Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Gothic Masterpieces
La Catedral
Església de Santa Maria del Mar
Església de Santa Maria del Pi
Saló del Tinell (in Museu d'Història de Barcelona)
The Drassanes (Museu Marítim)
Architectural Features
The style of architecture reflected the development of building techniques. The introduction
of buttresses, flying buttresses and ribbed vaulting in ceilings allowed engineers to raise edi-
fices that were loftier and seemingly lighter than ever before. The pointed arch became
standard and great rose windows were the source of light inside these enormous spaces.
Think about the hovels that labourers on such projects lived in and the primitive nature of
building materials available, and you get an idea of the awe such churches, once completed,
must have inspired. They were not built in a day. It took more than 160 years, a fairly typic-
al time frame, to finish La Catedral, although its facade was not erected until the 19th cen-
tury. Its rival, the Església de Santa Maria del Mar, was one for the record books, taking
only 59 years to build.
CHANGING ATTITUDES TOWARDS GOTHIC STYLES
The lofty Gothic buildings of medieval Europe inspire awe in their modern visitors. But
as early as the 16th century, when Renaissance artists and architects turned to the
clean lines of classical antiquity for inspiration, all things medieval looked crude,
rough and, well, frankly barbarian, just like the ancient Germanic tribes of Goths that
had stormed across Europe centuries before. To label something Gothic became the
ultimate insult. This attitude spread across Europe. In Barcelona, many private homes
built in Gothic style would get a baroque makeover later, but thankfully most of the
major monuments were left alone. Not until the 19th century did this extraordinary
heritage again awaken admiration, to such an extent that in some north European
countries in particular it led to a wave of Gothic revival building.
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