Originally a royal palace or large oblong hall with double colonnades, for the administration of justice and commerce. It was later adopted by early Christians as a similarly arranged church with two or more aisles, timber roof, and apse. The name derives from Greek basileus, king.
The basilica in architecture
In architecture, the Roman basilica was a large roofed hall erected for transacting business and disposing of legal matters.
The oldest known basilica, the Basilica Porcia, was built in Rome in 184 BC by Cato the Elder during the time he was censor.
Probably the most splendid Roman basilica is the one constructed for traditional purposes during the reign of the pagan emperor Maxentius and finished by Constantine after 313. As early as the time of Augustus, a public basilica for transacting business had been part of any settlement that considered itself a city, used like the late medieval covered markethouses of northern Europe (where the meeting room, for lack of urban space, was set above the arcades).
Basilicas in the Roman Forum
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Aemilian Basilica, built by the censor Aemilius Lepidus in 179 BC Julian Basilica, completed by Augustus Basilica Opimia, erected probably by the consul L. Opimius in 121 BC, at the same time that he restored the temple of Concord (Platner, Ashby 1929) Basilica Sempronia, built by the censor Marcus Sempronius Gracchus in 169 BC Basilica of Maxentius and Constantine (308 - after 313)Palace basilicas
In the early Imperial period, a basilica for large audiences also became a feature in the palaces.
A private basilica excavated at Bulla Regia (Tunisia), in the "House of the Hunt," dates from the first half of the 4th century.
Christianising the Roman basilica
In the 4th century, Christians were prepared to build larger and more handsome edifices for worship than the furtive meeting places they had been using. 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 stories high, with ranks of arch-headed windows one above the other, without aisles (no mercantile exchange in this imperial basilica) and at the far end, beyond a huge arch, the apse in which Constantine held state. Good early examples of the architectural basilica are the Church of the Nativity at Bethlehem (6th century), the church of St 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 his "New Rome," Constantinople:
"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. In the later 4th century other Christian basilicas were built in Rome: Santa Sabina, St John Lateran and St Paul's-outside-the-Walls (4th century), and later San Clemente (6th century).A Christian basilica of the 4th or 5th century stood behind its entirely enclosed 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 was the architectural groundplan of St Peter's Basilica in Rome, until first the forecourt, then all of it was swept away in the 15th century to make way for a great modern church on a new plan.
In most basilicas the central nave is taller than the aisles, forming a row of windows called a clerestory.
Gradually in the early Middle Ages there emerged the massive Romanesque churches, which still retained the fundamental plan of the basilica.
The ecclesiastic basilica
The Early Christian purpose-built basilica was the cathedral basilica of the bishop, on the model of the semi-public basilicas of the secular power elite, and its growth in size and importance signalled the gradual transfer of civic power into episcopal hands, under way in the fifth century. Basilicas in this sense are divided into classes, the major ("greater"), and the minor basilicas, i.e. three other patriarchal—and several pontifical minor basilicas in Italy, and over 1,400 lesser basilicas on all continents.
As of March 26, 2006, there were no less than 1,476 basilicas, of which the majority were in Europe (526 in Italy alone, including all those of elevated status;
The "privileges" attached to the status of basilica, which is conferred by Papal Brief, include a certain precedence before other churches, the right of the conopaeum (a baldachin resembling an umbrella, also called papilio, sinicchio, etc.) and the bell (tintinnabulum), which together are carried in procession at the head of the clergy on state occasions, and the cappa magna which is worn by the canons or secular members of the collegiate chapter when assisting at Office.
Churches designated as patriarchal basilicas, in particular, possess a papal throne and a papal high altar from which no one may celebrate Mass without the pope's permission.
Numerous basilicas are notable shrines, often even receiving significant pilgrimage, especially among the many that were built above a Confession (Burial Place of a Martyr).
The Major Basilicas
To this class belong just four great churches of Rome, which among other distinctions have a special "holy door" and to which a visit is always prescribed as one of the conditions for gaining the Roman Jubilee.
While the major basilicas form a class that outranks all other churches, even other papal ones, all other, so called minor basilicas, as such do not form a single class, but belong to different classes, most of which also contain non-basilicas of equal rank; Thus after the major basilicas come the primatial churches, the metropolitan, other (e.g.
Other patriarchal and pontifical minor basilicas
The four major basilicas and one other minor basilica in Rome are also called patriarchal basilicas, seemingly as representative of the great ecclesiastical provinces of the world thus symbolically united in the heart of Christendom (see Pentarchy).
Two more Italian churches are nominally papal patriarchal basilicas:
Patriarchal Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi Patriarchal Basilica of St. Mary of the Angels in PortiuncolaAnother is the Patriarchal Cathedral Basilica of St. Mark in Venice, which has its own patriarch.
Next in rank are four so-called pontifical basilicas (so in name also papal), in Italy:
Pontifical Basilica of Our Lady of the Rosary of Pompeii Pontifical Basilica of St. Nicholas of Bari Pontifical Basilica of St. Anthony of Padua Pontifical Basilica of the Holy House of LoretoOther minor basilicas
The lesser minor basilicas are the vast majority, including some cathedrals, many technically parish churches, some shrines, some abbatial or conventual churches. Cathedral Basilica of Notre-Dame de Québec in Quebec City was the first basilica in North America, designated by Pope Pius IX in 1874. The Basilica of Saint Mary in Minneapolis, Minnesota was the first basilica in the United States of America.
Oratory
A basilica should not be confused with an oratory which is a semi-private place of worship.
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