supposed Christian martyr of

7021-402: The courtyard of the Palazzo dei Conservatori on the Capitoline Hill , part of the Capitoline Museums . Opposite the northern apse on the southern wall, another monumental entrance was added and elaborated with a portico of porphyry columns. One of the remaining marble interior columns was removed in 1613 by Pope Paul V and set up as an honorific column outside Santa Maria Maggiore . In

7140-431: The dispute resulted in Ambrose organising an 'orthodox' sit-in at the basilica and arranged the miraculous invention and translation of martyrs , whose hidden remains had been revealed in a vision . During the sit-in, Augustine credits Ambrose with the introduction from the "eastern regions" of antiphonal chanting, to give heart to the orthodox congregation, though in fact music was likely part of Christian ritual since

7259-512: The early 4th century Eusebius used the word basilica ( Ancient Greek : βασιλική , romanized :  basilikḗ ) to refer to Christian churches; in subsequent centuries as before, the word basilica referred in Greek to the civic, non-ecclesiastical buildings, and only in rare exceptions to churches. Churches were nonetheless basilican in form, with an apse or tribunal at the end of a nave with two or more aisles typical. A narthex (sometimes with an exonarthex) or vestibule could be added to

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7378-402: The early medieval West, for example in Burgundy at Dijon and Tournus . After the 10th century, the early medieval requirements of a crypt faded, as church officials permitted relics to be held in the main level of the church. By the Gothic period crypts were rarely built, however burial vaults continued to be constructed beneath churches and referred to as crypts. In more modern terms,

7497-445: The early second century BC, politicians of the Roman Republic competed with one another by building basilicas bearing their names in the Forum Romanum , the centre of ancient Rome . Outside the city, basilicas symbolised the influence of Rome and became a ubiquitous fixture of Roman coloniae of the late Republic from c.  100 BC . The earliest surviving basilica is the basilica of Pompeii , built 120 BC. Basilicas were

7616-417: The early twelfth century, Pope Gelasius II (papacy 1118–19), who had served as cardinal-deacon of Santa Maria in Cosmedin, and his successor, Pope Callixtus II (papacy 1119–24), undertook a renovation of the church, probably in 1120–23. Although the plan remained the same, many changes were carried out: the galleries at the west end, remaining from the diaconia , were walled up, frescoes were painted in

7735-432: The east end of the church, possibly the podium of the Great Altar to Hercules. It took the form of a miniature basilica with a small apse and altar and a nave and two aisles separated by columns, probably based on a prototype under Old Saint Peter’s Basilica . The six spolia columns were too tall for the crypt and had to be sunk several feet into the floor. Carved crosses on the columns may have been inset with bronze. On

7854-455: The end. An old theory by Ejnar Dyggve that these were the architectural intermediary between the Christian martyrium and the classical heröon is no longer credited. The magnificence of early Christian basilicas reflected the patronage of the emperor and recalled his imperial palaces and reflected the royal associations of the basilica with the Hellenistic Kingdoms and even earlier monarchies like that of Pharaonic Egypt . Similarly,

7973-417: The entrance, together with an atrium , and the interior might have transepts , a pastophorion , and galleries , but the basic scheme with clerestory windows and a wooden truss roof remained the most typical church type until the 6th century. The nave would be kept clear for liturgical processions by the clergy, with the laity in the galleries and aisles to either side. The function of Christian churches

8092-406: The evils of idolatry ; the subjects are very unusual in medieval art. The images are faint but were photographed and sketched during the nineteenth-century restoration. There are enough fragments to suggest that there were scenes from the New Testament on two lower rows of the nave wall and that the scene over the arch into the central apse showed Jesus enthroned amid a host of angels. Running along

