Christianity and Architecture
The Temple in Jerusalem functioned as the focal point of Hebrew life through the destruction of the third version by the Romans in 70 A.D. Building the structure was a national project of monumental proportions. Cedar was imported from Lebanon, while thirty thousand Israelites were recruited to assemble the structure. Solomon hired 153,600 foreigners from surrounding nations for the stonework which required cutters, carriers, and masons.
The structure was surrounded by an outer court called the “court of the gentiles” and an inner court called the “court of priests.” The doors of both courts were covered in bronze while the walls separating the two were made of three layers of hewn stone held together by cedar beams. The inner court contained a huge bronze alter of sacrifice and the molten sea which was a 10,000 gallon bronze pool for ceremonial washing.
The Temple itself was 30 feet wide, 90 feet long, and 45 feet tall, with side rooms of three stories surrounding all but the front porch area. The porch, or vestibule, was held up by huge spiral columns and measured 15 feet deep and 30 feet wide. Two large doors covered in gold led you into the Temple. As you walked into the building, you entered the 60 foot main sanctuary also called the Holy Place. You then proceeded to the Most Holy Place, or the Holy of Holies, which was a perfect cube measuring 30 feet by 30 feet. All the walls were covered in cedar with beautiful carvings of flowers, palm trees, and cherubim (angels), and then overlaid with gold so that none of the stone was visible.
Within the main sanctuary, or Holy Place, was the Alter of Incense and a table for the holy bread called the Bread of the Presence of God, both centrally located. Then you had ten lamp stands arranged in two groups of five located on the two sides. Ten tables arranged five on each side were presumably for utensils used by the priests. Between this sanctuary and the Holy of Holies was a huge double door made of olive wood carved with cherubim, palm trees, and flower patterns all overlaid with gold.
The Holy of Holies is the place where the high priest would enter once a year to offer the sacrifice, a perfect lamb, for the sins of the nation. It was the highest and most important ceremony of the Jewish people. Inside those doors, a veil of blue, purple, and crimson made of the finest material and decorated with cherubim was erected to separate man from the presence of God. Two forward facing giant cherubim 15 feet tall stood covered in gold as symbolic protectors of the Ark of the Covenant which was placed below them. The ark contained the original tablets of the Ten Commandments which Moses brought down from Mount Sinai centuries earlier.
The Temple, like the tabernacle before it, was the place where God’s presence would dwell. It was also the place were the people could come and make supplication, worship, and sacrifices to God. Both were symbolic representations of that which was to come in Christ. For example, the yearly sacrifice for the sins of the people was a foreshadow of Christ’s sacrifice on Calvary, and much like the lamb on the alter, Christ as our representative takes upon himself our sins and is subsequently put to death for those sins. When Christ hung lifeless on the cross, the High Priest was hard at work making the yearly sacrifice for the people. It is written that at the moment of Christ’s death, as the priest cut the throat and spilled the blood of the perfect young lamb, the curtain that separated man from the presence of God in the Holy of Holies was rent in two, symbolizing the new reality; that man can approach God once again.
Under Christianity, buildings took on a different meaning and function as the former Temple in Jerusalem. They were first and foremost gathering places for believers. They functioned as a place for the reading of God’s word, worship, and the Eucharist. Over the course of time, the structures took on new meaning, ushering in the greatest building projects in the history of the world. That meaning will help us understand why architecture on such a grand scale flourished in the West while the architecture of the rest of the world lagged behind for so many centuries. It will explain why these grand masters pushed the limits of their ingenuity to build structures higher, wider and grander. And it will help us understand why it was that Christianity produced the greatest buildings ever erected by mankind.
