Medieval Cathedrals, Temples and Pagodas

Episode 11 Cathedrals to Pagodas: Sacred Architecture

The Middle Ages Around the World

Dr Joyce E Salisbury

Film Review

The first medieval cathedrals (10th-13th century) were Romanesque churches relying on columns to support their massive roofs. Early cathedrals were built by monasteries. In the later Middle Ages, they were built by the community with funds generated from trade revenue.

The 12th century Vezelay (east central France) Abbey basilica is an excellent example of the Romanesque style. Fixed buttresses and a series of rounded arches forming barrel vaults (see The Engineering Marvels of Rome’s Public Baths) support the roof.

Flying buttresse

Gothic arches filled with stained glass windows, replaced Roman arches in the late 12th century. Introduced by Abbott Sager to introduce more light into the cathedral interior, this design shifts the roof support away from walls and columns to exterior flying buttresses.

The first Gothic church was the St Denis basilica, where most French kings were consecrated.

Built by the 6th century Emperor Justinian I, the Hagia Sophia basilica became a mosque following the Turkish conquest of Constantinople in 1453. I became a  model for 17th century mosques.

11

14 century El Transito synagogue

During the Middle Ages, Jews embarked on heavy synagogue building, using the same builders as the Christian churches. Muslim-controlled Toledo (in modern-day Spain) built 11 synagogues in a city with 4,000 Jews (out of a total population of 35,000).

In 1192, Turks established the Delhi Sultanate in modern day India and ordered Hindu temples destroyed and replaced with mosques. The mosques were built under the direction of Islamic architects. Most retained their ornate Hindu carvings, with specific image of Hindu gods and goddesses.

The medieval temples where Buddhists worshiped were topped by stupas, which contained relic or manuscript. Only monks could enter the temple’s stupa for meditation.  A Buddhist temple in Java from the 8th or 9th century is known as the Borobruder. The largest stone temple in the world, the stones were laid without mortar and a carved to detail the journey to enlightenment. It was abandoned in the 15h century when Islam replaced Buddhism in Indonesia.

As Buddhism moved into China, Buddhist stupas became pagodas. There were 91 monasteries. The Tang capitol of Chang’an had 91 Buddhist monasteries. Liaodi is the largest pagoda in the world.

 

As Hindu spread to Southeast Asia in the early 12th century, the Ankar Watt temple (dedicated to Vishnu) was built in the Khmer Empire (9th-15h century) in modern day Cambodia.

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