8211-413: The flanking aisles, so that light could penetrate through the clerestory windows. In the late Republican era, basilicas were increasingly monumental; Julius Caesar replaced the Basilica Sempronia with his own Basilica Julia , dedicated in 46 BC, while the Basilica Aemilia was rebuilt around 54 BC in so spectacular a fashion that Pliny the Elder wrote that it was among the most beautiful buildings in

8330-401: The forum and often opposite a temple in imperial-era forums. Basilicas were also built in private residences and imperial palaces and were known as "palace basilicas". In late antiquity , church buildings were typically constructed either as martyria , or with a basilica's architectural plan. A number of monumental Christian basilicas were constructed during the latter reign of Constantine

8449-403: The functions of the diaconia, and galleries above with six windows on each side, opening onto the main hall. Diaconiae were funded by wealthy individuals. A mid-eighth century inscription displayed in the narthex records a gift of extensive properties to the church's ministry to the poor by Eustathius (or Eustachius), a Byzantine duke of Rome who had administered the territory of Ravenna for

8568-545: The ground level, such as St Michael's Church in Hildesheim , Germany . The word "crypt" developed as an alternative form of the Latin "vault" as it was carried over into Late Latin , and came to refer to the ritual rooms found underneath church buildings. It also served as a vault for storing important and/or sacred items. The word "crypta", however, is also the female form of crypto "hidden". The earliest known origin of both

8687-513: The hand. The sacristy houses an important mosaic fragment of an Adoration of the Magi from 706–07. It was once in the oratory of Pope John VII in Old Saint Peter's Basilica and was donated to the church in 1639 by order of Pope Urban VIII. Among the relics of several dozen saints in Santa Maria in Cosmedin, in a side altar on the north side is a flower-crowned skull alleged to be Saint Valentine ,

8806-529: The interior - the Chapel of the Crucifix in the left apse and the baptistery - retain some furnishings from 1727. Santa Maria in Cosmedin was the titular church not only of Pope Gelasius II but also of Celestine III (papacy 1191–98) and antipope Benedict XIII (papacy 1394–1423). Among the former cardinal-priests of the church was Reginald Pole (1500–1558), the last Roman Catholic Archbishop of Canterbury. In

8925-463: The last civic basilica built in Rome. Inside the basilica the central nave was accessed by five doors opening from an entrance hall on the eastern side and terminated in an apse at the western end. Another, shallower apse with niches for statues was added to the centre of the north wall in a second campaign of building, while the western apse housed a colossal acrolithic statue of the emperor Constantine enthroned. Fragments of this statue are now in

9044-471: The late Baroque style of the time by Giuseppe Sardi. This facade and all of the post-medieval changes to the church inside and out were removed in a restoration of 1894–99 by architect Giovanni Battista Giovenale. The facade was returned to its early twelfth-century form, with a rebuilt portico and open narthex, and the interior was restored to its eighth-century design but with the retention of its twelfth-century decoration and furnishings. Only two sections of

9163-568: The later basilica-forum complex at Treverorum was larger, while at Rome only the 525 foot (160 m) Basilica Ulpia exceeded London's in size. It probably had arcaded, rather than trabeate , aisles, and a double row of square offices on the northern side, serving as the administrative centre of the colonia , and its size and splendour probably indicate an imperial decision to change the administrative capital of Britannia to Londinium from Camulodunum ( Colchester ), as all provincial capitals were designated coloniae . In 300 Londinium's basilica

9282-465: The mainly illiterate Late Antique society. On the exterior, basilica church complexes included cemeteries, baptisteries, and fonts which "defined ritual and liturgical access to the sacred", elevated the social status of the Church hierarchy, and which complemented the development of a Christian historical landscape; Constantine and his mother Helena were patrons of basilicas in important Christian sites in

9401-424: The meeting room, for lack of urban space, was set above the arcades, however. Although their form was variable, basilicas often contained interior colonnades that divided the space, giving aisles or arcaded spaces on one or both sides, with an apse at one end (or less often at each end), where the magistrates sat, often on a slightly raised dais . The central aisle – the nave – tended to be wider and taller than

