Above-ground Christian churches became widespread only starting in the 4th century, when Emperor Constantine made Christianity the dominant religion, but the first structures that have reached us date back to the 2nd century. The main type of early Christian above-ground temple was the basilica - one of the most harmonious and perfect architectural forms of late antiquity. The prototype of a Christian church in the form of a basilica was the civil buildings of ancient Rome with an extended plan and a niche for the presidium in the end wall. Such structures were intended for court hearings. Actually, the word “basilica” itself comes from the Greek “basileus”, which means king and judge. The Christian basilica is a rectangular building, oriented from west to east, with an altar installed on the eastern side. From the side of the altar, the basilica ends with a semicircular extension, called the apse, and on the western side there is an entrance. Often large basilicas are divided by rows of columns into several longitudinal parts or naves, the central of which is the largest.
The basilica of the early Christians already contains all the basic elements of the Christian church, which is traditionally divided into three parts, which have both utilitarian significance for the organization of Christian worship and symbolic significance in religious ideas about the church building. These parts are the presbytery, the middle part of the temple and the porch or narthex. The presbytery area is used for services and is occupied only by clergy; here is the altar of the church (or the main altar, if there are several of them). The middle part of the church accommodates baptized Christians praying or attending worship. The porch serves for the so-called catechumens, that is, people who have not yet received baptism, but are planning to do so.
Presbytery:
The focus of the liturgical life of the temple is the apse (presbytery or altar part), and using the example of church buildings of the early Christian era, one can understand how its symbolism was formed. If in the apse part of ancient Roman civil basilicas there was a niche indicating the supremacy and nobility of the presiding officer, then in Christian basilicas the apse also serves as a place for the exaltation of Christ and is often decorated with a scene of “Christ in Glory” or “Transfiguration of the Lord”. At the same time, the apse is the place for the implementation of the main Christian sacrament of the Eucharist, which recalls the incarnation of Christ and his human nature. For example, among the most famous churches built by Constantine are three famous basilica churches: at the Holy Sepulcher, on the Mount of Olives and in Jerusalem. All three buildings have one common feature - they end with a cave in which some episode from the life of Christ took place. The apse always faces east, since the life-giving sun rises here and many literal and symbolic meanings are associated with this side of the world. Christians believed that heaven was in the east, that the east was a symbol of good, and the west was a symbol of evil and the abode of devilish forces. Movement from west to east (from the entrance of the church to the altar) symbolizes purification and rebirth.
The apse of an early Christian basilica, as a rule, had the form of a cylinder with a hemispherical vault, which symbolized the vault of heaven. This apse design became perhaps the most common and was reproduced in many types of Christian churches of subsequent eras.
In early Christian basilicas, the interior of the church was divided into naves. There could be three or five, the central nave was always wider and higher. In the upper part of the walls of the basilica, windows were made to illuminate the interior. During the time of Constantine, the five-nave basilica became especially popular. The colossal basilicas of the Constantinian era with an abundance of powerful columns, covered with wooden roofs and gilded on the inside, have not reached our time and their appearance can only be judged by descriptions. Although large cathedral churches with five apses continued to be built throughout the history of ecclesiastical art, the five-nave basilica was gradually replaced by the three-nave church.
In addition to longitudinal naves, in early Christian basilicas there were transverse naves forming a transept. The transept arose out of the need to accommodate more believers near the altar of the church and completed the building in its altar area, forming the letter “T” in plan. Later, in basilicas, the transept moved closer to the middle of the building, and the plan of the temple took on the shape of a Latin cross.
In addition to the nave and transept, early Christian basilicas had another architectural element - the ambulatory. This is a covered passage around the presbytery, which served as an extension of the nave and allowed the faithful to move around the altar without disturbing the flow of worship. The deambulatory was rare in early Christian basilicas, and became widespread in Romanesque and Gothic churches from the 11th to the 13th centuries.
In early Christian basilicas, men and women were kept separately in specially designated areas. Gender separation was adopted from Jewish tradition: in synagogues, women were placed at the top in special choirs. Also in the basilicas in the side naves there were special galleries-emporas or so-called “matroneums” intended for women.
The early Christian model of the temple served as an almost unquestionable authority for subsequent generations, especially for the Christian world of Western Europe, where, despite a number of significant modernizations and innovations, the basic structure of the temple remained largely unchanged for many centuries.
“Styles in Architecture” - Milan Cathedral (1836-1856). Art of Ancient Egypt. London. Stained glass windows of Gothic cathedrals. Catherine Palace. Pushkin. (1752-1757). Romanesque castles. Tauride Palace in St. Petersburg. (1783-1789). A) XVIII - XIX centuries; B) V - VI centuries; B) X – XIII centuries. Baroque. “Figuratively – the stylistic language of the architecture of the past.”
