Byzantine culture
Over the centuries, Byzantines have created a vivid and diverse culture that has become a kind of bridge between Antiquity and the Middle Ages. This was facilitated by the education system in the country.
Children started to study at the age of 6-9. For two or three years they learned to read through church books, especially the Holy Letter, and also got acquainted with the basics of the account and Greek grammar. Schools were both public and private. They continued their education in secondary schools, mainly in Constantinople. Of the higher schools, the most famous was the Magnaur, founded in the 9th century. by the efforts of the outstanding scientist Lev Mathematician. Its name she received from the hall of Magnaur in the imperial palace, where it was located. However, this school lasted only a few years. Therefore, the university as such in Byzantium was not.
All sciences were united under the general name philosophy. This included theology, mathematics, natural history,
The development of natural sciences, as well as mathematics and astronomy, was subordinated to the needs of practical life: craft, navigation, trade, military affairs, agriculture. Significant successes were achieved by the Byzantines in medicine. The needs of medicine, as well as handicraft production, stimulated the development of chemistry, the success of which was evidenced, in particular, by the Byzantine invention of the “Greek fire.”
In Byzantium, of all the sciences, history reached its peak. An outstanding Byzantine historian is Procopius of Caesarea, who lived in the VI. and was a participant in many warriors and campaigns during the reign of Emperor Justinian. He glorified the emperor, his victories in wars and large-scale construction. But in the later work, The Secret History, Procopius exposed the horrible deeds of Justinian, his wife Theodora and his closest associates.
In the XI-XII century. outstanding Byzantine historians Mikhail Psell, Anna Komnina, Nikita Honiat, and others worked.
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The most significant architectural monument of Byzantium was the Temple of St. Sophia in Constantinople. It was built in 532-537 years. on the orders of Emperor Justinian. The construction work was led by two outstanding architects Isidore of Miletus and Anthimus of Tral. The temple is crowned by a huge dome with a diameter of more than 30 m. Forty windows, cut at the base of the dome and inside the walls, fill the temple of Hagia Sophia with light. Inside, he strikes with unusual magnificence and wealth. The temple is decorated with the best grades of marble, silver, gold, ivory, precious stones. Contemporaries, struck by the beauty of the temple of Hagia Sophia, it seemed that this “marvelous creation was built… not on stones, but descended on golden chains from heaven’s heights.”
Great recognition was gained by Byzantine painting, primarily Frescoes, Mosaics and Icons. Frescoes and mosaics were mostly decorated with church temples. Icons of the picturesque image on the wooden boards of the faces of Christ, the Virgin Mary and other saints could be seen not only in churches and monasteries, but also in Byzantine dwellings.
Lives, hagiography – stories about spiritual and secular faces, canonized by the Christian church.
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