Romanesque (Part Eight).

Text and Illustrations from Wikipedia - the free encyclopaedia,
unless otherwise stated.

English: The Abbey of Saint-Etienne, Caen, France. The Abbey is also known as 

Abbaye aux Hommes ("Men's Abbey"), and is a former Monastery in the French city of 

Caen, Normandy. Dedicated to Saint Stephen ("Saint Étienne"), it is considered, along 

with the neighbouring Abbaye aux Dames ("Ladies' Abbey"), to be one of the most notable Romanesque buildings in Normandy. Like all the major Abbeys in Normandy, it was Benedictine. Lanfranc, before being an Archbishop of Canterbury, was Abbot of Saint-Etienne.

Français: Abbaye aux Hommes, Caen, France.

Español: Abadía de los Hombres de Caen.

Photo: February 2005.

User: Urban.

Author: Urban.

(Wikimedia Commons)

The Eastern End of a Romanesque Church is almost always semi-circular, with either a high Chancel, surrounded by an Ambulatory, as in France, or a Square End, from which an Apse projects, as in Germany and Italy. Where Square Ends exist in English Churches, they are probably influenced by Anglo-Saxon Churches. Peterborough and Norwich Cathedrals have retained round East Ends, in the French style. However, in France, simple Churches, without Apses and with no decorative features, were built by the Cistercians, who also founded many Houses in England, frequently in remote areas.

English: Saint-Étienne, Nevers, France, displays a round Chancel with 

Ambulatory, Apsidal Chapels and strongly-projecting Transepts. The Church of Saint Etienne, Nevers, is a specimen of the Romanesque style of Auvergne, France, of which the disposition 

of the Apse, with its three radiating Chapels, is characteristic. 

It was consecrated at the close of the 9th-Century, and 

belonged to a Priory affiliated to Cluny.

Deutsch: Saint-Etienne, Nevers, Chorhaupt.

Date: 2008-03-16 (original upload date).(Original text : 31.08.06)

Source: Transferred from de.wikipedia; transferred to Commons by 

User:Kurpfalzbilder.de using CommonsHelper.

(Original text : selbst fotografiert)

Author: Jochen Jahnke at de.wikipedia.

Permission: Licensed under the GFDL by the author.

(Wikimedia Commons)

Romanesque Church facades, generally to the West End of the building, are usually symmetrical, have a large central Portal, made significant by its mouldings or Porch, and an arrangement of Arched-topped windows. In Italy, there is often a single central Ocular, or Wheel Window. The common decorative feature is Arcading.

Smaller Churches often have a single Tower, that is usually placed to the Western End in France or England, either centrally or to one side, while larger Churches and Cathedrals often have two Towers.

In France, Saint-Étienne, Caen, presents the model of a large French Romanesque facade. It is a symmetrical arrangement, of Nave, flanked by two tall Towers, each with two Buttresses of low flat profile that divide the facade into three vertical units. The lowest stage is marked by large doors, each set within an Arch in each of the three vertical sections. The wider central section has two tiers of three identical windows, while in the outer sections there are two tiers of single windows, giving emphasis to the mass of the Towers. The Towers rise above the facade through three further tiers, the lowest of tall Blind Arcading, the next of Arcading pierced by two narrow windows and the third of two large windows, divided into two Lights by a Colonnette.

This facade can be seen as the foundation for many other buildings, including both French and English Gothic Churches. While the form is typical of Northern France, its various components were common to many Romanesque Churches of the period across Europe. Similar facades are found in Portugal. In England, Southwell Cathedral has maintained this form, despite the insertion of a huge Gothic window between the Towers. Lincoln Cathedral and Durham Cathedral must once have looked like this. In Germany, the Limburg Cathedral has a rich variety of openings and Arcades in horizontal Storeys of varying heights.

English: The Cloister Galleries, in The Abbey of Saint-Etienne, Caen, France. The Abbey is also known as Abbaye aux Hommes ("Men's Abbey"), and is a former Monastery in the French city of 

Caen, Normandy. Dedicated to Saint Stephen ("Saint Étienne"), it is considered, along 

with the neighbouring Abbaye aux Dames ("Ladies' Abbey"), to be one of the most notable Romanesque buildings in Normandy. Like all the major Abbeys in Normandy, it was Benedictine. Lanfranc, before being an Archbishop of Canterbury, was Abbot of Saint-Etienne.

