Ajimez

Ajimez window in the Alhambra , Granada

Ajimez window with Alfiz frame on the Giralda , Seville

The term Ajimez , which is mainly used in Spain, refers to a twin window (biforium) typical of the Moorish style , in which two windows or window openings of the same size, lying next to one another and separated by a central support, are combined to form a unit by a common frame or crown. With many Ajimeces , the actual exposure function takes a back seat to a decorative or ornamental external and / or internal effect.

etymology

The term Ajimez is derived from the Arabic loan word aš-šammīs , a derivation of the Arabic word šams ('sun'). The Real Academia Española translates aš-šammīs as lo expuesto al sol ("that which is exposed to the sun").

history

It is clear how far back such coupled windows or blind windows go back in European architecture. He is in the Roman Empire during the late end of antiquity , particularly in early Christian architecture . An early example can be found on the facade of the late antique church of Sant'Apollinare Nuovo in Ravenna (the tower is later), and on other monuments of my same age in this city. In Byzantine architecture the "triforias" become more common, but the "biforias" are also used. In the western pre-Romanesque architecture of the early Middle Ages, on the other hand, the "biforias" are more common. One encounters them, for example, in the Visigothic and pre-Romanesque churches of Asturias (e.g. Oviedo ) and Galicia . They are found more frequently in the Romanesque then in the Gothic . They play a special role in the Moorish and Mudéjar styles on the Iberian Peninsula .

Even the rectangular windows with stone cross- shaped windows that have appeared since the late Middle Ages, the Renaissance and the Baroque can be seen as the late successors of simple bi-ore windows.