GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE

BRITISH ISLES
1. St Mary Redcliffe
- Anglican parish church in Bristol
- Second largest parish church in England
- Tallest building in Bristol
- Often mistaken for Bristol Cathedral
- Hexagonal porch at northwest corner of nave
- It has tall, thin perpendicular interior covered with net vault
- Tomb of William II Canynges is located here
2. Kings College Chapel
- Located in Cambridge
- One of the most iconic buildings in the world
- Splendid example of late Gothic (Perpendicular) architecture
- Took over a century to build
- Largest fan vault ceiling in the world by John Wastell
- Some of the finest medieval stained glass
- Was started by Henry VI in 1446
- Built in three phases
- There are large 12 windows on each side of the chapel, and larger
windows at the east and west ends
- West windows are by Flemish hands
3. Peterborough Cathedral
- Choir transepts and six east bays of nave
- Internal elevation is a developed version of the one invented at Ely
- Giant arches derived from Norman Faade at Lincoln
- East chapel by John Wastell
- One of the most important buildings in England to have remained
largely intact despite of extensions and restorations
- Imposing Early English Gothic West Front with three enormous arches
- Without architectural precedent and no direct successor
- Slightly asymmetricalone of the two towers that rise from behind
faade was never completed
4. Charney Manor
- Located in Oxfordshire (formerly Berkshire)
- Best preserved manor house in the period
- Presently a Quaker Conference Centre & Retreat

5. Wells Cathedral

- First English cathedral to be built in the Early English Gothic style,

with pointed arches all around
- West front covered in medieval sculptures of saints and kings
- It has scissor arches or owl-eyed strainer arches
- Most poetic of the English Cathedrals
- Contains one of the most substantial collections of medieval stained
glass in England
- With niches for more than 500 medieval figure sculptures of which
400 survive
6. Canterbury Cathedral
- One of the oldest buildings in England
- The current cathedral of the Anglican Archbishop of Canterbury, the
Primate of All England, and the leader of the Church of England
- East end is the first example of whole Gothic system in England
- Has the earliest example of double transepts in England
- Nave was rebuilt by Henry Yevele
- Upper storeys are unified but the small glazed area at high level
darkness vaults and enhances the mystic effect by contrast with well lit
arcades
- Crypt has elaborately carved cubic capitals
7. Winchester Cathedral
- Located in Winchester, Hampshire
- One of the largest cathedrals in England
- Longest nave and overall length of any Gothic cathedral in Europe
- Dedicated to the Holy Trinity, Saint Peter, Saint Paul, and Saint
Swithun
- It is the seat of the Bishop of Winchester and center of the Diocese of
Winchester
- Grade I listed cathedral
- It is the surviving English building closest in design to its Norman
predecessors
- Subtly echoes the eastern extension at Canterbury in purpose and
plan
- One of the best examples of a mature English Gothic style
8. York Minster Cathedral
- Second largest Gothic cathedral of Northern Europe
- Cruciform plan with an octagonal chapter house attached to the north
transept, a central tower and two towers at the west front
- Shows development of English Gothic architecture from early English
to the Perpendicular Period
- Visible remains of the choirbuilt by Roger of Pont l'Eveque
- Vault intended but never constructed
- Has a main transept of which low clerestory and tall triforium

- Has unique stained glass on west and east windows extended

9. Salisbury Cathedral
- An elegant Gothic edifice
- Tallest spire and largest cloisters in England
- A rare example of an English Gothic church built entirely to one basic
design
- Internal storeys clearly separated into strong horizontal bands
- Has extensive use of Purbeck marble to create a strongly coloured
scheme
- Has chapter houses and cloisters
10. Westminster Cathedral
- A great religious building
- Site was originally known as Buildings Fen
- Was dedicated to the Most Precious Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ
- Designed by Victorian architect John Francis Bentley
- The interior of the cathedral, though incomplete, contains fine
marble-rock and mosaics
- Has fourteen Stations of the Cross, by sculptor Eric Gill
- Earliest example of Norman influence in English building
- Choir, transepts, chapter houses, and east bay of nave were
completed by three master masons: Henry de Reyns, John of
Gloucester, and Robert of Beverly
11. Ely Cathedral
- The Ship of the Fens
12. Lincoln Cathedral
- Second tallest spire
- Used lierne ribbed vault
CENTRAL EUROPE
1. Liebfrauenkirche
- Located in Trier, next to the Trier Dom
- Round cruciform floor plan
- Church of Our Lady
- Earliest Gothic church in Germany
- Falls into the architectural tradition of the French Gothic cathedrals
- It is designed as part of the Roman Monuments, Cathedral of St.
Peter, and Church of Our Lady in Trier UNESCO World Heritage Site
2. St. Elizabeths Church
- Located in Marburg