Christian Architecture
Constantine (272-337)
Having legalized Christianity, Constantine commenced what was arguably the most ambitious building project of its time, the impregnable city of Constantinople. He built monumental churches in Rome, Byzantine, and Palestine. His church structures were erected primarily for the celebration of the Eucharist, but also to enshrine places and objects of Biblical importance. The Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem is located at the end of the Via Dolorosa, where Jesus carried the cross to his death. At the location of Jesus’ entombment is where Constantine built a memorial enclosing the tomb in a 100-foot rotunda capped by a dome. In Bethlehem, he built the Church of the Nativity, which was the location of Christ’s birth.
St. Peter’s and St. John’s Laterna
These churches in Rome became the first of the Christian superstructures. The Laterna, built in 313-320 was the earlier of the two and is a massive five-aisle basilica with a 300 foot nave which was built as the church and residence of the Bishop. St. Peter’s, which later became the location of the Vatican, was a congregational church as well as the shrine for the Apostle Peter’s remains. Very little is known of Constantine’s architects, who it’s safe to say were revolutionaries. They experimented with rotundas, domes, light, octagons, axial emphasis, crossed longitudinal and transept axes. They implemented structural solutions and pushed the technological limits of their buildings. By the time of Constantine’s death, they had forged a new style that would have an immeasurable impact on Western Civilization.
Justinian (527-565)
Under his rule, Christian architecture would reach new heights. Justinian erected dozens of church buildings throughout Constantinople, the Mediterranean, and the Western empire. In Ravenna alone he built S. Vitale, S. Apollinare Nuovo, and S. Apollinare in Classe. He built the first five-domed church of the Holy Apostles. Though now lost, it is modeled in San Marco in Venice.
Hagia Sophia
Justinian’s greatest achievement was the grand Hagia Sophia, which still stands in present-day Istanbul. The church combines the elongated design of the basilica with an immense dome measuring 107 feet in diameter. After two centuries, the synthesis between horizontal and vertical form which marked Byzantine architecture was finally achieved in this engineering milestone. The dome stands an impressive 184 feet high and is surrounded by forty windows at the base, giving the impression that it is floating, and giving the interior a remarkable quality of natural light. The light which elegantly floods through these windows represents Christ, the Light of the World. The huge central nave measures 233 x 252 feet, while the exterior is a complex arrangement of piers, columns and cupolas, all supported by bearing walls and buttresses.
St. Mark’s
In Venice, it is a marvel on many fronts; engineering, spiritual, mathematical, artistic, and beauty. Words (including these) could not begin to do it justice. The vast shimmering mosaics create a spiritual interior of unsurpassed beauty. The floor plan is that of a Greek cross with four domes, one on each arm, and a large central dome, each of which is supported by four huge barrel arches. The center of the cross contains the sanctuary with a high altar of marble which contains the relics of St. Mark.
Because worship was such an important aspect of Christian life, architecture took center stage during the Middle Ages with the goal of moving the believer closer to that transcendent experience. During those centuries, Christian architects took their trade to new levels developing breathtaking innovations. In the process, they produced the most beautiful and technically sophisticated structures in human history. Christianity today has a strong focus on worship using music as the medium to help the believer achieve a deeper experience. During the Middle Ages, Christians used beautiful artistic paintings and beautiful structures that symbolized the heavenly to accomplish the same goal; bring the believer to his knees in a deeper worship experience.
Durham Cathedral
It was begun in 1093. The Cathedral is the definitive building of the Anglo-Norman Romanesque style and still stands as one of the great structures of this period in Europe. Its scale is enormous, over 496 feet in length, and its forms overpowering. The building carries engineering innovations not easy to fathom. It’s the earliest example of rib vaulting, which would soon transform the heavy walls of the Romanesque into the soaring lightness of the Gothic era. The building, which still houses the relics of the patron saint, is notable for the ribbed vault with pointed transverse arches supported on relatively slender composite piers alternated with massive drum columns and flying buttresses. These features appear to be precursors of the Gothic architecture which appears in Northern France a few decades later. It was the skilled use of the pointed arch and ribbed vault which made it possible to cover far more area, uninterrupted. The buttressing made it possible both to build taller buildings and to open up the intervening wall spaces for larger windows. A renowned masterpiece of Romanesque architecture, Durham Cathedral has been described as “one of the great architectural experiences of Europe.”
