Editing Basilica (section)

=== Justinianic period ===
[[Justinian I]] constructed at Ephesus a large basilica church, the [[Basilica of St. John|Basilica of St John]], above the supposed tomb of [[John the Apostle]].<ref name=":152"/> The church was a domed cruciform basilica begun in 535/6; enormous and lavishly decorated, it was built in the same style as Justinian's [[Church of the Holy Apostles]] in Constantinople.<ref name=":162"/><ref name=":26"/> The Justinianic basilica replaced an earlier, smaller structure which [[Egeria (pilgrim)|Egeria]] had planned to visit in the 4th century, and remains of a {{Convert|2130|foot|m|abbr=}} aqueduct branch built to supply the complex with water probably dates from Justinian's reign.<ref name=":162"/><ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Öziş|first1=Ünal|last2=Atalay|first2=Ayhan|last3=Özdemir|first3=Yalçın|date=1 December 2014|title=Hydraulic capacity of ancient water conveyance systems to Ephesus|url=https://iwaponline.com/ws/article/14/6/1010/28490/Hydraulic-capacity-of-ancient-water-conveyance|journal=Water Supply|language=en|volume=14|issue=6|pages=1010–1017|doi=10.2166/ws.2014.055|issn=1606-9749|doi-access=free}}</ref> The Ephesians' basilicas to St Mary and St John were both equipped with [[Baptistery|baptisteries]] with filling and draining pipes: both [[Baptismal font|fonts]] were flush with the floor and unsuitable for [[infant baptism]].<ref name=":17">{{Cite web|last=Rutherford|first=H. Richard|editor-last=Caraher|editor-first=William R.|editor2-last=Davis|editor2-first=Thomas W.|editor3-last=Pettegrew|editor3-first=David K.|title=Baptisteries in Ancient Sites and Rites|url=https://www.oxfordhandbooks.com/view/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199369041.001.0001/oxfordhb-9780199369041-e-10|website=The Oxford Handbook of Early Christian Archaeology|year=2019|language=en|doi=10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199369041.001.0001|isbn=9780199369041}}</ref> As with most Justinianic baptisteries in the [[Balkans]] and [[Asia Minor]], the baptistery at the Basilica of St John was on the northern side of the basilica's nave; the 734 m<sup>2</sup> baptistery was separated from the basilica by a 3 m-wide corridor.<ref name=":17" /> According to the 6th century [[Syriac language|Syriac]] writer [[John of Ephesus]], a [[Syriac Orthodox Church|Syriac Orthodox]] Christian, the [[Heterodoxy|heterodox]] [[Miaphysitism|Miaphysites]] held [[ordination]] services in the courtyard of the Basilica of St John under cover of night.<ref name=":162"/> Somewhat outside the ancient city on the [[Ayasuluk Hill|hill of Selçuk]], the Justinianic basilica became the centre of the city after the 7th century [[Arab–Byzantine wars]].<ref name=":162"/>

At Constantinople, Justinian constructed the largest domed basilica: on the site of the 4th century basilica Church of [[Holy Wisdom]], the emperor ordered construction of the huge domed basilica that survives to the present: the [[Hagia Sophia]].<ref name=":19" /> This basilica, which "continues to stand as one of the most visually imposing and architecturally daring churches in the Mediterranean", was the cathedral of Constantinople and the patriarchal church of the [[Patriarch of Constantinople]].<ref name=":19" /> Hagia Sophia, originally founded by Constantine, was at the social and political heart of Constantinople, near to the [[Great Palace of Constantinople|Great Palace]], the [[Baths of Zeuxippus]], and the [[Hippodrome of Constantinople]], while the headquarters of the [[Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople|Ecumenical Patriarchate]] was within the basilica's immediate vicinity.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Valérian |first=Dominique |date=1 February 2013 |chapter=Chapter 14: Middle East: 7th–15th Centuries |chapter-url=http://oxfordhandbooks.com/view/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199589531.001.0001/oxfordhb-9780199589531-e-14 |editor-last=Clark |editor-first=Peter |title=The Oxford Handbook of Cities in World History |publisher=Oxford University Press |pages=263–264 |doi=10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199589531.013.0014}}</ref>

The mid-6th century Bishop of [[Poreč]] ({{langx|la|Parens}} or {{lang|la|Parentium}}; {{langx|grc|Πάρενθος|Párenthos|links=no}}) replaced an earlier 4th century basilica with the magnificent Euphrasian Basilica in the style of contemporary basilicas at [[Ravenna]].<ref name=":7">{{Citation|last=Kinney|first=Dale|title=Poreč|url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780195046526.001.0001/acref-9780195046526-e-4421|work=The Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium|year=2005|editor-last=Kazhdan|editor-first=Alexander P.|orig-year=1991|publisher=Oxford University Press|language=en|doi=10.1093/acref/9780195046526.001.0001|isbn=978-0-19-504652-6}}</ref> Some column [[Capital (architecture)|capitals]] were of marble from Greece identical to those in [[Basilica of San Vitale]] and must have been imported from the Byzantine centre along with the columns and some of the ''[[opus sectile]]''.<ref name=":7" /> There are [[Conch (architecture)|conch]] mosaics in the basilica's three apses and the fine ''opus sectile'' on the central apse wall is "exceptionally well preserved".<ref name=":7" />

The 4th century basilica of [[Saint Sophia Church, Sofia|Saint Sophia Church]] at Serdica (Sofia, Bulgaria) was rebuilt in the 5th century and ultimately replaced by a new monumental basilica in the late 6th century, and some construction phases continued into the 8th century.<ref name=":20">{{Citation|last1=Rizos|first1=Efthymios|title=Serdica|url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780198662778.001.0001/acref-9780198662778-e-4297|work=The Oxford Dictionary of Late Antiquity|year=2018|editor-last=Nicholson|editor-first=Oliver|publisher=Oxford University Press|language=en|doi=10.1093/acref/9780198662778.001.0001|isbn=978-0-19-866277-8|last2=Darley|first2=Rebecca}}</ref> This basilica was the cathedral of Serdica and was one of three basilicas known to lie outside the walls; three more churches were within the walled city, of which the [[Church of Saint George, Sofia|Church of Saint George]] was a former Roman bath built in the 4th century, and another was a former Mithraeum.<ref name=":20" /> The basilicas were associated with cemeteries with Christian inscriptions and burials.<ref name=":20" />

Another basilica from this period in Bulgaria was the [[Belovo Basilica]] (6th century AD).

