Masonry Magazine July 1981 Page. 11
Norwalk Basilica Earns Landmark Status
The new St. George Basilica already has earned architectural landmark status in Norwalk, Conn. Based on extensive research in Greece, the church is constructed of rosy-hued split face masonry units which bear a remarkable resemblance to the stone used in similar church buildings of the Middle Ages. The architect for St. George Basilica was Steven P. Papadatos AIA & Associates of New York City.
St. George Basilica, a Byzantine style church constructed of brick and concrete masonry block, has been awarded landmark status by the City of Norwalk, Conn. The proclamation, signed recently by Mayor Jennie F. Cave, read that St. George is the only authentic Byzantine basilica in the United States whose proportions and shape are exactly those of San Appollinare Nuovo in Ravenna. Based on extensive research in Greece, the church is built of rosy-hued split face masonry units produced by Plasticrete Block & Supply Corp. in North Haven. The units bear a remarkable resemblance to the stone used in similar church buildings of the Middle Ages.
San Appollinare Nuovo is a basilica built by Byzantine Emperor Justinian the Great in Ravenna in 530. Following sixth-century church designs, St. George's architect, Steven P. Papadatos, AIA, of New York City, employed five rows of narrow red Roman brick followed by five courses of block in most of the design. Details of the masonry work were taken from the churches of the Ecumenical Patriarchate in Constantinople (Istanbul).
When the interiors are completed, the vaults will be like those of San Vitale, the marble panels on the sides like Saint Sophia and the Monastery of Chora, and the marble floors like that of Saint Sophia of Trapezound. All mosaic appointments and frescoes will follow a definite iconographic pattern and will be facsimiles of surviving masterpieces of the Paleologan era.
The icon screen, or iconostasis, will be of the type prevalent before the 8th century, and the altar table will be covered by a canopy known as a kivorion, or ciborium, as existed in Saint Sophia. Eventually the doors of the basilica will be oak copies of the bronze doors of Saint Sophia.
View of St. George Basilica from the octagonal baptistry. The red clay tile roof is of the type used in the Byzantine Empire. The basilica shape is reminiscent to Christians of a ship, the church being considered the ark of salvation. In pre-Christian years, however, the basilica saw its most common use as a court house or slave market.
Details of the colonnade of the exonarthex of St. George Basilica, showing the seven columns representing the seven sacraments of the church, their Byzantine capitals, and the quatrofoil arched roof of the exonarthex which was poured in place. Final plans call for the ceiling of the exonarthex to be finished off in glass mosaics.