Romanesque architecture
– a
World Heritage Site]]
The name
Romanesque, like many other stylistic designations, was not a term contemporary with the art it describes but an invention of modern scholarship to categorize a
period. The term "Romanesque" attempts to link the
architecture, especially, of the
11th and
12th centuries in
medieval Europe to
Roman Architecture based on similarities of forms and materials. Romanesque is characterised by a use of round or slightly pointed arches, barrel vaults, cruciform piers supporting vaults, and groin vaults.
The great carved portals of 12th century church facades parallel the architectural novelty of the period—monumental stone sculpture seems reborn in the Romanesque.
Romanesque seems to have been the first pan-European style since
Roman Imperial Architecture and examples are found in every part of the continent. One important fact pointed out by the stylistic similarity of buildings across Europe is the relative mobility of
medieval people. Contrary to many modern ideas of life before the
Industrial Revolution, merchants, nobles, knights, artisans, and peasants crossed Europe and the
Mediterranean world for business, war, and religious
pilgrimages, carrying their knowledge of what buildings in different places looked like. The important pilgrimage routes to
Santiago de Compostela in
Galicia, modern north east
Spain, may have generated as well as spread some aspects of the Romanesque style.
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Surviving Romanesque buildings
\nListed below are examples of surviving Romanesque buildings in modern France, Germany, Spain, Italy, England, Netherlands, Scandinavia and Central Europe.
France
\n* Saint-Foy, Conques\n* Saint-Sernin, Toulouse\n* Saint-Bénigne, Dijon\n* Notre-Dame-du-Port, Clermont-Ferrand\n* Sainte-Trinité, Caen\n* Saint-Pierre, Angoulęme\n* Saint-Trophime, Arles\n* Sainte-Madeleine, Vezelay\n* Paray-le-Monial\n* Saint-Front, Perigueux\n* Notre-Dame-la-Grande, Poitiers\n* Saint-Savin-sur-Gartempe\n* abbey church, Cluny\n* Chapaize\n* Abbatiale de Cruas\n* Abbey of Vigeois, Limousin
Germany
\n* Saint Michaelis and cathedral in Hildesheim\n* "Imperial Cathedrals" (Kaiserdome) of Mainz, Speyer, and Worms\n* Cologne, St. Maria im Kapitol\n* Maria Laach, Benedictine church\n* Osnabrück cathedral\n* Trier cathedral
\nSpain
\n* San Miguel de Cuxa\n* Santiago de Compostela\n* Cathedral, Ourense, Romanesque and Gothic\n* Tahull\n* Ripoll
Italy
\n* Sant' Ambrogio, Milan\n* San Zeno, Verona\n* cathedral in Pisa\n* San Michele, Pavia\n* San Miniato al Monte, Florence\n* cathedral in Cefalu
England
\nIn England, Romanesque architecture is often termed 'Norman architecture'.\n* Durham Cathedral\n* Kilpeck Church, Herefordshire\n* Peterborough Cathedral\n* Southwell Cathedral
Netherlands
\n* Sint Servaas, Maastricht\n* Onze-Lieve-Vrouwe, Maastricht\n* cathedral in Tournai
Scandinavia
\n* cathedral, Lund\n* cathedral, Trondheim
Central Europe
\n* S. George, Prague (Czech Republic)\n* abbey church, Jak (Hungary)\n* Belapatfalva church (Hungary)\n* S. Andreas, Krakow (Poland)
See also
\n* Periods of Architecture\n** Medieval architecture\n** Ottonian architecture\n** Gothic architecture
External links
\n*Illustrated history (French)\n*Overview of French Romanesque art
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Category:Medieval architecture
