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Document Details : Title: L'architettura del sacro dal tardo-antico al medioevo Subtitle: Un aperçu Author(s): RUGGIERI, Vincenzo Journal: Orientalia Christiana Periodica Volume: 91 Issue: 1 Date: 2025 Pages: 5-45 DOI: 10.2143/OCP.91.1.3294857 Abstract : This essay aims to analyze the various aspects of sacred space in the Byzantine Empire. The church, monastery, pilgrimage centre, or any chapel fell within the sacred sphere that ancient Roman and Byzantine jurisprudence always considered a res sacra. The legal aspects of sacred architecture are highlighted, known not only from archaeological research but deducible also from a scrutiny of sources; this is followed by structural (consider the seismic nature of Asia Minor) and decorative considerations, necessarily linked to a client capable of appreciating what they desired. The connection of this architecture with the urban or rural environment in which it stands is established; the forms of decoration employed and the ecclesiastical nature of the building, whether cathedral or monastic, are also discussed. The church, whether majestic in ancient times or tiny in the medieval period, undeniably remains the architectural legacy that Byzantium has bequeathed to posterity. |
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