Late Romanesque and Gothic cathedrals Part I

You could spend hours looking at pictures of these buildings, but here are the most significant ones, in chronological order (I will post these over a few days):

DURHAM CATHEDRAL, Durham, York (England), built 11th-13th centuries.

This cathedral is not Gothic but actually late Romanesque, which is known as Norman in England, as it was designed by those eleventh-century invaders. Norman architecture features larger windows than Romanesque architecture, but does not have flying butresses or tall spires.


A great history of the cathedral can be read here, courtesy of good ol' Dom Paradox. (Warning: This site has many pictures and can lead to hours of browsing!)


The River Wear, which runs through northeast England.


The church still dominates the town's skyline today, 900 years later.

The cloister. (A covered walk with an open colonnade on one side, running along the walls of buildings that face a quadrangle-- American Heritage Dictionary)

The nave (an architectural term you should know which we will discuss in class). Note the rib-vaulted ceiling. Naves would be taller and more magnificent in the Gothic period, in churches such as Notre Dame, Chartres, and Cologne, about which I will post later in the week.

Carcassonne. Medieval magnificence. Etymological mystery.

The brief search at the end of class did not yield any results, and a quick Google search did not do much either. Several sources mention "Carsac" as a Celtic place-name, but do not define it, unless Carsac is Languedog Celtic for "place name." (This is possible, but that would be disappointing!) If you can find out what it is, you will have the privilege of explaining it to the class. In the meantime, here is a good link to Carcassone's history from a Languedoc-based web site (The Languedoc is both a language and historical region; read about it here).