Digital reconstruction of the 2nd century BCBasilica Sempronia, in theForum Romanum19th century reconstruction of the 2nd century ADBasilica Ulpia, part of theTrajan's Forum, RomeRuins ofYererouk basilica 4th–5th century ADRuins of the late 5th century AD basilica at Mushabbak, SyriaReconstruction of the basilica atFano from adescription by its architectVitruvius
InAncient Roman architecture, abasilica (Greekbasilike) was a large public building with multiple functions that was typically built alongside the town'sforum. The basilica was in theLatin West equivalent to astoa in the Greek East. The building gave its name to thebasilicaarchitectural form.
Originally, a basilica was anancient Roman public building, where courts were held, as well as serving other official and public functions. Basilicas are typically rectangular buildings with a centralnave flanked by two or more longitudinalaisles, with the roof at two levels, being higher in the centre over thenave to admit aclerestory and lower over the side-aisles. Anapse at one end, or less frequently at both ends or on the side, usually contained the raisedtribunal occupied by theRoman magistrates. The basilica was centrally located in every Roman town, usually adjacent to the forum and often opposite a temple in imperial-era forums.[1] Basilicas were also built in private residences and imperial palaces and were known as "palace basilicas".
Inlate antiquity,church buildings were typically constructed either asmartyria, or with a basilica's architectural plan. A number of monumental Christian basilicas were constructed during the latter reign ofConstantine the Great. In thepost Nicene period, basilicas became a standard model for Christian spaces for congregationalworship throughout theMediterranean andEurope. From the early 4th century, Christian basilicas, along with their associatedcatacombs, were used forburial of the dead.
By extension, the name was later applied to Christianchurches that adopted the same basic plan. It continues to be used in an architectural sense to describe rectangular buildings with a centralnave andaisles, 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.
Remains of the Basilica of Pompeii, interior (120 BC)Basilica of Pompeii, tribunal
The Latin wordbasilica derives fromAncient Greek:βασιλικὴ στοά,romanized: basilikḗ stoá,lit.'royalstoa'. The first known basilica—theBasilica Porcia in theRoman Forum—was constructed in 184 BC byMarcus Porcius Cato (the Elder).[2] After the construction of Cato the Elder's basilica, the term came to be applied to any large covered hall, whether it was used for domestic purposes, was a commercial space, a military structure, or religious building.[2]
The plays ofPlautus 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 theAtrium Regium.[3] Another early example is the basilica atPompeii (late 2nd century BC). Inspiration may have come from prototypes likeAthens'sStoa Basileios or thehypostyle hall onDelos, but thearchitectural form is most derived from the audience halls in the royal palaces of theDiadochi kingdoms of theHellenistic period. These rooms were typically a high nave flanked by colonnades.[3]
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 a statue perhaps of the emperor, while the entrances were from the long sides.[4][5] The Romanbasilica was a large public building where business or legal matters could be transacted.As early as the time ofAugustus, 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 the meeting room, for lack of urban space, was setabove the arcades, however.[clarify][citation needed] Although their form was variable, basilicas often contained interiorcolonnades 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 raiseddais. The central aisle – the nave – tended to be wider and taller than the flanking aisles, so that light could penetrate through theclerestory windows.[citation needed]
In the late Republican era, basilicas were increasingly monumental;Julius Caesar replaced the Basilica Sempronia with his ownBasilica Julia, dedicated in 46 BC, while the Basilica Aemilia was rebuilt around 54 BC in so spectacular a fashion thatPliny the Elder wrote that it was among the most beautiful buildings in the world (it was simultaneously renamed theBasilica 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 countryvilla or an urbandomus. They were simpler and smaller than were civic basilicas, and can be identified by inscriptions or their position in the archaeological context.Domitian constructed a basilica on thePalatine Hill for his imperial residential complex around 92 AD, and a palatine basilica was typical in imperial palaces throughout the imperial period.[3]
Remains of the 2nd century BC Basilica Aemilia byGiuliano da Sangallo in the 15th century AD
Long, rectangular basilicas with internalperistyle became a quintessential element of Romanurbanism, often forming the architectural background to the city forum and used for diverse purposes.[6] Beginning with Cato in the early second century BC, politicians of theRoman Republic competed with one another by building basilicas bearing their names in theForum Romanum, the centre ofancient Rome. Outside the city, basilicas symbolised the influence of Rome and became a ubiquitous fixture of Romancoloniae of the late Republic fromc. 100 BC. The earliest surviving basilica is the basilica ofPompeii, built 120 BC.[6] Basilicas were the administrative and commercial centres of major Roman settlements: the "quintessential architectural expression of Roman administration".[7] Adjoining it there were normally various offices and rooms housing thecuria and a shrine for thetutela.[8] LikeRoman public baths, basilicas were commonly used as venues for the display of honorific statues and other sculptures, complementing the outdoor public spaces and thoroughfares.[9]
Beside the Basilica Porcia on theForum Romanum, theBasilica Aemilia was built in 179 BC, and theBasilica Sempronia in 169 BC.[3] 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 atFanum Fortunae, designed byVitruvius, andCosa, with a 3:4 width-length ratio; or else they were more rectangular, as Pompeii's basilica, whose ratio is 3:7.[10][3]