Monasteries
Monasticism, which started in the fourth century, was flourishing by the fifth century under the leadership of St. Benedict. Monasteries by the thousands were built all over Europe by the monks themselves. They were places of prayer, contemplation and worship. Peaceful sanctuaries, they were built as self-sufficient mini-towns with chapels, gardens, kitchens, dormitories, refectories, and guest houses. They had a secondary function as hospitals, libraries, worship centers, and schools, making a significant contribution to the economic, architectural, and cultural preservation of Western Europe for well over a thousand years.
Gothic architecture
Spanning from about 1150 through 1400, these structures can be thought of in terms of a “skeleton” system. A synthesis of pillars, buttresses, and ribbed vaults combine to balance out the vertical and horizontal forces and thus a self-supported skeleton. The walls lose their bearing function and therefore only act as screens to keep out the elements. Soon the masonry walls, which were formerly canvases for artists, will be replaced with beautifully-crafted stained glass windows, the hallmark of Gothic architecture. Like the mosaics of the Byzantine era and the frescos of the Romanesque, the stained glass of the Gothic depict Biblical scenes with incredible precision and grace.
The goal of these new super structures was to transport the believer from the earthly realm of the physical to the transcendent world of Heaven. They symbolized the process of redemption and the afterlife. In their attempt to glorify God, this new generation of builders would push many of the limits of their new style beyond anything yet attempted, leaving behind towering legacies. The breadth of the vaults and their height would surpass all previous achievements and bring the worshiper one step closer to that transcendent experience.
Notre-Dame Cathedral
Construction started in 1163 and would not be fully completed for another 180 years, something hard to imagine by today’s standards. It measures a staggering 427 feet long by 157 feet wide. Two massive Gothic towers crown the western facade, which is divided into three levels. The main doors are adorned with early Gothic carvings and surmounted by a row of sculptures of Old Testament kings. The two towers are 223 feet high. At the cathedral's east end, the apse has large clerestory windows added between 1235 and 1270 and supported by massive flying buttresses, which are especially notable for their boldness and grace. The cathedral's three great rose windows to the west, north, and south retain their 13th-century glass. An important innovation at Paris was the combination of triangular ribs and transverse arches. The result of this technique was to further open the interior of the cathedral without the visual interruption of supporting columns. This innovation is impressive to view even by contemporary standards.
Chartres Cathedral
Chartres Cathedral is said to contain one of the most complete collections of medieval stained glass in the world. Like the sculptures, the stained glass was intended to be educational. The five windows of the choir tell the story of the Virgin Mary. The rose window in the north transept portrays images of the Old Testament. The south transept, which is representative of the New Testament, has a rose window depicting the Apocalypse. Three beautiful rose windows over the three portals depict Christ’s second coming, Mary enthroned with Christ, and Mary as the instrument of God.
Canterbury Cathedral
Archbishop Anselm of Canterbury is credited with the Romanesque architecture and art that survives today at Canterbury. In 1130 he built the huge crypt beneath the east end and an extensive choir with ambulatory. A common Romanesque feature, the crypt is a stone chamber or vault, usually beneath the floor of a church, used as a chapel or burial vault. The ambulatory is the covered passage way around the east end of a cathedral extending behind the high altar. There are often chapels lined up along the ambulatory. The medieval stained glass windows at Canterbury are among the earliest and finest in the world. The oldest window dates 1180 A.D., and many more continued to be added throughout the Middle Ages.
The Gothic era marks a high point in architectural innovations, producing what was then the first international style. It launched a building explosion throughout Europe, driven by the idea of a Heavenly Jerusalem found in the book of Revelations. The murals of the Romanesque style were replaced with an upward thrust and a heavenly light. The artist was replaced by the master mason and sculptor.
