Posts Tagged ‘Architecture’

Katedra Oliwska – Gdańsk

Katedra Oliwa is located in the city of Gdańsk, in the Oliwa district of the city. On July 2, 1186, Sambor I Gdański, Prince of Pomerania, founded a Cistercian Monastery and the history of the Cathedral began.

The cathedral is 17.7m high, 19m wide and 107m long which making it the longest Cistercian church in the world. It holds works of art in the Renaissance, Baroque, Rococo and Classical style. The church contains 23 altars in the Baroque and Rococo style.

The church was consecrated 14 August 1594. On July, 8 1976, the church was raised to the dignity of a minor basilica by Pope Paul VI. On March,25 1992, Pope John Paul II established the Archdiocese of Gdańsk with the seat in Oliwa and raised the basilica to Archcathedral status.

1. Entrance sign at the side of the Cathedral.

2. Side entrance to the Cathedral.

3. Front entrance to Cathedral.

4. Organ

5. Great organ. The organ is from the Rococo period and was made between 1763 – 1788.

6. Angels on the great organ.

7. Close up of angel with golden trumpet.

8. Stained glass window in the center of the organ.

9.  Cherub detail on organ.

10. Organ front panel.

11. Organ pipes.

12. Tombstone in the wall of the church. There are many of these along the walls and built into the floor of the Cathedral.

13. Close-up detail of the tombstone in the previous picture.

14. Another wall tombstone.

15. Close-up of tombstone crest.

16. Close-up of inscription on the tombstone.

17. Oliwa Cathedral pew seats.

18. Altar are.

19. Close-up of altar area.

20. Mściwoj’s tomb – Prince of Pomerania d. 1294.

21. Close up of Mściwoj’s tomb.

22. Prayer area.

23. Art along the wall of the Cathedral.

24. Close-up of Latin inscription.

25. Beautiful art.

26. Door inside the Cathedral behind main altar area.

27. Altar area of Oliwa Cathedral.

28. Angel’s heads in the ceiling of Oliwa Cathedral.

29. Stained glass window of Oliwa Cathedral.

30. Altar painting.

31. Stars on the ceiling of Oliwa Cathedral.

32.  More beautiful artwork.

33. Another organ in Oliwa.

34. Area to the right side of the altar.

35. Altar area expanded.

36.  Latin inscription.

37. Painting of Mary along walls of Oliwa above the pews.

38. Painting of monk along the walls above the pews.

39. Another prayer area.

40. Side chapel entrance.

41. Side chapel.

42. Ceiling of chapel.

43. Side chapel – altar area.

44. Close-up of chapel ceiling.

45. Beautiful tomb inside Oliwa.

46. Close-up of 16th century tomb.

47. Close-up of paneling of 16th century tomb.

48. One side of the tomb’s inscription.

49. Other side of inscription of tomb.

50. Front of Oliwa.

51. Courtyard of Oliwa Cathedral.

29 Aug 2010
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Bielsko-Biała – Katedra św. Mikołaja/Zamek książąt Sułkowskich

Bielsko-Biała is a city in southern Poland located 1 hour south of Katowice and approximately 1 and 1/2 hours south-west of Kraków. Bielsko-Biała is composed of two former cities on opposite banks of the Biała River, Bielsko and Biała. Bielsko-Biała is one of the most important cities of the Beskidy region.

A fortified settlement was discovered in the 1930’s in Stare Bielsko (Old Bielsko). The settlement was dated to the 12th – 14th centuries. The current center of the town was probably developed as early as the first half of the 13th century. At that time a castle, Zamek Sułkowskich,(which still survives today – and is shown in these pictures) was built on a hill. In the second half of the 13th century, the Piast Dukes of Opole invited German settlers to land between Silesia and Lesser Poland in order to colonize the Silesian Beskidy. The town was first documented in 1312 when a Duke of Cieszyn granted a town charter. From 1457 the Biała River was the border between Silesia (within the Holy Roman Empire) and Lesser Poland.

During the First Partition of Poland in 1772, Biała was annexed by Austria and included in the crown land of Galicia. In 1918 both cities became part of a reconstituted Polish state, with the majority of the population being ethnic German.

During World War II the city was annexed by Nazi Germany and its Jewish population was sent to Auschwitz. After the liberation of the city by the Red Army in 1945, the ethnic German population was expelled westward.

The city of Bielsko-Biała was created on 1 January 1951 when the cities of Bielsko and Biała were unified.

