Selcuk Ayasuluk Hill and St. Jean Monument Excavations Ion-impost Column Capitals
Project no. 23917 · Status: Kapanmış · 2022
Summary
<p>Columns and column capitals used in architecture from ancient times to the</p><p>present day appear in different types and styles in many building groups. Columns and</p><p>column capitals, the first examples of which are seen in temple architecture, sometimes</p><p>appear to be merely monumental. Many new types of column capitals emerged in the</p><p>Eastern Roman Empire between the 4th and 6th centuries, continuing the ancient tradition</p><p>and evolving away from this tradition over time. The introduction of impost in the early</p><p>5th century led to some new developments in column capitals. One of these new</p><p>developments is the start of the production of ion impost type headings, which are a</p><p>synthesis of impost and ion column headings.</p><p>Ion impost type column headings spread over a wide geography in the eastern and</p><p>western Mediterranean, including the capital Constantinople, Anatolia, Greece and Italy,</p><p>between the 5th and 6th centuries AD. It seems that the use of this type of column</p><p>headings became widespread especially during the period of Emperor Justinian (527-</p><p>565). The Ion impost type column capitals in Hagia Sophia, Hagia Irene and Little Hagia</p><p>Sophia (Church of St. Sergius and St. Bacchus), built by Emperor Justinian in</p><p>Constantinople, reflect the characteristic features of the period. Ephesos St. John (St.</p><p>Jean) Basilica in Selçuk District of Izmir Province, one of the buildings belonging to the</p><p>same emperor, contains the column headings that are the main material of my work.</p>