ROMENESQUE STYLE

Romanesque style

Romanesque architecture is an architectural style of medieval Europe characterised by semi-circular arches. There is no consensus for the beginning date of the Romanesque style, with proposals ranging from the 6th to the late 10th century, this later date being the most commonly held. It developed in the 12th century into the Gothic style, marked by pointed arches.

Combining features of ancient Roman and Byzantine buildings and other local traditions, Romanesque architecture is known by its massive quality, thick walls, round arches, sturdy pillars, groin vaults, large towers and decorative arcading.

! Due to collapse of Roman Empire, Romanesque Architecture developed in Western Europe.

! This is the direct modification of Roman Architecture.! This style developed in Italy, France, Germany, Central Europe, Spain and Britain.

Formation And Development Geographical Conditions

! This style had its building materials like stone, brick, marble, ready made columns or other remains from ruins of roman buildings.

! Materials were available from Italy and France

Geological Conditions

! There were huge variations in the climate of Italy, France and England.! Climate of north being dull, large window openings were provided to allow sufficient

sunlight, whereas south being hot, small windows were kept to cut off dazzling sunlight.! Due to less rainfall in the south part, roofs were flat, whereas in north high pitched roofs

were provided to drain out water and snow.

Formation And Development Climatic Conditions

Historical Condition! From the fall of Roman Empire to the period of Charlemagne, many churches were

constructed.! He encouraged artists & craftsmen and restored art & civilization in west Europe.! For the next two centuries, architecture made little progress with slight changes.

Romanesque architects built a wide variety of different buildings, of which the most common were: village churches, abbey churches, cathedrals and castles. The most important were the great abbey churches, many of which are in use. Typical characteristics of Romanesque architecture include:

• Semi-circular ArchesMost arches were semi-circular although a few buildings (Autun Cathedral, France; Monreale Cathedral, Sicily) have pointed arches. Narrow windows/doors might be topped by a stone lintel. Larger openings were nearly always arched.• Thick WallsThese massive supporting walls had few and comparatively small openings and almost eliminated the need for buttresses.

Construction techniques

ArcadesThese were a particularly popular feature. Note: an arcade consists of a row of arches, supported on either columns or piers. Columns were either drum columns (if small) or hollow core (if large). Piers were typically built out of masonry and were either square or rectangular. Capitals on columns were usually of the foliate Corinthian style.• RoofsThese were made from wood, then stone. Vaulted roofs generally featured barrel-vaults and groin vaults made of stone or brick. Eventually, these evolved into the pointed ribbed arch used in Gothic architecture.• TowersThese were a regular feature of Romanesque churches. Types included: square, circular and octagonal towers.

Durham cathedral

Architectural Terms

Choir - A choir, also sometimes spelled quire, is the area of a church

or cathedral that provides seating for the clergy and church choir.

Altar - It is any structure upon which offerings such as sacrifices and worship are made for religious purposes. Altars are usually found at shrines, and they can be located in temples, churches and other places of worship.

Nave - the nave is the main body of the church. It provides the central approach to the high altar.

Introduction• Durham Cathedral is a Norman building

constructed between 1093 - 1133 in the Romanesque style.

• It was founded as a monastic cathedral built to house the shrine of St Cuthbert, replacing an earlier church constructed in his honour.

Architectural Features• It is important for its architectural

features, specifically, its rib vaulting (the first of its kind in England), its pointed arches, and its high standard of masonry.

• Durham is built with a three storey elevation, comprising an arcade, gallery and clerestory.

• The main arches, which are supported alternately on cylindrical (minor) and compound (major) piers, have their soffits (under surfaces) decorated with roll mouldings.

• The minor cylindrical piers are furnished with incised decoration—spiral patterns, zig-zags, losenges and flutes.

• The gallery opens to the nave through a sub-divided arch. Single round headed windows provide illumination at clerestory level.

• The nave vault of Durham Cathedral is the most significant architectural element of the Durham World Heritage Site because it marks a turning point in the history of architecture. The pointed arch was successfully used as a structural element for the first time here in this building. Semi-circular arches were the type used prior to the adoption of the structural pointed arch — the limitations of which is that their height must be proportionate to their width. 

The nave vault and arches of Durham Cathedral. Pointed arches (indicated by the grey arrow) replaced semi-circular arches (indicated by the yellow arrow), allowing for greater height and width.

Architectural Detail

• Length- 469 feet (143 m) (interior)• Nave width- 81 feet (25 m) (inc aisles)• Nave height- 73 feet (22 m)• Choir height- 74 feet (23 m)• Number of towers- 3• Tower height- 218 feet (66 m) (central tower) 144 feet (44 m) (western towers)

Plan of the Cathedral

The building takes the form of a Latin cross, centred on the four great piers of the crossing. The choir extended four bays to the east and originally terminated with a short bay which lead into a semicircular apse (some remains of which were recovered in nineteenth-century excavations).

Choir

Nave

PLAN

The aisles also terminated in apses and these were encased with rectangular outer walls. The transepts, which extend north and south for four bays, are furnished with an aisle on the eastern side. Stair turrets project at the north-west and south-west angles. The aisled nave is eight bays long, and terminates at the west in two towers. Throughout the building there is an alternating system of major and minor piers. 

Section

• In comparison with the nave of Gloucester, which also has heavy round columns carrying the arcades, Durham, in the manner of Speyer, introduces the idea of attached half- columns that guide the eye to the ceiling.

• A basic principle of Norman building was the reduction of solid walls to a thick but open skeleton of arches. The arches were not just interruptions in the wall but were defined in a regularised way, with surrounds framed by attached half-columns and horizontal string courses.

The decoration of the columns, with its zigzag and chevron motifs, also made extensive use of color, specifically black and red, which was an influence from Islamic architecture that came to the country through the Crusades and the Norman-Arab connections in Sicily and northern Africa

The building does not have buttresses and so appears from the outside quite boxy, unlike later Norman cathedrals, such as Canterbury Cathedral, where buttresses contribute to a vertical articulation