Editing Basilica (section)

== Late antiquity ==
[[File:DSC 0272 Eufrazijeva bazilika.jpg|thumb|[[Euphrasian Basilica]], [[Poreč]], mid-6th century]]
[[File:Thessiloniki -- Church of the Acheiropoietos 04.jpg|thumb|222x222px|Church of the Acheiropoietos's arcaded single side aisles]]
[[File:Bethlehem-Nativity-132.jpg|thumb|Church of the Nativity's trabeate doubled side aisles]]
[[File:RP08546 (7831627328).jpg|thumb|Ruins of the domestic basilica at the ''[[Villa Romana del Casale]]'', [[Piazza Armerina]], 4th century]]
The aisled-hall plan of the basilica was adopted by a number of religious cults in [[late antiquity]].<ref name=":0"/> At [[Sardis]], a [[Sardis Synagogue|monumental basilica]] housed the city's [[synagogue]], serving the local [[Jewish diaspora]].<ref>{{Citation|last=Goodman|first=Martin David|title=synagogue|url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780198706779.001.0001/acref-9780198706779-e-608|work=The Oxford Companion to Classical Civilization|year=2014|editor-last=Hornblower|editor-first=Simon|others=Eidinow, Esther (asst ed.)|edition=2nd|publisher=Oxford University Press|language=en|doi=10.1093/acref/9780198706779.001.0001|isbn=978-0-19-870677-9|editor2-last=Spawforth|editor2-first=Antony}}</ref> New religions like Christianity required space for congregational worship, and the basilica was adapted by the early Church for worship.<ref name=":1"/> Because they were able to hold large number of people, basilicas were adopted for Christian liturgical use after [[Constantine the Great]]. The early churches of Rome were basilicas with an apsidal tribunal and used the same construction techniques of columns and timber roofing.<ref name=":0"/>

At the start of the 4th century at Rome there was a change in burial and [[Funeral|funerary]] practice, moving away from earlier preferences for inhumation in cemeteries {{En dash}} popular from the 2nd and 3rd centuries AD {{En dash}} to the newer practice of burial in [[Catacombs of Rome|catacombs]] and inhumation inside Christian basilicas themselves.<ref>{{Citation|last=Morris|first=Ian|title=dead, disposal of|url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780198706779.001.0001/acref-9780198706779-e-194|work=The Oxford Companion to Classical Civilization|year=2014|editor-last=Hornblower|editor-first=Simon|others=Eidinow, Esther (asst ed.)|edition=2nd|publisher=Oxford University Press|language=en|doi=10.1093/acref/9780198706779.001.0001|isbn=978-0-19-870677-9|editor2-last=Spawforth|editor2-first=Antony}}</ref> Conversely, new basilicas often were erected on the site of existing early Christian cemeteries and ''martyria'', related to the belief in [[Resurrection of Jesus|Bodily Resurrection]], and the cult of the sacred dead became monumentalised in basilica form.<ref name=":26"/> Traditional civic basilicas and ''[[Bouleuterion|bouleuteria]]'' declined in use with the weakening of the [[curial class]] ({{Langx|la|curiales|links=no}}) in the 4th and 5th centuries, while their structures were well suited to the requirements of congregational liturgies.<ref name=":26">{{Citation|last=Talloen|first=Peter|title=Asia Minor|url=http://oxfordhandbooks.com/view/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199369041.001.0001/oxfordhb-9780199369041-e-24|work=The Oxford Handbook of Early Christian Archaeology|pages=494–513|year=2019|editor-last=Caraher|editor-first=William R.|publisher=Oxford University Press|language=en|doi=10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199369041.013.24|isbn=978-0-19-936904-1|editor2-last=Davis|editor2-first=Thomas W.|editor3-last=Pettegrew|editor3-first=David K.}}</ref> The conversion of these types of buildings into Christian basilicas was also of symbolic significance, asserting the dominance of Christianity and supplanting the old political function of public space and the city-centre with an emphatic Christian social statement.<ref name=":26"/> Traditional monumental civic amenities like [[Gymnasium (ancient Greece)|''gymnasia'']], [[Palaestra|''palaestrae'']], and ''thermae'' were also falling into disuse, and became favoured sites for the construction of new churches, including basilicas.<ref name=":26"/>

Under Constantine, the basilica became the most prestigious style of church building, was "normative" for church buildings by the end of the 4th century, and were ubiquitous in western Asia, North Africa, and most of Europe by the close of the 7th century.<ref name=":172" /> Christians also continued to hold services in synagogues, houses, and gardens, and continued practising [[baptism]] in rivers, ponds, and Roman bathhouses.<ref name=":172" /><ref name=":17" />

The development of Christian basilicas began even before Constantine's reign: a 3rd-century [[Mudbrick|mud-brick]] house at [[Aqaba]] had become a Christian church and was rebuilt as a basilica.<ref name=":172">{{Cite web|last=Stewart|first=Charles Anthony|editor-last=Caraher|editor-first=William R.|editor2-last=Davis|editor2-first=Thomas W.|editor3-last=Pettegrew|editor3-first=David K.|title=Churches|url=https://www.oxfordhandbooks.com/view/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199369041.001.0001/oxfordhb-9780199369041-e-8|website=The Oxford Handbook of Early Christian Archaeology|year=2019|language=en|doi=10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199369041.001.0001|isbn=9780199369041}}</ref> Within was a rectangular assembly hall with [[fresco]]es and at the east end an [[Ambon (liturgy)|ambo]], a [[cathedra]], and an altar.<ref name=":172" /> Also within the church were a catecumenon (for [[catechumens]]), a baptistery, a [[diaconicon]], and a [[Prothesis (altar)|prothesis]]: all features typical of later 4th century basilica churches.<ref name=":172" /> A Christian structure which included the prototype of the triumphal arch at the east end of later Constantinian basilicas.<ref name=":172" /> Known as the [[Megiddo church (Israel)|Megiddo church]], it was built at Kefar 'Othnay in [[Palestine (region)|Palestine]], possibly c. 230, for or by the [[Roman army]] stationed at [[Legio]] (later [[Lajjun]]).<ref name=":172" /> Its dedicatory inscriptions include the names of women who contributed to the building and were its major patrons, as well as men's names.<ref name=":172" /> A number of buildings previously believed to have been Constantinian or 4th century have been reassessed as dating to later periods, and certain examples of 4th century basilicas are not distributed throughout the Mediterranean world at all evenly.<ref name=":19">{{Citation|last1=Caraher|first1=William R.|title=The Archaeology of Early Christianity: The History, Methods, and State of a Field|url=http://oxfordhandbooks.com/view/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199369041.001.0001/oxfordhb-9780199369041-e-1|work=The Oxford Handbook of Early Christian Archaeology|pages=xv–27|editor-last=Caraher|editor-first=William R.|publisher=Oxford University Press|language=en|doi=10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199369041.013.1|isbn=978-0-19-936904-1|last2=Pettegrew|first2=David K.|date=28 February 2019|editor2-last=Davis|editor2-first=Thomas W.|editor3-last=Pettegrew|editor3-first=David K.}}</ref> Christian basilicas and ''martyria'' attributable to the 4th century are rare on the Greek mainland and on the [[Cyclades]], while the Christian basilicas of Egypt, [[Cyprus (island)|Cyprus]], [[Syria (region)|Syria]], [[Transjordan (region)|Transjordan]], [[Hispania]], and [[Gaul]] are nearly all of later date.<ref name=":19" /> The basilica at Ephesus's ''Magnesian Gate'', the episcopal church at [[Laodicea on the Lycus]], and two extramural churches at [[Sardis]] have all been considered 4th century constructions, but on weak evidence.<ref name=":26"/> Development of [[Pottery#Archaeology|pottery chronologies]] for Late Antiquity had helped resolve questions of dating basilicas of the period.<ref name=":21">{{Citation|last=Moore|first=R. Scott|title=Pottery|url=http://oxfordhandbooks.com/view/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199369041.001.0001/oxfordhb-9780199369041-e-17|work=The Oxford Handbook of Early Christian Archaeology|year=2019|pages=295–312|editor-last=Caraher|editor-first=William R.|publisher=Oxford University Press|language=en|doi=10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199369041.013.17|isbn=978-0-19-936904-1|editor2-last=Davis|editor2-first=Thomas W.|editor3-last=Pettegrew|editor3-first=David K.}}</ref>