- The tomb of St. Elizabeth of Hungary made the church an important

pilgrimage destination during the late Middle Ages
- One of the earliest purely Gothic churches in German speaking areas
- Model for the architecture of Cologne Cathedral
- Built on sandstone in a cruciform layout
- The nave and its flanking aisles have a vaulted ceiling more than 20
m high
- Has triple quire: Elisabeth quire, the High quire, and the Landgrave
quire
- The crossing is separated from the nave by a stone rood screen
- Has two towers with an approximate height of 80 m
- The northern one is crowned by a star, the southern one by a knight
- It served as an inspiration for St. Pauls Church in Strasbourg
- The Gothic shrine of St. Elizabeth is the most important treasure of
the church
3. Cologne Cathedral
- A Roman Catholic Church in Cologne
- It is a renowned monument of German Catholicism and Gothic
architecture and is a World Heritage Site
- Germanys most visited landmark
4. Frauenkirche
- Located in Nuremberg
- An example of brick Gothic architecture built on the initiative of
Charles VI
- Contains many sculptures, some of them heavily restored
- The architect was probably Peter Parler
- Intended to be for imperial ceremonies; this is reflected in the porch
with the balcony
- The church is relatively unadorned except for the coats of arms
- A hall church with two aisles and a tribune for the emperor
- Contains nine bays supported by four columns
- Triforium named the Imperial Loft or St. Michaels Loft opens on to the
nave by means of an arcade, the arches of which are filled with floating
tracery consisting of three rosettes supported by a segmental arch
- The narthex of the church contains tracery
- All three sides of the narthex have portals
- The gable contains many niches which used to house sculptures
5. Freiburg Minster
- Tower is nearly square at the base and its center is the dodecagonal
star gallery
- Only Gothic church tower in Germany that was completed in the
Middle Ages
- Tower has 16 bells

- Two important altars inside the cathedral: the high altar of Hans
Baldung and altar of Hans Holbein the Younger
- Deep red colour in some of the windows
- Nave windows were donated by the guilds
6. Regensburg Cathedral
- Dedicated to St. Peter
- The most important landmark of the city of Regensburg, Germany
- The church is the prime example of Gothic architecture in Bavaria
7. St. Stephens Cathedral
- Located in Vienna, Austria
- The most important religious building in Vienna
- Multicoloured tile roof
- The current Romanesque and Gothic form of the cathedral
8. Lubeck Cathedral
9. St. Vitus Cathedral (Prague Cathedral)
- A Roman Catholic cathedral in Prague
- Its full name is St. Vitus, St. Wenceslas, and St. Adalbert Cathedral
- An excellent example of Gothic architecture
- The biggest and most important church in the country
- Intricate stained glass inside the cathedral
- Alphonse Muchas stained glass window
- Located within Prague Castle
- Contains the tombs of many Bohemian kings and Holy Roman
Emperors
10. Ulm Minster
- A Lutheran church and former Roman Catholic church located in Ulm,
Germany
- This church is not a cathedral
- Tallest church in the world
- Fourth tallest structure built before the 20th century
- The final stairwell to the top (known as third Gallery) is a tall, spiraling
staircase that has barely enough room for one person
11. Town Halls (Rathaus)
- Secular architecture
- Prominent and impressive buildings
- Evidence of the of those times
12. Custom House
- Secular architecture

- Remarkable with three storeys in the walls and less than six storeys in
its high roof
- Finished with a fine traceried gable
13. Old Houses
- Characteristic examples of the secular architecture of the period
14. Timber Houses
- Domestic architecture
- Has a lower storey of masonry which supports a timber upper part
15. Castles
- Were ubiquitous and where the fortified town still retain its medieval
wall with defensive towers
SPAIN, PORTUGAL, and HOLY LAND
1. Burgos Cathedral
- Rectangular plan
- Most poetic of all the Spanish cathedrals
- The two western towers with open work spire and a richly treated
central lantern or cimborio
- The interior has elaborate triforium tracery massive piers to rebuilt to
support the high cimborio
- One of the finest examples of Spanish Gothic art
- It is the only one in Spain that has received the UNESCO World
Heritage designation
- There lie the remains of El Cid Campeador and his wife, Dona Jimena
- In the side naves of the cathedral there are 19 chapels
2. Toledo Cathedral
- With five aisles and a range of side chapels
- Resembles Bourges Cathedral in general plan, only wider
- A singularly shallow sanctuary, with immense wooden retablo flanked
by tiers of arcaded sanctuary, is terminated by a chevet of double
aisles and chapels completing a most impressive interior
- The church has five naves
- The roof is supported by 88 columns
- The impressive choir is considered as one of the grandest in all
Christiandom
- Home of the so called Ochavo is a large sumptuous room from the
sixteenth century dedicated to the martyrs and witnesses of Christ
- The upper choir stalls are made up of 72 ceremonial chairs
retablo is a sumptuously ornate form of reredos
reredos is a screen or ornament work rising behind the altar

