The Romanesque style in architecture is inextricably linked with the historical era in which it developed. In the XI-XII centuries in Europe there were difficult times: there were many small feudal states, raids of nomadic tribes began, feudal wars raged. All this required massive strong buildings, which are not so easy to destroy and capture.
Both the personal homes of the feudal lords and the Christian buildings turned into a fortress, as nomads attacked both land owners and monasteries in the hope of capturing as much gold and other valuables as possible. In previous buildings, no one felt safe.
The influence of religion on style
The spread of the style in Europe was promoted by the monastic orders of the Benedictines and Cisterians. They built reliable fortresses around their monasteries as soon as they settled in new territories.
Christian Romanesque architecture was significantly different from antique both externally and for the purpose of use. In Greece and Rome, temples for deities were built in order to appease them. For this, the main emphasis was placed on worshiping God, and not on the comfort and the number of people who are in them.
The Romanesque architecture of the Middle Ages emphasized spaciousness. The maximum number of people should have been placed in the temple. At the same time, a significant part of it was also allocated to the library and the receptacle of religious artifacts and simple wealth. Such a building was supposed to be huge, powerful, reliable.
Since medieval culture paid attention to antiquity, the first Byzantine basilicas were also taken as the basis for the plan of the temple:
- Central, lateral and transverse nave.
- At the intersection of the naves is a tower.
- Fronting towers on the western facade.
- Apse in the eastern part.
Although the plans for the monasteries were universal, they all adapted slightly to local conditions and the particular use of monks by each order. All this became the reason for the development of Romanesque architecture.
Distinctive features of the internal device
The Romanesque architecture of Western Europe has two compositional types of church structures:
- basilicas - rectangular simple buildings with an apse attached in their eastern part;
- round buildings with even distribution of apse.
The organization of the internal space and the volume of premises themselves have changed significantly, especially among basilicas. A new Romanesque type appears, in which the same space of the naves, which became more like halls. This gained particular popularity in Spain, Germany and France on the territory between Garonne and Loire.
Inside the temples are divided mainly into square spatial blocks. This was an innovation for that period. This is one of the main features of Romanesque architecture.
It was also important to create conditions for influencing the worshipers by the building itself. Its degree depended on the way the arch and walls were made. There were several ways of overlapping: a flat beam, domes on sails and a cylindrical arch. However, the most popular was cruciform without ribs. This not only adorned and enriched the interior itself, but also did not spoil the longitudinal character of the organization of space.
The Romanesque style in architecture dictated clear geometric relationships in terms of the building. The main nave was twice as wide as the side ones. The vaults were held on pylons. Between the two that hold the load of both the side and the main nave, one pylon with a load only from the side was necessarily located. This could create the conditions for the embodiment of the architectural rhythm, where thicker supports alternate with thin ones. But this style required rigor, which means that all pylons should be the same. This also created the effect of a visual increase in the internal space.
Particular attention was paid to the apse, which was richly decorated. For these purposes, false blind arches were created (often in several tiers), the walls were decorated with paintings, overlays, and various ledges. Particular attention in the interior was paid to decorating columns and pylons.
Plant and animal motifs begin to appear actively in ornaments. The Romanesque architecture of the Middle Ages owes their use and development to the same nomadic tribes, whose representatives often settled on the local lands and assimilated with the local population.
In the interior of the temples, sculpture was also actively used. She was also called sermon in stone. Figures depicting biblical characters and motifs from the holy book were often installed in portals. This had approximately the same effect on the parishioners as prayer with a regular sermon.
Exterior of Romanesque Temples
Outwardly, Romanesque architecture is simple blocks in form, the same as the interior space of the premises. It is characterized by small windows. This was done because the glass began to be used much later.
The building itself is a composition of several volumes, the central place in which is the main nave with a semicircular apse. It is complemented by one or more transverse naves.
Also, this style is characterized by the use of towers, which are located in different ways. As a rule, two of them were installed on the front side and one at the intersection of the naves. The most decorated part is the rear facade, which houses various architectural details. Most often these are portals with sculptures. This is achieved due to the large thickness of the walls, which allow you to make impressive recesses in which complex sculptures can easily be placed.