9520-423: The more chaotic environment of the temple precinct, with the temple's façade as backdrop. In basilicas constructed for Christian uses, the interior was often decorated with frescoes , but these buildings' wooden roof often decayed and failed to preserve the fragile frescoes within. Thus was lost an important part of the early history of Christian art , which would have sought to communicate early Christian ideas to

9639-676: The name and association resounded with the Christian claims of the royalty of Christ – according to the Acts of the Apostles the earliest Christians had gathered at the royal Stoa of Solomon in Jerusalem to assert Jesus's royal heritage. For early Christians, the Bible supplied evidence that the First Temple and Solomon's palace were both hypostyle halls and somewhat resembled basilicas. Hypostyle synagogues, often built with apses in Palestine by

9758-439: The nave and apses, a new floor was laid in the nave, and many new church furnishings were added, including a ciborium , bishop's throne , Paschal candlestick , and a schola cantorum , a walled enclosure at the front of the nave for clergy and monks, containing the pulpit and lectern . At this time, the trabeation supposed by some scholars to have carried by the columns in the nave would have been changed to arches. A campanile

9877-712: The nave and the main building medium was opus africanum of local stone, and spolia was infrequently used. The Church of the East's Council of Seleucia-Ctesiphon was convened by the Sasanian Emperor Yazdegerd I at his capital at Ctesiphon ; according to Synodicon Orientale , the emperor ordered that the former churches in the Sasanian Empire to be restored and rebuilt, that such clerics and ascetics as had been imprisoned were to be released, and their Nestorian Christian communities allowed to circulate freely and practice openly. In eastern Syria ,

9996-459: The open narthex of the church, on the north side, can be found the Bocca della Verità (Mouth of Truth), a massive ancient Roman marble mask thought to be a drain covering depicting the Greco-Roman god Oceanus ; it was moved to the church in the twelfth century. A medieval legend states that if a person places a hand inside the mouth ("bocca") and then swears falsely, the mouth will close and sever

10115-408: The outer sections and built largely of rubble masonry faced with brick, with a number of decorative panels in opus reticulatum . The basilica stood in a new forum and was accompanied by a programme of Severan works at Leptis including thermae , a new harbour, and a public fountain. At Volubilis , principal city of Mauretania Tingitana , a basilica modelled on Leptis Magna's was completed during

10234-463: The papacy. The same inscription also mentions a donation by a “ vir gloriossimus [most noble] Georgios” and his brother, David. Pope Hadrian I (papacy 772–95) rebuilt and extended the diaconia around 780, demolishing a large ruined temple to make way for this construction. The result was a basilica dedicated to the Virgin Mary, at that time called Santa Maria de Schola Graeca or the ecclesia graecorum (Greek church) because of its location and

10353-468: The period. Three examples of a basilica discoperta or " hypaethral basilica" with no roof above the nave are inferred to have existed. The 6th century Anonymous pilgrim of Piacenza described a "basilica built with a quadriporticus , with the middle atrium uncovered" at Hebron , while at Pécs and near Salona two ruined 5th buildings of debated interpretation might have been either roofless basilica churches or simply courtyards with an exedra at

10472-447: The poor. The brick masonry of the building was not typical of Rome at this time but was common in Naples in the sixth century, suggesting the work was done by Greek or South Italian builders, perhaps immigrants residing in the schola graeca . The hall itself was probably a gathering place and place of worship; two-story aisles on each side contained chambers on the ground floors, perhaps for

10591-406: The pre-Constantinian period of Christianity, including the reception hall or aula (Ancient Greek: αὐλή , romanized:  aulḗ , lit.   'courtyard') and the atria and triclinia of élite Roman dwellings. The versatility of the basilica form and its variability in size and ornament recommended itself to the early Christian Church : basilicas could be grandiose as

