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The Romanic architecture
From the exclusively architectonic point of view the Romanesque one was a
continuous effort in constructing lasting temples with the greater possible
greatness but avoiding its possible destruction. In this persistence the Romanic
architecture followed a continuous evolutionary process of improvement and
resolution of tectonic problems in search of the height and the light. For it
the used material had fundamentally to be stone, although it did not give up to
another material as soon we see. Another ideal condition was that the temple had
to be vaulted. This was for two reasons: first by giving to greater symbolic
relevance to the building and another one more practice to avoid the fires that
the wood ceilings suffered with certain frequency. These desires took to the
Romanics architects to construct their churches with great massive stone walls
that could support the enormous weights of the vaults. The bays, although wished
by the symbolism of the light, were practiced of way littler than in gothic -
vain narrow and saeteras- because they supposed reduction of a frequently
resistance of the walls. Like secondary consequence, the interior of the
Romanics temples becomes involved in one sifted light that it invites to the
withdrawal. The system of pushes and resistances of the vaults - by means of
columns, pillars, abutments, other vaults, etc. - became the main engineery
Problem to solve and that not always took control of success as we know by
innumerable collapses produced at different times.
The temple type of the Romanic architecture:
To gross way a Romanesque temple is a oriented building of wrought stone to the
east with one or several longitudinal ships that could have crossed others (it
will be seen in the following section). Sometimes, the facade or western hastial
was preceded of narthex or vaulted waiting room monumental. The head could have
staggered apses of semicircular plant (most current) or rectangular or to even
have girola with radial chapels. On the cruise it was used to raise ciborium or
tower-lantern - of square plant or octagonal- with large windows to illuminate
the interior. Also the construction of pairs of twin towers was frequent bell
tower flanking the unique facade or towers in a flank of the temple (with
predilection by the North flank). The bell tower had many symbolic functions
beyond the mere use like sonorous instrument to summon to mass. One was a symbol
of union between God and the men and of the power of the Church. Sometimes
strength of defense in front of the enemies was also a species of tower, like in
some places from Castile to the south of the Duero. The Romanic tower used to
have several floors with large windows normally ajimezados.
Another form of bell tower is the call espadaña, flat vertical wall drilled of
bays for the bells the monumental doors or covers ornamented by means of
successive splayed archivolts that supported on columns opened normally in the
western or southern wall or both. In the most ambitious temples it could have
numerous front doors to include all the walls of the building. If the door were
very wide it placed like reinforcement a central column called parteluz or
mainel. In important temples they were used to add to statues of Biblical
personages to the columns o/y to the archivolts. Another outstanding element of
the Romanics covers is the presence of eardrums carved under the archivolts. It
is in these doors, the capitals of the inner columns and in the canecillos that
supported eaves of the tile roof where most of the monumental sculpture was
concentrated that very indissolubly accompanied the Romanic architecture by the
periods total and delayed. In the case of cathedrals and monasteries other
spaces leaned, of which most important he was cluster. One is a square space
delimited by galleries with arcades supported by columns.
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