#squinches

The Byzantine Empires distinct artistic and cultural entity emerged around AD330 from what is referred to today as the Roman empire, The new Roman emperor Constantine moved the empires capital from Rome to Byzantine “New Rome”, later named Constantinople and what is known today as Istanbul.

Early Byzantine architecture was a continuation of Romanesque architecture, but a stylistic drift, political change and technological advances meant a gradual distinction, geometric complexity, brick and plaster were used as well as stone, mosaics replaced carved decoration.

One of the big architectural breakthroughs occurred when architects created a smooth transition from the square plan of the church to the circular domes, known as squinches or pendentives.

Squinches were an earlier form, in essences creating smaller arches between the circular dome and square plans to create less of an angle and a more circular appearance but also to support more of the dome.