San Lorenzo Maggiore, 313 AD, Milan, Italy

The Basilica of San Lorenzo Maggiore is an important place of catholic worship located in Milan and has a startling originality. In plan, it is a square with an annex projecting from each side, producing a quatrefoil shape which is echoed internally by the two- storied colonnades separating the central space from the surrounding ambulatory. It is an early adaption for ecclesiastical purposes of centrally-planned Roman building such as the early- fourth- century pavilion in Piazza d' Oro of Hadrian's villa at Tivoli. Over the centuries, the church has been ravaged by fire several times, and it was last rebuilt in the sixteenth century. Most of the walls, including those of the three chapels, date from the late fourth century. In the middle of the plaza, hemmed in by the church and colonnade, stands a bronze statue of Emperor Constantine, who ended persecution of Christians in 313 AD with the edict of Milan.

The building had a central plan approached by a four-sided portico and surrounded by two connected structures. Access to the portico was through a colonnade which in turn gave access to three portals leading to the main body of the building. This consisted of a square hall inscribed as a building with four apses, whose semicircular hollows overhung by semi-cupolas were articulated by four columns.

In the tenth century, probably in the Ottonian era, reconstruction took place possibly involving the participation of a Byzantine workforce who had retained knowledge of the classical techniques of construction and decoration. Little is known regarding these restorations, but it is assumed that the dome had been reconstructed using pipes made of terracotta, making it lighter than the previous one, perhaps already damaged to the extent of justifying a reconstruction. After the disasters of the eleventh century, the restorations of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries focused on providing stability to the whole complex, rebuilding the pillars that supported the cupola and carrying out other interventions on the load-bearing structures.

Source:

Glancey, Jonathan. Architecture. London: DK, 2006. PrintWatkin, David. A History of Western Architecture. Sixth ed. New York: Thames and Hudson, 1986. Print.

Watkin, David. A History of Western Architecture. Sixth ed. New York: Thames and Hudson, 1986. Print.