Fortress-Churches of Languedoc traces the changing relationship between military and religious realms as expressed in architecture across medieval Europe. The scholarship of medieval architecture has traditionally imposed a division between military and ecclesiastical structures. Often, however, medieval churches were provided with fortified enclosures, crenellations, iron-barred doors and other elements of defence, demonstrating the strong link between Church and state, and the military and religious realms. In her study of fortress-churches, Sheila Bonde focuses on three twelfth-century monuments in southern France - Maguelone, Agde and Saint-Pon-de-Thomiere, which are among the earliest examples of the type. She analyses her archaeological surveys of these structures, and also re-examines their documentation, which is here presented both in the original Latin and in English translations. The book also explores the larger context of fortification and authority in twelfth-century Languedoc and examines the dynamics of architectural exchange and innovation in the Mediterranean at a moment of critical historical importance.

The history of a building site in Moscow where Russian rulers since Alexander I have planned, constructed, and destroyed monuments of colossal proportions This book surveys two centuries of Russian history through a succession of ambitious architectural projects designed for a single construction site in central Moscow. Czars, Bolshevik rulers, and contemporary Russian leaders alike have dreamed of glorious monuments to themselves and their ideologies on this site. The history of their efforts reflects the story of the nation itself and its repeated attempts to construct or reconstruct its identity and to repudiate or resuscitate emblems of the past. In the nineteenth century Czar Alexander I began to construct the largest cathedral (and the largest building) in the world at the time. His successor, Nicholas I, changed both the site and the project. Completed by Alexander III, the cathedral was demolished by Stalin in the 1930s to make way for the tallest building in the world, the Palace of Soviets, but that project was ended by the war. During the Khrushchev years the excavation pit was transformed into an outdoor heated swimming pool-the world's largest, of course-and under Yeltsin's direction the pool was replaced with a reconstruction of the destroyed cathedral. The book explores each project intended for this ideologically-charged site and documents with 60 illustrations the grand projects that were built as well as those that were only dreamed.

Medieval cathedrals and the various practices connected to them form an important and complex part of the European cultural heritage. The buildings themselves and their reception into the modern arts ensure their presence within today's cultural memories and sensibilities. In the mid-twelfth century, a new archbishop's seat was erected in the Norwegian city of Trondheim (or Nidaros) at the far north of Europe. This interdisciplinary volume, written by scholars of history, architecture, and liturgy, explores the medieval cathedral of Trondheim as a local construction in a European context. As a see of the Western Church, it was set in an international Latinate culture. At the same time, the construction of the building itself and the ritual practices in and around it were influenced by local political, religious, and cultural conditions. The relationship between the physical construction of a cathedral and its function in medieval liturgical and other ritual practices is a topic of wide relevance for architectural and liturgical scholarship. The so-called Ordo Nidrosiensis, the thirteenth-century ordinal of the Province of Nidaros, is an immense help in interpreting the architectural construction and sacred space of Nidaros Cathedral and the Ordo is dealt with in many of the articles. In accordance with general medieval practice, the Nidaros ordinal may be described as international in contents but edited with regard to local considerations.

English cathedrals, including Canterbury, Durham, Winchester and York, are the greatest collective work of art and architecture in Britain, reflecting over a thousand years of history. "English Cathedrals" is an account of their foundation, construction and decoration - their architectural history - but also of who used them and what happened in them - their human history. Cathedrals were centres of learning, music and wealth. Continuity of worship over hundreds of years was broken by the two great crises of the sixteenth-century Reformation and the seventeenth-century Civil War. There were also dramatic episodes, such as the loss of St Paul's in the Great Fire of 1666, subsequently to be rebuilt by Sir Christopher Wren. All have changed over the centuries. These great buildings remain striking monuments in the landscape with a unique power to evoke the past.

An introduction to the medieval cathedral, those churches that are regarded as the greatest achievements of medieval architecture. Details their social history, who built them, how they were built, and why. Forty photos and maps help to guide the reader through a narrated tour of these awe-inspiring churches. When we think of cathedrals, we usually envision the great Gothic Buildings of 12th- and 13th-century Europe. But other than being a large church, a cathedral is neither a specific building type nor specifically medieval. What a makes a large church a cathedral is the presence of a single item of furniture: the chair (in Latin: cathedra) or throne that is the symbol of the ecclesiastical and spiritual authority of a bishop. This book is an introduction to the medieval cathedral, those churches that are usually regarded as among the greatest achievements of medieval architecture. While cathedrals were often the most prominent urban structure in many European cities, their construction was never a civic responsibility, but remained the responsibility of the clergy in charge of the day to day activities and services. Beginning with an overview of the social history of cathedrals, Clark examines such topics as patrons, builders and artists, and planning and construction; and provides an in-depth examination of the French Cathedral at Reims—a seminal building with significant technological advances, important sculptural programs, a surviving bishop's palace, and other structures. The volume concludes with a series of illustrations, a selection of original texts, and a selected bibliography for further study. A full index is also provided.