Three examples of a ''basilica discoperta'' or "[[hypaethral]] basilica" with no roof above the nave are inferred to have existed.<ref name=":4">{{Citation|last=Johnson|first=Mark J.|title=Basilica Discoperta|url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780195046526.001.0001/acref-9780195046526-e-0669|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> The 6th century [[Anonymous pilgrim of Piacenza]] described a "basilica built with a ''[[quadriporticus]]'', with the middle atrium uncovered" at [[Hebron]], while at [[Pécs]] and near [[Salona]] two ruined 5th buildings of debated interpretation might have been either roofless basilica churches or simply courtyards with an [[exedra]] at the end.<ref name=":4" /> An old theory by [[Ejnar Dyggve]] that these were the architectural intermediary between the Christian [[Martyrium (architecture)|''martyrium'']] and the classical [[Heroon|''heröon'']] is no longer credited.<ref name=":4" />

The magnificence of early Christian basilicas reflected the patronage of the emperor and recalled his imperial palaces and reflected the royal associations of the basilica with the [[Hellenistic Kingdoms]] and even earlier monarchies like that of [[Pharaonic Egypt]].<ref name=":172" /> Similarly, the name and association resounded with the Christian claims of the royalty of [[Christ]] – according to the ''[[Acts of the Apostles]]'' the earliest Christians had gathered at the royal ''Stoa'' of Solomon in [[Jerusalem]] to assert Jesus's royal heritage.<ref name=":172" /> For early Christians, the [[Bible]] supplied evidence that the [[First Temple]] and [[Solomon's palace]] were both [[hypostyle]] halls and somewhat resembled basilicas.<ref name=":172" /> Hypostyle synagogues, often built with apses in Palestine by the 6th century, share a common origin with the Christian basilicas in the civic basilicas and in the pre-Roman style of hypostyle halls in the Mediterranean Basin, particularly in Egypt, where pre-classical hypostyles continued to be built in the imperial period and were themselves converted into churches in the 6th century.<ref name=":172" /> Other influences on the evolution of Christian basilicas may have come from elements of domestic and palatial architecture during the pre-Constantinian period of Christianity, including the reception hall or {{Langx|la|aula|label=none}} ({{Langx|grc|αὐλή|translit=aulḗ|lit=courtyard|links=no}}) and the [[Atrium (domus)|''atria'']] and [[Triclinium|''triclinia'']] of élite Roman dwellings.<ref name=":172" /> The versatility of the basilica form and its variability in size and ornament recommended itself to the early [[Christian Church]]: basilicas could be grandiose as the Basilica of Maxentius in the ''Forum Romanum'' or more practical like the so-called Basilica of [[Bahira]] in [[Bosra]], while the ''Basilica Constantiniana'' on the [[Lateran Hill]] was of intermediate scale.<ref name=":172" /> This basilica, begun in 313, was the first imperial Christian basilica.<ref name=":172" /> Imperial basilicas were first constructed for the Christian [[Eucharist]] [[Christian liturgy|liturgy]] in the reign of Constantine.<ref name=":17" />

Basilica churches were not economically inactive. Like non-Christian or civic basilicas, basilica churches had a commercial function integral to their local trade routes and economies. [[Amphorae]] discovered at basilicas attest their economic uses and can reveal their position in wider networks of exchange.<ref name=":21" /> At [[Dion, Pieria|Dion]] near [[Mount Olympus]] in [[Macedonia (Roman province)|Macedonia]], now an [[Archaeological Park of Dion|Archaeological Park]], the latter 5th century ''Cemetery Basilica'', a small church, was replete with [[potsherd]]s from all over the [[Mediterranean Basin|Mediterranean]], evidencing extensive economic activity took place there.<ref name=":21" /><ref>{{Cite book|last1=Fragoulis|first1=K. |last2=Minasidis |first2=C. |last3=Mentzos |first3=A. |date=2014 |editor-last=Poulou-Papadimitriou |editor-first=Natalia |editor-last2=Nodarou |editor-first2=Eleni | editor-last3=Kilikoglou |editor-first3=Vassilis |title=Pottery from the Cemetery Basilica in the Early Byzantine City of Dion |series=LRCW 4 Late Roman Coarse Wares, Cooking Wares and Amphorae in the Mediterranean, 2 volume set: Archaeology and archaeometry. The Mediterranean: a market without frontiers |location=Oxford, UK |publisher=British Archaeological Reports |pages=297–304 |doi=10.30861/9781407312514 |isbn=978-1-4073-1251-4}}</ref> Likewise at [[Maroni Petrera]] on Cyprus, the amphorae unearthed by archaeologists in the 5th century basilica church had been imported from North Africa, Egypt, [[Palestine (region)|Palestine]], and the [[Aegean basin]], as well as from neighbouring [[Asia Minor]].<ref name=":21" /><ref>{{Cite book|last=Manning|first=Sturt W.|title=The late Roman church at Maroni Petrera: survey and salvage excavations 1990–1997, and other traces of Roman remains in the lower Maroni Valley, Cyprus|publisher=A. G. Leventis Foundation|others=Manning, Andrew; Eckardt, Hella|year=2002|isbn=9963-560-42-3|location=Nicosia, Cyprus|pages=78|oclc=52303510}}</ref>

According to [[Publius Flavius Vegetius Renatus|Vegetius]], writing c. 390, basilicas were convenient for [[Foot drill|drilling]] soldiers of the [[Late Roman army]] during inclement weather.<ref name=":2" />

=== Basilica of Maxentius ===
[[File:RomaBasilicaMassenzioDaPalatino.JPG|thumb|Remains of the [[Basilica of Maxentius]] and Constantine in Rome. The building's northern aisle is all that remains.]]
[[File:Dehio 6 Basilica of Maxentius Floor plan.jpg|thumb|Floor plan of the Basilica of Maxentius and Constantine]]
[[File:Konstantinbasilika Trier Innen.JPG|thumb|The 4th-century [[Aula Palatina|Basilica of Constantine]] at [[Trier]] was a palatine basilica, used for receiving Constantine's political [[Patronage in ancient Rome|clients]]. The apse windows are in fact smaller than the side windows, producing an optical illusion of still greater size and distance.]]

