Παρατηρήσεις στην διαμόρφωση των γωνιακών διαμερισμάτων των δικιονίων σταυροειδών εγγεγραμμένων ναών της Ελλάδος
Part of : Δελτίον της Χριστιανικής Αρχαιολογικής Εταιρείας ; Vol.32, 1989, pages 189-204
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189-204
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Observations on the Form of the Corner Bays in two Columned Cross-in-square Churches in Greece
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Articles
Abstract:
The two-columned type of church widely found inGreece owes its popularity to the size and articulation ofthe interior space, and to the fact that it derives from theHelladic transitional type. Amongst the features attesting to the relationship between the two types is the waythe corner bays are covered with longitudinally orientated barrel vaults, which are a characteristic feature ofthe "Helladic two-columned" group. That this means ofroofing the space continued" in use is due to the conservatism of the provincial Helladic School; to the fact thatthe bays were frequently rectangular in plan; and to theease of construction of these vaults.The employment of the roofing system of the transitional type in two-columned churches gave rise to aproblem in the articulation of the interior of the naos,arising out of the low ratio of columns to overall heightthat resulted from it. This problem was solved when,at a relatively late date, domical or cross vaults —asystem of Constantinopolitan origin— began to be usedabove the corner bays. This in turn created a morphological problem, on the exterior: the roofs were now atdifferent levels, a fact which was most obvious from thesides. This weakness in composition provides yet furtherconfirmation that the roofing system was introducedinto a type whose form had already crystallized. This problem was solved either in an ad hoc manner, bymaking use of a filling layer above the extrados of thebarrel vaults covering the east bays, and peculiarlyintersecting vaults over the west bays; or in a moreradical fashion by roofing the four areas with domicalor cross vaults.A number of oddities may be noted during the presistent attempt, probably out of a desire to avoid the aboveproblem, to cover very elongated corner bays with domical or cross vaults. On occasions, barrel vaults arepreferred, though used as a variant of the above system,and not according to the familiar Helladic type. Theproblem of how to exploit its advantages for thearticulation of the interior space without creating further problems in the external form of the roofs seems tohave led to the familiar system of covering the west bayswith half barrel vaults, which have at times been considered to derive from western influences.In conclusion, the different ways of roofing the cornerbays of the two-columned type and its variations arerelated to a series of developments and solutions, and toeither endogenous or imported elements of problemsconnected with articulation and morphology, which inmany ways reflect the general evolution of the HelladicSchool.
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