Byzantine Architecture spanned from 527-565 under the rule of Justian (Rymer, 2000). During this time, the most famous model of Byzantine Architecture, Hagia Sophia (“Divine Wisdom” now St. Sophia) was built (Knight, 2005).

The peculiarities of Byzantine churches are typified by Greco-Roman and Oriental elements. In the early centuries, the dividing line between the two elements was a blur (Knight, 2005). According to Knight (2005), “the dome in Byzantine churches, with its great span carried on piers, arches, and pendentives, constitutes one of the greatest achievements of architecture.”

There are several aesthetic merits of Byzantine churches. One of these, according to Kelley, Sendova and Gavrilovic (1996) is that it “developed and utilized smaller spaces and arrangements than the Basilica form…. The structural system of these churches consists of columns, walls and vaults that with the massive cross-sections, sustain compressive stresses due to gravity loads.” The hidden timber belts mitigate the effects of regular settlement of the structure (Kelley, Sendova and Gavrilovic, 1996). Another aesthetic merit is that interior of Byzantine churches reflected Oriental’s love of splendor as seen in the piling up of domes, marble slabs, gold decorations and other intricate architectural details (Knight, 2005).

On the other hand, the aesthetic demerits according to Knight (2005) is “the absence of work in the higher forms of sculpture, and the transformation of high into low decoration by means of interwoven traceries, in which the chiseled ornaments became flatter, more linear, and lacelike.”

Another demerit Knight (2005) added is the “The fortress-like character of the church buildings, the sharp expression of the constructive forms, the squatty appearance of the domes, the bare grouping of many parts” showed the product of coarser work of the later period as opposed to the elegance of Greeks (Knight, 2005). Also, Kelley, Sendova, Gavrilovic (1996) found “the walls

were set on massive masonry foundations but frequently to an insufficient depth. Roof structures of monuments from the Byzantine period consist of a system of arches, vaults and domes that do not provide adequate continuity among the supporting walls.”