The basilica atEphesus 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 theagora (the Hellenic forum); this design was influenced by the existing tradition of longstoae in HellenisticAsia.[3] Provinces in the west lacked this tradition, and the basilicas the Romans commissioned there were more typically Italian, with the central nave divided from the side-aisles by an internal colonnade in regular proportions.[3]
Ruins of the Basilica-stoa at EphesusModel of the Antonine basilica onByrsa Hill, CarthageRuins of the Trajanic basilica atBaelo ClaudiaRuins of the Severan basilica atLeptis MagnaRuins of the basilica atVolubilis, 217/'8. (Afteranastylosis)
Beginning with theForum of Caesar (Latin:forum Iulium) at the end of the Roman Republic, the centre of Rome was embellished with a series ofimperial 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 atemple,market halls andpublic libraries.[6] 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 atLucus Feroniae andVeleia in Italy and atCuicul inAfrica Proconsolaris, and inscriptions of all kinds were visible in and around basilicas.[11]
At Ephesus the basilica-stoa had two storeys and three aisles and extended the length of the civicagora's north side, complete with colossal statues of the emperor Augustus and his imperial family.[7]
After its destruction in 60 AD,Londinium (London) was endowed with its first forum and basilica under theFlavian dynasty.[13] 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.[13] Unlike inGaul, basilica-forum complexes inRoman Britain did not usually include a temple; instead a shrine was usually inside the basilica itself.[13] At Londinium however, there was probably no temple at all attached to the original basilica, but instead a contemporary temple was constructed nearby.[13] Later, in 79 AD, an inscription commemorated the completion of the 385 by 120 foot (117 m × 37 m) basilica atVerulamium (St Albans) under the governorGnaeus Julius Agricola; by contrast the first basilica at Londinium was only 148 by 75 feet (45 m × 23 m).[13] The smallest known basilica in Britain was built by theSilures atCaerwent and measured 180 by 100 feet (55 m × 30 m).[13]
When Londinium became acolonia, the whole city was re-planned and a new great forum-basilica complex erected, larger than any in Britain.[14] Londinium's basilica, more than 500 feet (150 m) long, was the largest north of theAlps and a similar length to the modernSt Paul's Cathedral.[14] Only the later basilica-forum complex atTreverorum was larger, while at Rome only the 525 foot (160 m) Basilica Ulpia exceeded London's in size.[14] It probably had arcaded, rather thantrabeate, aisles, and a double row of square offices on the northern side, serving as the administrative centre of thecolonia, and its size and splendour probably indicate an imperial decision to change the administrative capital of Britannia to Londinium fromCamulodunum (Colchester), as all provincial capitals were designatedcoloniae.[14] In 300 Londinium's basilica was destroyed as a result of the rebellion led by theAugustus of the break-awayBritannic Empire,Carausius.[15] Remains of the great basilica and its arches were discovered during the construction ofLeadenhall Market in the 1880s.[14]
The emperorTrajan constructed his own imperial forum in Rome accompanied by hisBasilica Ulpia dedicated in 112.[16][3]Trajan's Forum (Latin:forum Traiani) was separated from theTemple of Trajan, theUlpian Library, and his famousColumn depicting theDacian Wars by the Basilica.[16][3] 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.[3] To improve the quality of theRoman concrete used in the Basilica Ulpia, volcanicscoria from theBay of Naples andMount Vesuvius were imported which, though heavier, was stronger than thepumice available closer to Rome.[17] The Bailica Ulpia is probably an early example oftie bars to restrain the lateral thrust of thebarrel vault resting on a colonnade; both tie-bars and scoria were used in contemporary work at theBaths of Trajan and later the Hadrianic domed vault of thePantheon.[17]
In early 123, theaugusta and widow of the emperor Trajan,Pompeia Plotina died.Hadrian, successor to Trajan,deified her and had a basilica constructed in her honour in southernGaul.[18]
The largest basilica built outside Rome was that built under theAntonine dynasty on theByrsa hill inCarthage.[19] The basilica was built together with a forum of enormous size and was contemporary with a great complex of public baths and a new aqueduct system running for 82 miles (132 km), then the longest in the Roman Empire.[19]
The basilica atLeptis Magna, built by theSeptimius 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.[2][3] The basilica at Leptis was built mainly oflimestoneashlar, but the apses at either end were only limestone in the outer sections and built largely ofrubble masonry faced with brick, with a number of decorative panels inopus reticulatum.[20] The basilica stood in a new forum and was accompanied by a programme of Severan works at Leptis includingthermae, a new harbour, and a public fountain.[6] AtVolubilis, principal city ofMauretania Tingitana, a basilica modelled on Leptis Magna's was completed during the short reign ofMacrinus.[21]
Basilica Porcia: first basilica built in Rome (184 BC), erected on the personal initiative and financing of the censor Marcus Porcius Cato (Cato the Elder) as an official building for thetribunes of the plebs
The aisled-hall plan of the basilica was adopted by a number of religious cults inlate antiquity.[2] AtSardis, amonumental basilica housed the city'ssynagogue, serving the localJewish diaspora.[22] New religions like Christianity required space for congregational worship, and the basilica was adapted by the early Church for worship.[8] Because they were able to hold large number of people, basilicas were adopted for Christian liturgical use afterConstantine the Great. The early churches of Rome were basilicas with an apsidal tribunal and used the same construction techniques of columns and timber roofing.[2]
