The Early Byzantine Churches of Cilicia and IsauriaVariorum
Stephen Hill
ISBN: 0860786072
price: $104.95 hardcover
The architecture of the great "Domed Basilicas" of
6th-century Constantinople, Hagia Sophia above all, continues to
be a source of wonder, but its origins and evolution remain
unclear. In the absence of late 5th-century monuments from the
capital, the churches of Cilicia and Isauria in southern Asia
Minor can serve as indicators for the patters that were
developing. These regions have a dense concentration of surviving
early monuments, especially from the reign of the Isaurian
emperor Zeno (474-94), and the Isaurians were famed for their
building skills.
This volume combines a catalogue of these churches with a
detailed analysis of their significance for the development of
ecclesiastical architecture in the 4th-6th centuries. Cilician
and Isaurian basilicas include transepts, ambulatories, and other
modifications to the basic basilical plan. Hill argues that these
were necessary to adapt the buildings to take account of
martyrial needs, and showed the way for the emergence of the more
centralized forms of the 6th century. Hill includes discussion of
major monuments such as Alahan and Meyremlik, and has made full
use of the Gertrude Bell and Michael Gough archives for the study
of monuments no longer extant.
Contents: List of contents; List of figures; List of plates;
Preface; Introduction; Characteristics of Cilician and Isaurian
basilicas; The Transept Basilicas; The "Domed
Basilicas"; The dating of the Transept Basilicas and the
"Domed Basilicas"; Conclusion; Map, Cilicia and
Isauria; Catalogue of Monuments; Bibliography; Index; Key to
Figures; Figures; Plates.
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