21/03/2021
Another aspect of travel I have enjoyed is experiencing great temples and cathedrals. For people to develop the building techniques required to change architecture from low-to-Earth structures to lofty heights; hairy and full of light simply amazes me.
In church architecture, the earliest style looked back at classical Greek and Roman architecture for its inspiration. This style is called Byzantine and introduced the use of a dome to span large square spaces and large mosaics to decorate the interiors.
Two wonderful examples of this style that I have visited are the Blue Mosque and Hagia Sophia shown here.
Photo by Abdullah Öğük on Unsplash
Builders of early Christian places of worship after the use of houses next developed a heavy style titled Romanesque. Walls had to be thick to gain height and carry the roof. In the long axis of the church the walls were reinforced in thickened areas called buttresses. The windows were narrow due to the weight being carried by the walls. .
Gradually a new style, called Gothic, was developed. The buttresses were moved outward away from the ever-taller walls, but connected back to those walls at heights where stresses required it. These buttresses were said to be flying. This allowed the walls to rise still higher and thinner. Since much of the force within the walls was transferred to the flying buttresses , the size of the windows was greatly increased. The stained glass that filled these window openings is beautiful and the ever changing colored light it introduced fill the space within with airiness and light.