At the start of the 4th century at Rome there was a change in burial andfunerary practice, moving away from earlier preferences for inhumation in cemeteries – popular from the 2nd and 3rd centuries AD – to the newer practice of burial incatacombs and inhumation inside Christian basilicas themselves.[23] Conversely, new basilicas often were erected on the site of existing early Christian cemeteries andmartyria, related to the belief inBodily Resurrection, and the cult of the sacred dead became monumentalised in basilica form.[24] Traditional civic basilicas andbouleuteria declined in use with the weakening of thecurial class (Latin:curiales) in the 4th and 5th centuries, while their structures were well suited to the requirements of congregational liturgies.[24] The conversion of these types of buildings into Christian basilicas 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.[24] Traditional monumental civic amenities likegymnasia,palaestrae, andthermae were also falling into disuse, and became favoured sites for the construction of new churches, including basilicas.[24]
Under Constantine, 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.[25] Christians also continued to hold services in synagogues, houses, and gardens, and continued practisingbaptism in rivers, ponds, and Roman bathhouses.[25][26]
The development of Christian basilicas began even before Constantine's reign: a 3rd-centurymud-brick house atAqaba had become a Christian church and was rebuilt as a basilica.[25] Within was a rectangular assembly hall withfrescoes and at the east end anambo, acathedra, and an altar.[25] Also within the church were a catecumenon (forcatechumens), a baptistery, adiaconicon, and aprothesis: all features typical of later 4th century basilica churches.[25] A Christian structure which included the prototype of the triumphal arch at the east end of later Constantinian basilicas.[25] Known as theMegiddo church, it was built at Kefar 'Othnay inPalestine, possibly c. 230, for or by theRoman army stationed atLegio (laterLajjun).[25] Its dedicatory inscriptions include the names of women who contributed to the building and were its major patrons, as well as men's names.[25] 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 the Mediterranean world at all evenly.[27] Christian basilicas andmartyria attributable to the 4th century are rare on the Greek mainland and on theCyclades, while the Christian basilicas of Egypt,Cyprus,Syria,Transjordan,Hispania, andGaul are nearly all of later date.[27] The basilica at Ephesus'sMagnesian Gate, the episcopal church atLaodicea on the Lycus, and two extramural churches atSardis have all been considered 4th century constructions, but on weak evidence.[24] Development ofpottery chronologies for Late Antiquity had helped resolve questions of dating basilicas of the period.[28]
Three examples of abasilica discoperta or "hypaethral basilica" with no roof above the nave are inferred to have existed.[29] The 6th centuryAnonymous pilgrim of Piacenza described a "basilica built with aquadriporticus, with the middle atrium uncovered" atHebron, while atPécs and nearSalona two ruined 5th buildings of debated interpretation might have been either roofless basilica churches or simply courtyards with anexedra at the end.[29] An old theory byEjnar Dyggve that these were the architectural intermediary between the Christianmartyrium and the classicalheröon is no longer credited.[29]
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 theHellenistic Kingdoms and even earlier monarchies like that ofPharaonic Egypt.[25] Similarly, the name and association resounded with the Christian claims of the royalty ofChrist – according to theActs of the Apostles the earliest Christians had gathered at the royalStoa of Solomon inJerusalem to assert Jesus's royal heritage.[25] For early Christians, theBible supplied evidence that theFirst Temple andSolomon's palace were bothhypostyle halls and somewhat resembled basilicas.[25] Hypostyle synagogues, often built with apses in Palestine by 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.[25] Other influences on the evolution of Christian basilicas may have come from elements of domestic and palatial architecture during the pre-Constantinian period of Christianity, including the reception hall oraula (Ancient Greek:αὐλή,romanized: aulḗ,lit. 'courtyard') and theatria andtriclinia of élite Roman dwellings.[25] The versatility of the basilica form and its variability in size and ornament recommended itself to the earlyChristian Church: basilicas could be grandiose as the Basilica of Maxentius in theForum Romanum or more practical like the so-called Basilica ofBahira inBosra, while theBasilica Constantiniana on theLateran Hill was of intermediate scale.[25] This basilica, begun in 313, was the first imperial Christian basilica.[25] Imperial basilicas were first constructed for the ChristianEucharistliturgy in the reign of Constantine.[26]
Basilica churches were not economically inactive. Like non-Christian or civic basilicas, basilica churches had 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.[28] AtDion nearMount Olympus inMacedonia, now anArchaeological Park, the latter 5th centuryCemetery Basilica, a small church, was replete withpotsherds from all over theMediterranean, evidencing extensive economic activity took place there.[28][30] Likewise atMaroni Petrera on Cyprus, the amphorae unearthed by archaeologists in the 5th century basilica church had been imported from North Africa, Egypt,Palestine, and theAegean basin, as well as from neighbouringAsia Minor.[28][31]
Remains of theBasilica of Maxentius and Constantine in Rome. The building's northern aisle is all that remains.Floor plan of the Basilica of Maxentius and ConstantineThe 4th-centuryBasilica of Constantine atTrier was a palatine basilica, used for receiving Constantine's politicalclients. The apse windows are in fact smaller than the side windows, producing an optical illusion of still greater size and distance.