1 Zamku Sułkowskich (Sułkowski Castle).

2 Street view from the castle.

3 Various street views.

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5 Cobblestone alleys – many streets around the castle are cobblestone since they are part of the Stare Miasto/Starówka (Old City).

6 Side view from the castle.

7 Polish Poczta (post office) and Theatre.

8 Theatre.

9 Poczta.

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12 The castle at night.

13 Armour room.

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19 Gorgeous medieval art in this museum

20 Unknown sculptor – Madonna and Child, 15th/16th century.

21 Unknown German painter – St, Ann with Virgin and Child, 15th century.

22 Unknown sculptor – The Holy Family, 15th/16th century.

23 Unknown German or Silesian sculptor – Madonna and Bird,14th century.

24 Sculptor, Marcin Czarnego (? – 1509) – Archangel Michael, culmination triptych of Łękawica, 1510 – 1530.

25 Sculptor, Marcin Czarnego (? – 1509) – Chrystus Bolesny (Pained Christ), side of Św.Bartłomiej wing of the Łękawica triptych.

26 Antwerp Guild of St. Lukas – triptych of the prostate pastors, 15th/16th century.

27 Unknown sculptor – Our Lady of the Mantle, 16th century.

28 Close up of sculpture; beautiful detail.

29 Unknown sculptor – from the Mary Virgin and Child Group, 15th century.

30 Close up of upper part of Antwerp triptych.

31 More detail from the Antwerp triptych.

32 View of the theatre from inside the castle museum.

33 Miniature of the castle from the and outlying areas during the 14th century.

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37 Castle in the 15th century.

38 Medieval pottery.

39 Coins.

40 The medieval city walls and the western elevation of the oldest building of the castle.

41 Medieval walls being excavated within the castle.

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44 Castle approximately around 1600.

45 Medieval and Renaissance walls excavated.

46 The oldest element of what is now a brick castle was a medieval fortified wall surrounding the city built during the first half of the 14th century.

In the 15th and the beginning of the 16th century, the walls were demolished and on their foundations, new, thinner walls were built.

Simultaneously with the construction of a new wall, a stone tower was built positioned perpendicular to the former defense wall in the southeastern part of the castle.

In the northern facade of the castle, a stone keyhole for shooting was set.

During the second half of the 16th century and the beginning of the 17th century, a communication passage was built leading from the courtyard to the castle garden. At this period comes the structure probably representing the foundation stone stairs to the garden wing and the stone drainage channeling water from the site of the castle courtyard.

47 Standing on a glass floor above the medieval walls.

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50 The arrangement of the layers of the castle between the 13th – 17th centuries.

51 Looking down at the Medieval walls.

52 Front view of Św. Mikołaja (St. Nicholas).

53 I tried to capture the Cathedral as close as possible – it was a bit tricky, but the detail of the church is lovely.

54 View of the Cathedral from a side alley.

55 Side view of Katedra św. Mikołaja

56 View of the entrance during Mass.

57 Standing in the front entrance after the Mass has finished.

58 Closer view of the door detail.

59 Statue inside.

60 Beautiful Cathedral interior.

61 Organ.

Front view.

28 Aug 2010
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Medieval Hall in Wales to be preserved, turned into holiday home

A medieval hall house is set to become a holiday rental home, after funding was provided to restore the property. The National Heritage Memorial Fund (NHMF) and Cadw, the Welsh government agency in charge of preserving the heritage of Wales, jointly announced equal grants of £335,000 that will allow the Landmark Trust to proceed in securing Llwyn Celyn, a grade I listed, single aisled medieval hall house, considered the most significant inhabited building ‘at risk’ in Wales.

Located in the Llanthony Valley, within the Brecon Beacons National Park, Llwyn Celyn is a rare survival thought to date from around 1480. It serves as a textbook example of the development of the British manor house, representing all key developments in British domestic architecture between the 15th and 18th centuries within its walls. These grants from NHMF and Cadw will now enable the Landmark Trust to continue its negotiations to acquire, restore and preserve Llwyn Celyn, its farmstead and surrounding land for future generations to enjoy.

Carole Souter, Chief Executive of the NHMF, said, “This is fantastic news. Llwyn Celyn is exactly the kind of rare heritage treasure the National Heritage Memorial Fund was set up to save when it was founded 30 years ago. It offers an amazing insight into the way our homes – great and small – have developed over the centuries. This grant will enable the Landmark Trust to progress its plans to ensure this wonderful building has a sustainable future.”

