Gothic architecture

Gothic architecture is a style of architecture that flourished during the high and late
medieval period. It evolved from Romanesque architecture and was succeeded by
Renaissance architecture.

Originating in 12th century France and lasting into the 16th century, Gothic architecture was
known during the period as "the French Style, with the term Gothic first appearing during
the latter part of the Renaissance. Its characteristic features include the pointed arch, the
ribbed vault and the flying buttress.

Gothic architecture is most familiar as the architecture of many of the great cathedrals,
abbeys and churches of Europe. It is also the architecture of many castles, palaces, town
halls, guild halls, universities and to a less prominent extent, private dwellings. It is in the
great churches and cathedrals and in a number of civic buildings that the Gothic style was
expressed most powerfully, its characteristics lending themselves to appeal to the emotions.
A great number of ecclesiastical buildings remain from this period, of which even the
smallest are often structures of architectural distinction while many of the larger churches
are considered priceless works of art and are listed with UNESCO as World Heritage Sites.
For this reason a study of Gothic architecture is largely a study of cathedrals and churches.

A series of Gothic revivals began in mid-18th century England, spread through 19th-century
Europe and continued, largely for ecclesiastical and university structures, into the 20th
century.

Influences
At the end of the 12th century Europe was divided into a multitude of city states and kingdoms. The
area encompassing modern Germany, Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, Switzerland, Austria,
eastern France and much of northern Italy, excluding Venice, was nominally part of the Holy Roman
Empire, but local rulers exercised considerable autonomy. France, Scotland, Spain, Sicily and Cyprus
were independent kingdoms, as was England, whose Plantagenet kings ruled large domains in
France.Norway came under the influence of England, while the other Scandinavian countries and
Poland were influenced by Germany. Angevin kings brought the Gothic tradition from France to
Southern Italy, while Lusignan kings introduced French Gothic architecture to Cyprus.

Throughout Europe at this time there was a rapid growth in trade and an associated growth in
towns.Germany and the Lowlands had large flourishing towns that grew in comparative peace, in
trade and competition with each other, or united for mutual weal, as in the Hanseatic League. Civic
building was of great importance to these towns as a sign of wealth and pride. England and France
remained largely feudal and produced grand domestic architecture for their dukes, rather than
grand town halls for their burghers.
Materials
A further regional influence was the availability of materials. In France, limestone was readily
available in several grades, the very fine white limestone of Caen being favoured for sculptural
decoration. England had coarse limestone and red sandstone as well as dark green Purbeck marble
which was often used for architectural features.

In Northern Germany, Netherlands, northern Poland, Scandinavia, and the Baltic countries local
building stone was unavailable but there was a strong tradition of building in brick. The resultant
style, Brick Gothic, is called "Backsteingotik" in Germany and Scandinavia and is associated with the
Hanseatic League.

In Italy, stone was used for fortifications, but brick was preferred for other buildings. Because of the
extensive and varied deposits of marble, many buildings were faced in marble, or were left with
undecorated façade so that this might be achieved at a later date.

The availability of timber also influenced the style of architecture. It is thought that the magnificent
hammer-beam roofs of England were devised as a direct response to the lack of long straight
seasoned timber by the end of the Medieval period, when forests had been decimated not only for
the construction of vast roofs but also for ship building

Characteristics of Gothic churches and cathedrals

The Gothic style, when applied to an ecclesiastical building, emphasizes verticality and light. This
appearance was achieved by the development of certain architectural features, which together
provided an engineering solution. The structural parts of the building ceased to be its solid walls, and
became a stone skeleton comprising clustered columns, pointed ribbed vaults and flying buttresses

A Gothic cathedral or abbey was, prior to the 20th century, generally the landmark building in its
town, rising high above all the domestic structures and often surmounted by one or more towers
and pinnacles and perhaps tall spires. These cathedrals were the skyscrapers of that day and would
have, by far, been the largest buildings that Europeans would have ever seen.

Most Gothic churches, unless they are entitled chapels, are of the Latin cross (or "cruciform") plan,
with a long nave making the body of the church, a transverse arm called the transept and, beyond it,
an extension which may be called the choir, chancel or presbytery. There are several regional
variations on this plan.

One of the defining characteristics of Gothic architecture is the pointed or ogival arch. Arches of this
type were used in the Near East in pre-Islamic.
A characteristic of Gothic church architecture is its height, both absolute and in proportion to its
width. A section of the main body of a Gothic church usually shows the nave as considerably taller
than it is wide. In England the proportion is sometimes greater than 2:1, while the greatest
proportional difference achieved is at Cologne Cathedral with a ratio of 3.6:1. The highest internal
vault is at Beauvais Cathedral at 48 meters (157 ft)

One of the most distinctive characteristics of Gothic architecture is the expansive area of the
windows as at Sainte Chappelle and the very large size of many individual windows, as at York
Minster, Gloucester Cathedral and Milan Cathedral. The increase in size between windows of the
Romanesque and Gothic periods is related to the use of the ribbed vault, and in particular, the
pointed ribbed vault which channeled the weight to a supporting shaft with less outward thrust than
a semicircular vault. Walls did not need to be so weighty