For 250 years chapels have been at the heart of Black Country life - both social and religious. Poor social conditions in this heavily industrialised area stimulated the growth of religious nonconformity, and chapel influence is strong even today, despite many closures and demolitions over the last few years. over the Black Country and from a wide range of denominations (Baptist, Methodist, Presbyterian, Congregationalist, Independent and Quaker) and has recorded their memories. This is, therefore, a first-hand account not only of the buildings themselves - including tin chapels, those converted to other uses, and some that have vanished altogether - but also of the wide-ranging and active social life that surrounded them - Sunday schools, Scouts and Guides, choirs, youth groups, parades and carnivals, outings, sporting events and so on. paintings, posters and other ephemera, Black Country Chapels will bring back memories for anyone who was born and brought up in the Black Country.

Abbeys and priories are both types of monastery and the author traces the history of monasteries in Britain from Anglo-Saxon times to the Dissolution under Henry VIII. He describes the different monastic orders, the running of the monasteries and the daily life of the monks and nuns, the layout of monastic buildings, the influence of the religious houses on life in medieval times and their effect on the landscape, all with references to examples accessible to the public. This new edition has been enlarged into the 'Discovering Handbook' series and is fully illustrated in colour.

A city planner, an architect and a historian trace the urban development of this outstanding city and analyse its architecture in urban and historical contexts from its origins in the pre Islamic period to the situation today. The authors did extensive fieldwork in Bukhara and have published a number of books and many articles on Near Eastern and Persian architecture and urbanism.

A major difficulty for those who wish to understand and enjoy Scottish medieval churches is the ecclesiological groundwork was not carried out in the nineteenth century in the way that was done for England and other parts of Europe. In an effort to interpret what they see when visiting Scottish churches, many people attempt to apply techniques of analysis they have learned from English publications but that way madness lies. Even in the twelfth and eleventh centuries, when architectural relationships between Lowland Scotland and England were close, Scotland followed its own course in many respects, while in the fourteenth, fifteenth and sixteenth centuries Scottish architecture followed an almost completely different course from that of England. The present ground-breaking work makes good this deficit and analyses the planning and detailing of Scottish churches from 1120 to 1560 with hundreds of illustrated examples that can be firmly dated. The result is a book that will be welcomed by scholars but, equally importantly, will also be treasured by the hundreds of thousands of ordinary church-crawlers who value this aspect of Scotland's medieval heritage. For them this book, overdue by more than 100 years is a must.

This lavishly illustrated book looks at the art and architecture of episcopal palaces as expressions of power and ideology. Tracing the history of the bishop's residence in the urban centers of northern Italy over the Middle Ages, Maureen C. Miller asks why this once rudimentary and highly fortified structure called a domus became a complex and elegant "palace" (palatium) by the late twelfth century. Miller argues that the change reflects both the emergence of a distinct clerical culture and the attempts of bishops to maintain authority in public life. She relates both to the Gregorian reform movement, which set new standards for clerical deportment and at the same time undercut episcopal claims to secular power. As bishops lost temporal authority in their cities to emerging communal governments, they compensated architecturally and competed with the communes for visual and spatial dominance in the urban center. This rivalry left indelible marks on the layout and character of Italian cities.Moreover, Miller contends, this struggle for power had highly significant, but mixed, results for western Christianity. On the one hand, as bishops lost direct governing authority in their cities, they devised ways to retain status, influence, and power through cultural practices. This response to loss was highly creative. On the other hand, their loss of secular control led bishops to emphasize their spiritual powers and to use them to obtain temporal ends. The coercive use of spiritual authority contributed to the emergence of a "persecuting society" in the central Middle Ages.

In late 19th century America, profound socio-economic and technological changes contributed to the rejection of traditional church architecture and the development of a radically new worship building, the neo-medieval auditorium church. These Protestant churches contained extraordinary new auxiliary spaces, including kitchens, dining rooms, and lounges. Their real showpieces, however, were always the sanctuaries, radial-plan auditoria best described as 'theatres', with their elaborate pulpit stages, sloping floors, and curving pews. Many contained proscenium arches, marquee lighting, and theatre seats. Jeanne Halgren Kilde focuses on how the buildings helped to negotiate supernatural, social, and personal power. Their extraordinary interiors, she says, profoundly altered religious power relations. Borrowed directly from the architecture of the theatre, these worship spaces underscored performative and entertainment aspects of the worship service. By erecting these buildings, argues Kilde, middle class religious audiences demonstrated the move toward a consumer-oriented model of a religious participation that gave them unprecedented influence over the worship experience and church mission.