Once purchased, the Landmark Trust will begin fundraising to enable restoration. When complete, the house will be made financially sustainable by being available for rent as holiday accommodation. Peter Pearce, Director of the Landmark Trust, commented, “We are absolutely delighted. These grants from the National Heritage Memorial Fund and Cadw are crucial in enabling us to safeguard this outstanding piece of Welsh and British heritage – without it, there is a real chance this rare building will be lost forever. The importance of Llwyn Celyn in helping us understand the development of high status Welsh houses more fully cannot be understated.”

The Landmark Trust is a building preservation charity founded in 1965 to rescue historic and architecturally interesting buildings and their surroundings from dereliction. Once restored, Landmark gives them new life by letting them as places to experience for holidays. Landmark promotes enjoyment of historic buildings by enabling as many people as possible to experience living in them for a short time, while also preserving their place in the landscape for all. The letting income generated from holiday bookings then pays for the future maintenance of the buildings. As a charity, Landmark relies on fundraising to carry out its restoration projects.

Today, the Landmark Trust has more than 200 buildings in its care of which 190 are available for holidays in Britain, France and Italy. For example, the Bath House in the Welsh city Caernarfon is one of the original towers of its medieval wall. It is now available as a rental property and can sleep five people. Click here for more information about the Landmark Trust.

Source: National Heritage Memorial Fund

5 Aug 2010
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Building the Medieval World

Building the Medieval World

By Christine Sciacca
J.Paul Getty Museum / British Library, 2010
ISBN: 978-1-60606-006-3

Some of the great and lasting achievements of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance are the architectural wonders of soaring cathedrals and grand castles and palaces. While many of these edifices survive, many more are lost, and it is within the pages of illuminated manuscripts that we often find the best record of the appearance of these amazing buildings. This volume, a joint publication of the J. Paul Getty Museum and the British Library, illustrates the creative ways in which medieval artists represented architecture, offering insight into what these buildings meant for medieval people. Such structures were not just made to be inhabited—they symbolized grandeur, power, and even heaven on earth.

From the author, Christine Sciacca, assistant curator in the Department of Manuscripts at the J. Paul Getty Museum: “The captivating castles and cathedrals of medieval Europe have been studied extensively, but relatively little has been said about what happened when medieval artists took it upon themselves to depict these buildings in the pages of illuminated manuscripts. These vibrant painted images not only document structures sometimes long destroyed, they also tell us a great deal about what people of the time thought about these buildings and what their greater meaning was for the individuals who lived with them every day.”

Table of Contents

Introduction: Architecture in the Medieval World

The Castle
Church Spaces
Medieval Cities, Towns and Countryside
Documenting Historical Buildings
Medieval Construction Methods
Focus: Architecture Inside and Out

Architecture in Scripture
Architecture in Medieval Literature
Saints and Their Architectural Symbols
The Virgin Mary and the Church
Focus: Architecture Takes Center Stage

Architecture in the Margins
Triumphal Arches and Niches of Honor
Framing Charts and Texts
Structural Compositions
Focus: Architecture Abstracted

Click here to see Building the Medieval World: Architecture in Illuminated Manuscripts – exhibition held in 2010 at the Getty Center

4 Aug 2010
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Women workers could be found on the medieval construction site, study finds

According to a recently published study, women could be found working on construction sites, if only occasionally, including in specialized roles such as carpenters and masons. The research is found in the article, “Appropriate to Her Sex?” Women’s Participation on the Construction Site in Medieval and Early Modern Europe,” by Shelley E. Roff.

She surveyed a wide variety of records from throughout Western Europe, including tax records, inventories of wages paid on construction sites, and municipal accounts, and discovered numerous instances of women working alongside men on construction sites as far back at the 13th century.  Most of these women were employed as day laborers, carrying out tasks such as moving water and building supplies around the sites, digging ditches and serving as assistants to bricklayers and stonemasons. For example, in the Spanish city of Seville during the 14th century, women were hired to dig trenches for the foundation of a new city wall, while at the nearby city of Toledo, one or two women were hired each day for the construction of the city’s cathedral, where they gathered lime and worked on the roof. Meanwhile in the French city of Toulouse, almost half the laborers working on the Perigord college site were women. Ross also finds several examples from England and Germany.

Roff notes that previous historians have seen many examples of women working on construction sites in their research, but they had believed that these were just abnormal exceptions caused by economic crises, or because the male population had been killed off through war or disease. But her new study suggests that women construction workers were more than just odd occurences. She explains that “the expansion of urban centers starting in the thirteenth century set off a trend of increasing female employment for day laborers and in the crafts, which only began to contract on occasion for women working in the crafts in the sixteenth century with ensuing economic crises.”

