click images to enlarge   Kariye Camii | Description of Exterior Professor Ousterhout Building History Description of Exterior Description of Interior Architecture & Decoration Pictorial Imagery ------------------------ Back to Kariye Camii Main The exterior of the Kariye Camii is characterized by an undulating roofline, pumpkin domes, belfry, and an open arcade on the west facade. Symmetry was not a major concern. Complexity was more important than monumental unity. Individual elements of the building are expressed visually on the exterior. The west facade has also been radically changed over time, the arches were blocked, and within a few decades of Metochites' construction three were transformed into arcosolia for tombs. The south facade displays a quickened rhythm expressed by the placement of the pilasters, including those illogically "supporting" windows, creating a visually complex surface patterning. Contrast this complexity to the exterior of the The complexity of the exterior is reitered in the interior. Joins in the marble revetments sheathing the interior walls of the naos do not correspond to the structural divisions introducing alternative surface rhythms. Interior decoration is composed of bits and pieces connected by a decorative veneer; for example, the mosaic scene of Joseph Taking the Virgin to His House in which it is unclear whether he is coming or going. Much of this surface complexity reflects the intricate writing style of the founder, Theodore Metochites. Note Metochites' criticism of his rival Nikephoros Choumnos: his writing suffers from "excessive clarity." Myrelaion. The flying buttress at the east end is borrowed from western medieval architecture but used ineffectively here. Amiens, Cathedral of Notre-Dame, flying buttresses along the nave Istanbul, Kariye Camii, Exterior detail of buttress Istanbul, Kariye Camii, West facade, Elevation   Istanbul, Kariye Camii, South facade, Elevation   Istanbul, Myrelaion (Budrum Cami), Exterior from the southeast back to top back to briefing main briefing | image index | resources home page | site image index | site resources media center for art history and archaeology | columbia university