ROMANESQUE ARCHITECTURE

Term means, “in the Roman manner” and pertains primarily to architectural style
– Roman model survives with some additional influence from
Carolingian (short lived empire during the early Middle Ages. ,800–888. ), Early
Christian, Byzantine, migration, and Islamic styles

Compiled by
Prof. Chitra Srivastava
Map of Europe in the Romanesque period
Style combined under several factors:

1. Christianity dominates Europe

2. Growing religious enthusiasm
3. Pilgrimage by Christians
4. Christian crusades against Muslims
5. Increase in number and size of monasteries
Map primary pilgrimage routes throughout Europe
 it was a way of
structuring society
around relationships
derived from the holding
of land in exchange for
service or labour.

each of a series of medieval military expeditions made by

Europeans to recover the Holy Land from the Muslims in the 11th,
12th, and 13th centuries.

In a feudal system, a peasant or worker known as a vassal received a piece of land in

return for serving a lord or king, especially during times of war.
ROMANESQUE
ARCHITECTURE

Balkan
in East
Also a factor in the
spread of the
Romanesque style
was the reopening of
trade routes in
Mediterranean –
Travel links Europe
commercially and
culturally, helps urban
centers grow

Map Medieval trade routes

a gallery or arcade
above the arches of
the nave,
humankind regarded as the
representation in miniature of
the universe.
ARCHITECTURAL CHARACTER
•Romanesque architecture is an architectural style of medieval Europe characterized by semi-
circular arches.
•Examples of Romanesque architecture can be found across the continent, The Romanesque
style in England is traditionally referred to as Norman architecture
•Combining features of ancient Roman and Byzantine buildings and other local traditions,

•Romanesque architecture is known by its

massive quality
thick walls
round arches
Solid strong pillars
groin vaults
large towers
decorative arcading
Portal, Church of Vault at the Abbey Cloister of
Abbey churches Santa Maria, Church of Saint the Basilica di
Castles Spain Foy, France San Giovanni in
Cloister Laterano

•Each building has clearly defined forms, frequently of very regular, symmetrical plan; the
overall appearance is one with simplicity.
•The largest groups of Romanesque survivors are in areas, including parts of southern France,
northern Spain and rural Italy.
The general impression given by
Romanesque architecture, in both
clerical and secular buildings, is
one of massive solidity and
strength.

Walls

•Often of massive thickness with

few and comparatively small
openings.
•Made up of bricks – Italy, Poland,
parts of Germany & Netherlands.
•Stone- granite & flint, limestone
& smooth ashlars masonry –
other parts.
Construction technique
They decked out their buildings out with decorative sculpture, towers, and
arcades. They all make use of a vaulted masonry ceiling rather than a wooden
one. This heavy masonry ceiling required heavier construction. This meant thick
walls with few windows and little light. It also meant supplementing or
replacing delicate round columns with sturdier square piers. Let's have a look at
each of these elements.

The Semicircular Arch

The semicircular arch was very popular in the Roman Empire. This similarity is
likely where the term 'Romanesque' originated. The semicircular arch is strong
and durable. Romanesque architects love this arch, and they use it everywhere:
doors, windows, ceilings, arcades.

Twin window – a notable feature of Romanesque architecture – a wider

semicircular arched window divided into 2 by a colonette / pillar.

Rose window – another notable feature – generally placed on the gable wall of
the church – common to Italy & Germany – supports plate tracery (stone
artwork & glass)
Sculptural Decoration
So far we've been focusing on the interiors of these
churches. Yet there were other huge changes occurring
on the exterior of Romanesque churches as well.

Where earlier churches had plain exteriors and only

decorated the interior, the Romanesque architects
brought some of that beautiful interior decoration
outside.
One way in which Romanesque architects jazzed up their
exteriors was with sculptural decoration, especially
around the main entrance of the church. These round,
highly decorated portals, known as tympanum, became
increasingly popular in Romanesque architecture.

We also see the addition of decorative statues and some

incredibly fancy columns.
Vaulting
Romanesque architects not only did they want to build huge new churches, but they also wanted to roof those
churches with masonry, not wood. Now, you can't just run masonry horizontally; you can't build a ceiling like you
would a wall. The pieces would fall out.
To tackle this problem, Romanesque architects turned to their favorite form: the semicircular arch. An arch allows
you to build unsupported openings out of masonry. It only took a little bit of cleverness to stretch this arch out,
making a sort of tunnel. When this arched tunnel is used to roof a building, it's called vaulting. There were three
sorts of vaulting popular in Romanesque times. First was the barrel vault. Next came the groin vault, which
was later improved to ribbed vault.

