Neo-Byzantine architecture
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Neo-Byzantine architecture is an architectural revival style, of the mid- to late 19th and early 20th centuries, most frequently seen in religious, institutional and public buildings. Neo-Byzantine architecture incorporates elements of the Byzantine style associated with Eastern and Orthodox Christian architecture dating from the 5th through 11th centuries, notably that of Byzantium (Constantinople, or modern-day Istanbul).
The style is characterized by round arches, vaults and domes, brick and stucco surfaces, symbolic ornamentation, and the use of decorative mosaics. It was developed primarily in Imperial Russia and Eastern Europe, where it evolved a long way from Sophia Cathedral of 1782 to Alexander Nevsky Cathedral in Sofia of 1882. It was popularized in Russia by Konstantin Ton, who combined it with Neoclassical and Russian Revival stylistic elements at will.
Notable American examples include many buildings on the campus of Rice University in Texas, St. Francis de Sales Church in Philadelphia, and the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception built between 1920 and 1959 in Washington, D.C. In the early 1980s, famed American architect Philip Johnson designed a Post-Modernist addition to the Cleveland Play House that reflects Byzantine influences, and could thus be termed Neo-Byzantine.
In the United States and elsewhere, the Neo-Byzantine style is often seen in vernacular amalgamations with other Medieval revivalist styles such as Romanesque and Gothic, or even with the Mission Revival or Spanish Colonial Revival styles.
 The Neo-Byzantine façade of Westminster Cathedral, London |
 Interior of St. Vladimir's Cathedral in Kiev |
 Naval Cathedral in Kronstadt. |
| Revival styles in 19th-century architecture | |
|---|---|
| Neo-Classicism: | Directoire and Empire • Regency • Egyptian Revival • Greek Revival and Neo-Grec |
| Neo-Romanesque and Byzantine Revival: | Richardsonian Romanesque • Russo-Byzantine • Muscovite Revival |
| Gothic Revival: | Scottish Baronial • Tudorbethan • Muscovite Gothic • Moorish Revival • Indo-Saracenic |
| Neo-Renaissance: | Italianate • Second Empire • Châteauesque • Jacobethan |
| Neo-Baroque and 18th century: | Beaux-Arts • Wrenaissance • Queen Anne • Georgian Revival • Colonial Revival |