Im Zuge der kaiserlichen Toleranzedikte und der "Bekehrung" Kaiser Konstantins konnte das Christentum seit dem 4. Jahrhundert starker in die OEffentlichkeit treten und seine Kultbauten und Versammlungsorte nach seinen Bedurfnissen gestalten und ausschmucken. Die prachtigen Mosaikfussboeden der spatantiken Kirchen an der oberen Adria sind grossartige Zeugnisse der fruhchristlichen Archaologie und Kultur. Der Verfasser untersucht diese Pavimente mit ihren Inschriften, den sogenannten Offerenteninschriften: Sie geben Auskunft uber die Namen der Stifter und deren Beitrag zum jeweiligen Bodenmosaik. Im ersten Teil des Bandes bietet der Autor einen historischen UEberblick. Es zeigt sich, dass die Wurzeln des auffalligen wie ratselhaften Brauches, Fussboeden als Bild- und Schriftmedium zu nutzen, bis ins heidnische Altertum zuruckreichen. Im Untersuchungsgebiet Histria et Venetia war der musivische (eingelegte) Bodenschmuck schon sehr stark verbreitet, bevor er in die kirchlichen Gebaude rund um das Mittelmeer seinen Einzug hielt. Der zweite Teil der Arbeit behandelt die kunst- und auch religionsgeschichtlichen Besonderheiten der adriatischen Offerenteninschriften: Sie erlauben Ruckschlusse sowohl auf die spatantike Kirchenorganisation wie auch auf die liturgischen Brauche und Heilsvorstellungen der Glaubigen.

Four examples of early Mesopotamian temples are discussed: Le temple de Nigirsu a Tello, Le temple de Ninhursag a Tell el Obeid, Le Riemchengbbaude d'Uruk, Le Steingebaude d'Uruk, with a very brief conclusion. Many plans and reconstructions.

This lavishly illustrated book looks at the art and architecture of episcopal palaces as expressions of power and ideology. Tracing the history of the bishop's residence in the urban centers of northern Italy over the Middle Ages, Maureen C. Miller asks why this once rudimentary and highly fortified structure called a domus became a complex and elegant "palace" (palatium) by the late twelfth century. Miller argues that the change reflects both the emergence of a distinct clerical culture and the attempts of bishops to maintain authority in public life. She relates both to the Gregorian reform movement, which set new standards for clerical deportment and at the same time undercut episcopal claims to secular power. As bishops lost temporal authority in their cities to emerging communal governments, they compensated architecturally and competed with the communes for visual and spatial dominance in the urban center. This rivalry left indelible marks on the layout and character of Italian cities.Moreover, Miller contends, this struggle for power had highly significant, but mixed, results for western Christianity. On the one hand, as bishops lost direct governing authority in their cities, they devised ways to retain status, influence, and power through cultural practices. This response to loss was highly creative. On the other hand, their loss of secular control led bishops to emphasize their spiritual powers and to use them to obtain temporal ends. The coercive use of spiritual authority contributed to the emergence of a "persecuting society" in the central Middle Ages.

From the earliest centuries of Christianity, the cult of saintly relics has been an important feature of the worship of the Church. This book explores the way in which church architecture has been shaped by holy bones - the physical remains or `relics' of those whom the Church venerated as saints. This is the first complete modern study of this aspect of medieval church architecture in western Europe.

The first in-depth study of one of the seminal works of America's most renowned twentieth-century architect, first published in 1996, is now available in paperback. In this study, Joseph Siry examines the building in the light of Wright's earlier religious architecture, his methods of design, and his innovative construction techniques, particularly the use of reinforced concrete which was here exploited and expressively deployed for the first time. He also sets Unity Temple against the tradition of the liberal Unitarian and Universalist religious culture, the institutional history of the affluent Oak Park congregation that commissioned the building, as well as the social context in which structure was conceived and built. Throughout, Unity Temple is treated as a work of art that embodies both Wright's theory of architecture and his liberal religious ideals.

Following the completion of the construction of new St. Peter's in the second decade of the seventeenth century, a series of monumental altarpieces was commissioned to decorate its altars. The leading artists of the day contributed to the project - among them Algardi, Bernini, Cortona, Domenichino, Guercino, Lanfaranco, Poussin, Sacchi, Vouet, and Valentin - and the works they produced include some of the most celebrated masterpieces of the Roman Baroque. Here for the first time the altarpieces of St. Peter's are considered collectively, within the liturgical and artistic programme of the building as a whole. Louise Rice takes a comprehensive approach to this critical chapter in the history of Italian Baroque art, offering insight into the mechanisms, motives, and meanings of papal patronage in the premier church of Catholicism.

Each volume includes all the necessary materials for the comprehensive study of a work of art: An illustration section showing the complete work of art, details, preliminary studies, and iconographic sources; An introductory essay by the editor; Documents and literary sources; Critical essays from the art-historical literature.

