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Byzantine architecture developed in the Byzantine Empire founded by
Constantine I when he moved the capital from Rome to Byzantium
(subsequently Constantinople--present-day Istanbul) in the 4th century. In
southern and eastern Europe, in particular in those parts of Italy,
Greece, and Anatolia that remained under the sway of the Byzantine Empire,
the continuity of Roman plans and techniques was strong. Only slightly
modified Roman basilican plans were used for such Italian churches as Sant'
Apollinare in Classe, Ravenna (534-39); in Constantinople itself huge
domed churches, such as Hagia Sophia (532-37), were built on a scale far
larger than anything achieved by the Western Roman Empire.
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