The 4th century [[Basilica of Maxentius]], begun by [[Maxentius]] between 306 and 312 and according to [[Aurelius Victor]]'s ''De Caesaribus'' completed by Constantine I, was an innovation.<ref name=":29" /><ref>Aurelius Victor, ''de Caesaribus'', {{Smallcaps|xl}}:26</ref> Earlier basilicas mostly had wooden roofs, but this basilica dispensed with timber trusses and used instead [[cross-vault]]s made from [[Roman brick]]s and [[Roman concrete|concrete]] to create one of the ancient world's largest covered spaces: 80 m long, 25 m wide, and 35 m high.<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":29">{{Cite journal|last=Förtsch|first=Reinhard|year=2006|title=Basilica Constantiniana|url=https://referenceworks.brillonline.com/entries/brill-s-new-pauly/basilica-constantiniana-e213290|journal=Brill's New Pauly|language=en}}</ref> The [[Vertex (geometry)|vertices]] of the cross-vaults, the largest Roman examples, were 35 m.<ref name=":29" /> The vault was supported on [[marble]] monolithic columns 14.5 m tall.<ref name=":29" /> The foundations are as much as 8 m deep.<ref name=":23" /> The vault was supported by brick latticework ribs ({{Langx|la|bipedalis|links=no}}) forming lattice ribbing, an early form of [[rib vault]], and distributing the load evenly across the vault's span.<ref name=":23" /> Similar brick ribs were employed at the [[Baths of Maxentius]] on the [[Palatine Hill]], where they supported walls on top of the vault.<ref name=":23" /> Also known as the {{Langx|la|Basilica Constantiniana|lit=Basilica of Constantine|label=none}} or {{Langx|la|Basilica Nova|lit=New Basilica|label=none}}, it chanced to be the last civic basilica built in Rome.<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":29" />

Inside the basilica the central nave was accessed by five doors opening from an entrance hall on the eastern side and terminated in an apse at the western end.<ref name=":29" /> Another, shallower apse with niches for statues was added to the centre of the north wall in a second campaign of building, while the western apse housed a colossal [[acrolith]]ic statue of the emperor Constantine enthroned.<ref name=":29" /> Fragments of this statue are now in the courtyard of the Palazzo dei Conservatori on the [[Capitoline Hill]], part of the [[Capitoline Museums]]. Opposite the northern apse on the southern wall, another monumental entrance was added and elaborated with a [[portico]] of [[Porphyry (geology)|porphyry]] columns.<ref name=":29" /> One of the remaining marble interior columns was removed in 1613 by [[Pope Paul V]] and set up as an honorific column outside [[Santa Maria Maggiore]].<ref name=":29" />

=== Constantinian period ===
[[File:20140819-20140819- HLB9362.jpg|thumb|[[Aula Palatina]], [[Constantine the Great|Constantine]]'s basilica at [[Trier]], c. 310]]
In the early 4th century [[Eusebius]] used the word basilica ({{Langx|grc|βασιλική|translit=basilikḗ}}) to refer to Christian churches; in subsequent centuries as before, the word basilica referred in Greek to the civic, non-ecclesiastical buildings, and only in rare exceptions to churches.<ref name=":3">{{Citation|last1=Johnson|first1=Mark J.|title=Basilica|url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780195046526.001.0001/acref-9780195046526-e-0668|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|last2=Wilkinson|first2=John}}</ref> Churches were nonetheless basilican in form, with an apse or tribunal at the end of a nave with two or more aisles typical.<ref name=":3" /> A [[narthex]] (sometimes with an exonarthex) or [[Vestibule (architecture)|vestibule]] could be added to the entrance, together with an [[Atrium (architecture)|atrium]], and the interior might have [[transept]]s, a [[pastophorion]], and [[Gallery (theatre)|galleries]], but the basic scheme with clerestory windows and a wooden [[truss roof]] remained the most typical church type until the 6th century.<ref name=":3" /> The nave would be kept clear for liturgical processions by the clergy, with the [[laity]] in the galleries and aisles to either side.<ref name=":3" /> The function of Christian churches was similar to that of the civic basilicas but very different from temples in contemporary [[Graeco-Roman polytheism]]: while pagan temples were entered mainly by priests and thus had their splendour visible from without, within Christian basilicas the main ornamentation was visible to the congregants admitted inside.<ref name=":172" /> Christian priests did not interact with attendees during the rituals which took place at determined intervals, whereas pagan priests were required to perform individuals' sacrifices in the more chaotic environment of the temple precinct, with the temple's façade as backdrop.<ref name=":172" /> In basilicas constructed for Christian uses, the interior was often decorated with [[fresco]]es, but these buildings' wooden roof often decayed and failed to preserve the fragile frescoes within.<ref name=":19" /> Thus was lost an important part of the early history of [[Early Christian art and architecture|Christian art]], which would have sought to communicate early Christian ideas to the mainly illiterate Late Antique society.<ref name=":19" /> On the exterior, basilica church complexes included cemeteries, baptisteries, and [[Baptismal font|fonts]] which "defined ritual and liturgical access to the sacred", elevated the social status of the Church hierarchy, and which complemented the development of a Christian historical landscape; Constantine and his mother [[Helena (empress)|Helena]] were patrons of basilicas in important Christian sites in the [[Holy Land]] and Rome, and at Milan and Constantinople.<ref name=":19" />

Around 310, while still a self-proclaimed ''augustus'' unrecognised at Rome, Constantine began the construction of the ''Basilica Constantiniana'' or {{Langx|la|[[Aula Palatina]]|lit=palatine hall|label=none}}, as a reception hall for his imperial seat at [[Trier]] ({{Langx|la|[[History of Trier#Roman Empire|Augusta Treverorum]]|label=none}}), capital of [[Belgica Prima]].<ref name=":2" /> On the exterior, Constantine's palatine basilica was plain and utilitarian, but inside was very grandly decorated.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Thomas|first=Edmund|year=2010|editor-last=Barchiesi|editor-first=Alessandro|editor2-last=Scheidel|editor2-first=Walter|title=Architecture|url=https://www.oxfordhandbooks.com/view/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199211524.001.0001/oxfordhb-9780199211524-e-054|website=The Oxford Handbook of Roman Studies|pages=837–858|language=en|doi=10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199211524.001.0001|isbn=9780199211524}}</ref>

In the reign of Constantine I, a basilica was constructed for the [[Pope]] in the [[Castra Nova equitum singularium|former barracks]] of the ''[[Equites singulares Augusti]]'', the [[cavalry]] arm of the [[Praetorian Guard]].<ref name=":12">{{Citation|last=Davis|first=Raymond Peter|title=Constantine I|url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780198706779.001.0001/acref-9780198706779-e-174|work=The Oxford Companion to Classical Civilization|year=2014|editor-last=Hornblower|editor-first=Simon|others=Eidinow, Esther (asst ed.)|edition=2nd|publisher=Oxford University Press|language=en|doi=10.1093/acref/9780198706779.001.0001|isbn=978-0-19-870677-9|editor2-last=Spawforth|editor2-first=Antony}}</ref> (Constantine had disbanded the Praetorian guard after his defeat of their emperor Maxentius and replaced them with another bodyguard, the ''[[Scholae Palatinae]]''.)<ref name=":12" /> In 313 Constantine began construction of the ''Basilica Constantiniana'' on the Lateran Hill.<ref name=":172" /> This basilica became Rome's [[cathedral]] church, known as [[St John Lateran]], and was more richly decorated and larger than any previous Christian structure.<ref name=":172" /> However, because of its remote position from the ''Forum Romanum'' on the city's edge, it did not connect with the older imperial basilicas in the fora of Rome.<ref name=":172" /> Outside the basilica was the [[Equestrian Statue of Marcus Aurelius]], a rare example of an Antique statue that has never been underground.<ref name=":242"/>