The 4th centuryBasilica of Maxentius, begun byMaxentius between 306 and 312 and according toAurelius Victor'sDe Caesaribus completed by Constantine I, was an innovation.[32][33] Earlier basilicas mostly had wooden roofs, but this basilica dispensed with timber trusses and used insteadcross-vaults made fromRoman bricks andconcrete to create one of the ancient world's largest covered spaces: 80 m long, 25 m wide, and 35 m high.[3][32] Thevertices of the cross-vaults, the largest Roman examples, were 35 m.[32] The vault was supported onmarble monolithic columns 14.5 m tall.[32] The foundations are as much as 8 m deep.[17] The vault was supported by brick latticework ribs (Latin:bipedalis) forming lattice ribbing, an early form ofrib vault, and distributing the load evenly across the vault's span.[17] Similar brick ribs were employed at theBaths of Maxentius on thePalatine Hill, where they supported walls on top of the vault.[17] Also known as theBasilica Constantiniana,'Basilica of Constantine' orBasilica Nova,'New Basilica', it chanced to be the last civic basilica built in Rome.[3][32]
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.[32] 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 colossalacrolithic statue of the emperor Constantine enthroned.[32] Fragments of this statue are now in the courtyard of the Palazzo dei Conservatori on theCapitoline Hill, part of theCapitoline Museums. Opposite the northern apse on the southern wall, another monumental entrance was added and elaborated with aportico ofporphyry columns.[32] One of the remaining marble interior columns was removed in 1613 byPope Paul V and set up as an honorific column outsideSanta Maria Maggiore.[32]
In the early 4th centuryEusebius 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.[34] Churches were nonetheless basilican in form, with an apse or tribunal at the end of a nave with two or more aisles typical.[34] Anarthex (sometimes with an exonarthex) orvestibule could be added to the entrance, together with anatrium, and the interior might havetransepts, apastophorion, andgalleries, but the basic scheme with clerestory windows and a woodentruss roof remained the most typical church type until the 6th century.[34] The nave would be kept clear for liturgical processions by the clergy, with thelaity in the galleries and aisles to either side.[34] The function of Christian churches was similar to that of the civic basilicas but very different from temples in contemporaryGraeco-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.[25] 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 the more chaotic environment of the temple precinct, with the temple's façade as backdrop.[25] In basilicas constructed for Christian uses, the interior was often decorated withfrescoes, but these buildings' wooden roof often decayed and failed to preserve the fragile frescoes within.[27] Thus was lost an important part of the early history ofChristian art, which would have sought to communicate early Christian ideas to the mainly illiterate Late Antique society.[27] On the exterior, basilica church complexes included cemeteries, baptisteries, andfonts 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 motherHelena were patrons of basilicas in important Christian sites in theHoly Land and Rome, and at Milan and Constantinople.[27]
Around 310, while still a self-proclaimedaugustus unrecognised at Rome, Constantine began the construction of theBasilica Constantiniana orAula Palatina,'palatine hall', as a reception hall for his imperial seat atTrier (Augusta Treverorum), capital ofBelgica Prima.[3] On the exterior, Constantine's palatine basilica was plain and utilitarian, but inside was very grandly decorated.[35]
In the reign of Constantine I, a basilica was constructed for thePope in theformer barracks of theEquites singulares Augusti, thecavalry arm of thePraetorian Guard.[36] (Constantine had disbanded the Praetorian guard after his defeat of their emperor Maxentius and replaced them with another bodyguard, theScholae Palatinae.)[36] In 313 Constantine began construction of theBasilica Constantiniana on the Lateran Hill.[25] This basilica became Rome'scathedral church, known asSt John Lateran, and was more richly decorated and larger than any previous Christian structure.[25] However, because of its remote position from theForum Romanum on the city's edge, it did not connect with the older imperial basilicas in the fora of Rome.[25] Outside the basilica was theEquestrian Statue of Marcus Aurelius, a rare example of an Antique statue that has never been underground.[9]
According to theLiber Pontificalis, Constantine was also responsible for the rich interior decoration of theLateran Baptistery constructed underPope Sylvester I (r. 314–335), sited about 50 metres (160 ft).[26] The Lateran Baptistery was the first monumental free-standing baptistery, and in subsequent centuries Christian basilica churches were often endowed with such baptisteries.[26]
AtCirta, a Christian basilica erected by Constantine was taken over by his opponents, theDonatists.[36] After Constantine's failure to resolve the Donatist controversy by coercion between 317 and 321, he allowed the Donatists, who dominatedAfrica, to retain the basilica and constructed a new one for theCatholic Church.[36]
The originaltitular churches of Rome were those which had been private residences and which were donated to be converted to places of Christian worship.[25] Above an originally 1st century AD villa and its later adjoiningwarehouse andMithraeum, a large basilica church had been erected by 350, subsuming the earlier structures beneath it as a crypt.[25] The basilica was the first church ofSan Clemente al Laterano.[25] Similarly, atSanti Giovanni e Paolo al Celio, an entire ancientcity block – a 2nd-centuryinsula on theCaelian Hill – was buried beneath a 4th-century basilica.[25] The site was already venerated as themartyrium of three early Christian burials beforehand, and part of theinsula had been decorated in the style favoured by Christian communities frequenting the earlyCatacombs of Rome.[25]
By 350 inSerdica (Sofia, Bulgaria), a monumental basilica – theChurch of Saint Sophia – was erected, covering earlier structures including a Christian chapel, an oratory, and a cemetery dated to c. 310.[25] Other major basilica from this period, in this part of Europe, is theGreat Basilica inPhilippopolis (Plovdiv, Bulgaria) from the 4th century AD.
