Gothic cathedrals

, which is one of the largest cathedrals built in Gothic style in the world. It was not finished until the 1800s.]]**Gothic cathedrals** are important examples of Gothic Architecture. Gothic architecture was a way of planning and designing buildings that began in Western Europe in the Late Middle Ages. 

Gothic architecture started out of Romanesque architecture, in France in the 1100's. The places where the architecture was made increased across Europe. But in the 1500's Renaissance architecture became more used in the Renaissance Period. The Renaissance Period took place from the 1200s to the 1600s. Before that, most cathedrals were made in Gothic styles.  

The one most special part of Gothic architecture is the pointed arch. The image on the right is an example of this arch from the inside of a late medieval Gothic cathedral. This is the most important difference from Romanesque architecture which has rounded arches. Romanesque Architecture was before the Gothic Architecture. It was used by many Catholics. 

Other features are the ribbed vault, flying buttress, and windows with designs of stone lace called tracery. Many of the great cathedrals, abbeys and churches of Europe are Gothic architecture. It is also the architecture of many castles  and palaces. It is also in some town halls, universities and houses. Most parts of this past time were made in Gothic styles. 

Many church buildings of the time have not been destroyed by time. Even some of the smallest Gothic churches are often great and big feeling.  Many of the larger Gothic churches and cathedrals are thought to be works of art that no amount of money can purchase. Many are listed in the UNESCO as World Heritage Sites. In the 19th century, the Gothic style became used again, mostly for making churches and universities. This way of planning and designing buildings is called the Gothic Revival architecture. This is because the Gothic architecture did not change but came back to being used. This is called a "Revival" because it "died" when it was not used but was used in modern times so it was "living" again.

## Name
Gothic architecture was at first called "the French Style" (''*). This way of planning and building came from France. The word "*Gothic''" was later used during the Renaissance as an insult. This is because the ancient Goths were said to the uncivilized. Goths were germanic-people said to be living near the lower Vistula river.

The Italian writer Giorgio Vasari used the word "Gothic" in the 1530s, because he thought buildings from the Middle Ages were not much planned and measured, different from Renaissance buildings or the buildings of ancient Rome. He said that, because the Goths had destroyed the classical world. Then he said this was reason to destroy the architecture of the twelfth century.  Vasari said it was ironical revenge against the goths for destroying the classical world.  After Vasari, many other people used the word "Gothic" for architecture with pointed arches. It was not much of an insult by then.

Image:Chartres cathedral.jpg|Northern France has many famous cathedrals like Chartres Cathedral.
Image:Clocher abbaye cluny 2s.jpg|Part of the ruined Abbey Church, Cluny. Many Romanesque and Gothic abbeys were planned like Cluny.
Image:Claustro catedral toledo.jpg|Almost every monastery had a sheltered "cloister", like this at Toledo Cathedral in Spain.
Image:StDenis Chorumgang.JPG|The East End of the Abbey of Saint-Denis is famous as the first truly Gothic building.

## Abbot Suger and the first Gothic building
Abbot Suger was the head of a large monastery just north of Paris in France. The monastery had a large church, the Abbey of Saint-Denis. There was also a royal palace where the French kings sometimes were in.  Abbot Suger was a close friend to two kings, Louis VI and Louis VII.

In 1127 Suger decided to make again and change the great abbey Church of Saint-Denis. He began by changing the "West Front" or facade. This side of the church was about 200 years old and had only one small door. Suger planned for three large doors like the arches on the Arch of Constantine in Rome. These large doors let in all the large amounts of people on special Holy Days. The facade also had a large round window in the middle, called a rose window. This was the first one in France.

Abbot Suger did not change the church inside the west doors where most of the regular people stood. Next, he rebuilt the eastern end. Suger wanted the east facade to make people think of Heaven. He wanted it to be very light and bright, with very big windows of beautiful glass with color. He looked at all the most modern designs, and all the clever things that other architects had done. He put all the new ideas together in one building. It was the first building that was "Gothic". It was not called Gothic at first. It was called "the French Style".

On June 11, 1144 the new East End was made for or "given to God". Other architects then used this design for other large churches and cathedrals in northern France. After Abbot Suger's death, the rest of the church was also changed to be the Gothic architecture , and got two more much larger rose windows with more design. There was one window for each side. Gothic architecture soon spread to England and through France, the Low Countries, Germany, Spain and northern Italy and Sicily.
### Composition
Most Gothic churches from the top look like a cross. This is part of the plan. The long "**nave"** makes the body of the church and, going through it, are arms are called the "**transept"**. On the other side of the *transept* is the **chancel** which is often called the **choir** because that is where the priest and the choir sing the services. The *nave* usually has a passageway or **aisle** on either side. Sometimes there are two *aisles* on each side. The *nave* is usually a lot taller than the *aisles*, and has high windows which light up the important middle space. The upper part of the building, where these windows are, is called the **clerestory** (or clear storey). (It is pronounced "clair-rest-tree")

Some Gothic churches in Germany and Austria and also Milan Cathedral (which was built in the German style) often have *nave* and *aisles* of near the same height and are called **"hallenkirke"** (hall church). The Cathedral of St. Stephen of Vienna is an example of hall church. In some churches with two aisles, like Notre Dame, Paris, the transept does not stick out beyond the aisles. In English cathedrals the *transepts* always stick out a long way and some have two transepts like at Salisbury Cathedral. It is at the eastern end that Gothic churches are the most different from each other.