According to the ''[[Liber Pontificalis]]'', Constantine was also responsible for the rich interior decoration of the [[Lateran Baptistery]] constructed under [[Pope Sylvester I]] (r. 314–335), sited about {{Convert|50|m|ft|abbr=}}.<ref name=":17" /> The Lateran Baptistery was the first monumental free-standing baptistery, and in subsequent centuries Christian basilica churches were often endowed with such baptisteries.<ref name=":17" />

At [[Cirta]], a Christian basilica erected by Constantine was taken over by his opponents, the [[Donatism|Donatists]].<ref name=":12" /> After Constantine's failure to resolve the Donatist controversy by coercion between 317 and 321, he allowed the Donatists, who dominated [[Africa (Roman province)|Africa]], to retain the basilica and constructed a new one for the [[Catholic Church]].<ref name=":12" />

The original [[titular church]]es of Rome were those which had been private residences and which were donated to be converted to places of Christian worship.<ref name=":172" /> Above an originally 1st century AD villa and its later adjoining [[Horreum|warehouse]] and [[Mithraeum]], a large basilica church had been erected by 350, subsuming the earlier structures beneath it as a crypt.<ref name=":172" /> The basilica was the first church of [[San Clemente al Laterano]].<ref name=":172" /> Similarly, at [[Santi Giovanni e Paolo al Celio]], an entire ancient [[city block]] – a 2nd-century [[Insula (building)|''insula'']] on the [[Caelian Hill]] – was buried beneath a 4th-century basilica.<ref name=":172" /> The site was already venerated as the ''martyrium'' of three early Christian burials beforehand, and part of the ''insula'' had been decorated in the style favoured by Christian communities frequenting the early [[Catacombs of Rome]].<ref name=":172" />

By 350 in [[History of Sofia|Serdica]] ([[Sofia]], [[Bulgaria]]), a monumental basilica – the [[Saint Sophia Church, Sofia|Church of Saint Sophia]] – was erected, covering earlier structures including a Christian chapel, an oratory, and a cemetery dated to c. 310.<ref name=":172" /> Other major basilica from this period, in this part of Europe, is the [[Great Basilica, Plovdiv|Great Basilica]] in [[Philippopolis (Thrace)|Philippopolis]] ([[Plovdiv]], Bulgaria) from the 4th century AD.

=== Valentinianic–Theodosian period ===
In the late 4th century the dispute between [[Nicene Christianity|Nicene]] and [[Arian Christianity]] came to head at ''[[Mediolanum]]'' ([[Milan]]), where [[Ambrose]] was bishop.<ref name=":22">{{Cite web|last=Perkins|first=Pheme|date=8 November 2018|editor-last=Uro|editor-first=Risto|editor2-last=Day|editor2-first=Juliette J.|editor3-last=Roitto|editor3-first=Rikard|editor4-last=DeMaris|editor4-first=Richard E.|title=Ritual and Orthodoxy|url=https://www.oxfordhandbooks.com/view/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780198747871.001.0001/oxfordhb-9780198747871-e-41|website=The Oxford Handbook of Early Christian Ritual|language=en|doi=10.1093/oxfordhb/9780198747871.001.0001|isbn=9780198747871}}</ref> At [[Easter]] in 386 the [[Arianism|Arian]] party, preferred by the [[Theodosian dynasty]], sought to wrest the use of the basilica from the Nicene partisan Ambrose.<ref name=":22" /> According to [[Augustine of Hippo]], the dispute resulted in Ambrose organising an 'orthodox' [[sit-in]] at the basilica and arranged the miraculous invention and translation of [[martyr]]s, whose hidden remains had been revealed in a [[Vision (spirituality)|vision]].<ref name=":22" /> During the sit-in, Augustine credits Ambrose with the introduction from the "eastern regions" of [[antiphon]]al chanting, to give heart to the orthodox congregation, though in fact music was likely part of Christian ritual since the time of the [[Pauline epistles]].<ref>Augustine of Hippo, ''Confessiones'', {{Smallcaps|ix}}:7:15–16</ref><ref name=":22" /> The arrival and reburial of the martyrs' uncorrupted remains in the basilica in time for the Easter celebrations was seen as powerful step towards divine approval.<ref name=":22" />

At [[Philippi]], the market adjoining the 1st-century forum was demolished and replaced with a Christian basilica.<ref name=":25" /> Civic basilicas throughout Asia Minor became Christian places of worship; examples are known at Ephesus, [[Aspendos]], and at [[Magnesia on the Maeander]].<ref name=":26"/> The ''Great Basilica'' in [[Antioch of Pisidia]] is a rare securely dated 4th century Christian basilica and was the city's cathedral church.<ref name=":26" /> The mosaics of the floor credit Optimus, the bishop, with its dedication.<ref name=":26" /> Optimus was a contemporary of [[Basil of Caesarea]] and corresponded with him c. 377.<ref name=":26" /> Optimus was the city's delegate at the [[First Council of Constantinople]] in 381, so the 70 m-long single-apsed basilica near the city walls must have been constructed around that time.<ref name=":26" /> [[Pisidia]] had a number of Christian basilicas constructed in Late Antiquity, particularly in former ''bouleuteria'', as at [[Sagalassos]], [[Selge]], [[Pednelissus]], while a civic basilica was converted for Christians' use in [[Cremna]].<ref name=":26"/>