“Romanesque Sculpture” - The main theme of Romanesque sculpture was the glorification of God. Types of Romanesque capitals. Trier Cathedral, Trier, Germany. Arched vaults. TYMPAN – the recessed part of the arch above the entrance. Cistercians Order of hermit monks founded by St. ARCH from the church at Narborne, Languedoc, France, 1150-1175.
"Romanesque architecture" - Romanesque style. Romanesque architecture uses a variety of building materials. Types of structures. Pisa Baptistery, Basilica and Bell Tower. Romanesque arch and cross vault. Character traits. Romanesque architecture. Construction features. Metal and wood processing, enamel, and miniatures have reached a high level of development.
"Architectural styles" - Art Nouveau style. Classicism style. Literally translated from Italian, the word baroque means pretentious, whimsical. Quiz. Furniture, dishes, lamps and other utensils in the Art Nouveau style appeared in the houses. The buildings are symmetrical and lack decoration. The basis of the architectural language of classicism was the order. Empire style
“Styles in art and architecture” - Modern. Bamberg Cathedral, east facade with two towers and polygonal choirs. Casa Batllo (1906, architect “House with Towers” on Leo Tolstoy Square in St. Petersburg. Neo-Gothic. Classicism. Charles Cameron. Gothic in Russia. Romanesque style. Gothic Cathedral in Coutances, France. Baroque. Modernism. Notre Dame Cathedral.
ROMANESCO is commonly called the pan-European style that has developed in architecture and art.
the Middle Ages at the turn of two millennia. Traditional dating - X-XII centuries,
but at present, the origin of the style is sometimes attributed much earlier - to the 7th - 8th centuries.
Here we will not delve into dating problems, but will try to identify the most common features of this style.
When we talk about Romanesque architecture, we primarily mean temples. Already from the first years of Christianity, the basilica became the predominant type of religious building.
Church of Sant'Apollinare in Classe, Ravenna, 6th century. Facade and interior. This is a typical early Christian basilica without a transept.
Basilica is a type of building, rectangular in plan, consisting of an odd number (3 or 5) of naves - longitudinal halls separated by pillars or columns. The central nave is higher and wider than the side ones, illuminated by windows of the second tier and ends with an apse. The basilica in Ancient Rome was a building for trade and court. With the development of Christianity, the basilica type began to be widely used for the construction of temples. Open wooden structures were used in the ceilings of the basilicas of Ancient Rome. 
Plan and section of an early Christian basilica.
In front of the entrance there is a square courtyard - an atrium. In Christian architecture, apses are always oriented to the east.
Romanesque architecture in Italy generally preserved the basic principles of the early Christian basilica.
This is clearly seen in the example of the Church of San Sisto in Pisa, XI century.
Even the atrium has been preserved in the Church of Sant'Ambrogio in Milan.
Already at the end of the 4th century, a transverse nave - transept - appeared in the eastern part of the basilica.
St. Peter's Basilica. Rome. About 400. Reconstruction.
The basilica takes the form of a Latin cross, in contrast to the equal-pointed Greek cross common in Byzantium. 
1 - central NEF; 2 - TRANSEPT; 3 - MIDDLE CROSS; 4 - APSIDE
The middle cross is often crowned with a tower or dome.
Reconstruction of an English temple with two transepts and without an apse.
Wooden floors are replaced with vaults - cylindrical or cross,
(you can find out about the types of vaults in the top post of the community)
Accordingly, the columns separating the naves are replaced by powerful pillars.
Here the central nave is covered with cross vaults.
Above the arches separating the naves, the gallery windows are clearly visible - the triforium (lower photo).
The three-nave basilica with a transept becomes the main, most popular, but not the only, type of Christian European church.
Abbey of Cluny. France. X - XII centuries Reconstruction of a five-nave basilica with two transepts.
Romanesque churches are often built of stone. The exception is Italy, where brick is widely used along with stone. 
The rough masonry of thick walls makes the temple look like a fortress.
The arch motif is one of the most common elements of Romanesque architecture. 
Decorative arcades decorate the facades of temples in Germany, Italy, France and England. 
Cathedral of Pisa.
Another new feature that distinguishes the Romanesque basilica from the early Christian one is the design and appearance of the western façade. In French (but not only) architecture these are often two powerful towers flanking the entrance. They make the temple even more similar to a defensive structure.
