New Church Architecture and the Rise of Monasticism

Abstract

By the end of the ninth century, Byzantium emerged from the Transitional Period as a smaller entity, limited for the most part to Turkey, Greece, and the southern Balkans. Society was also transformed, from open to closed, from public to private. A new type of church architecture emerged—small, centralized, and domed (the “cross-in-square” church type)—perfectly suited to the private worship of the family or the small congregation. The church’s spatial organization was matched by the development of a standardized decorative program (in mosaic or fresco) that reflected the hierarchy of Orthodox belief. Monasticism emerged as a major social force, although in contrast to Western Europe, Byzantine monasteries remained relative small, with an organization that resembled that of the household (oikos).