At [[Chalcedon]], opposite Constantinople on the Bosporus, the relics of [[Euphemia]] – a supposed Christian martyr of the Diocletianic Persecution – were housed in a ''martyrium'' accompanied by a basilica.<ref name=":27">{{Citation|last=Klein|first=Konstantin|title=Chalcedon|url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780198662778.001.0001/acref-9780198662778-e-966|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|access-date=2020-07-08}}</ref> The basilica already existed when [[Egeria (pilgrim)|Egeria]] passed through Chalcedon in 384, and in 436 [[Melania the Younger]] visited the church on her own journey to the Holy Land.<ref name=":27" /> From the description of [[Evagrius Scholasticus]] the church is identifiable as an aisled basilica attached to the ''martyrium'' and preceded by an ''atrium''.<ref>Evagrius Scholasticus, ''Ecclesiastical History'', II.3: "The precinct consists of three huge structures: one is open-air, adorned with a long court and columns on all sides, and another in turn after this is almost alike in breadth and length and columns but differing only in the roof above." {{Cite book|title=The Ecclesiastical History of Evagrius Scholasticus|publisher=Liverpool University Press|year=2000|isbn=978-0-85323-605-4|editor-last=Whitby|editor-first=Michael|series=Translated Texts for Historians 33|pages=63–64 & notes 24–27|language=en|doi=10.3828/978-0-85323-605-4|doi-broken-date=1 November 2024 }}</ref> The [[Council of Chalcedon]] (8–31 October 451) was held in the basilica, which must have been large enough to accommodate the more than two hundred bishops that attended its third session, together with their translators and servants; around 350 bishops attended the Council in all.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Ecclesiastical History of Evagrius Scholasticus|publisher=Liverpool University Press|year=2000|isbn=978-0-85323-605-4|editor-last=Whitby|editor-first=Michael|series=Translated Texts for Historians 33|pages=63–64 & notes 24–27|language=en|doi=10.3828/978-0-85323-605-4|doi-broken-date=1 November 2024 }}</ref><ref>{{Citation|last=Papadakis|first=Aristeides|title=Chalcedon, Council of|url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780195046526.001.0001/acref-9780195046526-e-0963|work=The Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium|year=2005|editor-last=Kazhdan|editor-first=Alexander P.|orig-year=1991|edition=online|publisher=Oxford University Press|language=en|doi=10.1093/acref/9780195046526.001.0001|isbn=978-0-19-504652-6|access-date=2020-07-09}}</ref> In an [[ekphrasis]] in his eleventh [[sermon]], [[Asterius of Amasea]] described an icon in the church depicting Euphemia's martyrdom.<ref name=":27" /> The church was restored under the patronage of the ''patricia'' and daughter of [[Olybrius]]'','' [[Anicia Juliana]].<ref>{{Citation|last=Haarer|first=Fiona|title=Anicia Juliana|url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780198662778.001.0001/acref-9780198662778-e-271|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|access-date=2020-07-09}}</ref> [[Pope Vigilius]] fled there from Constantinople during the [[Three-Chapter Controversy]].<ref>{{Citation|last=Neil|first=Bronwen|title=Vigilius|url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780198662778.001.0001/acref-9780198662778-e-4991|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|access-date=2020-07-09}}</ref>  The basilica, which lay outside the walls of Chalcedon, was destroyed by the Persians in the [[Byzantine–Sasanian War of 602–628]] during one of the Sasanian occupations of the city in 615 and 626.<ref>{{Citation|last=Foss|first=Clive F. W.|title=Chalcedon|url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780195046526.001.0001/acref-9780195046526-e-0962|work=The Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium|year=2005|editor-last=Kazhdan|editor-first=Alexander P.|orig-year=1991|edition=online|publisher=Oxford University Press|language=en|doi=10.1093/acref/9780195046526.001.0001|isbn=978-0-19-504652-6|access-date=2020-07-09}}</ref> The relics of Euphemia were reportedly [[Translation (relic)|translated]] to a new [[Palace of Antiochos#Church of Saint Euphemia|Church of St Euphemia]] in Constantinople in 680, though [[Cyril Mango]] argued the translation never took place.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Bardill|first=Jonathan|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YS_AAzcjdK8C&pg=PA57|title=Brickstamps of Constantinople|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2004|isbn=978-0-19-925522-1|pages=56–57|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Mango|first=Cyril|year=1999|title=The Relics of St. Euphemia and the Synaxarion of Constantinople|journal=Bollettino della Badia Greca di Grottoferrata|volume=53|pages=79–87}}</ref> Subsequently, Asterius's sermon ''On the Martyrdom of St Euphemia'' was advanced as an argument for [[iconodulism]] at the [[Second Council of Nicaea]] in 787.<ref>{{Citation|last=McEachnie|first=Robert|title=Asterius of Amaseia|url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780198662778.001.0001/acref-9780198662778-e-508|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|access-date=2020-07-08}}</ref>

In the late 4th century, a large basilica church dedicated to [[Mary, mother of Jesus]] was constructed in [[Ephesus]] in the former south ''stoa'' (a commercial basilica) of the Temple of Hadrian ''Olympios''.<ref name=":162">{{Citation|last=Thonemann|first=Peter|title=Ephesus|date=22 March 2018 |url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780198662778.001.0001/acref-9780198662778-e-1664 |work=The Oxford Dictionary of Late Antiquity|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}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Van Dam|first=Raymond|url=http://oxfordhandbooks.com/view/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199271566.001.0001/oxfordhb-9780199271566-e-017|chapter=Chapter 16: The East (1): Greece and Asia Minor|title=The Oxford Handbook of Early Christian Studies|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2008|pages=323–343 |editor-last=Ashbrook Harvey|editor-first=Susan|doi=10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199271566.003.0017|isbn=978-0199271566 |editor-last2=Hunter|editor-first2=David G.}}</ref> Ephesus was the centre of the Roman province of [[Asia (Roman province)|Asia]], and was the site of the city's famed [[Temple of Artemis]], one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.<ref name=":152">{{Citation|last1=Calder|first1=William Moir|title=Ephesus|url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780198706779.001.0001/acref-9780198706779-e-246|work=The Oxford Companion to Classical Civilization|year=2014|editor-last=Hornblower|editor-first=Simon|others=Eidinow, Esther (asst ed.)|edition=2nd|publisher=Oxford University Press|language=en|doi=10.1093/acref/9780198706779.001.0001|isbn=978-0-19-870677-9|last2=Cook|first2=John Manuel |last3=Roueché |first3=Charlotte|last4=Spawforth|first4=Antony|editor2-last=Spawforth|editor2-first=Antony}}</ref> It had also been a centre of the [[Roman imperial cult]] in Asia; Ephesus was three times declared {{transliteration|grc|[[neokoros]]}} ({{lit.|temple-warden}}) and had constructed a [[Temple of the Sebastoi]] to the [[Flavian dynasty]].<ref name=":152" /> The Basilica of the Virgin Mary was probably the venue for the 431 [[Council of Ephesus]] and the 449 [[Second Council of Ephesus]], both convened by [[Theodosius II]].<ref name=":162" /> At some point during the Christianisation of the Roman world, Christian crosses were cut into the faces of the colossal statues of [[Augustus]] and [[Livia]] that stood in the basilica-''stoa'' of Ephesus; the crosses were perhaps intended to [[exorcise]] [[demons]] in a process akin to baptism.<ref name=":242"/> In the eastern cemetery of [[Hierapolis]] the 5th century domed octagonal ''martyrium'' of [[Philip the Apostle]] was built alongside a basilica church, while at [[Myra]] the [[St. Nicholas Church, Demre|Basilica of St Nicholas]] was constructed at the tomb of [[Saint Nicholas]].<ref name=":26"/>

At [[Constantinople]] the earliest basilica churches, like the 5th century basilica at the [[Monastery of Stoudios]], were mostly equipped with a small cruciform crypt ({{Langx|grc|κρυπτή|translit=kryptḗ|lit=hidden}}), a space under the church floor beneath the altar.<ref name=":32">{{Citation|last=Johnson|first=Mark J.|title=Crypt|url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780195046526.001.0001/acref-9780195046526-e-1298|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> Typically, these crypts were accessed from the apse's interior, though not always, as at the 6th century Church of St John at the [[Hebdomon]], where access was from outside the apse.<ref name=":32" /> At Thessaloniki, the [[Roman bath]] where tradition held [[Demetrius of Thessaloniki]] had been martyred was subsumed beneath the 5th century basilica of [[Hagios Demetrios]], forming a crypt.<ref name=":32" />

