The term Romanesque ("Roman-like") was first used to designate a style of architecture that used Roman arches and had thick, heavy walls, based upon the basilica. The style is pervasive throughout Europe.

1. SUBMITTED BY :- NITIN GREWAL, SANDEEP
SINGH DALAL, NAVEEN SHARMA

2.  The term Romanesque ("Roman-like") was first used to
designate a style of architecture that used Roman arches and
had thick, heavy walls, based upon the basilica. The style is
pervasive throughout Europe.

3. Geographical Conditions
 Due to collapse of Roman Empire,
Romanesque Architecture developed in
Western Europe.
 This is the direct modification of Roman
Architecture.
 This style developed in Italy, France,
Germany, Central Europe, Spain and Britain.

4. Geological Conditions
 This style had its building materials like
stone, brick, marble, ready made columns
or other remains from ruins of roman
buildings.
 Materials were available from Italy and
France

5. Climatic Conditions
 There were huge variations in the climate of
Italy, France and England.
 Climate of north being dull, large window
openings were provided to allow sufficient
sunlight, whereas south being hot, small
windows were kept to cut off dazzling
sunlight.
 Due to less rainfall in the south part, roofs
were flat, whereas in north high pitched roofs
were provided to drain out water and snow.

6. Historical Condition
 From the fall of Roman Empire to the period
of Charlemagne, many churches were
constructed.
 He encouraged artists & craftsmen and
restored art & civilization in west Europe.
 For the next two centuries, architecture
made little progress with slight changes.

7. Romanesque churches were heavily influenced by
the Roman Basilica, but they had a few important
differences. The roof was made of stone vaults,
which were much heavier and needed more
supports. The solution was thicker walls and
piers, rather than columns alone, to support
interior spaces. This made the space inside dark,
rather gloomy, and kept the height rather low.
The exteriors were very simple, and several
geometric forms often made up the building,
rather than one large space.

8. Dark Spaces
 Romanesque churches
and castles were dark,
with few openings.
Wars and invasions
were common place, so
windows and doors
were kept to a
minimum. With stone
and masonry buildings,
buildings were safe
from fire and invaders,
but required large
supports for the weight
of walls and vaults.

9. Exterior is simple
 Combination of masonry, arches and piers
are the basis of the Romanesque style. The
main concept of the building was the
addition of pure geometrical forms.

10.  Romanesque churches have an emphasis on
horizontal lines, similar to those of Greek &
Roman public buildings.

11. Horizontal lines
Romanesque Church
1000-1200
Vertical lines
Gothic Church
1200-1500

12.  Round arches
 Barrel Vaults
 Piers supporting vaults
 Groin vaults

13. Round arches are similar to those of the Romans.

14.  Also called Tunnel Vaults, Barrel Vaults replace the flat roofs
commonly used in Roman architecture. This is the simplest vault,
created by combining a series of round or Roman arches.

15. The Barrel vault creates a higher ceiling, but needs large
supports under it, so columns are combined with piers.

16.  The Pier (an upright support generally square
or rectangular in plan) is a better solution for
heavy masonry walls than the column.

17. In the picture on the left, Piers
interspaced with columns
support a Barrel Vault. On the right,
columns on the pier are
decorative, rather than main supports.

18.  The diagonal intersections are called groins. The
advantage of the groin vault is that its weight
and thrusts are concentrated at the four corners.

19. A Groin, or Cross vault is a combination of two barrel vaults at
intersecting angles. It provided a more aesthetically pleasing
appearance for intersecting vaults. Notice the piers, right.

20. The Companile,
Pisa, Italy (1174).
This is world famous
leaning tower, 15.8 M in
diameter rising to a height
of 57 M in 8 storeys of
encircling archades. Due to
the settlement of the
foundations the upper part
of the tower has leaned as
much as 4.2 M.

21. The Baptistery,
Pisa, Italy (1155-
1278)
It is the most famous
group of Pisa buildings.
It is circular in Plan with
a central nave, 18.3 in
diameter. These are the
special features of
Italian-Romanesque
Architecture where
Baptismal rite was
carried out thrice a year.

22. The Abbey
Church,
Cluny (1089-
1131)
It formed one of
the most famous
monastic
buildings in
Burgundy, now
completed
destroyed. It was
the largest
church in france.