Significantly less attention is paid to the side facades. But the height of the buildings increases as the style develops. At its dawn, the distance from the floor of the main nave to the base of the arch reaches twice the width of this architectural part of the building.
Distinctive features of the architectural style
The main features of Romanesque architecture are that this style improved the classic wooden basilica with a flat ceiling, transforming it into a vaulted one. First of all, arches began to appear on small spans of the side naves and apse. With the development of style, they appeared over the main naves.
Often the vaults were quite thick, so the walls and pylons had to withstand a huge load, which is why they were designed with a large margin of safety. There were times when architects were mistaken in the calculations and the vaults collapsed at the final stages of construction.
The development of science and construction, as well as the need for large areas of ceilings contributed to the fact that the walls and arches gradually began to be facilitated.
Arch and arch
By its popularity, the vault is obliged to cover large areas. Wooden beams could not cope with this anymore. The simplest in design were precisely the cylindrical arches, which were quite massive and pressed against the walls with their weight, which made them very thick. The most famous monument of Romanesque architecture with such a vault over the central nave is Notre Dame du Port (Clermont-Ferrand). Over time, the lancet shape of the arch replaced the semicircular.
To realize the possibility of erecting round vaults, architects turned to the traditions of ancient architecture. In Rome, direct cross vaults were built over square rooms. Romanesque architecture altered them a bit: two half-cylinders, which were located with a cross relative to each other, began to be used for overlapping. The diagonal intersecting ribs take on the load of the arch and transmit it to 4 supports in the corners. The architects built these intersection ribs as arched-circled to facilitate construction. With an increase in the height of the cylinders to such an extent that the intersection lines become not elliptical, but semicircular, an increased cross vault is obtained.
Full-body arches required reliable support. So there was a Romanesque compound pylon. Its main part was added in half columns. The latter played the role of a support for the herd arches, which reduced the arch spacing. The rigid connection of the arched arches, pylons and ribs made it possible to distribute the load from the arch. This was a breakthrough in architecture. Now the rib and arch became the skeleton of the arch, and the pylon became the walls.
Ribbed cross vaults later appeared. They were built so that at first they laid out the end arches and ribs. At the peak of the development of style they were made elevated, from which the diagonal arch became pointed.
The lateral naves were often overlapped not with cross, but with cylindrical arches. They were also often used in civil engineering. All these features of architectural forms will become the basis of Gothic architecture, which will improve them later.
Construction Features
The main masterpieces of Romanesque architecture are made of stone. Limestone, which was abundant along the Loire River, attracted people because it was easy to process and was relatively light. This allowed them to block small spans without the use of bulky props. It was also used for exterior wall cladding, since it was easy to make decorative ornaments in it.
In Italy, the main decoration stone was marble. Its color combinations made it possible to create impressive decorative effects, which became the main feature of the Romanesque style in this country.
As a building material, stone was used in the form of hewn blocks to create masonry masonry and rubble to strengthen walls. Then it was faced with slabs of ashlar, sometimes with decorative elements. In the Middle Ages, building blocks were made much smaller than in Antiquity. This was due to the fact that it is easier to extract building material in a quarry and deliver it to the place of use.
Not all regions had enough stones. In them, people made heavily burnt brick blocks that were thicker and shorter than modern ones. Brick architectural monuments of that period to the present day have been preserved in Germany, England, Italy and France.
Secular construction
Social life in medieval Europe was quite closed. Urban settlements formed where previously there were security border camps of the Roman Empire. Many of them were at a considerable distance from each other, and the estates of the feudal lords still stood apart, around which people also began to settle. Due to the inability to quickly move between remote settlements, many of them lived almost in isolation from each other. Therefore, the architecture of different areas has its own characteristics. So, the Romanesque architecture of Germany is only remotely similar to English, as the latter to Italian. But still they all have common features.
As mentioned earlier, in those days there were many wars that nomadic tribes brought with them. There were also feuds between feudal lords for the right to own a particular territory. Therefore, passive protection was needed. They became forts and castles.
They were equipped on the banks of steep rivers, on the edge of a cliff, surrounded by a moat. Of great importance here were the external walls. They were made tall and thick of stone or brick blocks. The entrance to the fortress was one or several, but surely they all had to quickly overlap, cutting off the enemy’s path inside.