She also notes that in almost all accounts surveyed, the women were paid at a lower rate than the men, which would make the “a cost-effective solution” for site supervisors looking for ways to reduce expenses. The women who took these jobs would have come from society’s poor – those women who could not maintain their households and families just from their husbands’ (if they had one) income.

Roff also finds records showing women taking part in specialized building trades. In London in 1383, Katherine Lightfoot is recorded as the supplier of 2,000 painted tiles for bath in the King’s palace. Meanwhile, tax records from Paris during the years 1296 and 1313 reveal the existence of two female masons, a tiler and a plasterer. These women were not poorer individuals, rather they were the wives of male craftsman, and in some cases their widows. The 15th-century French writer Christine de Pizan noted in her book The Treasury of the City of Ladies that craftswomen, “should learn all the shop details so that she can properly supervise the workers when her husband is away or not paying attention.”

Roff’s article, “Appropriate to Her Sex?” Women’s Participation on the Construction Site in Medieval and Early Modern Europe,” appears in Women and Wealth in Late Medieval Europe, edited by Theresa Earenfight. The book contains twelve essays that examine various issues related to women and money during the Middle Ages.

Shelley E. Ross is an associate professor at the University of Texas at San Antonio. A historian of architecture, she is currently working on a forthcoming book entitled, Treasure of the City: Building a Monumental Port in Medieval Barcelona.

26 Jul 2010
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The Pillars of the Earth mini-series

The Pillars of the Earth, an eight-hour mini-series based on the novel of the same name by Ken Follett, begins airing this month on North American television. Set in England during the 12th century, the story revolves around the building of a cathedral in the fictional market town of Kingsbridge.

Series Outline: The Pillars of the Earth begins with the public hanging of a mysterious man. About to meet his demise, he reaches out to a young pregnant woman in the crowd. As he hangs, the woman places a curse upon the three men responsible for his death: a powerful knight, a sheriff, and a young priest. This fateful event sets in motion the interconnected tales of Tom, master builder; Aliena, the noblewoman; the sadistic Lord William; Jack, the artist in stone work; and Ellen, a peculiar woman from the forest with an otherworldly background. At the heart of this grand tale lies Prior Phillip the benevolent leader of the diocese of Kingsbridge. His greatest adversary is Bishop Waleran, who threatens Phillip’s lifelong dream turned obsession of creating the most bewildering and magnificent church in England. The Prior and the Bishop become locked in an ultimate test of morals versus malice.

Series Background: Billed as the ‘epic event of the summer,’ Pillars of the Earth features a large cast including Ian McShane, Rufus Sewell, Matthew Macfadyen and Donald Sutherland in leading roles. The mini-series, which cost over $40 million (US), revolves around the building of a cathedral in the fictional town of Kingsbridge. It takes place within the larger backdrop of England during the mid-12th century, when the country suffered through a civil war during the reign of King Stephen (1135–1154) and tumultuous times of Henry II (1154–1189).

At the beginning of “Pillars,” Kingsbridge is a village, but during the course of the story it prospers, thanks to the wool trade, and grows to be a medium-sized city – by medieval standards, that is. In those days typical cities had five to ten thousand inhabitants. Kingsbridge Cathedral is fictional, though as Follett was writing the story he had two real-life cathedrals in mind: Wells and Salisbury. In its architecture the finished Kingsbridge Cathedral is like Salisbury, with rows of narrow, pointed “lancet” windows.

Ken Follett, who published his novel in 1989,  said, “For 20 years, Kingsbridge has existed only in the imagination—mine, and that of millions of readers. But today it has been built, on two huge lots on the outskirts of Budapest, Hungary. Here are the dirty medieval streets, the hovels the people live in, the bakeries and smithies and wool stores—and, of course, the half-finished cathedral.”

The author even makes an appearance on the screen, taking the role of a merchant. He adds, “People kept asking me: ‘Do you like it?’ Of course I like it. I dreamed it, and now it’s real.”

This Canadian-German project was handled by several companies, and among its executive producer’s is Ridley Scott, who directed films such as Gladiator and Kingdom of Heaven. The filming was done near Budapest, Hungary.  The series begins airing in the United States and Canada on July 23, 2010, and will also be seen in several other countries, including, the United Kingdom, Germany, France and Spain.

