Romanesque architecture is an architectural style of medieval Europe characterized by semi circular arches. Combining features of Roman and Byzantine buildings along with other local traditions, Romanesque architecture is distinguished by massive quality, thick walls, round arches, sturdy piers, groin vaults, large towers, and decorative arcades Each building has clearly defined forms and a symmetrical plan, resulting in a much simpler appearance than the Gothic buildings that would follow. The style can be identified across Europe, despite regional characteristics and materials.
1. Imposing size: The massive buildings dictated by this architectural style are meant to intimidate and inspire. Towers with octagonal spires reach toward the heavens, and stone buttresses extend off the buildings to give their thick walls even more girth. All this immensity makes a study in contrast with the small, stained glass windows depicting biblical scenes ranging from the birth of Christ to the Last Judgment in the Romanesque art style.
2. Cathedral floor plans: Most Romanesque cathedrals were drawn up according to floor plans in the cruciform shape of a Latin cross These schematics designated many stations with archaic names—the apse (a dome or half dome at the front of the auditorium, usually featuring religious art), ambulatory (a walkway), tympanum (a semicircular area, usually enclosing a sculpture, located above a door or window), transept (a horizontal section of a cathedral that went across the ambulatory to form a cross), and more to fulfill specific purposes in medieval church services. Romanesque sculptures depicting biblical scenes were sometimes etched into the walls to encourage a greater sense of reverence.
Portal, Church of Santa Maria, Viu de Llevata, Catalonia, Spain
3. Round, vaulting arches: Perhaps one of the most notable points of departure between Romanesque and Gothic architecture involves the former’s rounded arches. Long hallways of this architectural style are usually encased in semicircular barrel vaults—a long series of arches placed next to each other. When barrel vaults are combined into a square formation, they’re known as groin vaults. Gothic architects departed from this Romanesque feature in their preference for pointed arches, sometimes referred to as ribbed vaults. In all cases, these arcading—or successive—arches were supported by columns that wouldn’t have felt too out of place in ancient Rome
Maria Laach Abbey, Germany: founded in 1093, is an example of Romanesque architecture
Byzantine architecture is a style of building that flourished under the rule of Roman Emperor Justinian between A.D. 527 and 565. In addition to extensive use of interior mosaics, its defining characteristic is a heightened dome, the result of the latest sixth century engineering techniques. Byzantine architecture dominated the eastern half of the Roman Empire during the reign of Justinian the Great, but the influences spanned centuries, from 330 until the fall of Constantinople in 1453 and on into today's church architecture.
Much of what we call Byzantine architecture today is ecclesiastical, meaning church related. Christianity began to flourish after the Edict of Milan in A.D. 313 when Roman Emperor Constantine (c. 285 337) announced his own Christianity, which legitimized the new religion; Christians would no longer be routinely persecuted. With religious freedom, Christians could worship openly and without threat, and the young religion spread rapidly. The need for places of worship expanded as did the need for new approaches to building design. Hagia Irene (also known as Haghia Eirene or Aya İrini Kilisesi) in Istanbul, Turkey is the site of the first Christian church ordered built by Constantine in the 4th Century Many of these early churches were destroyed but rebuilt atop their rubble by Emperor Justinian.
Most of the architecture included multiple domes, round arches and arcades, central planning including the Greek Cross Plan, gold mosaics or lapis backgrounds, and alternating stone colors or stone and brick In addition, vaults were seen throughout as well as columns There was a seperation of church interiors into the church and nave. The Byzantine design inspired Romanesque, Islamic, and Gothic architecture.
Byzantine interiors were adorned with marble, frescos, mosaics, and alabaster. The floor was tiled in marble often with geometric designs and patterns. The only structure remaining from this time period are churches or temples
1. Domes: Most churches and buildings in the Byzantine style feature vaults, pendentives, and columns to hold up large domes at the center of their structure. These structures would interlock in an octagon figure to keep the domes sturdy and stable Half-domes known as apses would often sit just above the altar of churches, while the central dome of the structure would lift far overhead.
2. Greek cross plans: In keeping with their heritage in Orthodox Christianity, architects designed the floor plans for Byzantine churches in the shape of a cross The narthex (or entrance) to the church began a long walkway forward over the cross in square plan, gradually giving way to an area near the pulpit that stretched out sideways. Many Latin churches followed a relatively similar approach.
3 Iconography: Early Christian art decorates much of Byzantine church architecture Frescoes line the walls, ivory carvings sit on shelves, and Byzantine mosaics adorn the entire interiors of these churches. Byzantine artists had to remove their work on occasion due to the fluctuating rise of iconoclastic officials in the Eastern Orthodox Church’s ranks. Still, people prize and venerate their depictions of Christ, the Virgin Mary, and other Christian symbols to this day
Hagia Sophia Grand Mosque, in Istanbul, Turkey.
Original Byzantine churches are square shaped with a central floor plan. They were designed after the Greek cross or crux immissa quadrata instead of the Latin crux ordinaria of Gothic cathedrals. Early Byzantine churches might have one, dominant center dome of great height, rising from a square base on half dome pillars or pendentives.
Byzantine architecture blended Western and Middle Eastern architectural details and ways of doing things. Builders renounced the Classical Order in favor of columns with decorative impost blocks inspired by Middle Eastern designs. Mosaic decorations and narratives were common. For example, the mosaic image of Justinian in the Basilica of San Vitale in Ravenna, Italy honors the Roman Christian Emporer.
The early Middle Ages was also a time of experimentation with building methods and materials. Clerestory windows became a popular way for natural light and ventilation to enter an otherwise dark and smokey building
Romanesque and Byzantine designs both have their own similarities in several ways. Both use religious imagery and ideas and portray them in hierarchical terms, where God is at the top, and average men and women are at the very bottom. In both styles, churches were designed and their interior space planned with careful deliberation to reinforce the teachings of the Church and spread Church doctrine, or the official rules and guiding ideas of the Christian religion.
Byzantine influenced Romanesque architecture, and thus Romanesque architecture incorporates features of the Byzantine style.
Romanesque design grew out of Byzantine design. Romanesque churches were huge structures, larger and longer than Byzantine churches. Instead of a massive dome as the central focus, they were often more horizontal with towers and arched forms. Romanesque domes are usually located in intersecting towers at the intersection of the nave and wings of the church, concealing the dome from the outside world. Byzantine domes, on the other hand, are visible from the outside and are not concealed by the wooden roof.
