Plan and elevation of Romanesque church

                                              Typical Romanesque architectural form

Cloister of the Baasilica di San Giovanni in Laterano, Rome

 Bell Tower of Angouleme Cathedral, Charente,SW France

Window and Lombard band of the Rotunda of San Tome, Almenno San Bartolomeo

 This is the site that the pictures came from. Check it for more photos and information. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romanesque_architecture

You are a Romanesque church builder, and you have been hired to construct a church on the pilgrimage route to Santiago de Compostela. Describe the plan and elevation of your new church. Explain how the pilgrimage function affected your building.

      We will be building a church on the pilgrimage route to Santiago de Compostela. I realize that
Jerusalem and Rome are also sacred, but traveling to these cities can be dangerous. This is often a more

popular choice for those on a pilgrimage, because it is safer, and so by choosing to build along this route

we will be able to meet the needs of a larger number of pilgrims.

     The elevation of the church will be based on the basilicas form, but with the nave higher than the side

aisles. There will be variations like masonry vaulting, ribs, buttresses, and an ambulatory. The church

that I will build will have to be large enough to accommodate the large numbers of pilgrims that we will

be expecting to visit daily. It will need to be structurally sound, and have adequate illuminations as well

as being aesthetically pleasing. I do realize that building materials will be a problem, because of the large

amount of construction that is being done. I will have to be sure I have   building supplies enough to

complete the project. I will employ some of the characteristics of Roman architecture. This will include

things like round arches, stone vaults, thick walls, and exterior relief sculptures. The load bearing walls

will be kept strong by using small windows, so the light in the church will be low. We will need to acquire

the relics of a saint that will be kept in a gold reliquary. Sacred relics are necessary for the pilgrims to be

able to fulfill their pilgrimage, and atone for their sins.

      The church will be built in a way to allow visitors without interfering with the duties of the clergy. I

believe I will modify the Latin-cross basilica for that purpose. We will extend the side aisles around the

transept and the apse will form an ambulatory. This way visitors can circulate freely leaving the monks

undisturbed access to the main altar in the choir. Radiating chapels will protrude from the main apse,

and two chapels of equal size will be added at the east side of the transept arms. There will be  arcades

built to allow pilgrims to walk around the peripheral aisles without bothering the local worshipers. We

will not have a wooden roof, but stone barrel vaults. This will lessen the chance of fire and improve

acoustics. T his will require extra support or buttressing which will counteract the lateral thrust exerted

against the wall. Transverse ribs will cross the underside of the quadrant. These will be supported by

cluster piers. These will be reinforced by four engaged half columns. Barrel or groin vaulting will

rest on piers and span large openings with few internal supports.

      I will also use architectural sculpture to help the population understand the message of the church.

We will hire artists to create images carved in relief at the entrance of the church. Since these will be

the first thing that they will see we must select an appropriate program. I would suggest either Christ in

majesty or The Last Judgment. It will conform to the iconographic convention. The portal will have a

voussoir, archivolts, tympanium, lintel, doorjamb, and trumeau.

     After it is built I would suggest using tapestries to add color and warmth to the interior of the church.

They can be hung along the aisles, and will also give a clearer message to those attending since many

are illiterate.

What features of the plan of Old St. Peter’s survive in Romanesque and Gothic Church plans. Briefly describe the structural innovations that permitted Gothic Cathedrals to achieve a feeling of “spiritual escape to another world”.

     Romanesque like Old St. Peter’s had the nave which was a long narrow central area that was used to

house the congregation. They both had a transept. It was a cross arm placed at a right angle of the nave.

It separated the apse from the nave.  The aisles were the passageways that  flanked a central area.

They both had apse which was a projecting part of the building that was semicircular, and was topped

by a half dome or a vault. The Gothic church also had a narthex. The altar in these churches was in the

east part of the church, and faced west as it was believed that Christ was crucified in the east of

Jerusalem, and that as he hung on the cross he was facing west. They were shaped like a cruciform.

     Stained glass was not only used to illuminate the church, but to give it a supernatural quality. It

transformed natural light into what Suger called mystical lux nova. Stain glass windows told stories from

the bible. They were translucent, and the colors were predominantly blues and reds. The colored glass

was cut to form a window design. It was made by mixing metallic oxide with molten glass or fusing

colored glass with clear glass. They fit the pieces to the model drawn on wood, and then details were

added in black enamel. To be able to achieve an area to place all these windows the weight of the

ribbed vault is concentrated only at the corners of the bay; the structure can be buttressed at intervals.

This frees up more space for windows. This allows also larger windows, so the light that is admitted

into the building through these stained glass windows causing the other worldly feel about the interior.