sentence-transformers/squad huggingface dataset:
Passage: Suger, friend and confidant of the French Kings, Louis VI and Louis VII, decided in about 1137, to rebuild the great Church of Saint-Denis, attached to an abbey which was also a royal residence. He began with the West Front, reconstructing the original Carolingian façade with its single door. He designed the façade of Saint-Denis to be an echo of the Roman Arch of Constantine with its three-part division and three large portals to ease the problem of congestion. The rose window is the earliest-known example above the West portal in France. The façade combines both round arches and pointed arches of the Gothic style.

Question: Who chose to rebuild the great Church of Saint-Denis in about 1137?

Question: Which portion the cathedral was the reconstruction of the great Church of Saint-Denis begun?

Question: The facade of Saint Denis resembled what other well known structure?

Question: Why were three large portal used in the construction of the Roman Arch of Constantine?

Question: The facade of Saint Denis combines round arches with what other style arch?
Passage: At the completion of the west front in 1140, Abbot Suger moved on to the reconstruction of the eastern end, leaving the Carolingian nave in use. He designed a choir that would be suffused with light. To achieve his aims, his masons drew on the several new features which evolved or had been introduced to Romanesque architecture, the pointed arch, the ribbed vault, the ambulatory with radiating chapels, the clustered columns supporting ribs springing in different directions and the flying buttresses which enabled the insertion of large clerestory windows.

Question: When was the west front of Saint Denis completed?

Question: What portion of the reconstruction of Saint Denis was begun after the completion of the west front?

Question: What style of nave was left unaltered during this portion of the reconstruction of Saint Denis?

Question: What style of columns did Abbott Suger use when reconstructing Saint Denis?

Question: What design element allowed the use of large clerestory windows?
Passage: While many secular buildings exist from the Late Middle Ages, it is in the buildings of cathedrals and great churches that Gothic architecture displays its pertinent structures and characteristics to the fullest advantage. A Gothic cathedral or abbey was, prior to the 20th century, generally the landmark building in its town, rising high above all the domestic structures and often surmounted by one or more towers and pinnacles and perhaps tall spires. These cathedrals were the skyscrapers of that day and would have been the largest buildings by far that Europeans would ever have seen. It is in the architecture of these Gothic churches that a unique combination of existing technologies established the emergence of a new building style. Those technologies were the ogival or pointed arch, the ribbed vault, and the buttress.

Question: What type of buildings most prominently display the design aspects of the Gothic architectural style?

Question: Prior to the 20th century, a Gothic cathedral was considered to be what type of building in the town in which it was constructed?

Question: What is another name for the pointed arch?

Question: What is an example of architectural technology that is seen in Gothic construction?

Question: What is another example of architectural technology that is seen in Gothic construction?
Passage: The eastern arm shows considerable diversity. In England it is generally long and may have two distinct sections, both choir and presbytery. It is often square ended or has a projecting Lady Chapel, dedicated to the Virgin Mary. In France the eastern end is often polygonal and surrounded by a walkway called an ambulatory and sometimes a ring of chapels called a "chevet". While German churches are often similar to those of France, in Italy, the eastern projection beyond the transept is usually just a shallow apsidal chapel containing the sanctuary, as at Florence Cathedral.

Question: In England, which arm would generally show two distinct sections, choir and presbytery?

Question: Who is a projecting Lady Chapel dedicated to?

Question: What shape does the eastern end often exhibit in France?

Question: What is the ring of chapels found in the eastern end of French chapels known as?

Question: In Italy, the eastern projection beyond the transept often contains what?
Passage: Contrary to the diffusionist theory, it appears that there was simultaneously a structural evolution towards the pointed arch, for the purpose of vaulting spaces of irregular plan, or to bring transverse vaults to the same height as diagonal vaults. This latter occurs at Durham Cathedral in the nave aisles in 1093. Pointed arches also occur extensively in Romanesque decorative blind arcading, where semi-circular arches overlap each other in a simple decorative pattern, and the points are accidental to the design.

Question: The use of the pointed arch for bringing transverse vaults to the same height diagonal ones, is in disagreement with what theory?

Question: At which cathedral is the pointed arch used to match the heights of transverse and diagonal vaults?

Question: In what type of decorative blind arcading are pointed arches common?

Question: When semicircular arches overlap each other, what type of design is accidentally created?
Passage: The Gothic vault, unlike the semi-circular vault of Roman and Romanesque buildings, can be used to roof rectangular and irregularly shaped plans such as trapezoids. The other structural advantage is that the pointed arch channels the weight onto the bearing piers or columns at a steep angle. This enabled architects to raise vaults much higher than was possible in Romanesque architecture. While, structurally, use of the pointed arch gave a greater flexibility to architectural form, it also gave Gothic architecture a very different and more vertical visual character than Romanesque.