Salisbury Cathedral
Salisbury Cathedral rises 404 feet, making it the tallest medieval structure in the world. The chapter house is notable for its octagonal shape, slender central pillar, and decorative medieval frieze (wide central walkway). The frieze circles the interior above the stalls and depicts scenes and stories from the books of Genesis and Exodus, including Adam and Eve, Noah, the Tower of Babel, and Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The chapter house also displays the best-preserved of the four surviving original copies of the Magna Carta.
Saint Chapelle
The stained glass windows at Sainte-Chapelle each rise over forty feet in height and cover over 1,100 Biblical stories in all. This was the Gothic era, a time where popes, architects, builders, and masons stretched the limits of their talents to see a tiny piece of heaven manifest before the eyes of those who came to worship. And while many religious sites have lost their ability to move the viewer, the Gothic cathedrals of the Middle Ages still retain the power and wonder they once held. More significantly, they still retain the promise of that Heavenly place mankind still longs for.
The Renaissance
By the end of the fourteenth century, the impressiveness of gothic architecture began to wear off in Europe as it was coming out of the Middle Ages and into a new era. And so it was that the architects began to change with the times too, as they sought a new religious expression in their work. As they began to revive the ideas of Greek and Roman architecture, artists and architects worked hand-in-hand once again. It was the dawn of a movement that started around 1400 and would last 200 years. It was a return to classical ideas and it would usher in an “age of awakening” in Italy and northern Europe. This period is known as the Renaissance, which means "born anew" in Italian.
Cathedral of Santa Maria Del Fiore
It began in 1296. The Florentines built the crossing of the building to such inconceivably large proportions (141 feet) that 120 years later, the building was still unfinished because no one could quite figure out how to build the huge dome. Brunelleschi solved the problem by inventing a new type of dome which is conical and high rather than hemispheric. It has eight sides and white ribs on the outside of the dome to call attention to their proportions. The Duomo, as it is called, can be seen from all over the city, dominating the skyline with its heavenly presence. The innovative design, with its eight sides draws attention to its mathematical proportions and symmetry; in fact, the cathedral is perhaps the best example of the Renaissance architectural principle of symmetry.
St. Peter’s Basilica
After one hundred and twenty years of construction, overseen by twenty-two popes and fourteen architects, the church was dedicated by Pope Urban VIII in 1626. Ever since then, this church has been the center of the Roman Catholic faith: The Vatican. The basilica is truly impressive, measuring almost 800 feet in length. It contains over 430 statues and 10 domes. The central dome, designed by Michelangelo, is the largest dome in the world, measuring 138 feet in diameter and reaching more than 390 feet in height. It is buttressed by the apses and supported internally by four massive piers 60 feet thick. Despite its immense size, the structure is a stunning achievement in unity, symmetry and unspeakable beauty.
St. Paul’s Cathedral
St Paul's is built in the shape of a cross, with the dome crowning the intersection of the arms. The conical dome is one of the largest in the world, standing 365 feet high. The monochrome frescoes inside the dome feature stunning scenes from the life of St Paul. It is impressive in size, measuring 479 feet in length and containing nearly three hundred monuments. Between the arches of the inner dome are mosaics of prophets and saints. Brilliant decoration abounds, and in a symmetry that is nearly overwhelming. The ceiling above the choir and presbytery has coffered barrel vaults and some of the most elaborately decorated ribbed vaults in the world. The exterior facade is flanked by two huge towers and a double row of Corinthian columns capped with a bas-relief illustrating the conversion of St. Paul.
The story of Christian architecture is the story of large communities of devout believers uniting in glorifying God and serving others, by providing the best places of worship imaginable. Unlike the temples of Egypt, Greece, Rome, and the Americas, these structures were not built with slave labor, rather they were the collaboration of those who understood their faith as service and dedication to God and others. This article provides just a tiny sample of some of their accomplishments and leaves unrecognized the hundreds of thousands of believers who dedicated their entire existence to cutting rock and carving stone in the service of God. They leave with us the undeniable fact that the greatest structures in human history were built under the Christian influence.