The largest and oldest basilica churches in Egypt were at [[Pbow]], a [[coenobitic]] monastery established by [[Pachomius the Great]] in 330.<ref name=":8">{{Citation|last1=Trilling|first1=James|title=Pbow|url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780195046526.001.0001/acref-9780195046526-e-4170|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|last2=Kazhdan|first2=Alexander P.}}</ref> The 4th century basilica was replaced by a large 5th century building (36 × 72 m) with five aisles and internal colonnades of pink granite columns and paved with limestone.<ref name=":8" /> This monastery was the administrative centre of the Pachomian order where the monks would gather twice annually and whose library may have produced many surviving [[manuscript]]s of biblical, Gnostic, and other texts in Greek and [[Coptic language|Coptic]].<ref name=":8" /> In [[North Africa]], late antique basilicas were often built on a doubled plan.<ref name=":9">{{Citation|last1=Loerke|first1=William|title=North Africa, Monuments of|url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780195046526.001.0001/acref-9780195046526-e-3856|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|last2=Kiefer|first2=Katherine M.}}</ref> In the 5th century, basilicas with two apses, multiple aisles, and doubled churches were common, including examples respectively at [[Archaeological site of Sbeitla|Sufetula]], [[Tipasa]], and [[Djémila]].<ref name=":9" /> Generally, North African basilica churches' [[altar]]s were in the nave and the main building medium was ''[[opus africanum]]'' of local stone, and ''[[spolia]]'' was infrequently used.<ref name=":9" />

The Church of the East's [[Council of Seleucia-Ctesiphon]] was convened by the [[Sasanian Emperor]] [[Yazdegerd I]] at his capital at [[Ctesiphon]]; according to ''[[Synodicon Orientale]]'', the emperor ordered that the former churches in the [[Sasanian Empire]] to be restored and rebuilt, that such clerics and [[Asceticism|ascetics]] as had been imprisoned were to be released, and their [[Nestorianism|Nestorian Christian]] communities allowed to circulate freely and practice openly.<ref name=":28">{{Cite book |last=Walker |first=Joel |year=2012 |chapter=Chapter 31: From Nisibis to Xi'an: The Church of the East in Late Antique Eurasia |chapter-url=http://oxfordhandbooks.com/view/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780195336931.001.0001/oxfordhb-9780195336931-e-31 |editor-last=Johnson |editor-first=Scott Fitzgerald |title=The Oxford Handbook of Late Antiquity |publisher=Oxford University Press |pages=994–1052 |doi=10.1093/oxfordhb/9780195336931.013.0031}}</ref>

In eastern [[Syria (region)|Syria]], the [[Church of the East]] developed at typical pattern of basilica churches.<ref name=":28" /> Separate entrances for men and women were installed in the southern or northern wall; within, the east end of the nave was reserved for men, while women and children were stood behind. In the nave was a ''bema'', from which [[Scripture]] could be read, and which were inspired by the equivalent in synagogues and regularised by the [[Church of Antioch]].<ref name=":28" /> The Council of 410 stipulated that on [[Sunday]] the [[archdeacon]] would read the [[Gospel]]s from the ''bema''.<ref name=":28" /> Standing near the ''bema'', the [[Laity|lay folk]] could chant responses to the reading and if positioned near the ''šqāqonā'' ("a walled floor-level pathway connecting the ''bema'' to the altar area") could try to kiss or touch the [[Gospel Book]] as it was processed from the [[deacons]]' room to the ''bema'' and thence to the [[altar]].<ref name=":28" /> Some ten Eastern churches in eastern Syria have been investigated by thorough [[archaeology]].<ref name=":28" />

A Christian basilica was constructed in the first half of the 5th century at [[Olympia, Greece|Olympia]], where the [[Statue of Zeus at Olympia|statue of Zeus]] by [[Phidias]] had been noted as one of the [[Seven Wonders of the Ancient World]] ever since the 2nd century BC list compiled by [[Antipater of Sidon]].<ref name=":11" /><ref>{{Citation|last=Brodersen|first=Kai|title=Seven Wonders of the ancient world|url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780198706779.001.0001/acref-9780198706779-e-581|work=The Oxford Companion to Classical Civilization|year=2014|editor-last=Hornblower|editor-first=Simon|others=Eidinow, Esther (asst ed.)|edition=2nd|publisher=Oxford University Press|language=en|doi=10.1093/acref/9780198706779.001.0001|isbn=978-0-19-870677-9|editor2-last=Spawforth|editor2-first=Antony}}</ref> Cultural tourism thrived at Olympia and [[Ancient Greek religion]] continued to be practised there well into the 4th century.<ref name=":11">{{Citation|last1=Morgan|first1=Catherine A.|title=Olympia|url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780198706779.001.0001/acref-9780198706779-e-449|work=The Oxford Companion to Classical Civilization|year=2014|editor-last=Hornblower|editor-first=Simon|others=Eidinow, Esther (asst ed.)|edition=2nd|publisher=Oxford University Press|language=en|doi=10.1093/acref/9780198706779.001.0001 |isbn=978-0-19-870677-9 |last2=Hornblower |first2=Simon |last3=Spawforth |first3=Antony |editor2-last=Spawforth|editor2-first=Antony}}</ref> At [[Nicopolis]] in [[Epirus]], founded by [[Augustus]] to commemorate his victory at the [[Battle of Actium]] at the end of the [[Last war of the Roman Republic]], four early Christian basilicas were built during Late Antiquity whose remains survive to the present.<ref name=":14" /> In the 4th or 5th century, Nicopolis was surrounded by a new city wall.<ref name=":14">{{Citation |last1=Purcell |first1=Nicholas |title=Nicopolis |url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780198706779.001.0001/acref-9780198706779-e-439 |work=The Oxford Companion to Classical Civilization|year=2014|editor-last=Hornblower|editor-first=Simon|others=Eidinow, Esther (asst ed.) |edition=2nd |publisher=Oxford University Press|language=en|doi=10.1093/acref/9780198706779.001.0001|isbn=978-0-19-870677-9|last2=Murray|first2=William M.|editor2-last=Spawforth|editor2-first=Antony}}</ref>

In [[Bulgaria]] there are major basilicas from that time like [[Elenska Basilica]] and the [[Red Church (Bulgaria)|Red Church]].

<gallery class="center" widths="250px" heights="180px">
File:Santa Sabina (Rome) - Esterno.jpg|[[Santa Sabina]], Rome, 422–432.
File:Rom, Basilika Santa Sabina, Innenansicht.jpg|Interior of Santa Sabina, with ''[[spolia]]'' [[Corinthian columns]] from the [[Temple of Juno Regina (Aventine)|Temple of Juno ''Regina'']].
File:Theodore Studite (Menologion of Basil II).jpg|Basilica church of the [[Monastery of Stoudios]], Constantinple, 5th century, as depicted in the [[Menologion of Basil II]], c. 1000.
File:Antioch of Pisidia 2870.jpg|Apse of the ruined ''Great Basilica'', Antioch in Pisidia. The floor dates to late 4th century, and the walls to the 5th or 6th century. The building has a semi-circular interior and a polygonal exterior.
File:Elenska-bazilika-orto.jpg|Bird's eye view of the [[Elenska Basilica]] complex, [[Pirdop]], Bulgaria.
File:RedChurchAerial2.jpg|The [[Red Church (Bulgaria)|Red Church]], [[Perushtitsa]], Bulgaria.