In the center of the city or the castle was the feudal lord tower - the dungeon. It was in several floors, each of which had its own purpose:
- in the basement is a prison;
- on the first - pantries;
- the second - the rooms of the owner and his family;
- the third is the servants' quarters;
- the roof is a place for sentinels.
Castles played a city-forming role in Romanesque architecture. Feudal lords settled in them with relatives and servants. Artisans also lived outside the walls, supplying the feudal lord and the inhabitants of the surrounding villages with necessary household items. For this reason, and also because Christianity occupied one of the main positions in the politics of that time, there was a temple or chapel in the castle.
Among the royal blood, the castles were especially large and magnificent. Hundreds of people could live in them. Dozens of utility rooms were built in the courtyard. Also a characteristic feature of such fortifications was the presence of secret underground passages, which during the siege made it possible to leave the castle and make sorties into the enemy camp for reconnaissance or sabotage work.
Unlike Gothic
Gothic style appeared in Europe later (around the 12th century), when Romanesque architecture of the Middle Ages had already developed its stylistic features. Since Gothic developed on the basis of the style described by us, then many people do not distinguish between them.
In fact, the differences between Romanesque and Gothic architecture are obvious. They differ already in their aesthetic purpose. Romanesque churches were built for practical purposes. Their main mission was to accommodate as many people as possible and protect them from hostilities. It turned out that the church was the focus of protection, knowledge and enlightenment.
Gothic wanted to show the insignificance of man before the greatness of God. Therefore, she created magnificent buildings. At the base of the plan is the same basilica with towers on the front facade and at the intersection of the side and central naves. But its dimensions and decorative components are changing.
The arches extend even further, creating peaks. Not only small sculptures appear on the facades, but their entire complexes. Images of mythical creatures prevail that look at a person from above, as at the Notre-Dame de Paris Cathedral in Paris.
The temples appear huge windows, covered with stained glass, which create a little mystical glare in the room. Portals become much more multi-layered, frames with patterns. The buildings themselves tend to skyward, showing where a person needs to reach.
Romanesque art
Special in this period and Romanesque art. Architecture dictated its rules to him, as it required additional decorations. Therefore, temples often used huge murals on the entire wall with images of plots from the Bible.
Actively developed and sculpture. Following the ancient traditions, she created her stories using special innovations. The high relief becomes the main sculptural form of this period. The capitals of the columns were richly decorated with biblical figures, mythical animals, and bizarre floral ornaments. For the first time, the image of the Virgin Mary appears on the throne.
By the middle of the XII century, stained glass windows began to appear. The scenes from Holy Scripture were also the main ones on them. In the same architectural period there were books that were richly decorated with various illustrations, and the covers were made with inlaid with gold and precious metals.
Surviving architectural monuments
In many countries of Old Europe, examples of Romanesque architecture have survived due to the fact that these structures were massive and powerful. We have already mentioned some of them in the article. Let's talk about a few representatives of this architecture.
Notre-Dame la Grand Cathedral (Poitiers) is an example of French buildings of the 11th-12th centuries. This is a small church with three almost equal naves. There is little lighting in it, so there is a slight twilight, which is slightly diluted with daytime rays coming from the windows of the side naves.
Italian Romanesque buildings are known throughout the world. One of them is the Rialto Bridge in Venice. This is a pedestrian covered structure of arched type. Arched openings with pylons are also located on both sides of the bridge.
Another masterpiece of the Romanesque style is the architectural ensemble in Pisa (Italy), it is better known to many people on the planet thanks to the leaning chapel near the five-nave cathedral - the Leaning Tower of Pisa.
In Germany, an example of this architectural period can be called the Worms Cathedral, in Spain - the cathedral in Salamanca, in England - the Tower. And in Vilnius, the remains of the castle of those times survived to this day.
Conclusion
The architecture of the Romanesque style became a continuation of ancient traditions and the basis for the development of other styles, in particular Gothic. Simple wooden basilicas from Byzantium were transformed into magnificent structures. This contributed to the search for new ways and methods of construction.
Frequent wars between feudal lords and raids of nomadic tribes forced the people of those times to create reliable shelters in the form of castles and guard towers, which allowed them to withstand the siege of the enemy for a long time with minimal losses.
Massive structures of the Romanesque era have survived in many places, striking locals and tourists.
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