Roman Architecture and Art
(750 BC-AD 365)
The many invasions that the Romans invaded helped provide them with many skills in construction, arts, and sciences, and they used these skills in building the city of Rome. Evidence of this is that there is in their buildings the Egyptian figure from the outside, which is a dialogue with the Greek temple and the triumphal arches.
The Romans excelled in spreading many cultures through architecture and arts and improving the discoveries of the eras that preceded them, so they worshiped roads and built huge arches and high domes and learned many materials that helped them build buildings such as concrete, which represent strong pillars that carry domes to cover the large and large area.
The Temple of the Pantheon
The Temple of the Pantheon is the largest embodiment on earth that reflects the ability and boldness and represents the strength, greatness, and passion of Roman civilization for development, accuracy, and creativity to achieve great glory in architecture and arts.
Inside the building, which contained a huge dome open to the sky, giving the soul a deep religious feeling, there were many statues of gods representing the gods of cities and regions conquered by Rome, as the conquests of Rome reached the sky. Until it controlled the whole world and his armies invaded many countries in Europe, Africa, and Asia.
Trajan Market
The Trajan Market and the presence of many shops grouped on three floors is a miracle of architectural design, and the Temple of the Pantheon and the market are considered a link between Rome in ancient and medieval times, where the Temple of the Pantheon was a fenced church until today and the market was used as a residence where I found many dwellings above it, where the architects found that the market Suitable for housing, using old buildings without changing them and their architectural structure. This period is considered the transitional period between the fifth and tenth centuries, or for the Roma in the fifteenth century.
Roman baths
The Romans, in addition to temples and markets, excelled in constructing baths, which reflected their daring in constructing spacious complex buildings, as it transformed all luxury facilities from hot-water showers to hot-water baths to warm-water baths and other cold-water baths, and they also worked to provide massage rooms, restrooms and places to eat various foods. Also sports courts and sunbathing terraces.
The Romans took care of all amenities and provided them in their homes, similar to the bathrooms, as the external walls had no outlets except for the outer door that leads to the hall, including the open inner courtyard, which overlooks the inner rooms, and there were tendencies in the roof of the building from the outside to drain rainwater into this courtyard and when it evaporated This water in the yard soothes the atmosphere of the house.
The byzantine style in Roman architecture
Where the Byzantine architects mastered the heritage that Rome left them and changed their systems and theories in the style of construction and began to use columns as a means of construction and carried the weights of arches and lintels carried by Ba'j that the Romans used them in the form of decorative elements and by this, the Byzantine architects transformed the decorative elements into architectural elements to support their buildings.
They also built domes on straight walls that were square in their horizontal projection and made them rest on those walls, unlike the Roman style, which was a cylindrical wall.
Developments in architectural style and splendor of Hagia Sophia
Through these developments, new styles appeared in architecture, and the Byzantine style soon flourished and spread throughout Europe and the Middle East. One of the finest examples of this style is the Church (Hagia Sophia), whose walls are covered with rare marble. Decorated with precious stones and shiny gold pieces that the visitor enjoys looking at, and there are many golden candlesticks that number in the thousands and shine with the splendor of their light and beauty The silver altar is covered with silk eaves. He wears a golden coat, which he attained. Sixth-century architecture, 532 AD .. 532 AD.
After that, the Hagia Sophia Church was turned into a mosque after the Turkish invasion, and minarets were added to it. This design took the basis of the important Turkish mosques in Turkey.