Leaning Tower Of Pisa Essay Research Paper

Leaning Tower Of Pisa Essay, Research Paper

Roman stylistic elements had fused with those from Byzantium; from the Middle East, from the Germans, and other northern tribes. The various combinations of these influences created in Western Europe formed a unique style that acquired the name Romanesque meaning in the manner of Roman. The term Romanesque points to the principal source of the style, the buildings of the Roman Empire. This architectural style that prevailed throughout Europe from the tenth to the mid-twelfth century, even though it persisted until considerably later in certain areas. The term Romanesque points to the principal source of the style, the buildings of the Roman Empire. In addition to the classical elements, however, Romanesque architecture incorporates components of Byzantine and eastern origin. The specific character or the Romanesque style can be understood only in the light of the development of early medieval architecture in the west architecture in the west. Certain of the most characteristic features of Romanesque structures include the massive west fa ade crowned by a tower or by twin towers. Also the complex design of the eastern part housing the sanctuary, the rhythmic alteration of piers and columns in there nave, represent only the advanced stages in a lengthy and a complex formal evolution marked by the considerable trial and error. After the breakdown of the Roman economy and culture, skilled architects and organizations of trained artisans no longer existed. Consequently, attempts at large-scale building usually restricted to churches, produced structures that were often crude and of relatively modest proportions. An outstanding achievement of Romanesque architects was the development of architecture of stone vaulted buildings. A major reason for the development of vaulting was the need to replace the highly flammable wooden roofs of the pre-Romanesque structures. In the later Romanesque style, especially as practiced in France, the use of massive walls and piers as supports for the heavy stone vaults resulted in a typical building plan that treated the entire structure as a complex composed of smaller units called bays. Bays became a characteristic and distinguishing feature of the Romanesque style. Massiveness in stone structures is another major characteristic of Romanesque architectureArchitects of churches during the early 11th century faced a magnitude of problems. The number of the faithful was growing and the old basilica churches of Roman times were not sufficient anymore. Besides this practical reason people were no longer pleased with the simple style of churches, particularly their modest outside. They believed the house of god should be magnificent and admirable. First they had to find a way to make the whole church larger. Today’s France was the center of Romanesque architecture and the birthplace of one of the most beautiful features of medieval architecture, the ambulatory with radiating chapels. The ambulatory is a semicircular aisle curving around the apse that opens out onto small chapels, usually five. These smaller chapels were dedicated to saints and the Madonna. With the invention of the ambulatory, the old solid rear wall of the main apse changed into a gracefully curving open arcade. On the outside these elements resulted in an imposing pyramidal grouping. This whole grouping of architectural forms at the east end of medieval churches is known as the chevet. The first chevet was used during the rebuilding of the abbey church of Saint Martin in Tours just before 1000. In its final form Saint Martin’s was the model for the pilgrimage churches erected (1000-c.1150) along the roads that took medieval pilgrims to the tomb of Saint James at Santiago de Compostela in northern Spain. There were no wars at that time on the European continent and great prosperity allowed the erection of many such churches along the different pilgrimage roads. This type of church features a well-developed chevet, like that of Saint Sernin (1080-1120) in Toulouse, along with a rather lofty two-story nave topped by a barrel vault. Above the high ground-story arcade, twin arches open out into an upper gallery situated above the groin vaults of the side aisles, and thin shafts, rising from the ground to the main barrel vault divided the nave into a series of separate sections or bays.The beautiful interior of Romanesque churches is complimented by imposing exterior, in which towers play an important role. In various countries the towers were built in different ways like. For example in Italy, bell towers or campaniles, were almost always built as a separate structure, as shown by the Leaning Tower of Pisa (1174-1272). In northern Europe towers had been integrated with the main body of the church since pre-Romanesque times. In churches of northern Europe other towers can be found such as stair towers, and lanterns, which are towers crossing over the transept and the nave. They are called lanterns because of the magnificent pools of light, which the windows let in. The epidamy of the Romanesque style was the Burundian abbey of Cluny III completed 1130 and largely destroyed in the early nineteenth century. In its design it uses all forms of Romanesque architecture like the barrel vault (which collapsed in 1120), the chevet and the arcade. The height of the vaulting rose to an amazing 29 meters (96 ft.). The Clerestory above the arcade had each of its bays pi