10710-697: The prototype of the triumphal arch at the east end of later Constantinian basilicas. Known as the Megiddo church , it was built at Kefar 'Othnay in Palestine , possibly c. 230, for or by the Roman army stationed at Legio (later Lajjun ). Its dedicatory inscriptions include the names of women who contributed to the building and were its major patrons, as well as men's names. A number of buildings previously believed to have been Constantinian or 4th century have been reassessed as dating to later periods, and certain examples of 4th century basilicas are not distributed throughout

10829-505: The short reign of Macrinus . The aisled-hall plan of the basilica was adopted by a number of religious cults in late antiquity . At Sardis , a monumental basilica housed the city's synagogue , serving the local Jewish diaspora . New religions like Christianity required space for congregational worship, and the basilica was adapted by the early Church for worship. Because they were able to hold large number of people, basilicas were adopted for Christian liturgical use after Constantine

10948-435: The side walls at the western end of the church. In the center apse was an altar made from a Roman red granite basin, and the floor was a simple opus sectile pattern. The nave was separated from the aisles by alternating groups of columns and piers; the unmatched columns were spolia (spoils) from older Roman buildings. Some scholars believe that the columns supported a trabeation (lintel) at this time and not arches. On

11067-466: The side walls were niches containing shelves for the display of relics given by Pope Hadrian to the church. A sacristy and an oratory later dedicated to St. Nicholas of Bari , as well as a series of rooms for a papal residence, were added on the south side of the church by Pope Nicholas I (papacy 858–67). This area was burned in the sack of Rome by the Norman troops of Robert Guiscard in 1084. In

11186-560: The site of existing early Christian cemeteries and martyria , related to the belief in Bodily Resurrection , and the cult of the sacred dead became monumentalised in basilica form. Traditional civic basilicas and bouleuteria declined in use with the weakening of the curial class (Latin: curiales ) in the 4th and 5th centuries, while their structures were well suited to the requirements of congregational liturgies. The conversion of these types of buildings into Christian basilicas

11305-414: The sixth century BCE. A later building on the site had a colonnaded loggia , probably constructed in the fourth century CE. This is thought by some to have been a statio annone , one of the government-run food distribution centers of ancient Rome, but other scholars believe it was one of the buildings dedicated to Hercules. In the sixth and early seventh centuries CE, this area of Rome developed into

11424-553: The time of the Pauline epistles . The arrival and reburial of the martyrs' uncorrupted remains in the basilica in time for the Easter celebrations was seen as powerful step towards divine approval. At Philippi , the market adjoining the 1st-century forum was demolished and replaced with a Christian basilica. Civic basilicas throughout Asia Minor became Christian places of worship; examples are known at Ephesus, Aspendos , and at Magnesia on

11543-529: The upper level of the outer walls, rows of clerestory windows repeated the motif of the arches in the diaconia that had opened into galleries. By the ninth century, the church was known as Santa Maria in Cosmedin, probably the Latinization of κοσμίδιον ( kosmidion ), derived from the Greek word κόσμος, meaning "ornament, decoration." At the same time, Pope Hadrian had a crypt dug from the volcanic tufa slab under

11662-475: The very top of the nave wall is an undated frieze in which are painted fauns ' heads and other ornaments in ancient Roman style. The frescoes now in the three apses were painted in 1899 but based on styles and themes of twelfth-century church decoration. The campanile of Santa Maria in Cosmedin is a beautiful seven-story bell tower that has stood without repair or restoration since its twelfth-century construction. Drawings and engravings from later centuries show

11781-604: The violence of the Iconoclastic Controversy in the Christian East. The quarter became an important economic sector of the city and was allowed to govern itself with little interference from Roman authorities. Around 550, a hall was built on the site, incorporating some of the loggia columns of the previous building in its west and north walls. This was identified as a diaconia (deaconry), an early Christian welfare center, where charitable distributions were given to