The structure was surrounded by an outer court called the “court of the gentiles” and an inner court called the “court of priests.” The doors of both courts were covered in bronze while the walls separating the two were made of three layers of hewn stone held together by cedar beams. The inner court contained a huge bronze alter of sacrifice and the molten sea which was a 10,000 gallon bronze pool for ceremonial washing.
The Temple itself was 30 feet wide, 90 feet long, and 45 feet tall, with side rooms of three stories surrounding all but the front porch area. The porch, or vestibule, was held up by huge spiral columns and measured 15 feet deep and 30 feet wide. Two large doors covered in gold led you into the Temple. As you walked into the building, you entered the 60 foot main sanctuary also called the Holy Place. You then proceeded to the Most Holy Place, or the Holy of Holies, which was a perfect cube measuring 30 feet by 30 feet. All the walls were covered in cedar with beautiful carvings of flowers, palm trees, and cherubim (angels), and then overlaid with gold so that none of the stone was visible.
Within the main sanctuary, or Holy Place, was the Alter of Incense and a table for the holy bread called the Bread of the Presence of God, both centrally located. Then you had ten lamp stands arranged in two groups of five located on the two sides. Ten tables arranged five on each side were presumably for utensils used by the priests. Between this sanctuary and the Holy of Holies was a huge double door made of olive wood carved with cherubim, palm trees, and flower patterns all overlaid with gold.
The Holy of Holies is the place where the high priest would enter once a year to offer the sacrifice, a perfect lamb, for the sins of the nation. It was the highest and most important ceremony of the Jewish people. Inside those doors, a veil of blue, purple, and crimson made of the finest material and decorated with cherubim was erected to separate man from the presence of God. Two forward facing giant cherubim 15 feet tall stood covered in gold as symbolic protectors of the Ark of the Covenant which was placed below them. The ark contained the original tablets of the Ten Commandments which Moses brought down from Mount Sinai centuries earlier.
The Temple, like the tabernacle before it, was the place where God’s presence would dwell. It was also the place were the people could come and make supplication, worship, and sacrifices to God. Both were symbolic representations of that which was to come in Christ. For example, the yearly sacrifice for the sins of the people was a foreshadow of Christ’s sacrifice on Calvary, and much like the lamb on the alter, Christ as our representative takes upon himself our sins and is subsequently put to death for those sins. When Christ hung lifeless on the cross, the High Priest was hard at work making the yearly sacrifice for the people. It is written that at the moment of Christ’s death, as the priest cut the throat and spilled the blood of the perfect young lamb, the curtain that separated man from the presence of God in the Holy of Holies was rent in two, symbolizing the new reality; that man can approach God once again.
Under Christianity, buildings took on a different meaning and function as the former Temple in Jerusalem. They were first and foremost gathering places for believers. They functioned as a place for the reading of God’s word, worship, and the Eucharist. Over the course of time, the structures took on new meaning, ushering in the greatest building projects in the history of the world. That meaning will help us understand why architecture on such a grand scale flourished in the West while the architecture of the rest of the world lagged behind for so many centuries. It will explain why these grand masters pushed the limits of their ingenuity to build structures higher, wider and grander. And it will help us understand why it was that Christianity produced the greatest buildings ever erected by mankind.
Christian Architecture
Constantine (272-337)
Having legalized Christianity, Constantine commenced what was arguably the most ambitious building project of its time, the impregnable city of Constantinople. He built monumental churches in Rome, Byzantine, and Palestine. His church structures were erected primarily for the celebration of the Eucharist, but also to enshrine places and objects of Biblical importance. The Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem is located at the end of the Via Dolorosa, where Jesus carried the cross to his death. At the location of Jesus’ entombment is where Constantine built a memorial enclosing the tomb in a 100-foot rotunda capped by a dome. In Bethlehem, he built the Church of the Nativity, which was the location of Christ’s birth.
