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Patrick_
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a child grown old
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Cathedral Construction
#225515 - 03/13/05 05:35 AM Attachment
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(Dont know where else to put this)
When I see thousand-year-old cathedrals like the one in the picture, I wonder, how in the world did they construct something so precisely and intricately detailed as that with the technology that existed in that time? And what did they use to lift things up that high?
And a related question: Why do all cathedrals look alike? Who or what set the standard for cathedral construction?
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"Don't worry. Have a nectarine." -Christopher Walken
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Rick Harris
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I'm confused.
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Re: Cathedral Construction [Re: Patrick_]
#225524 - 03/13/05 06:30 AM
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Well, they used wooden scaffold, Block and Tackle to lift things and much man power.
Stone could be sawn to size, and then dressed by hand with a chisel.
Skilled masons passed knowledge and training on to sons who might well work on the same project.
Peterborough cathedral near use was built over a period of some 120 years - Honestly. these projects took a vast amount of time.
from: Peterborough cathedral web site
"The Abbey church of Peterborough was founded in 655, and was destroyed by the Danes in 870. Reconstructed in 972, it was then burnt down by mistake in 1116. The present magnificent Cathedral was started in 1118 and took more than 120 years to build.
The Cathedral suffered badly at the hands of Oliver Cromwell, but many of its unique features remain to be admired today."
generally they learned the hard way, build it high, if it falls down make it stronger. There were many skilled builders from the 10 cent onwards who passed knowledge down through the ages.
Styles changes through the ages, Gothic, Norman, etc. In general the Romans use the semicircle arch and this was quite common through europe (Norman style) it can support vast weight by transfering the force into the ground down the collumns. BUT a semi circle needs to be very big to span a long distance, Gothic arches however were tall and pointed at the top, this is good for producing light and airy wally that dont weigh much. If it weigh less it can go higher.
The chinese evolved the chord arch which only uses the top of the semicircle span but produces considerable sideways force that has to be countered with butresses and thick walls.
Often high towers fell down and were replaced with lower or different structures.
Lincoln cathdral was built over the local parish church and never started out to be so big but like topsey as different builders got involved the scheme grew.
Catherdrals werea sign to the population of the importance of the church, built high they were imposing and nearer to god. Often they were financially assisted by wealthy merchants who though they were buying a place in heaven (or so the church told them)
Many have stood the test of time  despite what Cromwell and Henery the V111 did.
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I woke up today! - WOW!
Richard
Edited by Rick Harris (03/13/05 06:31 AM)
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Sunflowers
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Earth Grandmotherator
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Re: Cathedral Construction [Re: Patrick_]
#225531 - 03/13/05 07:51 AM
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To add to what Rick's said, here are a few useful sites:
Gothic Architecture - with a very good diagram and lots of other links.
A joke .
Ecclesiastical Architecture - loads more links.
As Rick said, cathedral and castle construction took a long time. See here. Cologne Cathedral is "constantly under construction" and "The original structure, in fact, took over 600 years (1248-1880) to complete and now the restoration work must be constant." This one in Croatia only took 124 years though.
This is a fascinating site about applying modern methods to investigating how cathedrals were designed and planned.
History of Gothic architecture
Gothic mathematics
Romanesque style
St. Paul's London - Christopher Wren's replacement for the original burned down in the Great Fire of London in the 17th century.
Mathematics of cathedral design - keep scrolling ... and scrolling ... and scrolling ...
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Minds, like parachutes, work best when open.
Do not condemn the judgement of another because it differs from your own. You may both be wrong. Dandemis
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Old Dad
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HWW's Own Jerry-Atric
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Hi, Richard,
I certainly agree that those structures are *amazing*! It boggles my mind to think of how long it took and how many people were involved in the construction over all those years! Simply astounding!
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Rick Harris
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I'm confused.
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Re: Cathedral Construction [Re: Old Dad]
#225547 - 03/13/05 10:39 AM
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Quote:
Hi, Richard,
I certainly agree that those structures are *amazing*! It boggles my mind to think of how long it took and how many people were involved in the construction over all those years! Simply astounding!
Not just massive like the pyramids but graceful and elegent as well I always enjoy visiting them.
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I woke up today! - WOW!
Richard
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Sunflowers
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Earth Grandmotherator
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Quote:
Not just massive like the pyramids but graceful and elegent as well I always enjoy visiting them.
Same here. As you know, I'm very well acquainted with Peterborough Cathedral . Now I'm lucky to have the same relationship with Winchester Cathedral.
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Minds, like parachutes, work best when open.
Do not condemn the judgement of another because it differs from your own. You may both be wrong. Dandemis
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Sunflowers
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Earth Grandmotherator
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Re: Cathedral Construction [Re: Patrick_]
#225550 - 03/13/05 11:22 AM
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Quote:
(Dont know where else to put this)
When I see thousand-year-old cathedrals like the one in the picture, I wonder, how in the world did they construct something so precisely and intricately detailed as that with the technology that existed in that time? And what did they use to lift things up that high?
And a related question: Why do all cathedrals look alike? Who or what set the standard for cathedral construction?
I've found some more links which might be useful to you.
This one is about construction, this one is about the symbolism and meaning of the architecture, this shows evidence of design alteration in the same cathedral as construction work progressed on it.
If you like mathematics, read through this (PDF format).
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Minds, like parachutes, work best when open.
Do not condemn the judgement of another because it differs from your own. You may both be wrong. Dandemis
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Patrick_
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a child grown old
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Re: Cathedral Construction [Re: Sunflowers]
#225609 - 03/13/05 08:07 PM
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Wow, thanks guys. Lots of info to read. That one that Richard mentioned that was built over 120 years... Wow! 
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"Don't worry. Have a nectarine." -Christopher Walken
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