Français: Abbaye-aux-Hommes, Caen, Calvados, Normandie, France. Galeries du cloître.

Photo: 7 September 2008.

Source: Own work.

Author: Tango7174.

(Wikimedia Commons)

The Churches of San Zeno Maggiore, Verona, and San Michele, Pavia, present two types of facade that are typical of Italian Romanesque, that which reveals the architectural form of the building, and that which screens it. At San Zeno, the components of Nave and Aisles are made clear by the vertical Shafts that rise to the level of the Central Gable and by the varying roof levels.

At San Miniato al Monte, the definition of the architectural parts is made even clearer by the polychrome marble, a feature of many Italian Mediaeval facades, particularly in Tuscany. At San Michele, Pavia, the vertical definition is present, as at San Zeno, but the rooflines are screened behind a single large Gable decorated with stepped Arcading. At Santa Maria della Pieve, Arezzo, this screening is carried even further, as the roofline is horizontal and the Arcading rises in many different levels, while the Colonnettes, that support them, have a great diversity of decoration.

The Cathedral of Santa Maria d'Urgell, Spain, has an Apsidal East End, 

projecting at a lower level to the Choir and decorated 

with an Arcade below the roofline. 

This form is usual in Italy and Germany.

Source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/kjeaves/24870600/.

This File: 26 December 2006.

User: Mgclpe.

Author: kev the wev.

(Wikimedia Commons)

In the Rhineland and the Netherlands, the Carolingian form of West End, known as the Westwerk, prevailed. Towers and Apse of the Western End are often incorporated into a multi-storey structure that bears little structural or visual relationship to the building behind it. These Westwerks take a great variety of forms, as may be seen at Maria Laach Abbey, Saint Gertrude, Nivelles, and Saint Servatius, Maastricht.

Towers were an important feature of Romanesque Churches and a great number of them are still standing. They take a variety of forms: Square; Circular; and Octagonal. They are positioned differently in relation to the Church building in different countries. In northern France, two large Towers, such as those at Caen, were to become an integral part of the facade of any large Abbey or Cathedral. In Central and Southern France, this is more variable and large Churches may have one Tower or a Central Tower. Large Churches of Spain and Portugal usually have two Towers.

English: The Choir, Worms Cathedral. The Cathedral of Saint Peter (German: Wormser Dom) is a Church in Worms, Southern Germany. It was the Seat of the Catholic 

Prince-Bishopric of Worms until its extinction in 1800.

Deutsch: Ansicht des Chores im Dom zu Worms.

Photo: 26 September 2011.

Source: Own work.

Author: Ratog.

(Wikimedia Commons)

Cathedral of Saint Peter 

(Dom Saint Peter), Worms, Germany.

Photo: 14 December 2007.

Source: Own work.

Author: Mattana.

(Wikimedia Commons)

English: Abbaye-aux-Dames, Caen, Calvados, Normandie, France. 

Apse of Sainte Trinité Church.

Français: Abbaye-aux-Dames, Caen, Calvados, Normandie, France. 

Abside de l'église abbatiale de la Trinité.

Photo: 7 September 2008.

Source: Own work.

Author: Tango7174.

(Wikimedia Commons)

Many Abbeys of France, such as that at Cluny, had many Towers of varied forms. This is also common in Germany, where the Apses were sometimes framed with circular Towers and The Crossing surmounted by an Octagonal Tower, as at Worms Cathedral. Large paired Towers, of Square Plan, could also occur on the Transept Ends, such as those at Tournai Cathedral, in Belgium.

In Germany, where four Towers frequently occur, they often have Spires, that may be four- or eight-sided, or the distinctive Rhenish Helm shape, seen on the Cathedrals of Limburg or Speyer. It is also common to see Bell- or Onion-Shaped Spires, of the Baroque period, surmounting Romanesque Towers, in Central and Eastern Europe.

PART NINE FOLLOWS.