Photos of the Best Historic Medieval Romanesque Churches, Cathedrals & Monastery Sites. Romanesque Historic Sites of Europe, Near East & North Africa. Photos by photographer Paul E Williams.
Medieval Middle Ages – Photos of the Best Historic Romanesque Churches, Cathedrals & Monastery Sites
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Photos of Historic Medieval Romanesque Churches, Cathedrals & Monastery Sites
Photos of Medieval Romanesque Architecture & Historic Sites – Churches, Cathedrals & Catle Sites. From 500 AD to 1200 AD.
The Romanesque
The term Romanesque is used to describe a style of architecture used in Western Europe and Eastern Roman Byzantine Empire from about 500 AD to 1150 AD. After this date the Romanesque was slowly Surpassed by Medieval Gothic.
Roughly Romanesque architecture dates from the decline of the Western Roman Empire in the 6th century to the end of the 10th. In parts of southern Europe though Romanesque styles were used up until the Renaissance. Also the Romanesque style was often fused with the Gothic style to produce hybrid of the two.
Romanesque Architectural Styles
A general rule is that Romanesque architecture can usually be recognised by its use of the rounded arches used by the Romans which was surpassed by the use of pointed arches in the Gothic.
As rounded arches cannot carry as much load as pointed arches Romanesque buildings had to be built with thick load bearing walls with small windows. Compared to later Gothic buildings, Romanesque buildings were far lower. Thick pillars were used to support them grooves support the great weight of round barrel vaulted ceilings. Small windows ensured maximum strength in the walls. This how the Romans had built buildings which is why the style is named after them.
Romanesque Church Designs
A Typical Romanesque church design was based on a Roman Basilica. It had a central Naive with a row of low arches separating it from side aisles on either side. Sometimes Basilica churches had triple naives separated by arches.
High walls then rose directly from pillar to the ceiling with small windows high up. The ceiling was either stone barrel vaulted of a simple wood construction.
Following the style of the Eastern Byzantine Romans, at the eastern end of the knave was an apse This surrounded the altar and had a screen separating it from the naive.
Romanesque Church Architectural Art
The inside of Romanesque churches were highly decorated with frescoes or mosaics depicting scenes from the New testament or from the Bible. These would have been difficult for the congregation to see by the light from the small windows, but the interior would have come to life when lit by flickering candle light.
In Medieval Christian churches, the doctrine was that the bread and wine of the Eucharist are transformed into the body and blood of Jesus, although their appearances remain the same. The ritual for this was performed by the priest behind a covered screen so the congregation could not see. They could though see over the screen to the back wall of the apse. This was usually decorated with registers of figures depicting the saints and the Virgin Mary. In the curved roof of the apse depictions of the Virgin Mary & Child or Christ making a blessing, known as Christ Pantocrator, were popular depictions.
The Rise of the Romanesque in the West
After the slow demise of the Western Romans there was a period in Western Europe when new Barbarian tribes took power. They tried to carry on Roman traditions but their skill base declined and buildings and artworks became simpler.
The Eastern Roman Empire suffer no collapse and carried on as what historians call the Byzantine Empire. The Eastern Romans carried on great building projects such as the wonderful Hagia Sophia in Constantinople (Istanbul).
As Western Europe began to re-emerge from what is sometimes called the Dark Ages, they had lost much of the skills and knowledge required to build great buildings. They looked to the Byzantine Empire and Islamic Spain for her and inspiration. Many Romanesque Monasteries and churches follow Byzantine styles and were decorated inside with Byzantine style fresco paintings or Mosaic. Eastern Orthodox Byzantine iconography was used in early Western Romanesque buildings which slowly evolved into Roman Catholic Iconography.
Romanesque buildings had little outside architectural decoration of sculpture. Churches had sculptured decoration around the entrance doors above which was often a sculpted panel. Romanesque architecture was spread throughout western Europe by monastic orders such as the Benedictines who built great Romanesque monasteries.
The Legacy of the Romanesque
There are still many wonderful Romanesque Historic Sites in Europe the Near East and North Africa. In general there are more Romanesque churches and monseteries to see in southern Europe. This is because many of the Northern Romanesque buildings were replaced by later Gothic buildings much more than in the south.