#### England
In England, the eastern end is often long with two parts. It is often square or has a **"Lady Chapel"** . The "Lady Chapel" is a place to pray to the Virgin Mary.
#### France
In France, the eastern end is often polygonal and has a back hallway called an **ambulatory** for walking. Often French churches have a ring of chapels called a **chevette**. German churches are often like churches of France when the eastern ends are put in comparison.

#### Italy
In Italy, there is no long *chancel* going out beyond the transept. There is usually just a half circle shaped chapel as at Florence Cathedral. Architectural historians think that the pointed arch was also used by some European architects because it was a very strong way of making an arch.

In Gothic architecture, the pointed arch is used in every place where an arch is needed, both for strength and for decoration. Gothic openings such as doorways, windows, arcades and galleries have pointed arches. A line of arches is called an **arcade**. A line of arches that is up high on a building is a **gallery**. Rows of pointed arches were used to decorate walls. This is known as **blind arcading**.

### France
French cathedrals, and those in Germany and Belgium are often very high, both inside and outside. *The transepts* do not stick out far. The *facades* in France nearly always have three doors, a rose window and two towers. There are often *facades* with doors on the transepts as well as the front.

### England
The thing that makes English cathedrals different from the others is that they are long, and look horizontal, like big ocean liners.
English cathedrals nearly all took hundreds of years to build, and every part is built in a way that is quite different to the next part. (Only Salisbury Cathedral was not built in lots of styles.)
The West window is very large and is never a rose window. The west front may have two towers like a French Cathedral, or none. There is nearly always a tower at the middle of the building, which may have a big spire.

### Holy Roman Empire
In the territory of the Holy Roman Empire, the towers and spires are often very large even in comparison to other cathedrals. Sometimes they are so big that they could not be finished until modern times. The spires are quite different to English spires because they are made of lacy "openwork".
There are also many *hallenkirke* (or hall-churches) which have no *clerestorey* windows. The nave and the aisles are about the same height.

### Spain and Portugal
Like an English Cathedral, a Spanish or Portuguese Gothic Cathedral is often built in many different ways. They are often wide. Spanish cathedrals often have chapels all around them. The roof often has many different sorts of towers and spires. Often the central towers are polygonal.

### Italy
Italian Gothic cathedrals use lots of color, both outside and inside. On the outside, the *facade* is often partly designed with marble. On the inside, the walls are often painted plaster. The columns and arches are often decorated with bright coloured paint. There are also mosaics with gold backgrounds and beautifully tiled floors is geometric patterns.
The facades often have an open porch with a wheel windows above it. There is often a dome at the top middle of the building. The bell tower is almost never ever attached to the building, because Italy has quite a few earthquakes. The windows are not as large as in northern Europe and, although stained glass windows are often found, the favorite way of decorating the churches is fresco (wall painting).

Image:Cathedrale_de_Coutances_bordercropped.jpg|Coutances Cathedral in France looks "vertical".
Image:Interieur cathedrale de wells.JPG|Wells Cathedral in England looks "horizontal".
Image:Regensburger Dom 1.jpg|Regensburg Cathedral in Germany looks as if there it lots of space inside. 
Image:IMGP0204 - Winchester Cathedral - 20050322.jpg|Winchester Cathedral in England is very long.
Image:Barcelona Cathedral Interior - Ceiling and choir.jpg|Barcelona Cathedral in Spain is very wide. 
Image:StMariadelFiore-inner a.jpg|Florence Cathedral in Italy is colourful with brown stone columns and plaster walls painted pinkish-orange.
Image:Interno duomo Orvieto .jpg|Orvieto Cathedral in Italy has round striped columns and an open wooden roof. 
Image:Bad Doberan Münster (11) 2006-09-24.JPG|Bad Doberan Minster in Germany is in colourful brick.

## Related pages
* Baroque
* History of Europe
* Byzantine architecture
* History of Christianity
* Gothic Revival architecture

## References
### Notes
### Citations
## Works cited
al tower at Valencia Cathedral, Spain.]]
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* http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/19737, from Project Gutenberg
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## Other websites
* GothicMed. A virtual museum of Mediterranean Gothic architecture 
* Photographs of 1,700 gothic and romanesque churches