The “School of Kos” and architectural koine in the southeastern Aegean during Late Antiquity

The building boom of ecclesiastical monumental structures acknowledged on the Dodekanese island of Kos during the Early Christian period was facilitated by the development of a standardized building-yard. Prototyped architectural typologies as well as building techniques and marble mass-produced architectural elements, mainly following Constantinopolitan and Prokonnesian models, were thus employed. Nevertheless, a thorough analysis of lavishly decorated Proto-Byzantine churches on Kos provides arguments to reconsider the importance of such an overriding network of architectural internationalism in the southeastern Aegean. As a matter of fact, a considerable degree of localism and regionalism in the area is recognizable during Late Antiquity. Although preliminary, the current study argues that travelling technitai from Kos contributed towards the establishment of a regional architectural koine, which is particularly evident in neighboring Asia Minor, by circulating distinctive (re)elaborated architectural and decorative issues.