Abbey of Pare-le-Monial. France. XI century
Facade of the Church of St. Pantaleone in Cologne, 10th century.
A special feature of German churches is the westwork. Westwerk is the monumental western facade of churches, located perpendicular to the main nave. It usually consists of a main tower and one or two adjacent towers.
The westwork contains the main portal and choirs. Usually the westwork has the appearance of a powerful fortress structure.
The austere appearance of Romanesque churches is enlivened by reliefs. This is especially true for French and Italian architecture. Reliefs decorate the western façade of the temple, most often its portals and column capitals.
Notre-Dame-la-Grand in Poitiers, France. This is one of the most ornate Romanesque churches. Its design is somewhat different from the basilica. This is the so-called hall temple, in which the side naves are close in height to the central one.
Perspective portal of the Cathedral in Genoa
1 - portal tympanum, 2 - portal archivolts
Abbey of Saint Fortunat in Charlieu, France.
“The Last Judgment” is the most popular theme of the tympanum of the main western portal.
Decor of the portal of the Cathedral in Lincoln, England
The second most popular location for reliefs is capitals.
The capitals are inhabited by numerous animals and fantastic creatures. 
But biblical scenes are also not uncommon.
A Romanesque capital can also be without relief. It has a rather characteristic shape.
In Italian architecture, early Christian traditions were preserved until the Renaissance.The basilica here is often part of a complex that also includes a baptistery and a campanile - a bell tower.
Pisa. In the foreground is the baptistery, its upper part already belongs to the Gothic style;
The baptistery is followed by the basilica and then the famous Leaning Tower of Pisa - the Campanile.
Basilica in Paestum. Ser. 6th century BC e.
Basilica
Plan of the basilica in Pompeii.
It is also an oblong building, the length of which is almost three times greater than its width, but inside it there are not four, but two rows of columns that divide it into only three naves. On one of the narrow sides of its colonnade there are five entrances, and on the opposite there is a raised platform, or platform, for judges, which replaces the apse. There is very good reason to believe that the middle nave of this basilica was higher than the side ones. It was founded in the 1st century BC and was soon rebuilt after a fire by the architect M. Artorius.
These two basilicas without any doubt had a horizontal, beamed, so-called architrave covering, that is, a flat ceiling, like in our current houses.
Plan of the basilica with transept (indicated by arrows).
This article or section uses text from the Great Soviet Encyclopedia.It remains to make a brief sketch of the Basilica of Constantine, which is located in Rome opposite the Palatine Hill, near the Forum, approximately on the line of buildings located on its northern side. Its plan is a rectangle, quite similar in shape to a square, the length of which is 43 fathoms, and the width is 33 fathoms. Its long side faces the Palatine and has an entrance in the middle on this side. By four huge pylons (pillars supporting the vaults) it is divided into three very wide naves; the lateral two are lower and covered with barrel vaults; medium, having about 10 soot. width, was covered with three colossal cross vaults; it was illuminated by triple windows located above the roof of the side naves. Opposite the main entrance from the Palatine Hill, in the opposite wall, there is a semicircular apse; in the same way, on the short right side (counting from the main entrance) the entrance is located opposite the central nave, and opposite it, at the end of the same nave, there is also an apse. Quite a lot of evidence suggests that this battle was started by Maxentius and ended after his defeat by Constantine the Great in the 3rd-4th centuries. after R. X. and named Konstantinova. The skeleton of its northern part is still quite well preserved and its colossal size still makes an overwhelming impression.
Basilica. On the left is a cross section, on the right is a plan.
Now summarizing the various data obtained by examining the remains of Roman buildings that have come down to us, we can come to the following conclusions: 1) that these were large oblong buildings that were located near city squares, 2) that they were divided by several rows of columns into an odd number of spans , or naves, of which the middle one was the widest and highest, 3) that the side naves were two-story galleries, and that they were covered in the early era with beams, and later with vaults, 4) that an apse, or platform for the court, was always built in them. For greater clarity, we add that the internal structure of the B. is very reminiscent of the main halls of the St. Petersburg and Moscow noble assembly, well known to the residents of our capitals: the hall itself is the middle nave; the passages behind the columns and choirs are two-tiered galleries of the side naves, and the platform for musicians is a judge's stand; The hall is illuminated by the upper windows, that is, the windows located at the top of the middle nave, in the wall above the columns.
