Roman Basilica Floor Plan

One or two side aisles flanking the nave and separated from it by a row of regularly spaced columns.

Roman basilica floor plan.

In ancient roman architecture a basilica is a large public building with multiple functions typically built alongside the town s forum the basilica was in the latin west equivalent to a stoa in the greek east. Most basilicas have flat ceilings. The apse in the roman basilica frequently contained an image of the emperor and was where the magistrate dispensed laws. The basilica plan with its nave aisles and apse remained the basis for church building in the western church.

The earliest churches were based on the plan of the pagan roman basilica q v or hall of justice the plan generally included a nave q v or hall with a flat timber roof in which the crowd gathered. Originally a basilica was an ancient roman public building where courts were held as well as serving other. Unlike in a roman basilica the side aisles run behind a series of arches rather than columns. The vaults of the south and central nave collapsed in an earthquake in 847 ce.

This hierarchy of size and proportion extended to the major units of the plan the bays. A narthex q v or entrance vestibule at the west end which was reserved for penitents. A bay is the square unit in the. The building gave its name to the architectural form of the basilica.

In very extensive buildings there may be two side aisles with the ceiling of the outer one lower than the one next to the nave. It gradually passed out of use in the eastern church however eclipsed by the radial plan on which the emperor justinian i constructed the domed cathedral of hagia sophia at constantinople. The basilica of maxentius and constantine is atypical due to its similarities with the architecture of roman baths.