In the late 4th century the dispute betweenNicene andArian Christianity came to head atMediolanum (Milan), whereAmbrose was bishop.[37] AtEaster in 386 theArian party, preferred by theTheodosian dynasty, sought to wrest the use of the basilica from the Nicene partisan Ambrose.[37] According toAugustine of Hippo, the dispute resulted in Ambrose organising an 'orthodox'sit-in at the basilica and arranged the miraculous invention and translation ofmartyrs, whose hidden remains had been revealed in avision.[37] During the sit-in, Augustine credits Ambrose with the introduction from the "eastern regions" ofantiphonal chanting, to give heart to the orthodox congregation, though in fact music was likely part of Christian ritual since the time of thePauline epistles.[38][37] 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.[37]
AtPhilippi, the market adjoining the 1st-century forum was demolished and replaced with a Christian basilica.[7] Civic basilicas throughout Asia Minor became Christian places of worship; examples are known at Ephesus,Aspendos, and atMagnesia on the Maeander.[24] TheGreat Basilica inAntioch of Pisidia is a rare securely dated 4th century Christian basilica and was the city's cathedral church.[24] The mosaics of the floor credit Optimus, the bishop, with its dedication.[24] Optimus was a contemporary ofBasil of Caesarea and corresponded with him c. 377.[24] Optimus was the city's delegate at theFirst Council of Constantinople in 381, so the 70 m-long single-apsed basilica near the city walls must have been constructed around that time.[24]Pisidia had a number of Christian basilicas constructed in Late Antiquity, particularly in formerbouleuteria, as atSagalassos,Selge,Pednelissus, while a civic basilica was converted for Christians' use inCremna.[24]
AtChalcedon, opposite Constantinople on the Bosporus, the relics ofEuphemia – a supposed Christian martyr of the Diocletianic Persecution – were housed in amartyrium accompanied by a basilica.[39] The basilica already existed whenEgeria passed through Chalcedon in 384, and in 436Melania the Younger visited the church on her own journey to the Holy Land.[39] From the description ofEvagrius Scholasticus the church is identifiable as an aisled basilica attached to themartyrium and preceded by anatrium.[40] TheCouncil of Chalcedon (8–31 October 451) 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.[41][42] In anekphrasis in his eleventhsermon,Asterius of Amasea described an icon in the church depicting Euphemia's martyrdom.[39] The church was restored under the patronage of thepatricia and daughter ofOlybrius,Anicia Juliana.[43]Pope Vigilius fled there from Constantinople during theThree-Chapter Controversy.[44] The basilica, which lay outside the walls of Chalcedon, was destroyed by the Persians in theByzantine–Sasanian War of 602–628 during one of the Sasanian occupations of the city in 615 and 626.[45] The relics of Euphemia were reportedlytranslated to a newChurch of St Euphemia in Constantinople in 680, thoughCyril Mango argued the translation never took place.[46][47] Subsequently, Asterius's sermonOn the Martyrdom of St Euphemia was advanced as an argument foriconodulism at theSecond Council of Nicaea in 787.[48]
AtConstantinople the earliest basilica churches, like the 5th century basilica at theMonastery of Stoudios, were mostly equipped with a small cruciform crypt (Ancient Greek:κρυπτή,romanized: kryptḗ,lit.'hidden'), a space under the church floor beneath the altar.[52] Typically, these crypts were accessed from the apse's interior, though not always, as at the 6th century Church of St John at theHebdomon, where access was from outside the apse.[52] At Thessaloniki, theRoman bath where tradition heldDemetrius of Thessaloniki had been martyred was subsumed beneath the 5th century basilica ofHagios Demetrios, forming a crypt.[52]
The largest and oldest basilica churches in Egypt were atPbow, acoenobitic monastery established byPachomius the Great in 330.[53] 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.[53] This monastery was the administrative centre of the Pachomian order where the monks would gather twice annually and whose library may have produced many survivingmanuscripts of biblical, Gnostic, and other texts in Greek andCoptic.[53] InNorth Africa, late antique basilicas were often built on a doubled plan.[54] In the 5th century, basilicas with two apses, multiple aisles, and doubled churches were common, including examples respectively atSufetula,Tipasa, andDjémila.[54] Generally, North African basilica churches'altars were in the nave and the main building medium wasopus africanum of local stone, andspolia was infrequently used.[54]
In easternSyria, theChurch of the East developed at typical pattern of basilica churches.[55] 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 abema, from whichScripture could be read, and which were inspired by the equivalent in synagogues and regularised by theChurch of Antioch.[55] The Council of 410 stipulated that onSunday thearchdeacon would read theGospels from thebema.[55] Standing near thebema, thelay folk could chant responses to the reading and if positioned near thešqāqonā ("a walled floor-level pathway connecting thebema to the altar area") could try to kiss or touch theGospel Book as it was processed from thedeacons' room to thebema and thence to thealtar.[55] Some ten Eastern churches in eastern Syria have been investigated by thorougharchaeology.[55]
Apse of the ruinedGreat Basilica, Antioch in Pisidia. The floor dates to late 4th century, and the walls to the 5th or 6th century. The building has a semi-circular interior and a polygonal exterior.