12 Jul 2010
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In the Syrian Taste: Crusader churches in the Latin East as architectural expressions of orthodoxy

In the Syrian Taste: Crusader churches in the Latin East as architectural expressions of orthodoxy

By Susan Balderstone

Mirabilia, Vol. 10 (2010)

Abstract: This paper explores how the architectural expression of orthodoxy in the Eastern churches was transferred to Europe before the Crusades and then reinforced through the Crusaders’ adoption of the triple-apsed east end “in the Syrian Taste” in the Holy Land. Previously, I have shown how it can be deduced from the archaeological remains of churches from the 4th-6th C that early church architecture was influenced by the theological ideas of the period. It is proposed that the Eastern orthodox approach to church architecture as adopted by the Crusaders paralleled the evolution of medieval theology in Europe and can be seen as its legitimate expression.

Click here to read/download this article (PDF file)

23 Jun 2010
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Palaces and the Street in Late-Medieval and Renaissance Italy

Palaces and the Street in Late-Medieval and Renaissance Italy

By David Friedman

Urban Landscapes: International Perspectives, edited J.Whitehead and P. Larkham (London, 1992)

Introduction: The relationship between the private house and the environment of public space in the Italian city underwent a fundamental reordering in the late Middle Ages. The catalysts were, simultaneously, the new prominence given to the street as an instrumental of spatial organization by the merchant-artisan regimes that gained control of the state in this period and the monumentalization of the private residence by builders from the class of men that formed government. Despite the fact that officials who commissioned the new streets and the men who raised palaces were sometimes the same people, the two urban types did not, at first, enjoy an untroubled relationship. The new ruling class discovered the ideal form of the street well before they were willing, as individuals, to give up some traditional privileges associated with property ownership that contradicted it. It is not until the Renaissance that street and palace – and this statement is also true for modest domestic architecture – were set into the more or less symbiotic relationship in which they continued until the twentieth century.

Click here to read/download this article (PDF file)

19 Jun 2010
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The Origin of Masons’ Marks in Romanesque Buildings in England

The Origin of Masons’ Marks in Romanesque Buildings in England

By Jennifer S. Alexander

Medieval Archaeology, Vol.51 (2007)

Abstract: Masons’ Marks can be found on stone buildings where the stone is taken to a high degree of finish, but the date of the introduction of this practice into England has yet to be established. Buildings from the Anglo-Norman Period display marks, but it is not clear whether the Normans introduced the concept or it was present in the Anglo-Saxon Period. The fabric of buildings from both sides of the Conquest, and from Roman sites, is therefore analysed to determine the date of introduction, drawing comparisons with early 11th-century buildings in Europe. Since the degree of finish of the stonework closely connects to the use of marks, the treatment of stonework in the 11th century and in the earlier Anglo-Saxon Period is considered, and comments made on the organisation of the building and stone-supply industries of the mid-11th century.

Click here to read/download this article (PDF file)

7 Jun 2010
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Future Research Directions for European Castle Studies

Future Research Directions for European Castle Studies

Session: New Directions in Castle Research

By Kieran D. O’Conor, National University of Ireland – Galway

This paper explored some thoughts on the topic of Castle Studies.

People incorrectly assume that all castles are medieval and that there is little new to learn about them. This paper endeavours to demonstrate why castle studies are important and not stagnant.

Castles were well fortified, elite residences and were the centers of their owners estates. Decisions made in castles were key in understanding the surrounding settlement. Castle architecture can help us understand political ambitions and the messages members of the elite wanted to convey. An interdisciplinary approach to Castle Studies  needs to be taken; cartography, medieval literature, poetry, and manuscripts need to be taken into account when examining castles.

The polygonal shape of castle towers (especially 8 sided) have strong religious meaning. This architecture linked castles to church structures. Churches were viewed as the place between heaven and earth thus Kings used polygonal towers to show their pretensions when building castles.

Timber Castles – these castles were built from Ireland to Poland in Medieval Europe.  Mottes were built in the 10th century and stopped being built in the 13th century but research shows that these were still being built in Poland well into the 13th and 14th centuries.  Mottes were constructed to be permanent. More work needs to be carried out on the dating and building of these timber castles.

What were castles? Not all defended residences constitute castles. It was thought that the advent of gun powder spelled the end of castles but this is not true; castles were being built well into the 17th century. Late-built castles have not been well studied and the questioned asked was, what motivated men to build castles at such a late date? Some scholars do not even consider these castles. Lastly, there is a reluctance to include the study of castles among settlement archeologists in England and some difficulty in obtaining funding for castle studies.



2 Jun 2010
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