Question: Which type of vault can be used for rectangular and trapezoidal shaped roofs?

Question: What structural benefit is offered by the Gothic vault?

Question: What can architects raise much higher using the Gothic versus the Romanesque variety?

Question: What type of visual character is achieved by using the pointed arch?
Passage: Externally, towers and spires are characteristic of Gothic churches both great and small, the number and positioning being one of the greatest variables in Gothic architecture. In Italy, the tower, if present, is almost always detached from the building, as at Florence Cathedral, and is often from an earlier structure. In France and Spain, two towers on the front is the norm. In England, Germany and Scandinavia this is often the arrangement, but an English cathedral may also be surmounted by an enormous tower at the crossing. Smaller churches usually have just one tower, but this may also be the case at larger buildings, such as Salisbury Cathedral or Ulm Minster, which has the tallest spire in the world, slightly exceeding that of Lincoln Cathedral, the tallest which was actually completed during the medieval period, at 160 metres (520 ft).

Question: What is one feature of both large and small Gothic churches?

Question: What is another feature of both large and small Gothic churches?

Question: How many towers are typical on the front of Gothic churches in France and Spain?

Question: In what country is the tower often found detached from the main building?

Question: How many towers are found at the Salisbury Chapel?
Passage: On the exterior, the verticality is emphasised in a major way by the towers and spires and in a lesser way by strongly projecting vertical buttresses, by narrow half-columns called attached shafts which often pass through several storeys of the building, by long narrow windows, vertical mouldings around doors and figurative sculpture which emphasises the vertical and is often attenuated. The roofline, gable ends, buttresses and other parts of the building are often terminated by small pinnacles, Milan Cathedral being an extreme example in the use of this form of decoration.

Question: What enhances the vertical look of the exterior of Gothic construction?

Question: What is one design element of Gothic construction that is often terminated by small pinnacles?

Question: What is another design element of Gothic construction that is often terminated by small pinnacles?

Question: Which cathedral demonstrates a drastic example of termination with small pinnacles?

Question: What other part of Gothic buildings are often found terminated with small pinnacles?
Passage: On the interior of the building attached shafts often sweep unbroken from floor to ceiling and meet the ribs of the vault, like a tall tree spreading into branches. The verticals are generally repeated in the treatment of the windows and wall surfaces. In many Gothic churches, particularly in France, and in the Perpendicular period of English Gothic architecture, the treatment of vertical elements in gallery and window tracery creates a strongly unifying feature that counteracts the horizontal divisions of the interior structure.

Question: What is often found sweeping unbroken from floor to ceiling on the interior of Gothic buildings?

Question: Where are the verticals found repeated in the interior of Gothic buildings?

Question: What sort of feature is created by the use of vertical elements in gallery and window tracery?

Question: What does the use of vertical elements help to counteract?
Passage: Expansive interior light has been a feature of Gothic cathedrals since the first structure was opened. The metaphysics of light in the Middle Ages led to clerical belief in its divinity and the importance of its display in holy settings. Much of this belief was based on the writings of Pseudo-Dionysius, a sixth-century mystic whose book, The Celestial Hierarchy, was popular among monks in France. Pseudo-Dionysius held that all light, even light reflected from metals or streamed through windows, was divine. To promote such faith, the abbot in charge of the Saint-Denis church on the north edge of Paris, the Abbot Suger, encouraged architects remodeling the building to make the interior as bright as possible.

Question: Who encouraged cathedral architects to allow as much light as possible into the building?

Question: Who held the belief that all light, including light reflected from walls and surfaces was divine?

Question: What sort of light has always been characteristic of Gothic cathedrals?

Question: What book became popular with monks in France and had an effect on how light was used in cathedrals?

Question: Whose writings led to the clerical belief in the divinity of light?
Passage: Above the main portal there is generally a large window, like that at York Minster, or a group of windows such as those at Ripon Cathedral. In France there is generally a rose window like that at Reims Cathedral. Rose windows are also often found in the façades of churches of Spain and Italy, but are rarer elsewhere and are not found on the façades of any English Cathedrals. The gable is usually richly decorated with arcading or sculpture or, in the case of Italy, may be decorated with the rest of the façade, with polychrome marble and mosaic, as at Orvieto Cathedral.

Question: What size of window is found above the main portal at York Minster?

Question: What type of window is often found above the main portal at cathedrals in France such as the Reims Cathedral?

Question: Where are rose windows never found in the facades of cathedrals?

Question: What portion of Gothic buildings are usually richly decorated with arcading or sculpture?