OnCrete, the Roman cities suffered from repeated earthquakes in the 4th century, but between c. 450 and c. 550, a large number of Christian basilicas were constructed.[59] Crete was throughout Late Antiquity aprovince of theDiocese of Macedonia, governed from Thessaloniki.[59]
Nine basilica churches were built atNea Anchialos, ancientPhthiotic Thebes (Ancient Greek:Θη̑βαι Φθιώτιδες,romanized: Thḗbai Phthiṓtides), which was in its heyday the primary port ofThessaly. Theepiscopal see was the three-aisledBasilica A, theChurch of StDemetrius of Thessaloniki, and similar to theChurch of the Acheiropoietos inThessaloniki.[60] Its atrium perhaps had a pair of towers to either side and its construction dates to the late 5th/early 6th century.[60] The Elpidios Basilica –Basilica B – was of similar age, and the city was home to a large complex of ecclesiastical buildings includingBasilica G, with its luxurious mosaic floors and a mid-6th century inscription proclaiming the patronage of the bishop Peter. Outside thedefensive wall wasBasilica D, a 7th-century cemetery church.[60]
Stobi, (Ancient Greek:Στόβοι,romanized: Stóboi) the capital from the late 4th century of the province ofMacedonia II Salutaris, had numerous basilicas and six palaces in late antiquity.[61] TheOld Basilica had two phases of geometric pavements, the second phase of which credited the bishop Eustathios as patron of the renovations. A newer episcopal basilica was built by the bishop Philip atop the remains of the earlier structure, and two further basilicas were within the walls.[61] TheCentral Basilica replaced asynagogue on a site razed in the late 5th century, and there was also aNorth Basilica and further basilicas without the walls.[61] Various mosaics and sculptural decorations have been found there, and while the city suffered from theOstrogoths in 479 and an earthquake in 518, ceasing to be a major city thereafter, it remained a bishopric until the end of the 7th century and theBasilica of Philip had itstemplon restored in the 8th century.[61]
Justinian I constructed at Ephesus a large basilica church, theBasilica of St John, above the supposed tomb ofJohn the Apostle.[51] The church was a domed cruciform basilica begun in 535/6; enormous and lavishly decorated, it was built in the same style as Justinian'sChurch of the Holy Apostles in Constantinople.[49][24] The Justinianic basilica replaced an earlier, smaller structure whichEgeria had planned to visit in the 4th century, and remains of a 2,130 foot (650 m) aqueduct branch built to supply the complex with water probably dates from Justinian's reign.[49][62] The Ephesians' basilicas to St Mary and St John were both equipped withbaptisteries with filling and draining pipes: bothfonts were flush with the floor and unsuitable forinfant baptism.[26] As with most Justinianic baptisteries in theBalkans andAsia Minor, the baptistery at the Basilica of St John was on the northern side of the basilica's nave; the 734 m2 baptistery was separated from the basilica by a 3 m-wide corridor.[26] According to the 6th centurySyriac writerJohn of Ephesus, aSyriac Orthodox Christian, theheterodoxMiaphysites heldordination services in the courtyard of the Basilica of St John under cover of night.[49] Somewhat outside the ancient city on thehill of Selçuk, the Justinianic basilica became the centre of the city after the 7th centuryArab–Byzantine wars.[49]
At Constantinople, Justinian constructed the largest domed basilica: on the site of the 4th century basilica Church ofHoly Wisdom, the emperor ordered construction of the huge domed basilica that survives to the present: theHagia Sophia.[27] This basilica, which "continues to stand as one of the most visually imposing and architecturally daring churches in the Mediterranean", was the cathedral of Constantinople and the patriarchal church of thePatriarch of Constantinople.[27] Hagia Sophia, originally founded by Constantine, was at the social and political heart of Constantinople, near to theGreat Palace, theBaths of Zeuxippus, and theHippodrome of Constantinople, while the headquarters of theEcumenical Patriarchate was within the basilica's immediate vicinity.[63]
The mid-6th century Bishop ofPoreč (Latin:Parens orParentium; Ancient Greek:Πάρενθος,romanized: Párenthos) replaced an earlier 4th century basilica with the magnificent Euphrasian Basilica in the style of contemporary basilicas atRavenna.[64] Some columncapitals were of marble from Greece identical to those inBasilica of San Vitale and must have been imported from the Byzantine centre along with the columns and some of theopus sectile.[64] There areconch mosaics in the basilica's three apses and the fineopus sectile on the central apse wall is "exceptionally well preserved".[64]
The 4th century basilica ofSaint Sophia Church at Serdica (Sofia, Bulgaria) was rebuilt in the 5th century and ultimately replaced by a new monumental basilica in the late 6th century, and some construction phases continued into the 8th century.[65] This basilica was the cathedral of Serdica and was one of three basilicas known to lie outside the walls; three more churches were within the walled city, of which theChurch of Saint George was a former Roman bath built in the 4th century, and another was a former Mithraeum.[65] The basilicas were associated with cemeteries with Christian inscriptions and burials.[65]
Another basilica from this period in Bulgaria was theBelovo Basilica (6th century AD).
TheMiaphysite convert from theChurch of the East,Ahudemmeh constructed a new basilicac. 565 dedicated toSaint Sergius atʿAin Qenoye (orʿAin Qena according toBar Hebraeus) after being ordained bishop ofBeth Arbaye byJacob Baradaeus and while proselytizing among theBedouin ofArbayistan in the Sasanian Empire.[66] According to Ahudemmeh's biographer this basilica and itsmartyrium, in the upperTigris valley, was supposed to be a copy of the Basilica of St Sergius at Sergiopolis (Resafa), in the middleEuphrates, so that the Arabs would not have to travel so far on pilgrimage.[66] More likely, with the support ofKhosrow I for its construction and defence against theNestorians who wereMiaphysites' rivals, the basilica was part of an attempt to control the frontier tribes and limit their contact with the Roman territory of Justinian, who had agreed in the 562Fifty-Year Peace Treaty to pay 30,000nomismata annually to Khosrow in return for a demilitarization of the frontier after the latest phase of theRoman–Persian Wars.[66] After being mentioned in 828 and 936, the basilica atʿAin Qenoye disappeared from recorded history, though it may have remained occupied for centuries, and was rediscovered as a ruin byCarsten Niebuhr in 1766.[67] The name of the modern site Qasr Serīj is derived from the basilica's dedication to St Sergius.[66] Qasr Serīj's construction may have been part of the policy of toleration that Khosrow and his successors had for Miaphysitism – a contrast with Justinian's persecution of heterodoxy within the Roman empire.[66] This policy itself encouraged many tribes to favour the Persian cause, especially after the death in 569 of theGhassanid Kingdom's Miaphysite kingal-Harith ibn Jabalah (Latin:Flavius Arethas,Ancient Greek:Ἀρέθας) and the 584 suppression by the Romans of his successors' dynasty.[66]
Floor plan of a Christian church of basilical form, with part of thetransept shaded. Either the part of the nave lying to the west in the diagram or the choir may have a hall structure instead. The choir also may be aisleless.