11900-559: The world (it was simultaneously renamed the Basilica Paulli ). Thereafter until the 4th century AD, monumental basilicas were routinely constructed at Rome by both private citizens and the emperors. These basilicas were reception halls and grand spaces in which élite persons could impress guests and visitors, and could be attached to a large country villa or an urban domus . They were simpler and smaller than were civic basilicas, and can be identified by inscriptions or their position in

12019-593: The year 600, as a means of affording pilgrims a view of Saint Peter 's tomb, which lay according to the Roman fashion, directly below the high altar . The tomb was made accessible through an underground passageway beneath the sanctuary from where pilgrims could enter at one stair, pass by the tomb and exit without interrupting the clerical community's service at the altar directly above. The Visigothic crypt (the Crypt of San Antolín) in Palencia Cathedral (Spain),

12138-425: Was also of symbolic significance, asserting the dominance of Christianity and supplanting the old political function of public space and the city-centre with an emphatic Christian social statement. Traditional monumental civic amenities like gymnasia , palaestrae , and thermae were also falling into disuse, and became favoured sites for the construction of new churches, including basilicas. Under Constantine,

12257-484: Was an innovation. Earlier basilicas had mostly had wooden roofs, but this basilica dispensed with timber trusses and used instead cross-vaults made from Roman bricks and concrete to create one of the ancient world's largest covered spaces: 80 m long, 25 m wide, and 35 m high. The vertices of the cross-vaults, the largest Roman examples, were 35 m. The vault was supported on marble monolithic columns 14.5 m tall. The foundations are as much as 8 m deep. The vault

12376-554: Was built by the Silures at Caerwent and measured 180 by 100 feet (55 m × 30 m). When Londinium became a colonia , the whole city was re-planned and a new great forum-basilica complex erected, larger than any in Britain. Londinium's basilica, more than 500 feet (150 m) long, was the largest north of the Alps and a similar length to the modern St Paul's Cathedral . Only

12495-573: Was built during the reign of Wamba to preserve the remains of the martyr Saint Antoninus of Pamiers , a Visigothic-Gallic nobleman brought from Narbonne to Visigothic Hispania in 672 or 673 by Wamba himself. These are the only remains of the Visigothic cathedral of Palencia. Crypts were introduced into Frankish church building in the mid-8th century, as a feature of its Romanization. Their popularity then spread more widely in western Europe under Charlemagne . Examples from this period are most common in

12614-468: Was destroyed as a result of the rebellion led by the Augustus of the break-away Britannic Empire , Carausius . Remains of the great basilica and its arches were discovered during the construction of Leadenhall Market in the 1880s. At Corinth in the 1st century AD, a new basilica was constructed in on the east side of the forum. It was possibly inside the basilica that Paul the Apostle , according to

12733-512: Was endowed with its first forum and basilica under the Flavian dynasty . The basilica delimited the northern edge of the forum with typical nave, aisles, and a tribunal, but with an atypical semi-basement at the western side. Unlike in Gaul , basilica-forum complexes in Roman Britain did not usually include a temple; instead a shrine was usually inside the basilica itself. At Londinium however, there

12852-464: Was held in the basilica, which must have been large enough to accommodate the more than two hundred bishops that attended its third session, together with their translators and servants; around 350 bishops attended the Council in all. In an ekphrasis in his eleventh sermon , Asterius of Amasea described an icon in the church depicting Euphemia's martyrdom. The church was restored under the patronage of

12971-401: Was painted on the nave walls and the arch leading to the altar area; the decoration probably extended to the three apses as well, but no traces remain in those areas. All the paintings were whitewashed about 1649–60 and were badly damaged. Only the uppermost row between the clerestory windows survives intact and depicts scenes from the lives of the prophets Daniel and Ezekiel , warning against