Vaulting: Barrel Vault

The barrel vault is the simplest sort of vaulting. It's just a semicircular arch stretched along a single axis. The
barrel vault had been around for a very long time. We see its use in ancient Egypt and Rome. Earlier Medieval
churches had also made use of this technique, but its use was modest,
Vaulting: Groin Vault
So the barrel vault works nicely for covering a long hall, like the basilicas of old. But by this time, churches didn't just
have one axis but several axes. The use of a transept, or a crossing part of a church, had become a standard in the
West during Carolingian times.
The groin vault is where two barrel vaults meet.
The groin vault has the added bonus of setting the weight more vertically, on pillars, rather than horizontally on
walls. Like barrel vaults, groin vaults are very old. Romanesque architects made groin vaults even larger, grander,
and more beautiful.
Vaulting: Ribbed Vault
Toward the end of the Romanesque era, a new form of vaulting was invented: the ribbed vault. Unlike the
groin vault, which is essentially two barrel vaults meeting at a right angle, with the ribbed vault, you're
essentially building little arch frames or ribs and then filling in the gaps between them. These ribs do an even
better job of focusing the weight of the vaulting onto a few small places.
With ribbed vaults, Romanesque architects could make their churches wider, taller, and even more
impressive.
To solve the problem of heavy vaulting, architects alternated columns and piers
Bulkier Construction
Vaulted ceilings mean that there's a lot heavy masonry hanging over your head.
All that weight has to go somewhere.

Romanesque architects came up with some very creative ways to handle this new burden.
Probably the most mundane solution was big fat walls with few windows. Yet these fat walls
severely limited the amount of light that entered the cathedral.

Another solution was to alternate columns, which are good at handling vertical force, with piers,
which are large, usually square supports that are much better at handling horizontal force.
PLAN
The simplest Romanesque
churches are aisle-less
halls with a projecting
apse at the chancel end,
or sometimes, particularly
in England, a projecting
rectangular chancel with a
chancel arch that might be
decorated with moldings.
More ambitious churches
have aisles separated from
the nave by arcades.
England – Latin cross plans
France – Latin cross plan
but sometimes aisle-less.
Germany - Apses at both
east and west ends
TOWERS
Imminent feature - Square, circular and octagonal in plans.
Position of towers in relation to church depended on its location:
Germany, France, Spain & Portugal – Generally had two towers – forming integral part of
cathedral façade.
England – Three towers with the central one taller than the others.
Italy – Free standing with circular plans, highly ornate.
The Piazza dei Miracoli - Square of Miracles)
Piazza del Duomo - Cathedral Square), Pisa, Tuscany, Italy,

•walled area of 8.87-hectare

Pisa cathedral

Built in 1063-1118 & 1261-72 AD.

Pisa cathedral with Baptistery, Campanile & Campo Santo -
One of the finest example of Romanesque architecture.
Resembles early basilican churches in plan with double
aisles separated by arcades.
Nave – has the usual timber roof.
Exterior – bands of red & white marble while the ground
storey is faced with blind arches.
Entrance façade – delicate ornamentation – relief work by
tiers of wall passages which rise one above another right
into the gable wall.
Transepts – ended in apse on both ends
Pisa campanile
• Built in 1174-1271 AD.
• Most arresting feature of the church
complex
• Circular tower – 16m (52 ft) in diameter
• Eight storied with encircling arcades
• Inclination is most probably due to its
sinking in the foundations.
• Upper part of the tower now projects
its base more than 4.2m (13’9”)
• Bell stage was added after 1370 AD.
Baptistery, Pisa
• Built in 1153-1265 AD.
• Designed by Dioti Salvi
• Circular plan with central nave – 18.3m (60 ft.) in diameter separated by 4 piers and 8 columns
from the surrounding two-storied aisles, which makes the building diameter nearly 39.3 m
(129ft.)
• Ground storey is surrounded by semicircular arcades on half columns while an open arcade of
small detached shafts is on the first floor.
• Gothic features are added later upon this open arcade.
S. MICHELE, PAVIA, ITALY
• Built in mid-12th century with the use of sandstone
instead of bricks.
• Cruciform (Latin) Plan with nave divided into square
bays by transverse arches supported on piers.
• Nave is covered with rib vaults.
• Double storey aisles
• . External façade – simple with 3 portals & 4 pilasters
akin to buttresses
• Gable wall is characterized by a raking arcaded wall
passage.
 ANGOULEME CATHEDRAL, FRANCE
•Built in c.1105-28 & later – Aquitaine(former province of
south-western France)
•Has a long aisle-less Nave – 15.2m wide (50ft)
•Transepts with lateral chapels
•Nave is covered with 3 stone domes on pendentives
•A double dome on the crossing, raised on a drum with 16
windows and crowned by a finial.
•Both transepts had towers but the southern one was destroyed
in 1568.
•The western façade (entrance) – rich with tiers of arcades
divided into 5 bays.
•Over the entrance is a high window, framed in sculpture.
•There are 2 flanking western towers.
The nave is 50 feet wide (15.24m)
and four parts formed the overall
building. The first three are three
stone domes that are above the nave
and the last is one transept (the
center of the Cathedral). The plan is
to form a Latin cross that is formed
with the nave and transept.
•Built in late 11th & 12th century – Worms, WORMS CATHEDRAL, GERMANY
Southern Germany.

