Hagia Sophia – Istanbul
Hagia Sophia, Istanbul (500s AD) Rioters burned the old churches The Roman emperor Constantius II built a big church next to the imperial palace in Constantinople (now Istanbul) in the 300s AD. [...]
30
07, 2017
30
07, 2017
Gothic Cathedral – Middle Ages – History of architecture
Gothic cathedral: Nave of Rouen cathedral (1200s AD) Northern France gets rich enough to build cathedrals In the late 1100s and early 1200s AD, the kings of France, Philip and his son Louis, [...]
30
07, 2017
The Duomo in Florence, Italy
The Duomo in Florence (cathedral) Why did Florence want a new cathedral? The Republic of Florence started to plan this cathedral in the late 1200s AD, when Dante was growing up, to replace the old cathedral from [...]
30
07, 2017
Florence Baptistery – Romanesque architecture in Italy
Florence baptistery: the Romanesque baptistery in Florence, Italy Earlier Florence baptistery (700 AD) Probably people had built an earlier, smaller octagonal baptistery here around 700 AD. This is where Catholic priests baptized Christian [...]
30
07, 2017
Early Gothic architecture
Early Gothic architecture: Notre Dame of Paris (1160s AD) What came after Romanesque? After the Romanesque period in architecture, around 1100 AD, architects in western Europe gradually started to build Christian churches and palaces in [...]
30
07, 2017
Conciergerie – Paris, France
Conciergerie: the king's castle in Paris (parts of it from the 1300 AD) What is the Conciergerie? The Conciergerie was the castle where the kings and queens of France lived when they [...]
30
07, 2017
What is a cloister? Medieval architecture
Cloister at Moissac (ca. 1100 AD, southern France) Where do cloisters come from? Cloisters were a medieval kind of building that developed out of Greek and then Roman peristyles. What is [...]
30
07, 2017
Parts of a Church – Architecture
Notre Dame of Paris (1160s AD) The shape of a cross Medieval architects designed most Romanesque and Gothic churches starting with the design of a Roman basilica. But many churches added a part coming out [...]
30
07, 2017
Chartres cathedral transepts
Chartres cathedral crossing and transept When the builders were done with the nave, they built the great big columns of the crossing. Like the columns of the nave, the crossing columns [...]
30
07, 2017
Chartres cathedral – inside the church
Chartres nave Inside Chartres cathedral The architect started from the west end of the cathedral, at the nave. The builders built the nave very tall, the highest in France at that [...]