Question: Which Italian cathedral displays polychrome marble and mosaic on the gable?
Passage: The distinctive characteristic of French cathedrals, and those in Germany and Belgium that were strongly influenced by them, is their height and their impression of verticality. Each French cathedral tends to be stylistically unified in appearance when compared with an English cathedral where there is great diversity in almost every building. They are compact, with slight or no projection of the transepts and subsidiary chapels. The west fronts are highly consistent, having three portals surmounted by a rose window, and two large towers. Sometimes there are additional towers on the transept ends. The east end is polygonal with ambulatory and sometimes a chevette of radiating chapels. In the south of France, many of the major churches are without transepts and some are without aisles.

Question: What is the distinguiushing visual design feature of French cathedrals?

Question: How many portals are typically found on the west front of French cathedrals?

Question: How many towers are typically found on the west front of French cathedrals?

Question: What shape does the east end of French chapels typically have?

Question: What do many major churches in Southern France often lack?
Passage: The distinctive characteristic of English cathedrals is their extreme length, and their internal emphasis upon the horizontal, which may be emphasised visually as much or more than the vertical lines. Each English cathedral (with the exception of Salisbury) has an extraordinary degree of stylistic diversity, when compared with most French, German and Italian cathedrals. It is not unusual for every part of the building to have been built in a different century and in a different style, with no attempt at creating a stylistic unity. Unlike French cathedrals, English cathedrals sprawl across their sites, with double transepts projecting strongly and Lady Chapels tacked on at a later date, such as at Westminster Abbey. In the west front, the doors are not as significant as in France, the usual congregational entrance being through a side porch. The West window is very large and never a rose, which are reserved for the transept gables. The west front may have two towers like a French Cathedral, or none. There is nearly always a tower at the crossing and it may be very large and surmounted by a spire. The distinctive English east end is square, but it may take a completely different form. Both internally and externally, the stonework is often richly decorated with carvings, particularly the capitals.

Question: What is the unique design feature of English cathedrals?

Question: What type of transepts do English cathedrals often feature?

Question: What size of window is typically featured on the west end of English cathedrals?

Question: Where are rose windows used on English cathedrals?

Question: On English cathedrals, where is a tower almost always found?
Passage: Romanesque architecture in Germany, Poland, the Czech Lands and Austria is characterised by its massive and modular nature. This is expressed in the Gothic architecture of Central Europe in the huge size of the towers and spires, often projected, but not always completed. The west front generally follows the French formula, but the towers are very much taller and, if complete, are surmounted by enormous openwork spires that are a regional feature. Because of the size of the towers, the section of the façade between them may appear narrow and compressed. The eastern end follows the French form. The distinctive character of the interior of German Gothic cathedrals is their breadth and openness. This is the case even when, as at Cologne, they have been modelled upon a French cathedral. German cathedrals, like the French, tend not to have strongly projecting transepts. There are also many hall churches (Hallenkirchen) without clerestory windows.

Question: In Germany, Poland and Austria Romanesque architecture is defined by its massive size and what other design element?

Question: What design style does Romanesque architecture in Germany, Poland, and Austria normally follow?

Question: What does the eastern end of German Romanesque cathedrals typically emulate?

Question: What is the distinguishing design element in German Gothic cathedrals?

Question: What are hall churches in German cathedrals known as?
Passage: The distinctive characteristic of Gothic cathedrals of the Iberian Peninsula is their spatial complexity, with many areas of different shapes leading from each other. They are comparatively wide, and often have very tall arcades surmounted by low clerestories, giving a similar spacious appearance to the 'Hallenkirche of Germany, as at the Church of the Batalha Monastery in Portugal. Many of the cathedrals are completely surrounded by chapels. Like English cathedrals, each is often stylistically diverse. This expresses itself both in the addition of chapels and in the application of decorative details drawn from different sources. Among the influences on both decoration and form are Islamic architecture and, towards the end of the period, Renaissance details combined with the Gothic in a distinctive manner. The West front, as at Leon Cathedral, typically resembles a French west front, but wider in proportion to height and often with greater diversity of detail and a combination of intricate ornament with broad plain surfaces. At Burgos Cathedral there are spires of German style. The roofline often has pierced parapets with comparatively few pinnacles. There are often towers and domes of a great variety of shapes and structural invention rising above the roof.

Question: What is the distinctive design element of Gothic cathedrals of the Iberian Peninsula?

Question: What size are the arcades of Gothic cathedrals of the Iberian Peninsula?

Question: What type of architecture is a prominent influence on the design and form of Gothic cathedrals from the Iberian Peninsula?

Question: What type of West front does the Leon Cathedral resemble?

