Brill’s New Pauly

Get access

Basilica
(2,289 words)

A. Terminology and Definition (CT)

[German version]

1. Profane Architecture (CT)

In the Italian Renaissance (A. Palladio [11. lib. III, cap. 20]) the term basilica was applied to multifunctional communal palaces that contained commercial and meeting spaces (basilicas in Vicenza, Padua, Brescia) thus echoing the function of the ancient Roman basilica as market hall, administrative space, and courthouse.

Cite this page
Kilian, Barbara (Heidelberg RWG), “Basilica”, in: Brill’s New Pauly, Antiquity volumes edited by: Hubert Cancik and , Helmuth Schneider, English Edition by: Christine F. Salazar, Classical Tradition volumes edited by: Manfred Landfester, English Edition by: Francis G. Gentry. Consulted online on 28 March 2024 <http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/1574-9347_bnp_e1304660>
First published online: 2006
First print edition: 9789004122598, 20110510



▲   Back to top   ▲