</gallery>

{{Wide image|The interior of the St. John Stoudios (Imrahor) Monastery.jpg|800px|Ruins of the Stoudios Monastery, with [[verd antique]] colonnade and [[Cosmatesque]] floor ''in situ''}}

=== Leonid period ===
On [[Crete]], the Roman cities suffered from repeated earthquakes in the 4th century, but between c. 450 and c. 550, a large number of Christian basilicas were constructed.<ref name=":13">{{Citation|last1=Laidlaw|first1=William Allison|title=Crete, Greek and Roman|url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780198706779.001.0001/acref-9780198706779-e-184|work=The Oxford Companion to Classical Civilization|year=2014|editor-last=Hornblower|editor-first=Simon|others=Eidinow, Esther (asst ed.)|edition=2nd|publisher=Oxford University Press|language=en|doi=10.1093/acref/9780198706779.001.0001|isbn=978-0-19-870677-9|last2=Nixon|first2=Lucia F.|last3=Price|first3=Simon R. F.|editor2-last=Spawforth|editor2-first=Antony}}</ref> Crete was throughout Late Antiquity a [[Roman province|province]] of the [[Diocese of Macedonia]], governed from Thessaloniki.<ref name=":13" />

Nine basilica churches were built at [[Nea Anchialos]], ancient [[Phthiotic Thebes]] ({{Langx|grc|Θη̑βαι Φθιώτιδες|translit=Thḗbai Phthiṓtides}}), which was in its heyday the primary port of [[Thessaly]]. The [[episcopal see]] was the three-aisled ''Basilica A'', the [[Hagios Demetrios|Church]] of St [[Demetrius of Thessaloniki]], and similar to the [[Church of the Acheiropoietos]] in [[Thessaloniki]].<ref name=":5">{{Citation|last=Gregory|first=Timothy E.|title=Nea Anchialos|url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780195046526.001.0001/acref-9780195046526-e-3728|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> Its atrium perhaps had a pair of towers to either side and its construction dates to the late 5th/early 6th century.<ref name=":5" /> The Elpidios Basilica {{En dash}} ''Basilica B'' {{En dash}} was of similar age, and the city was home to a large complex of ecclesiastical buildings including ''Basilica G'', with its luxurious mosaic floors and a mid-6th century inscription proclaiming the patronage of the bishop Peter. Outside the [[defensive wall]] was ''Basilica D'', a 7th-century cemetery church.<ref name=":5" />

[[Stobi]], ({{Langx|grc|Στόβοι|translit=Stóboi}}) the capital from the late 4th century of the province of [[Macedonia Salutaris|Macedonia II Salutaris]], had numerous basilicas and six palaces in late antiquity.<ref name=":6">{{Citation|last=Kazhdan|first=Alexander P.|title=Stobi|url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780195046526.001.0001/acref-9780195046526-e-5149|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> The ''Old Basilica'' had two phases of geometric pavements, the second phase of which credited the bishop Eustathios as patron of the renovations. A newer episcopal basilica was built by the bishop Philip atop the remains of the earlier structure, and two further basilicas were within the walls.<ref name=":6" /> The ''Central Basilica'' replaced a [[synagogue]] on a site razed in the late 5th century, and there was also a ''North Basilica'' and further basilicas without the walls.<ref name=":6" /> Various mosaics and sculptural decorations have been found there, and while the city suffered from the [[Ostrogoths]] in 479 and an earthquake in 518, ceasing to be a major city thereafter, it remained a bishopric until the end of the 7th century and the ''Basilica of Philip'' had its ''[[templon]]'' restored in the 8th century.<ref name=":6" />

The [[Small Basilica, Plovdiv|Small Basilica]] of [[Philippopolis (Thrace)|Philippopolis]] (Plovdiv, Bulgaria) in [[Thrace]] was built in the second half of the 5th century AD.

<gallery widths="200" heights="160">
File:Mosque of Eski Djouma Thessalonica Transversal section Longitudinal section - Texier Charles - 1864.jpg|Drawing of the 5th century [[Church of the Acheiropoietos]] by [[Charles Texier]], 1864
File:Church of the Acheiropoietos (Thessaloniki) by Joy of Museums.jpg|[[House of Leo|Leonid]] basilica [[Church of the Acheiropoietos]], Thessaloniki, 450–60
File:Basilique à tours - mosaïque Louvre.jpg|5th-century mosaic of a basilica ([[Louvre]])
</gallery>

=== 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>

=== Palace basilicas ===
[[File:Transeptarm.PNG|thumb|Floor plan of a Christian church of basilical form, with part of the [[transept]] shaded. Either the part of the nave lying to the west in the diagram or the choir may have a hall structure instead. The choir also may be aisleless.]]

In the [[Roman imperial period|Roman Imperial period]] (after about 27 BC), a basilica for large audiences also became a feature in palaces. In the 3rd century of the Christian era, the governing elite appeared less frequently in the forums.

<blockquote>They now tended to dominate their cities from opulent palaces and country villas, set a little apart from traditional centers of public life. Rather than retreats from public life, however, these residences were the forum made private.
:— Peter Brown, in Paul Veyne, 1987</blockquote>

Seated in the [[tribune (architecture)|tribune]] of his basilica, the great man would meet his dependent ''[[Patronage in ancient Rome|clientes]]'' early every morning.

[[Constantine the Great|Constantine]]'s basilica at [[Trier]], the [[Aula Palatina]] (AD 306), is still standing. A private basilica excavated at [[Bulla Regia]] (Tunisia), in the "House of the Hunt", dates from the first half of the 5th century. Its reception or audience hall is a long rectangular nave-like space, flanked by dependent rooms that mostly also open into one another, ending in a semi-circular apse, with matching [[transept]] spaces. Clustered columns emphasised the "crossing" of the two axes.

=== Christian adoption of the basilica form ===
{{See also|Christianised sites}}
[[File:Basilica (arquitetura) PT en.svg|thumb|Structural elements of a gothic basilica.<br />Variations: Where the roofs have a low slope, the [[triforium]] gallery may have own windows or may be missing.|alt=]]

In the 4th century, once the Imperial authorities had decriminalised Christianity with the 313 [[Edict of Milan]], and with the activities of [[Constantine the Great and Christianity|Constantine the Great]] and his mother [[Helena (Empress)|Helena]], Christians were prepared to build larger and more handsome edifices for worship than the furtive meeting-places (such as the [[Cenacle]], [[cave-church]]es, [[house church]]es such as [[Santi Giovanni e Paolo al Celio|that of the martyrs John and Paul]]) they had been using. Architectural formulas for temples were unsuitable due to their pagan associations, and because pagan cult ceremonies and sacrifices occurred outdoors under the open sky in the sight of the gods, with the temple, housing the cult figures and the treasury, as a backdrop. The usable model at hand, when Constantine wanted to memorialise his imperial piety, was the familiar conventional architecture of the basilicas.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.cartage.org.lb/en/themes/Arts/Architec/MiddleAgesArchitectural/EarlyChristianByzantine/BasilicaPlanChurches/BasilicaPlanChurches.htm |title=Basilica Plan Churches |publisher=Cartage.org.lb |access-date=17 February 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120112182738/http://www.cartage.org.lb/en/themes/Arts/Architec/MiddleAgesArchitectural/EarlyChristianByzantine/BasilicaPlanChurches/BasilicaPlanChurches.htm |archive-date=12 January 2012}}</ref>

There were several variations of the basic plan of the secular basilica, always some kind of rectangular hall, but the one usually followed for churches had a central nave with one aisle at each side and an apse at one end opposite to the main door at the other end. In (and often also in front of) the apse was a raised platform, where the altar was placed, and from where the clergy officiated. In secular building this plan was more typically used for the smaller audience halls of the emperors, governors, and the very rich than for the great public basilicas functioning as law courts and other public purposes.<ref>Syndicus, 40</ref> Constantine built a basilica of this type in his palace complex at Trier, later very easily adopted for use as a church. It is a long rectangle two storeys high, with ranks of arch-headed windows one above the other, without aisles (there was no mercantile exchange in this imperial basilica) and, at the far end beyond a huge arch, the apse in which Constantine held state.

