Byzantine

The Byzantine empire was the longest in history, lasting from 324-1453. The Byzantine, which is now modern day Istanbul, was associated with eastern culture and influenced by both the Greeks and the Orient. Differing from the Early Christian time, the basilica plan changed to more of a centralized plan and the invention of the pendentive emerged. The pendentive was a dome that was atop a square base.

The Hagia Sophia is a great example of a pendentive from the Byzantine time. Located in Istanbul, the Hagia Sophia is the fourth church located on the site. The pendentive is made of hollow tile that is intricately and elaborately decorated. Below are a couple of pictures of the Hagia Sophia:

I think this picture really exemplifies the pendentive structure with the dome top and the square base.

The Byzantine empire was big into lighting and often placed lots of windows near the ceiling to let in lots of natural light. The floors were often tiled in geometric shaped marble tile. 

Modern Application

The different geometric tiles are a reflection of the Byzantine empire.

The small windows at the top of the walls reflect the Byzantine's desire for natural light flooding the space. 

Peer Review

I read Miryam 's blog, I really enjoyed all of her pictures and especially her modern application pictures.  I thought that the tile behind the grill was so pretty and a good application of the Byzantine time.

I also read Haley's blog. She did a really nice job of giving a complete and detailed overview of the Byzantine time period. She gave a lot of history and I also thought that the pictures she shared were really good, they were bright and captivating and represented the time period well.