 retable a ledge or shelf behind an altar for holding vases or

candles
steeples the term applied to a tower crowned by a spire
spire the tapering termination of a tower
3. The Colleges of Sto. Gregorio
- Located in Valladolid
- The town hall has a sculptured faade embellished with statues,
heraldic devices and a genealogical tree of Ferdinand and Isabella
- All framed with canopied niches and principles, which allow the
canopied of Moorish art in church ornament
4. Barcelona Cathedral
- With nave vaulted in square and aisles on oblong bays
- There is a fine western lantern on pendentives
- Slightly projecting transepts surmounted by towers, as at Exeter and
chevet of nine chapels
- The thrust of the vault is counteracted by the deep internal
buttresses which enclose chapels along the aisles
- The vault is exposed externally and roofed by tiles
5. Seville Cathedral
- The largest medieval cathedral in Europe and with exception of St.
Peters, Rome (the largest church in the world)
- It owes its plan and size, with nave, double aisles and side chapels, to
its erection on the site of a mosque
- Each of the four aisles is approximately equal in width to the abbey
nave
- It is about eight times the width of Westminster nave
- The thirty two immense clustered piers and numerous stained glass
windows produce an imposing effect
- Has no triforium
- Also known as Giralda due to the weather vane added to the top
- The remains of Christopher Columbus lie in the cathedral
- It has five naves and a rectangular ground
- The main sacristy is Plateresque
6. La Lonja de la Seda
- Located in Valencia
- Used as a silk exchange
- Has an unbalanced faade
- With central tower, an east wing with large gateway and two pointed
windows, and a west wing two rows of square headed Gothic windows
surmounted by open galleries

7. Castillo de la Mota
- Located in Medina del Campo
- Stern in aspect
- With circular towers, battlemented parapets, and windowless curtain
walls and a high tower commands the surrounding country
8. Puerta del Sol
- Located in Toledo
- Much repaired forms part of the town walls of the ancient city
- With horseshoe arches, and Moorish battlements
- A secular building
9. Puerta Serranos
- With medieval fortifications
- Has two polygonal towers flanking the gateway
- Traceried wall paneling and a gallery on enormous corbels
10. Terragona Cathedral
- It was made in Romanesque style in transition to Gothic
- Has three naves and an accentuated transept which stands an
octagonal dome
- The naves end in three circular apses
- There are two remarkable 12th century Romanesque portals and a
gorgeous rose window with openwork tracery on the main faade
- There is an image of the Virgin with the Child on the mullion of the
portal
- Features trilogy of sculptures that represent the Virgin, St. Tecla, and
St. Paul
11. Avila Cathedral
- The oldest Spanish Gothic cathedral
- Originally begun in the Romanesque
- Its sanctuary is integrated into the city wall
- Has two doors: the main door and the door of the Apostles at one side
- The ambulatory contains the sepulchre of El Tostado
12. Leon Cathedral
- The great Gothic cathedral
- With three naves terminating in apses
- Under its floor there are Roman hippocausts which made it difficult to
set the foundation of the pillars and caused water filtration
- The stained glass is from the 13th through the 20th century and covers
an area of 1,765 square meters
13. Pamplona Cathedral

- An outstanding religious building

- The cathedral is divided into three Gothic style naves
- The chapels are in several different styles
- The central nave is the site of the mausoleum of Charles III the Noble
and his wife, Dona Leonor
- The cathedral has a neoclassical faade while the interior and the
cloister are Gothic
14. Monastery of San Juan de los Reyes
- Built to commemorate the victory at the Battle of Toro
- It has a single nave, with side chapels located between the buttresses
- The main faade are the chains of the freed prisoners
- It has a late Gothic cloister and the ceiling on the second floor is in
the Mudejar style
- Church has a single nave with a stellar vault
- Decorated with the coats of arms of the Catholic Monarchs supported
by large eagles, ogee arches, and figures of saints
15. San Pablo Church
- Dominican convent was founded by Dona Violante
- It has a big Gothic style faade work of Simon de Colonia
- Plateresque style adornments were added to the upper portion of the
main front
16. Cartuja Miralores Monastery
- The Carthusian monastery became one of the treasures of the Gothic
style of the late 15th century
- Construction was finally completed in the reign of Queen Isabela