Question: What style are the spires at Burgos Cathedral?
Passage: The distinctive characteristic of Italian Gothic is the use of polychrome decoration, both externally as marble veneer on the brick façade and also internally where the arches are often made of alternating black and white segments, and where the columns may be painted red, the walls decorated with frescoes and the apse with mosaic. The plan is usually regular and symmetrical, Italian cathedrals have few and widely spaced columns. The proportions are generally mathematically equilibrated, based on the square and the concept of "armonìa", and except in Venice where they loved flamboyant arches, the arches are almost always equilateral. Colours and moldings define the architectural units rather than blending them. Italian cathedral façades are often polychrome and may include mosaics in the lunettes over the doors. The façades have projecting open porches and occular or wheel windows rather than roses, and do not usually have a tower. The crossing is usually surmounted by a dome. There is often a free-standing tower and baptistry. The eastern end usually has an apse of comparatively low projection. The windows are not as large as in northern Europe and, although stained glass windows are often found, the favourite narrative medium for the interior is the fresco.

Question: What is the unique characteristic of Italian Gothic design?

Question: What color are the columns of Italian Gothic cathedrals often painted?

Question: What type of arches do they love to use in Venice?

Question: Instead of rose windows, what type of windows do Italian cathedral facades usually feature?

Question: What is the preferred narrative medium for the interior of Italian cathedrals?
Passage: The Palais des Papes in Avignon is the best complete large royal palace, alongside the Royal palace of Olite, built during the 13th and 14th centuries for the kings of Navarre. The Malbork Castle built for the master of the Teutonic order is an example of Brick Gothic architecture. Partial survivals of former royal residences include the Doge's Palace of Venice, the Palau de la Generalitat in Barcelona, built in the 15th century for the kings of Aragon, or the famous Conciergerie, former palace of the kings of France, in Paris.

Question: Who was the Royal palace of Olite built for?

Question: Who was the Malbork Castle built for?

Question: What type of Gothic architecture is the Malbork Castle an example of?

Question: What is the name of the royal residence built for the kings of France in Paris?

Question: When was the Palau de la Generalitat in Barcelona constructed?
Passage: Secular Gothic architecture can also be found in a number of public buildings such as town halls, universities, markets or hospitals. The Gdańsk, Wrocław and Stralsund town halls are remarkable examples of northern Brick Gothic built in the late 14th centuries. The Belfry of Bruges or Brussels Town Hall, built during the 15th century, are associated to the increasing wealth and power of the bourgeoisie in the late Middle Ages; by the 15th century, the traders of the trade cities of Burgundy had acquired such wealth and influence that they could afford to express their power by funding lavishly decorated buildings of vast proportions. This kind of expressions of secular and economic power are also found in other late mediaeval commercial cities, including the Llotja de la Seda of Valencia, Spain, a purpose built silk exchange dating from the 15th century, in the partial remains of Westminster Hall in the Houses of Parliament in London, or the Palazzo Pubblico in Siena, Italy, a 13th-century town hall built to host the offices of the then prosperous republic of Siena. Other Italian cities such as Florence (Palazzo Vecchio), Mantua or Venice also host remarkable examples of secular public architecture.

Question: What is an example of secular Northern Brick Gothic architecture from the 14th century?

Question: When was Brussels Town Hall built?

Question: What is the name of the secular building in Spain which was constructed for the purpose of silk exchange?

Question: What is the name of the 13th-century town hall constructed to host the offices of the republic of Siena?

Question: Impressive public secular architecture can also be found in what other Italian city?
Passage: By the late Middle Ages university towns had grown in wealth and importance as well, and this was reflected in the buildings of some of Europe's ancient universities. Particularly remarkable examples still standing nowadays include the Collegio di Spagna in the University of Bologna, built during the 14th and 15th centuries; the Collegium Carolinum of the University of Prague in Bohemia; the Escuelas mayores of the University of Salamanca in Spain; the chapel of King's College, Cambridge; or the Collegium Maius of the Jagiellonian University in Kraków, Poland.

Question: In what era had university towns grown in wealth and importance?

Question: What is the name of the university building in Bologna, built in the 14th and 15th centuries?

Question: What is the name of the building at University of Prague in Bohemia?

Question: What is the name of the secular building at the University of Salamanca in Spain?

Question: What is the name of the secular building at the Jagiellonian University in Kraków, Poland?
Passage: Other cities with a concentration of secular Gothic include Bruges and Siena. Most surviving small secular buildings are relatively plain and straightforward; most windows are flat-topped with mullions, with pointed arches and vaulted ceilings often only found at a few focal points. The country-houses of the nobility were slow to abandon the appearance of being a castle, even in parts of Europe, like England, where defence had ceased to be a real concern. The living and working parts of many monastic buildings survive, for example at Mont Saint-Michel.

Question: What is one city with an accumulation of secular Gothic structures?

Question: What is another city with an accumulation of secular Gothic structures?

Question: What style are most windows on secular Gothic structures?

Question: Where are pointed arches and vaulted ceilings found on most secular Gothic structures?

Question: What is the name of the surviving monastic building in England?