Let us now move on to the purpose of all these parts: in basilicas consul or praetor orally dealt with the litigation of Roman citizens, and the middle usually served as the place of trial, and the side parts were occupied by locals lawyers(legal advisers) to whom they turned for advice during court hearings. There, those preparing for the legal profession tested their strength and speaking skills. In the apse, usually covered with a hemispherical vault, a judge's office was placed tribunal(a raised platform with several steps for ascending and a curule chair), where the consul or praetor sat. There was ample space in front of the tribunal for the public who came to judge. Secretaries ( scribae ) sat at a distance, on the sides of the tribunal, and it was possible to reach them along the side naves without crowding the crowd into the B. As for the internal life of the ancient Roman B., Boissier gives an excellent picture of it in his “Promenades archèologiques” (Par., city. ) when describing Yulieva B. “What remains from her,” he says, “is a marble platform, which rises above the level of the adjacent streets and occupies an area of 4,500 square meters. meter. (about 2100 sq. fathoms). Following the traces of columns and pillars that supported the vaults of the building, it is possible to reconstruct its plan. It consisted of a large middle hall intended for judicial proceedings; it was so large that it housed four courts, which sat either together or separately. The most important civil matters in the state were decided there, and Quintilian, Pliny the Younger and other famous defenders of that time won brilliant laurels for themselves here. A double row of porticoes surrounded this large hall; they were then a favorite place for walks and entertainment for men and women. It’s not for nothing that Ovid advises young people to take refuge there from the scorching midday heat: there was such a crowded and heterogeneous crowd there! But it was not only dandies and frivolous adventurers who filled the porticoes of Yulieva B.; a lot of common people, idle people, and idle people came there, of whom there were so many in this great city, where sovereigns and rich people took care of feeding and entertaining the poor. These people left their traces on the floor of B.: its marble lining was scratched by many circles and squares, intersected mostly by straight lines that divided them into separate parts. They served for the Romans as something like checker boards for a game, the passion for which was incredibly developed among these idle people. It was not only ordinary citizens who played here: Cicero in his Philippics speaks of one very important person who, without blushing, played in front of the whole forum. In recent times, the republics tried to suppress this passion by law, but it remained unenforced, the game continued throughout the existence of the empire, and the fresh features that furrow the floor of Julia B. indicate that the game went on until the last minutes of ancient Rome. The basilica was quite high: above the first floor of the porticoes there was a second, where a staircase led, traces of which are still visible. From this floor you can see the entire area; from here Caligula threw money into the crowd, amused by the fact that the people were crushing each other. From here it was clear what was happening inside B., and it was possible to follow the speeches of the defenders. Pliny says that when he was conducting one important matter, defending the interests of his daughter, deprived of her inheritance by her father, who was carried away by an intriguer for eighty years, the crowd was so large that not only filled the entire hall, but even the upper galleries were crowded with men and women who had come listen to him."
Vitruvius gives very interesting instructions regarding the construction of basilicas, adding to them a detailed description of the basilica he built in Fanum. According to his testimony, basilicas were divided into public and private. The first ones were located in squares (hence their very name forenses, that is, areal), and the second - in houses. In addition, some modern archaeologists distinguish between different types of basilicas: for walks, for wine and fur trade, courts and money changers, although, as a rule, no one indicates specific signs of their different structure. The commercial significance of basilicas is beyond any doubt: setting out his rules for the construction of basilicas, Vitruvius directly demands the greatest convenience for merchants: “Places for basilicas,” he says, “should be adjacent to the forums and be located in a warm (that is, southern, sunny) position.” side, so that those trading in them can easily endure bad weather in winter.” And that at the same time they served as a place for walking is quite understandable: in this case, they are very reminiscent of our arcades, which in the same way consist entirely of shops and are often crowded with a walking crowd. Other divisions of bisiliks indicate only the variety of goods sold in them, and not at all their different structure. This is the purpose of public basilicas. Let's now move on to private ones.
Basilica of St. Sofia in Ohrid. OK. 1037 50, vestibule with galleries 1317.
There were private basilicas in the homes of the noblest citizens and in palaces. “Noble people,” says Vitruvius, “holding important government positions, need to arrange luxurious reception rooms, high atriums, the most magnificent peristyles (see this next), gardens, extensive places for walks, in accordance with their greatness; in addition, libraries, art galleries and basilicas, as magnificently decorated as public buildings, because their houses often host public meetings and private arbitration courts”; As for the palace basilicas, firstly, their remains were found in Hadrian's Villa near Tivoli, and secondly, in the Palace of Domitian on the Palatine Hill in Rome, where the basilica occupies the right, front corner of the palace and has an entrance from the outside, and represents a rectangular hall with an apse at the end opposite the entrance; it was probably illuminated by the windows located above. All its components are still very easy to distinguish: even a fragment of marble has survived from the apse.
