Romanesque Period

During the Romanesque Period,  Charles the Great (aka Emperor Charlemagne) was the crowded emperor. He encouraged the use of architecture and established hundreds and hundreds of schools and monasteries.

The churches during this time period shared similar characteristics. Some of these characteristics were that the churches had the Early Christian Basilica layout, had multiple different isles that accommodated to the much larger crowd. Also, it is during this time that a choir was added to the service to add additional ways for a bigger population of people to worship. The churches were made from stone, with rounded doorways, baluster windows, and wall painted with rich colors.

Some examples of some of the churches from this design period are;

The Fontenay Abbey...

     

The Pisa Baptistery...
       

And, The Cluny Abbey..
     


Some current applications of the Romanesque design period include these similar characteristics, like stone ornamentation, rounded doorways, and richly colored walls.

(This is a staircase inside a courthouse...)


(This is an Romanesque inspired kitchen...)



I reviewed Megan S's blog for the Romanesque period and from her blog I learned that the reason that it was so unique and great that emperor Charlemagne encouraged architecture and schools and churches was because prior to this time, there was little architecture built because it was "millennium of the apocalypse".  

I also reviewed Megan D's blog and from her blog I learned that this time period was a really strong period and the churches that were constructed were separated into three categories; Urban pilgrimage sites, rural monasteries, and small parish churches.