When Ravin bought this up in class the other day, I was thinking the exact same thing! I don't know if you guys remember this from our 8th grade trip, but as we were studying Romanesque and Gothic architecture, the Washington National Cathedral immediately popped into my head. The cathedral is built in the Neogothic style which is essentially a resurgence of Gothic style in the 18th and 19th centuries.
Looking at the cathedral now you can clearly see the rose windows and lancet windows below them. They are strikingly similar to Chartres Cathedral.
Washington National Cathedral
Chartres Cathedral
In the first image of the National Cathedral, you can see other characteristics of Gothic style such as the flying buttresses. The Cathedral also has several vaults.
Finally, due to the earthquake earlier this year, the cathedral is truly Gothic in that it is continually being built.
5 comments:
These are cool. I don't remember seeing this, but I'd like to see Chartres. The Gothic style is really nice. I wonder how people back then would look at our skyscrapers
Good one Shaina, that made me giggle! The windows really provide a lot of light to the cathedral. It makes me wonder how dark the romanesque cathedrals were!
I think that Gothic style is so much more impressive than the style we use today. Today you can see skyscrapers everywhere and they are essentially the same. No two Gothic cathedrals were the same and they were constantly being refined and readjusted. Also, they were meant to be artwork for God and therefore had different emphasis than buildings that we build today.
I found this video on Chartres Cathedral. I thought it was really interesting how each architectural element of the church was symbolic.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9727p6ozlYo
The stain glass windows really make an impact on you when you walk into the church. When I went to Paris, I went to the Notre Dame which has a huge rose window in it and it really transforms the lighting. The Notre Dame also has very distinguised flying butresses, and it is famous for all the gargoyles that are found around the church.
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