Romanesque Architecture.

English: Lessay Abbey, Normandy, France.

Français: Abbaye de Lessay (département de la Manche).

Photo: 19 April 2008.

Source: Own work.

Author: Ji-Elle

(Wikimedia Commons)

The following Text is from Wikipedia - the free encyclopædia,

unless stated otherwise.

Romanesque Architecture is an Architectural Style of Mediæval Europe characterised by Semi-Circular Arches. There is no consensus for the beginning date of The Romanesque Style, with proposals ranging from the 6th-Century A.D. to the 11th-Century, this later date being the most commonly held.

In the 12th-Century, it developed into The Gothic Style, marked by Pointed Arches. Examples of Romanesque Architecture can be found across The Continent, making it the first Pan-European Architectural Style since Imperial Roman Architecture. 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, sturdy Pillars, Barrel Vaults, large Towers, and decorative Arcading.

English: Speyer Cathedral (Kaiser- und Marien-Dom zu Speyer), Germany. Speyer Cathedral was begun by Conrad II, Holy Roman Emperor in 1030, as an expression of Imperial Power and Architectural Innovation.

Deutsch: Südseite des Kaiser- und Mariendoms zu Speyer.

Русский: Шпайерский собор, вид с юга.

Photo: 31 August 2008.

Source: Own work.

Attribution: Image by Alfred Hutter, aka Gentry.

Author: Sole Creator and Copyright Holder:

Alfred Hutter, aka Gentry.

(Wikimedia Commons)

Each building has clearly defined forms, frequently of very regular, symmetrical Plan; the overall appearance is one of simplicity, when compared with the Gothic buildings that were to follow. The Style can be identified right across Europe, despite regional characteristics and different materials.

Many Castles were built during this period, but they are greatly outnumbered by Churches. The most significant are the great Abbey Churches, many of which are still standing, more or less complete and frequently in use.

The enormous quantity of Churches, built in The Romanesque Period, was succeeded by the still-busier period of Gothic Architecture, which partly, or entirely, rebuilt most Romanesque Churches in prosperous areas like England and Portugal.

English: Charlemagne's Palatine Chapel, Aachen, 

Germany. 9th-Century A.D. Modelled on the 

Byzantine Church of San Vitale, Ravenna.

Deutsch: Aachener Dom.

Date: 23 April 2009.

Source: Bojin, on request by Túrelio

Attribution: Bojin

Author: Bojin

(Wikimedia Commons)

The largest groups of Romanesque survivors are in areas that were less prosperous in subsequent periods, including parts of Southern France, rural Spain, and rural Italy. Survivals of unfortified Romanesque Secular Houses and Palaces, and the domestic quarters of Monasteries, are far rarer, but these used and adapted the features found in Church buildings, on a domestic scale.

According to The Oxford English Dictionary, the word “Romanesque” means “descended from Roman” and was first used in English to designate what are now called Romance Languages (first cited 1715). The French term “Romane” was first used, in the Architectural sense, by archæologist Charles de Gerville, in a Letter of 18 December 1818 to Auguste Le Prévost, to describe what Gerville sees as a debased Roman Architecture.

In 1824, Gerville's friend, Arcisse de Caumont, adopted the label “Romane” to describe the “degraded” European Architecture from the 5th-Century A.D. to the 13th-Century, in his “Essai sur l'architecture religieuse du moyen-âge, particulièrement en Normandie”, at a time when the actual dates of many of the buildings so described had not been ascertained:

The name, Roman (-esque), we give to this Architecture, which should be universal as it is the same everywhere with slight local differences, also has the merit of indicating its origin and is not new since it is used already to describe the language of the same period. Romance language is degenerated Latin language. Romanesque Architecture is debased Roman Architecture.

English: Trier Cathedral, Germany.

Deutsch: Trierer Dom.

Photo: 17 June 2009.

Source: Own work.

Author: Berthold Werner

(Wikimedia Commons)

The first use in a published work is in William Gunn's “An Inquiry into the Origin and Influence of Gothic Architecture (London 1819). The word [Editor: “Romanesque”] was used by Gunn to describe the Style that was identifiably Mediæval and pre-figured The Gothic Style, yet maintained the Rounded Roman Arch and, thus, appeared to be a continuation of The Roman Tradition of building.

The term is now used for the more restricted period from The Late-10th-Century to the 12th-Century. The term “Pre-Romanesque” is sometimes applied to Architecture in Germany of The Carolingian and Ottonian Periods, and Visigothic, Mozarab and Asturian constructions, between the 8th-Century A.D. and the 10th-Century, in The Iberian Peninsula, while “First Romanesque” is applied to buildings in Northern Italy and Spain, and parts of France, that have Romanesque features, but pre-date the influence of The Abbey of Cluny.

Like many Castles built by Crusader Knights,

the Inner Fortress of “Krak des Chevaliers”, Syria, 

was mainly constructed during the Romanesque period,

with the Outer Walls being added later.

Date: 26 December 2007.

Source: Own work.

Author: Jerzy Strzelecki

(Wikimedia Commons)

This Article can be read in full at ROMANESQUE ARCHITECTURE