The Basilica and the Rotunda, Gili Merin

Abstract: This paper explores the replication of Jerusalem’s sacred architecture in Medieval Europe. It studies the concept of analogy in order to define the spatial translation of Jerusalem into “analogous” shrines built for pilgrims unable to visit the city itself. These analogous shrines follow a typological structure that originated in Jerusalem’s Church of the Holy Sepulchre, where a basilica (an axial structure built for hierarchical congregations) and a rotunda (a centrifugal space dedicated to private contemplation) were juxtaposed to facilitate the idiosyncratic rituals of the Jerusalem liturgy.
Following Carlos Marti Aris’ definition of type as a “principle of organisation by which a series of elements, governed by a specific relationship, acquire a certain structure,” this paper argues that the coupling of a basilica and rotunda forms an archetype that can be identified in Christian architecture of the Middle Ages. While these structures differ from each other in their materiality, style, and scale - reflecting the political and cultural motivations of their patrons - they are united by their adherence to a particular type that is situated “at the level of the form’s deep structure.” Using typological knowledge, this paper traces the evolution of sacred architecture by contrasting the historical variations that change over time with the essential similarities that remain the same through the ages and can, in fact, connect seemingly dissimilar buildings.
By studying Jerusalem’s analogies, this paper attempts to locate the essential, structural similarity between them, and thus anchor their fixed coordinates in the typological origin of Christian architecture and ritual.