The [[Miaphysitism|Miaphysite]] convert from the [[Church of the East]], [[Ahudemmeh]] constructed a new basilica {{circa|565}} dedicated to [[Saint Sergius]] at ''ʿ''Ain Qenoye (or ''ʿ''Ain Qena according to [[Bar Hebraeus]]) after being ordained bishop of [[Dioceses of the Syriac Orthodox Church#Iraq|Beth Arbaye]] by [[Jacob Baradaeus]] and while proselytizing among the [[Bedouin]] of [[Arbayistan]] in the Sasanian Empire.<ref name=":15">{{Cite journal|last=Oates|first=David|date=1962|title=Qasr Serīj: A Sixth Century Basilica in Northern Iraq|journal=Iraq|volume=24|issue=2|pages=78–89|doi=10.2307/4199719|jstor=4199719|s2cid=164090791 |issn=0021-0889}}</ref> According to Ahudemmeh's biographer this basilica and its ''martyrium'', in the upper [[Tigris]] valley, was supposed to be a copy of the Basilica of St Sergius at Sergiopolis ([[Resafa]]), in the middle [[Euphrates]], so that the Arabs would not have to travel so far on pilgrimage.<ref name=":15" /> More likely, with the support of [[Khosrow I]] for its construction and defence against the [[Nestorians]] who were [[Miaphysites]]' rivals, the basilica was part of an attempt to control the frontier tribes and limit their contact with the Roman territory of Justinian, who had agreed in the 562 [[Fifty-Year Peace Treaty]] to pay 30,000 [[Solidus (coin)|''nomismata'']] annually to Khosrow in return for a demilitarization of the frontier after the latest phase of the [[Roman–Persian Wars#Byzantine–Sasanian wars|Roman–Persian Wars]].<ref name=":15" /> After being mentioned in 828 and 936, the basilica at ''ʿ''Ain Qenoye disappeared from recorded history, though it may have remained occupied for centuries, and was rediscovered as a ruin by [[Carsten Niebuhr]] in 1766.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Simpson|first=St John|date=1994|title=A Note on Qasr Serij|journal=Iraq|language=en|publisher=British Institute for the Study of Iraq|volume=56|pages=149–151|doi=10.2307/4200392|jstor=4200392|doi-access=free}}</ref> The name of the modern site Qasr Serīj is derived from the basilica's dedication to St Sergius.<ref name=":15" /> Qasr Serīj's construction may have been part of the policy of toleration that Khosrow and his successors had for Miaphysitism {{En dash}} a contrast with Justinian's persecution of heterodoxy within the Roman empire.<ref name=":15" /> This policy itself encouraged many tribes to favour the Persian cause, especially after the death in 569 of the [[Ghassanid Kingdom]]'s  Miaphysite king [[al-Harith ibn Jabalah]] ({{Langx|la|Flavius Arethas}}, {{Langx|grc|Ἀρέθας}}) and the 584 suppression by the Romans of his successors' dynasty.<ref name=":15" />

<gallery widths="200px" heights="200px">
File:StSophiaChurch-Sofia-10.jpg|[[Saint Sophia Church, Sofia|Saint Sophia]], Serdica ([[Sofia]]), built 4th–8th centuries
File:Nave looking towards the entrance - Sant'Apollinare Nuovo - Ravenna 2016.jpg|[[Ostrogothic Kingdom|Ostrogothic]] ''Basilica of Christ the Redeemer'', Ravenna, 504. [[Basilica of Sant'Apollinare Nuovo|Rededicated 561 to St Apollinaris]]
File:Basilica di Sant'Apollinare in Classe (interno).JPG|[[Basilica of Sant'Apollinare in Classe]] near [[Ravenna]] in [[Italy]]
File:Church of the Nativity, Bethlehem, Palestine 04155u original.jpg|[[Justinian I|Justinianic]] [[Church of the Nativity]], Bethlehem, after 529
File:Ephesos Saint John the Theologian plan rotated.png|Floor plan of the Justinianic [[Basilica of St. John|Basilica of St John]], Ephesus, after 535/6
File:Bosra basilica di BahiraHPIM3296.JPG|Interior of the ruined Basilica of [[Bahira]], [[Bosra]]
File:Βασιλική Αγίου Αχιλλείου.jpg|Ruins of the 10th-century Church of [[Achillius of Larissa]], on the eponymous island of [[Small Prespa Lake|Agios Achilleios, Mikra Prespa]], a typical basilica church<ref>{{Citation|last=Ćurčić|first=Slobodan|title=Church Plan Types|url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780195046526.001.0001/acref-9780195046526-e-1105|work=The Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium|year=2005|editor-last=Kazhdan|editor-first=Alexander P.|orig-year=1991|publisher=Oxford University Press|language=en|doi=10.1093/acref/9780195046526.001.0001|isbn=978-0-19-504652-6}}</ref>
File:2011-Belovo Basilica.jpg|[[Belovo Basilica]], [[Belovo Municipality]], Bulgaria
</gallery>