In theRoman Imperial period (after about 27 BC), a basilica for large audiences also became a feature in palaces. In the 3rd century of the Christian era, the governing elite appeared less frequently in the forums.
They now tended to dominate their cities from opulent palaces and country villas, set a little apart from traditional centers of public life. Rather than retreats from public life, however, these residences were the forum made private.
— Peter Brown, in Paul Veyne, 1987
Seated in thetribune of his basilica, the great man would meet his dependentclientes early every morning.
Constantine's basilica atTrier, theAula Palatina (AD 306), is still standing. A private basilica excavated atBulla Regia (Tunisia), in the "House of the Hunt", dates from the first half of the 5th century. Its reception or audience hall is a long rectangular nave-like space, flanked by dependent rooms that mostly also open into one another, ending in a semi-circular apse, with matchingtransept spaces. Clustered columns emphasised the "crossing" of the two axes.
Structural elements of a gothic basilica. Variations: Where the roofs have a low slope, thetriforium gallery may have own windows or may be missing.
In the 4th century, once the Imperial authorities had decriminalised Christianity with the 313Edict of Milan, and with the activities ofConstantine the Great and his motherHelena, Christians were prepared to build larger and more handsome edifices for worship than the furtive meeting-places (such as theCenacle,cave-churches,house churches such asthat of the martyrs John and Paul) they had been using. Architectural formulas for temples were unsuitable due to their pagan associations, and because pagan cult ceremonies and sacrifices occurred outdoors under the open sky in the sight of the gods, with the temple, housing the cult figures and the treasury, as a backdrop. The usable model at hand, when Constantine wanted to memorialise his imperial piety, was the familiar conventional architecture of the basilicas.[69]
There were several variations of the basic plan of the secular basilica, always some kind of rectangular hall, but the one usually followed for churches had a central nave with one aisle at each side and an apse at one end opposite to the main door at the other end. In (and often also in front of) the apse was a raised platform, where the altar was placed, and from where the clergy officiated. In secular building this plan was more typically used for the smaller audience halls of the emperors, governors, and the very rich than for the great public basilicas functioning as law courts and other public purposes.[70] Constantine built a basilica of this type in his palace complex at Trier, later very easily adopted for use as a church. It is a long rectangle two storeys high, with ranks of arch-headed windows one above the other, without aisles (there was no mercantile exchange in this imperial basilica) and, at the far end beyond a huge arch, the apse in which Constantine held state.
Comparison of cross sections of churches
Basilica: The central nave extends to one or two storeys more than the lateral aisles, and it has upper windows.
Pseudobasilica (i.e.false basilica): The central nave extends to an additional storey, but it has no upper windows.
Stepped hall: The vaults of the central nave begin a bit higher than those of the lateral aisles, but there is no additional storey.
Hall church: All vaults are almost on the same level.
Putting analtar instead of the throne, as was done at Trier, made a church. Basilicas of this type were built in western Europe, Greece, Syria, Egypt, and Palestine, that is, at anyearly centre of Christianity. Good early examples of the architectural basilica include theChurch of the Nativity atBethlehem (6th century), the church of St Elias atThessalonica (5th century), and the two great basilicas atRavenna.
The first basilicas with transepts were built under the orders ofEmperor Constantine, both in Rome and in his "New Rome",Constantinople:
Around 380,Gregory Nazianzen, describing the ConstantinianChurch of the Holy Apostles at Constantinople, was the first to point out its resemblance to a cross. Because thecult of the cross was spreading at about the same time, this comparison met with stunning success.
Thus, a Christian symbolic theme was applied quite naturally to a form borrowed from civil semi-public precedents. The first great Imperially sponsored Christian basilica is that ofSt John Lateran, which was given to the Bishop of Rome by Constantine right before or around the Edict of Milan in 313 and was consecrated in the year 324. In the later 4th century, other Christian basilicas were built in Rome:Santa Sabina, andSt Paul's Outside the Walls (4th century), and laterSt Clement (6th century).
A Christian basilica of the 4th or 5th century stood behind its entirely enclosedforecourt ringed with a colonnade or arcade, like the stoa orperistyle that was its ancestor or like thecloister that was its descendant. This forecourt was entered from outside through a range of buildings along the public street. This was the architectural ground-plan ofSt. Peter's Basilica in Rome, until in the 15th century it was demolished to make way for a modern church built to a new plan.
In most basilicas, the central nave is taller than the aisles, forming a row of windows called a clerestory. Some basilicas in theCaucasus, particularly those ofArmenia andGeorgia, have a central nave only slightly higher than the two aisles and a single pitched roof covering all three. The result is a much darker interior. This plan is known as the "oriental basilica", or "pseudobasilica" in central Europe. A peculiar type of basilica, known asthree-church basilica, was developed in early medieval Georgia, characterised by the central nave which is completely separated from the aisles with solid walls.[71]
Gradually, in theEarly Middle Ages there emerged the massiveRomanesque churches, which still kept the fundamental plan of the basilica.
