Sacred Architecture and Art of Four Byzantine Capitals Paperback – January 21, 2022

The aim of this book is to depict the architecture and iconography of the significant churchesbuilt in one the four capitals of the Byzantine Empire over a period of about nine centuries.Capitals of the Byzantine Empire were Constantinople (today Istanbul) on the Bosporus themajor capital city: Thessaloniki located in northern Greece the co-capital; Mystras in thecentral Peloponnese a medieval capital; and Mount Athos on a peninsula in northeast Greecestill today the spiritual capital of Eastern Orthodox monasticism.The book is an invaluable visual and written account of sixty-nine Byzantine churches, nearly allvisited by the author, richly illustrated with color photographs many full-page, a total of 391in color out of the 476 illustrations in the book. The architecture and art of each church isdepicted with an informative written description, a floor plan and visually by colorphotographs. Descriptions of those churches in Constantinople, in particular, are vital asnowadays they accessible only with great difficulty as they have been converted to mosquesespecially the famous Agia Sophia.Byzantine churches are exceptional as their architecture, art, and liturgy are integrated andimbued with symbolism, and they do so in so many different ways. The best have impressivearchitectural exteriors and striking iconographic interiors. These churches of the Empire’scapitals are most significant as they acted as models or prototypes, for those built elsewherein the Byzantine world. It is remarkable that the Byzantine-style church has continued to bebuilt even after the Byzantine Empire ceased to exist in Greek and Eastern Orthodoxcommunities throughout the world to the present day.Author: Nicholas N. Patricios, PhD., is an architectural historian and Emeritus Professor andDean of the School of Architecture, University of Miami. He is the author also of The Sacred Architecture of Byzantium: Art. Liturgy and Symbolism of Early Christian Churches. Read more