13090-718: Was plain and utilitarian, but inside was very grandly decorated. In the reign of Constantine I, a basilica was constructed for the Pope in the former barracks of the Equites singulares Augusti , the cavalry arm of the Praetorian Guard . (Constantine had disbanded the Praetorian guard after his defeat of their emperor Maxentius and replaced them with another bodyguard, the Scholae Palatinae .) In 313 Constantine began construction of

13209-458: Was probably no temple at all attached to the original basilica, but instead a contemporary temple was constructed nearby. Later, in 79 AD, an inscription commemorated the completion of the 385 by 120 foot (117 m × 37 m) basilica at Verulamium ( St Albans ) under the governor Gnaeus Julius Agricola ; by contrast the first basilica at Londinium was only 148 by 75 feet (45 m × 23 m). The smallest known basilica in Britain

13328-672: Was separated from the Temple of Trajan , the Ulpian Library , and his famous Column depicting the Dacian Wars by the Basilica. It was an especially grand example whose particular symmetrical arrangement with an apse at both ends was repeated in the provinces as a characteristic form. To improve the quality of the Roman concrete used in the Basilica Ulpia, volcanic scoria from the Bay of Naples and Mount Vesuvius were imported which, though heavier,

13447-503: Was similar to that of the civic basilicas but very different from temples in contemporary Graeco-Roman polytheism : while pagan temples were entered mainly by priests and thus had their splendour visible from without, within Christian basilicas the main ornamentation was visible to the congregants admitted inside. Christian priests did not interact with attendees during the rituals which took place at determined intervals, whereas pagan priests were required to perform individuals' sacrifices in

13566-624: Was stronger than the pumice available closer to Rome. The Bailica Ulpia is probably an early example of tie bars to restrain the lateral thrust of the barrel vault resting on a colonnade; both tie-bars and scoria were used in contemporary work at the Baths of Trajan and later the Hadrianic domed vault of the Pantheon . In early 123, the augusta and widow of the emperor Trajan, Pompeia Plotina died. Hadrian , successor to Trajan, deified her and had

13685-462: Was subsumed beneath the 5th century basilica of Hagios Demetrios , forming a crypt. The largest and oldest basilica churches in Egypt were at Pbow , a coenobitic monastery established by Pachomius the Great in 330. The 4th century basilica was replaced by a large 5th century building (36 × 72 m) with five aisles and internal colonnades of pink granite columns and paved with limestone. This monastery

13804-574: Was supported by brick latticework ribs (Latin: bipedalis ) forming lattice ribbing, an early form of rib vault , and distributing the load evenly across the vault's span. Similar brick ribs were employed at the Baths of Maxentius on the Palatine Hill , where they supported walls on top of the vault. Also known as the Basilica Constantiniana , 'Basilica of Constantine' or Basilica Nova , 'New Basilica', it chanced to be

13923-585: Was the administrative centre of the Pachomian order where the monks would gather twice annually and whose library may have produced many surviving manuscripts of biblical, Gnostic, and other texts in Greek and Coptic . In North Africa , late antique basilicas were often built on a doubled plan. In the 5th century, basilicas with two apses, multiple aisles, and doubled churches were common, including examples respectively at Sufetula , Tipasa , and Djémila . Generally, North African basilica churches' altars were in

14042-456: Was then built into the right side of the church and, finally, a two-story narthex (the lower floor was open to the street) and a portico were added. Callixtus II reconsecrated the church in May of 1123. A number of inscriptions state that the renovations were paid for by Alfanus, a wealthy layman or cleric who served as papal chamberlain (Latin: camerarius ) to Callixtus. On the bishop's throne

14161-536: Was used for domestic purposes, was a commercial space, a military structure, or religious building. The plays of Plautus suggest that basilica buildings may have existed prior to Cato's building. The plays were composed between 210 and 184 BC and refer to a building that might be identified with the Atrium Regium . Another early example is the basilica at Pompeii (late 2nd century BC). Inspiration may have come from prototypes like Athens 's Stoa Basileios or

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