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Early Christian art used not only Roman forms but also Roman styles. Late classical style included a proportional portrayal of the human body and impressionistic presentation of space. Late classical style is seen in early Christian frescos, such as those in the Catacombs of Rome, which include most examples of the earliest Christian art. [3 ...
Church architecture refers to the architecture of Christian buildings, such as churches, chapels, convents, seminaries, etc. It has evolved over the two thousand years of the Christian religion , partly by innovation and partly by borrowing other architectural styles as well as responding to changing beliefs, practices and local traditions.
Typical early Christian Byzantine apse with a hemispherical semi-dome in the Basilica of Sant'Apollinare in Classe Typical floor plan of a cathedral, with the apse shaded. In architecture, an apse (pl.: apses; from Latin absis, 'arch, vault'; from Ancient Greek ἀψίς, apsis, 'arch'; sometimes written apsis; pl.: apsides) is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical vault or semi ...
Early church architecture did not draw its form from Roman temples, as the latter did not have large internal spaces where worshipping congregations could meet. It was the Roman basilica , used for meetings, markets and courts of law that provided a model for the large Christian church and that gave its name to the Christian basilica .
A church, church building, or church house is a building used for Christian worship services and other Christian religious activities. The earliest identified Christian church is a house church founded between 233 AD and 256 AD. [1] Sometimes, the word church is used erroneously to refer to the buildings of other religions, such as mosques and ...
Within Christian church architecture, orientation is an arrangement by which the point of main interest in the interior is towards the east (Latin: oriens). The east end is where the altar is placed, often within an apse. The façade and main entrance are accordingly at the west end.
Early Christians gathered in small private homes, [2] known as house churches, but a city's whole Christian community would also be called a "church"—the Greek noun ἐκκλησία (ekklesia) literally means "assembly", "gathering", or "congregation" [3] [4] but is translated as "church" in most English translations of the New Testament.
The term church may be used in the sense of "Christian denomination" or in the singular as the Christian Church as a whole. The "church" (Greek ekklēsía , 'assembly') is traced to Pentecost and the beginning of the Christian mission in the first century and was not used in reference to a building.