St. Peter’s and St. John’s Laterna
These churches in Rome became the first of the Christian superstructures. The Laterna, built in 313-320 was the earlier of the two and is a massive five-aisle basilica with a 300 foot nave which was built as the church and residence of the Bishop. St. Peter’s, which later became the location of the Vatican, was a congregational church as well as the shrine for the Apostle Peter’s remains. Very little is known of Constantine’s architects, who it’s safe to say were revolutionaries. They experimented with rotundas, domes, light, octagons, axial emphasis, crossed longitudinal and transept axes. They implemented structural solutions and pushed the technological limits of their buildings. By the time of Constantine’s death, they had forged a new style that would have an immeasurable impact on Western Civilization.
Justinian (527-565)
Under his rule, Christian architecture would reach new heights. Justinian erected dozens of church buildings throughout Constantinople, the Mediterranean, and the Western empire. In Ravenna alone he built S. Vitale, S. Apollinare Nuovo, and S. Apollinare in Classe. He built the first five-domed church of the Holy Apostles. Though now lost, it is modeled in San Marco in Venice.
Hagia Sophia
Justinian’s greatest achievement was the grand Hagia Sophia, which still stands in present-day Istanbul. The church combines the elongated design of the basilica with an immense dome measuring 107 feet in diameter. After two centuries, the synthesis between horizontal and vertical form which marked Byzantine architecture was finally achieved in this engineering milestone. The dome stands an impressive 184 feet high and is surrounded by forty windows at the base, giving the impression that it is floating, and giving the interior a remarkable quality of natural light. The light which elegantly floods through these windows represents Christ, the Light of the World. The huge central nave measures 233 x 252 feet, while the exterior is a complex arrangement of piers, columns and cupolas, all supported by bearing walls and buttresses.
St. Mark’s
In Venice, it is a marvel on many fronts; engineering, spiritual, mathematical, artistic, and beauty. Words (including these) could not begin to do it justice. The vast shimmering mosaics create a spiritual interior of unsurpassed beauty. The floor plan is that of a Greek cross with four domes, one on each arm, and a large central dome, each of which is supported by four huge barrel arches. The center of the cross contains the sanctuary with a high altar of marble which contains the relics of St. Mark.
Because worship was such an important aspect of Christian life, architecture took center stage during the Middle Ages with the goal of moving the believer closer to that transcendent experience. During those centuries, Christian architects took their trade to new levels developing breathtaking innovations. In the process, they produced the most beautiful and technically sophisticated structures in human history. Christianity today has a strong focus on worship using music as the medium to help the believer achieve a deeper experience. During the Middle Ages, Christians used beautiful artistic paintings and beautiful structures that symbolized the heavenly to accomplish the same goal; bring the believer to his knees in a deeper worship experience.
Durham Cathedral
It was begun in 1093. The Cathedral is the definitive building of the Anglo-Norman Romanesque style and still stands as one of the great structures of this period in Europe. Its scale is enormous, over 496 feet in length, and its forms overpowering. The building carries engineering innovations not easy to fathom. It’s the earliest example of rib vaulting, which would soon transform the heavy walls of the Romanesque into the soaring lightness of the Gothic era. The building, which still houses the relics of the patron saint, is notable for the ribbed vault with pointed transverse arches supported on relatively slender composite piers alternated with massive drum columns and flying buttresses. These features appear to be precursors of the Gothic architecture which appears in Northern France a few decades later. It was the skilled use of the pointed arch and ribbed vault which made it possible to cover far more area, uninterrupted. The buttressing made it possible both to build taller buildings and to open up the intervening wall spaces for larger windows. A renowned masterpiece of Romanesque architecture, Durham Cathedral has been described as “one of the great architectural experiences of Europe.”
