Breaking with the Tradition of the Timber Roof Basilica: New Evidence for the Reconstruction of St. John at Ephesus

The fragmentary nature of the remains of St. John the Theologian at Ephesus makes the reconstruction of this major 6th century monument particularly difficult. In spite of several efforts to visualise Justinian’s church (H. Hörmann (1951), A. Thiel (2005)), no conclusive evidence for the original form of its vaults has been found. My approach to this problem concentrates on the recording of a series of previously unexplored fragments of vaulting. I demonstrate that the graphic investigation of these fragments, aided by interpretation on the basis of formal comparisons, has the potential to lead to the reasoned reconstruction of the complete superstructure. The importance of this newly discovered evidence is vital. The exploration of these fragments can form the basis for the understanding of the vault patterns and spatial concepts employed in one of the first churches in west Asia Minor to break with the tradition of the timber roof basilica.