Rose window

the inside, while the sun hits the windows from the outside. During Gothic period and the Renaissance the stained glass windows was one of the best technique in Gothic Cathedrals. It has the most beautiful and inspiring stained glass windows that tell biblical stories from The Holy Bible. In the medieval century, Gothic Cathedrals had unique stained glass windows that were high above to allow light to shine through and make the features come to life. By understanding the fundamentals of the…

Ticket to Heaven To the modern viewer, the word Gothic may suggest darkness, but to the medieval viewer, the innovation of Gothic architecture allowed villagers to escape their lives of toil and to enter a spiritual realm, a Heaven on Earth. Previous medieval architecture was characterized by thick walls which did not allow light to come into the building. In Gothic cathedrals, light was used as a building material. The walls of cathedrals were no longer made from stone, but from glass. Stained…

expanding population, dedicated to the Virgin Mary. Although construction started in 1163, this structure was not completed until roughly 180 years later in about 1345. Built in an age of illiteracy, the cathedral retells the stories of the Bible in its many beautiful portals, paintings, and stained glass. The Western Façade of the cathedral is the single most well known feature. It is divided into three distinct levels, a holdover from Romanesque architecture. The north and south…

unprecedented. But, just as the Parthenon was a culminating effort out of what came before while manifesting something new, in its lightness and interior decoration, the Gothic form took elements from what came before but combined in a new way to create an entirely different experience. The first new experience was the abundance of light pervading every aspect of the Cathedral from windows to interior enclaves; the entire Cathedral took on a luminosity never before seen. The biggest…

The buildings of the Italian Cisternians consisted of a central hall for the crowds to gather, side aisles, and apse. With rectilinear forms challenge the French architecture, also with small windows, one example is the magnificent, Basilica of San Francisco, located in Assisi. The fresco painting on the walls was also an important characteristic of this period. Also, its desire to evoke the Franciscan connection with poverty influenced the architecture. Simply but magnificent is the definition…

Turks conquered the city after several days of siege and entered the church, exterminating the clergy and civilians who had taken refuge there. The cathedral was transformed into a mosque and all the frescoes dating back to the thirteenth century were destroyed. In 1481, after the liberation of Otranto by the troops of Alfonso V of Aragon, the cathedral was heavily edited. The medieval gabled façade has undergone many changes throughout the centuries. In the aftermath of the devastation…

Middle Ages The period of history from the fall of Rome to the Renaissance, people do not know whether to call it the Dark Ages or the Middle Ages. This period of time should be called the Middle Ages. This period should be known as the Middle Ages because feudalism, a unique and useful form of social organization, was created during this time. Each social class did something and got something in return. According to the illustration by Stanley M. Burstein and Richard Shek, “Peasants worked…

impressive Cathedral holds true virtue of it’s architectural design. Styled with slender towers that have intricate carvings as well as pointed arches and ribbed vaulted, the Chartres Cathedral holds true to Gothic virtues and displays them at the height of their grandeur. Also, the Cathedral corresponds with the Romanesque period, utilizing ornate windows and a floor plan that helped enable pilgrimages. Vastly more…

the wonders of ancient Greece and Rome, was the Gothic cathedrals these “stone bibles” were so elaborate that construction literally took ages.Builders used pointed arcs and to increase the reality and illusion of height, cathedral exterior had carved Biblical tales.The Romanesque style made way for the Gothic style and in most are the two merged into one style. French architects during the thirteenth century developed the pointed arch, piers and the flying buttress which is a support or brace…

The buildings in the Elizabethan Era, were the biggest and most awkward looking things ever. The buildings were built out of wood, were decorated nicely, and were mostly built on hills in a village format. One question people tend to ask very often is, “What were these buildings made out of?” Most of these buildings were Half Timbered. Made up of mostly wood with extremely large windows. The timbers that the architects used were usually very tall and widely spaced out. People's houses…