Monasteries
Monasticism, which started in the fourth century, was flourishing by the fifth century under the leadership of St. Benedict. Monasteries by the thousands were built all over Europe by the monks themselves. They were places of prayer, contemplation and worship. Peaceful sanctuaries, they were built as self-sufficient mini-towns with chapels, gardens, kitchens, dormitories, refectories, and guest houses. They had a secondary function as hospitals, libraries, worship centers, and schools, making a significant contribution to the economic, architectural, and cultural preservation of Western Europe for well over a thousand years.
Gothic architecture
Spanning from about 1150 through 1400, these structures can be thought of in terms of a “skeleton” system. A synthesis of pillars, buttresses, and ribbed vaults combine to balance out the vertical and horizontal forces and thus a self-supported skeleton. The walls lose their bearing function and therefore only act as screens to keep out the elements. Soon the masonry walls, which were formerly canvases for artists, will be replaced with beautifully-crafted stained glass windows, the hallmark of Gothic architecture. Like the mosaics of the Byzantine era and the frescos of the Romanesque, the stained glass of the Gothic depict Biblical scenes with incredible precision and grace.
The goal of these new super structures was to transport the believer from the earthly realm of the physical to the transcendent world of Heaven. They symbolized the process of redemption and the afterlife. In their attempt to glorify God, this new generation of builders would push many of the limits of their new style beyond anything yet attempted, leaving behind towering legacies. The breadth of the vaults and their height would surpass all previous achievements and bring the worshiper one step closer to that transcendent experience.
Notre-Dame Cathedral
Construction started in 1163 and would not be fully completed for another 180 years, something hard to imagine by today’s standards. It measures a staggering 427 feet long by 157 feet wide. Two massive Gothic towers crown the western facade, which is divided into three levels. The main doors are adorned with early Gothic carvings and surmounted by a row of sculptures of Old Testament kings. The two towers are 223 feet high. At the cathedral's east end, the apse has large clerestory windows added between 1235 and 1270 and supported by massive flying buttresses, which are especially notable for their boldness and grace. The cathedral's three great rose windows to the west, north, and south retain their 13th-century glass. An important innovation at Paris was the combination of triangular ribs and transverse arches. The result of this technique was to further open the interior of the cathedral without the visual interruption of supporting columns. This innovation is impressive to view even by contemporary standards.
Chartres Cathedral
Chartres Cathedral is said to contain one of the most complete collections of medieval stained glass in the world. Like the sculptures, the stained glass was intended to be educational. The five windows of the choir tell the story of the Virgin Mary. The rose window in the north transept portrays images of the Old Testament. The south transept, which is representative of the New Testament, has a rose window depicting the Apocalypse. Three beautiful rose windows over the three portals depict Christ’s second coming, Mary enthroned with Christ, and Mary as the instrument of God.
Canterbury Cathedral
Archbishop Anselm of Canterbury is credited with the Romanesque architecture and art that survives today at Canterbury. In 1130 he built the huge crypt beneath the east end and an extensive choir with ambulatory. A common Romanesque feature, the crypt is a stone chamber or vault, usually beneath the floor of a church, used as a chapel or burial vault. The ambulatory is the covered passage way around the east end of a cathedral extending behind the high altar. There are often chapels lined up along the ambulatory. The medieval stained glass windows at Canterbury are among the earliest and finest in the world. The oldest window dates 1180 A.D., and many more continued to be added throughout the Middle Ages.
The Gothic era marks a high point in architectural innovations, producing what was then the first international style. It launched a building explosion throughout Europe, driven by the idea of a Heavenly Jerusalem found in the book of Revelations. The murals of the Romanesque style were replaced with an upward thrust and a heavenly light. The artist was replaced by the master mason and sculptor.