InRomania, the word for church both as a building and as an institution isbiserică, derived from the term basilica.
In theUnited States the style was copied with variances. An American church built imitating the architecture of an Early Christian basilica,St. Mary's (German) Church inPennsylvania, was demolished in 1997.
Old St Peter's, Rome, as the 4th-century basilica had developed by the mid-15th century, in a 19th-century reconstruction
In theCatholic Church, a basilica is a church with special privileges. It is typically housed in a large and importantbuilding. This designation may be made by thePope or may date from time immemorial.[73][74] Basilica churches are distinguished for ceremonial purposes from other churches. The building does not need to be a basilica in the architectural sense. Basilicas are either major basilicas – of which there are four, all in thediocese of Rome—or minor basilicas, of which there were 1,810 worldwide as of 2019[update].[75] TheUmbraculum is displayed in a basilica to the right side (i.e. the Epistle side) of thealtar to indicate that the church has been awarded the rank of a basilica.
^Henig, Martin (ed.),A Handbook of Roman Art, Phaidon, p. 55, 1983,ISBN0714822140; Sear, F. B., "Architecture, 1, a) Religious", section in Diane Favro, et al. "Rome, ancient." Grove Art Online.Oxford Art Online. Oxford University Press. Retrieved 26 March 2016,subscription required
^Birley, Anthony R.; Hornblower, Simon; Spawforth, Antony (2014), Hornblower, Simon; Spawforth, Antony (eds.),"Hadrian",The Oxford Companion to Classical Civilization, Eidinow, Esther (asst ed.) (2nd ed.), Oxford University Press,doi:10.1093/acref/9780198706779.001.0001,ISBN978-0-19-870677-9
^abWeech, William Nassau; Warmington, Brian Herbert; Wilson, Roger J. A. (2014), Hornblower, Simon; Spawforth, Antony (eds.),"Carthage",The Oxford Companion to Classical Civilization, Eidinow, Esther (asst ed.) (2nd ed.), Oxford University Press,doi:10.1093/acref/9780198706779.001.0001,ISBN978-0-19-870677-9
^Fragoulis, K.; Minasidis, C.; Mentzos, A. (2014). Poulou-Papadimitriou, Natalia; Nodarou, Eleni; Kilikoglou, Vassilis (eds.).Pottery from the Cemetery Basilica in the Early Byzantine City of Dion. LRCW 4 Late Roman Coarse Wares, Cooking Wares and Amphorae in the Mediterranean, 2 volume set: Archaeology and archaeometry. The Mediterranean: a market without frontiers. Oxford, UK: British Archaeological Reports. pp. 297–304.doi:10.30861/9781407312514.ISBN978-1-4073-1251-4.
^Manning, Sturt W. (2002).The late Roman church at Maroni Petrera: survey and salvage excavations 1990–1997, and other traces of Roman remains in the lower Maroni Valley, Cyprus. Manning, Andrew; Eckardt, Hella. Nicosia, Cyprus: A. G. Leventis Foundation. p. 78.ISBN9963-560-42-3.OCLC52303510.
^Evagrius Scholasticus,Ecclesiastical History, II.3: "The precinct consists of three huge structures: one is open-air, adorned with a long court and columns on all sides, and another in turn after this is almost alike in breadth and length and columns but differing only in the roof above."Whitby, Michael, ed. (2000).The Ecclesiastical History of Evagrius Scholasticus. Translated Texts for Historians 33. Liverpool University Press. pp. 63–64 & notes 24–27.doi:10.3828/978-0-85323-605-4 (inactive 11 July 2025).ISBN978-0-85323-605-4.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: DOI inactive as of July 2025 (link)
^Whitby, Michael, ed. (2000).The Ecclesiastical History of Evagrius Scholasticus. Translated Texts for Historians 33. Liverpool University Press. pp. 63–64 & notes 24–27.doi:10.3828/978-0-85323-605-4 (inactive 11 July 2025).ISBN978-0-85323-605-4.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: DOI inactive as of July 2025 (link)
^1 CIC 1917, can. 1180 as quoted inBasilicas Historical and Canonical Development, GABRIEL CHOW HOI-YAN, Toronto, Ontario, Canada 13 May 2003 (revised 24 June 2003). "It was not until 1917 that the Code of Canon Law officially recognized de jure churches that had the immemorial custom of using the title of basilica as having such a right to the title.81 We refer to such churches as immemorial."
^The title of minor basilicas was first attributed to the church ofSan Nicola di Tolentino in 1783. An older minor basilica is referred to as an "immemorial basilica".
Syndicus, Eduard (1962).Early Christian Art. London: Burns & Oates.
Thayer, W. (1929)."Basilicas of Ancient Rome". From Samuel Ball Platner (as completed and revised by Thomas Ashby).A Topographical Dictionary of Ancient Rome. London: Oxford University Press.
Paul Veyne, ed.A History of Private Life I: From Pagan Rome to Byzantium, 1987
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![Ruins of the 10th-century Church of Achillius of Larissa, on the eponymous island of Agios Achilleios, Mikra Prespa, a typical basilica church[68]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=http%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3a%25CE%2592%25CE%25B1%25CF%2583%25CE%25B9%25CE%25BB%25CE%25B9%25CE%25BA%25CE%25AE_%25CE%2591%25CE%25B3%25CE%25AF%25CE%25BF%25CF%2585_%25CE%2591%25CF%2587%25CE%25B9%25CE%25BB%25CE%25BB%25CE%25B5%25CE%25AF%25CE%25BF%25CF%2585.jpg)
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