•The cathedral is 110m long x 27m wide.

•Inner dimensions of transepts is 36m.

•Plan is apsidal(semicircular)

•Nave(Inner height-26m) is rib-vaulted &

supported on square base having aisles on
both sides.

•Twin circular staircase towers flank eastern

& western apses.

•Crossing of nave & transept is covered by a

low-height octagonal tower (internal height
40m) with a pointed roof.

•Entrances is from aisles – characteristic of

German & English Romanesque cathedrals.

•Lateral facades have round-arched

windows between characteristic flat
pilasters.
FOUNTAINS ABBEY, YORKSHIRE
• Founded in c.1132 and continued to operate for 400 years.
• One of the largest & best preserved ruins of monastic buildings.
• The abbey( monastery) covers 70 acres of land along R. Skell and is surrounded by 11 ft. (3.40m) wall built in 13th
century.
• North of R. Skell – Church & Claustral (cloister buildings)
• Downwards along the river – domestic buildings : Abbots House - Great Hall (52mx21m), Chapel (14mx7m), Kitchen
(15mx12m), Store & latrine.
• South side of R. Skell – Industrial & agricultural buildings.
• Construction began in c.1132 – in locally quarried
sandstone upon damaged earlier wooden church.
• Old church was badly destroyed in fire in c.1146
• Construction was completed in c.1170 having 11 bays in
side aisles and was 300ft. (91m) long.
• A lantern tower was added at the crossing of the church in
the late 12th century.
• A tower (Height-40m) was unusually added in the
northern side of church in 1494-1526.
• The choir was lengthened & chapel of 9 altars was added
in the 13th century.
• Dormitory for monks was placed usually above the
chapter house @ south of church.
• The cloister had arcading in black marble & white
sandstone - @ centre of the complex & south of the
church.
• The 3-aisled chapter house & parlor house opens from east into
cloister.

• The Refectory (dining hall) with kitchen & buttery are perpendicular
to southern walk of the cloister.

• The Great cloister along the western walkway – immensely vaulted &
served as cellars and store rooms – supported dormitories for ‘lay
brothers (conversi)’.

• The building extended till the river where latrines were built in the
SW corner above the swiftly flowing stream.

A cloister (from Latin claustrum, "enclosure") is a covered walk, open gallery, or open
arcade
 TOWER OF LONDON
• Built in c.1078 by William the Conqueror.
• Historic castle to the north of R. Thames in
Central London.
• Use / Purposes of tower –
• Royal Palace & Fortress (Primary use)
• Prison (Peak period use – 16th & 17th
century)
• Armory
• Treasury
• Royal Mint
• Public records office
• Home for Crown jewels of UK
• The castle is made up of 3 wards or
enclosures.
• Innermost – White Tower
• Encircling white tower on N, E & W –
inner ward
• Encompassing all – Outer ward
• The castle is spread over 12 Acres (4.9 Ha) of
land whereas a strip of land (Moat)
admeasuring 6 Acres (2.4 Ha) was left open
for military reasons.
 TOWER OF LONDON – WHITE TOWER
• A innermost keep of a castle or donjon - often the
strongest structure in a medieval castle
• Contained lodgings suitable for the lord (king or
representative)
• Dimensions :
o 36m x 32m (118X105ft) excluding the
projecting towers.
o Height – 27m (90ft.)

• 3-storied structure comprising of basement, an

entrance level and an upper floor.
• Entrance was above ground on south face &
accessed by wooden staircase which could be
removed in case of an enemy attack.
• 2 square towers on west while a circular tower on
PLAN of 3RD FLOOR LEVEL : WHITE TOWER
North with circular staircases were used.
• As it was used as a residence, latrines were built
into walls while 4 fire places provided warmth.
• Built using Kentish rag-stone and local mudstone
while Caen stone (France) was used in towers.
• Each floor was divided into 3 chambers, the largest
in the west, a smaller room in the north-east, and
the chapel taking up the entrance and upper floors
of the south-east.
Two Vintage wood post carved decorative
legs columns
Malmesbury Abbey, England, has hollow
core columns.