This book is the first comprehensive study of Mormon architecture. It centers on the doctrine of Zion which led to over 500 planned settlements in Missouri, Illinois, Utah, Idaho, Wyoming, Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, California, Nevada, Canada, and Mexico. This doctrine also led to a hierarchy of building types from temples and tabernacles to meetinghouses and tithing offices. Their built environment stands as a monument to a unique utopian society that not only survived but continues to flourish where others have become historical or cultural curiosities. Hamilton's account, augmented by 135 original and historical photographs, provides a fascinating example of how religious teachings and practices are expressed in planned communities and architecture types.

Ritual and architecture have provided the abstract and the tangible foundations of group worship from the era of the first Christians to the present-day ceremonial of the Church. Through the centuries the buildings that house liturgical practices have developed their own specific individuality, and the interpretation of the liturgy is reflected in architecture, a reflection in stone of community prayer lives. The early Syrian churches, the Roman basilicas, the Byzantine, Gothic, and Romanesque styles of the Western churches are symbols of the adaptation of architecture to liturgy—of style to content. Father Bouyer replaces myths and misconceptions about Church liturgy with facts based on archeological findings and, in doing so, gives an entirely new concept of the importance of Church architecture as an implementation of liturgical worship. "Builders of modern churches, says Father Bouyer, "seem to lack that inspired touch.... We try to furnish our churches with features picked at random from old routine styles." To make Church architecture a contemporary witness to the liturgy, it is the author's belief that past practices must be examined to see if they are irrevocably welded to the past or flexible enough to reapply to the present. To discover—or rediscover—the meaning of the liturgy demands an over-all perspective necessary to remodel and structure our churches of today.

For more than two millennia Buddhism shaped the cultures of Central, South, Southeast, and East Asia. From ancient Bactria and Gandhara to Tibet, Mongolia, and Japan, from Sri Lanka and Myanmar to Thailand, Cambodia, and Laos, each territory had its own peculiar way of developing representations of the Buddha, the Bodhisattvas, and a variety of guardian deities and saints. Of particular importance is the representation of the Buddha and his teachings in an iconic form in the shape of an impassable building. Called Stupa in Sanskrit, Caitya in Nepali, Cibha in Newari, and Choerten in Tibetan, these structures - whether imposing or in miniature size - not only characterise the urban space of the Newars in the Kathmandu Valley. They also mark the access to Tibetan villages in northern Nepal, line the trails across high passes, and stud topographically prominent places. By their thousands, they transform wilderness into a landscape that promises shelter, protection, and well-being. Often, these structures are small, made up of two or three cubes in diminishing size, placed on top of one another. Of particular importance are the Triple Protectors, the Rigsum Goenpo, in the shape of three multiple cubes, lined up to guard the settlements against calamities such as floods, landslides, pests, and plagues. To ensure their agency, their colours (black, white, red) are annually renewed. Single cubes may also signal their significance as repositories of relics or the ashes of the departed. 584 maps, architectural drawings, and photographs, produced from 1970 to 2008, document the rich cultural heritage of the Tibetan and Tamang enclaves along the range of the high Himalaya.

Each year in the United States, hundreds of religious buildings and schools become vacant or underutilized as congregations and populations merge, move, or diminish. These structures are often well located, attractive, eligible for tax credits, and available for redevelopment. In this practical and innovative handbook, authors Simons, DeWine, and Ledebur have compiled a step-by-step guide to finding sustainable new uses for vacant structures. The reuse of these important buildings offers those charged with revitalizing them an opportunity to capture their embodied energy, preserve local beloved landmarks, and boost sustainability. Rehabbing presents an opportunity for developers to recoup some value from these assets. Neighbors and other stakeholders also enjoy benefits as the historic structures are retained and the urban fabric of communities is preserved. Retired, Rehabbed, Reborn features ten in-depth case studies of adaptive reuse outcomes for religious buildings and public schools that have achieved varying degrees of success. Several case vignettes appear within various chapters to illustrate specific points. The book is a useful tool for architects, planners, developers, and others interested in reusing these important structures. In addition to covering the demographics of demand and supply for historic buildings, the authors demonstrate how to identify a worthy project and how to determine a building's highest and best use, its market potential, and its financial feasibility, including costs and public subsidies. Finally, they address the planning process and how to time the redevelopment and repurposing of these venerable buildings. Simons, DeWine, and Ledebur explain that while each rehab deal is unique and tricky-especially for prominent community structures that hold significant nostalgic and historical value to community stakeholders-there are identifiable patterns of successful and unsuccessful approaches, patterns that are addressed in turn throughout the redevelopment process. As the nation moves toward a mind-set and practice of recycling, reusing, and repurposing, this unique exploration of how that applies to buildings is an essential guide for anyone interested in being part of the process as communities develop and change.