Salisbury Cathedral
Salisbury Cathedral rises 404 feet, making it the tallest medieval structure in the world. The chapter house is notable for its octagonal shape, slender central pillar, and decorative medieval frieze (wide central walkway). The frieze circles the interior above the stalls and depicts scenes and stories from the books of Genesis and Exodus, including Adam and Eve, Noah, the Tower of Babel, and Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The chapter house also displays the best-preserved of the four surviving original copies of the Magna Carta.
Saint Chapelle
The stained glass windows at Sainte-Chapelle each rise over forty feet in height and cover over 1,100 Biblical stories in all. This was the Gothic era, a time where popes, architects, builders, and masons stretched the limits of their talents to see a tiny piece of heaven manifest before the eyes of those who came to worship. And while many religious sites have lost their ability to move the viewer, the Gothic cathedrals of the Middle Ages still retain the power and wonder they once held. More significantly, they still retain the promise of that Heavenly place mankind still longs for.
The Renaissance
By the end of the fourteenth century, the impressiveness of gothic architecture began to wear off in Europe as it was coming out of the Middle Ages and into a new era. And so it was that the architects began to change with the times too, as they sought a new religious expression in their work. As they began to revive the ideas of Greek and Roman architecture, artists and architects worked hand-in-hand once again. It was the dawn of a movement that started around 1400 and would last 200 years. It was a return to classical ideas and it would usher in an “age of awakening” in Italy and northern Europe. This period is known as the Renaissance, which means "born anew" in Italian.
Cathedral of Santa Maria Del Fiore
It began in 1296. The Florentines built the crossing of the building to such inconceivably large proportions (141 feet) that 120 years later, the building was still unfinished because no one could quite figure out how to build the huge dome. Brunelleschi solved the problem by inventing a new type of dome which is conical and high rather than hemispheric. It has eight sides and white ribs on the outside of the dome to call attention to their proportions. The Duomo, as it is called, can be seen from all over the city, dominating the skyline with its heavenly presence. The innovative design, with its eight sides draws attention to its mathematical proportions and symmetry; in fact, the cathedral is perhaps the best example of the Renaissance architectural principle of symmetry.
St. Peter’s Basilica
After one hundred and twenty years of construction, overseen by twenty-two popes and fourteen architects, the church was dedicated by Pope Urban VIII in 1626. Ever since then, this church has been the center of the Roman Catholic faith: The Vatican. The basilica is truly impressive, measuring almost 800 feet in length. It contains over 430 statues and 10 domes. The central dome, designed by Michelangelo, is the largest dome in the world, measuring 138 feet in diameter and reaching more than 390 feet in height. It is buttressed by the apses and supported internally by four massive piers 60 feet thick. Despite its immense size, the structure is a stunning achievement in unity, symmetry and unspeakable beauty.
St. Paul’s Cathedral
St Paul's is built in the shape of a cross, with the dome crowning the intersection of the arms. The conical dome is one of the largest in the world, standing 365 feet high. The monochrome frescoes inside the dome feature stunning scenes from the life of St Paul. It is impressive in size, measuring 479 feet in length and containing nearly three hundred monuments. Between the arches of the inner dome are mosaics of prophets and saints. Brilliant decoration abounds, and in a symmetry that is nearly overwhelming. The ceiling above the choir and presbytery has coffered barrel vaults and some of the most elaborately decorated ribbed vaults in the world. The exterior facade is flanked by two huge towers and a double row of Corinthian columns capped with a bas-relief illustrating the conversion of St. Paul.
The story of Christian architecture is the story of large communities of devout believers uniting in glorifying God and serving others, by providing the best places of worship imaginable. Unlike the temples of Egypt, Greece, Rome, and the Americas, these structures were not built with slave labor, rather they were the collaboration of those who understood their faith as service and dedication to God and others. This article provides just a tiny sample of some of their accomplishments and leaves unrecognized the hundreds of thousands of believers who dedicated their entire existence to cutting rock and carving stone in the service of God. They leave with us the undeniable fact that the greatest structures in human history were built under the Christian influence.