<gallery widths="170" heights="170" class="center" caption="Comparison of cross sections of churches">
File:Basilica, cross-section scheme.png|''Basilica'': The central nave extends to one or two storeys more than the lateral aisles, and it has upper windows.
File:Pseudobasilica.png|'''Pseudo-basilica''' (i.e. ''false basilica''): The central nave extends to an additional storey, but it has no upper windows.
File:Stepped hall church.png|Stepped hall: The vaults of the central nave begin a bit higher than those of the lateral aisles, but there is no additional storey.
File:Hall church central nave wider.png|[[Hall church]]: All vaults are almost on the same level.
File:Aisleless church, lateral chapels.png|[[Aisleless church]] with wallside [[pilaster]]s, a [[barrel-vault]] and upper windows above lateral chapels
</gallery>

==== Development ====
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Putting an [[altar]] instead of the throne, as was done at Trier, made a church. Basilicas of this type were built in western Europe, Greece, Syria, Egypt, and Palestine, that is, at any [[Early centers of Christianity|early centre of Christianity]]. Good early examples of the architectural basilica include the [[Church of the Nativity]] at [[Bethlehem]] (6th century), the church of St&nbsp;Elias at [[Thessalonica]] (5th century), and the two great basilicas at [[Ravenna]].

The first basilicas with transepts were built under the orders of [[Emperor Constantine]], both in Rome and in his "New Rome", [[Constantinople]]:

<blockquote>Around 380, [[Gregory Nazianzen]], describing the Constantinian [[Church of the Holy Apostles]] at Constantinople, was the first to point out its resemblance to a cross. Because the [[True Cross|cult of the cross]] was spreading at about the same time, this comparison met with stunning success.
:— [[Yvon Thébert]], in Veyne, 1987</blockquote>

Thus, a Christian symbolic theme was applied quite naturally to a form borrowed from civil semi-public precedents. The first great Imperially sponsored Christian basilica is that of [[Basilica of St. John Lateran|St John Lateran]], which was given to the Bishop of Rome by Constantine right before or around the Edict of Milan in 313 and was consecrated in the year 324. In the later 4th century, other Christian basilicas were built in Rome: [[Santa Sabina]], and [[Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls|St Paul's Outside the Walls]] (4th century), and later [[Basilica di San Clemente|St Clement]] (6th century).

A Christian basilica of the 4th or 5th century stood behind its entirely enclosed [[Courtyard|forecourt]] ringed with a colonnade or arcade, like the stoa or [[peristyle]] that was its ancestor or like the [[cloister]] that was its descendant. This forecourt was entered from outside through a range of buildings along the public street. This was the architectural ground-plan of [[Old St. Peter's Basilica|St. Peter's Basilica]] in Rome, until in the 15th century it was demolished to make way for a modern church built to a new plan.

In most basilicas, the central nave is taller than the aisles, forming a row of windows called a clerestory. Some basilicas in the [[Caucasus]], particularly those of [[Armenia]] and [[Georgia (country)|Georgia]], have a central nave only slightly higher than the two aisles and a single pitched roof covering all three. The result is a much darker interior. This plan is known as the "oriental basilica", or "pseudobasilica" in central Europe. A peculiar type of basilica, known as [[three-church basilica]], was developed in early medieval Georgia, characterised by the central nave which is completely separated from the aisles with solid walls.<ref name="ELL">{{cite book |last1=Loosley Leeming |first1=Emma |title=Architecture and Asceticism: Cultural Interaction between Syria and Georgia in Late Antiquity |date=2018 |publisher=Brill |isbn=978-90-04-37531-4 |pages=115–121 |url=https://brill.com/view/title/38209?lang=en |series=Texts and Studies in Eastern Christianity, Volume: 13}}</ref>

Gradually, in the [[Early Middle Ages]] there emerged the massive [[Romanesque architecture|Romanesque]] churches, which still kept the fundamental plan of the basilica.

In [[First Bulgarian Empire|Medieval Bulgaria]] the [[Great Basilica, Pliska|Great Basilica]] was finished around 875. The architectural complex in [[Pliska]], the first capital of the [[First Bulgarian Empire]], included a [[cathedral]], an [[archbishop]]'s palace and a monastery.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://fakti.bg/kultura-art/141654-vazstanovavaneto-na-golamata-bazilika-oznachava-pamet-rodolubie-i-turizam|title=Възстановяването на Голямата базилика означава памет, родолюбие и туризъм}}</ref> The basilica was one of the greatest [[Christianity|Christian]] [[cathedral]]s in Europe of the time, with an area of {{convert|2920|m2|sqft}}. The still in use [[Church of Saint Sophia, Ohrid|Church of Saint Sophia]] in [[Ohrid]] is another example from Medieval Bulgaria.

In [[Romania]], the word for church both as a building and as an institution is ''[[biserică]]'', derived from the term basilica.

In the [[United States]] the style was copied with variances. An American church built imitating the architecture of an Early Christian basilica, [[St Mary's German Church|St. Mary's (German) Church]] in [[Pennsylvania]], was demolished in 1997.

<gallery widths="220" heights="150px">
File:Old St Peter's Basilica, Rome, about the year 1450 restored from ancient authorities.jpg|[[Old Saint Peter's Basilica|Old St&nbsp;Peter's, Rome]], as the 4th-century basilica had developed by the mid-15th century, in a 19th-century reconstruction
File:Basilica of St. John Lateran (5790154828).jpg|[[Lateran basilica|St John in the Lateran]] is both an architectural and an ecclesiastical basilica.
File:Kloster Bursfelde Westkirche.jpg|[[Romanesque art|Romanesque]] basilica of nowadays [[Evangelical Church in Germany|Lutheran]] [[Bursfelde Abbey]] in [[Germany]]
File:Chester Cathedral (7251396712).jpg|[[Chester Cathedral]] in [[England]], a [[Gothic style]] basilica
File:Nuremberg - St. Sebald church.JPG|[[St. Sebaldus Church, Nuremberg|St. Sebald's]] in [[Nuremberg]] has a basilical nave and a hall choir.
File:14-01-22-palma-de-mallorca-018.jpg|[[Palma Cathedral]] on [[Mallorca]] in [[Spain]] has windows on three levels, one above the aisles, one above the file of chapels and one in the chapels.
File:St Mary's German Church interior December 1987.jpg|A rare American church built imitating the architecture of an Early Christian basilica, [[St Mary's German Church|St. Mary's (German) Church]] in [[Pennsylvania]], now demolished
File:Cathedral Saint Alexander Nevsky (23997180108).jpg|[[Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, Sofia|Alexander Nevsky Cathedral]] in [[Sofia]]
</gallery>