Introduction to Early Christian and Byzantine Architecture

Early Christian and Byzantine Architectural History is a vast and diverse field of study encompassing numerous architectural works built across a wide geography, from the early Christian community houses where Christians secretly gathered for worship, to the first churches built during the time of Emperor Constantine, to Hagia Sophia, the greatest sanctuary of Christianity for centuries, up until 1453, when the Byzantine Empire disappeared from the stage of history.

Despite the rich variety of foreign language sources available on the subject, the number of introductory publications prepared for students in Turkish literature is quite limited.

This study aims to fill this gap to some extent by outlining selected examples reflecting regional and period characteristics, and it has been compiled from the valuable works of numerous researchers, from Richard Krautheimer to Semavi Eyice, and from Marcell Restle to Cyril Mango.