Lantern tower
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As lantern towers ( French tour-lanterne ; English lantern-tower ) are used to the Church open towards the interior and exposed towers above the crossing indicated by a square or rarely polygonal cross section. Round towers above the crossing are usually referred to as tambours or cimboria ( Spanish cimborrio ); the demarcation is difficult in some cases.
architecture
In medieval architecture, the vaults of the nave and transept of a church were often continued at the same height without any particular accentuation of the crossing, but there are also a considerable number of examples in which this architecturally and formerly also liturgically important area is one Church experiences an emphasis through elevation, partly also through exposure. This was achieved by means of dome structures , tambours , cross bars ( massif barlong ) or lantern towers.
Statics
The construction of crossing towers and - to an even greater extent - lantern towers was always synonymous with a great static risk in the Middle Ages. The weight and vaulting of the tower in conjunction with the pitfalls of the floor were often not calculable - so some lantern towers collapsed or were stabilized by vaults after cracks appeared, which were drawn in at the level of the other nave vaults (cf.Mont-St- Michel, Salisbury, Ghent).
internal structure
A medieval lantern tower in northern Europe is usually two-story inside - with the exception of the crossing tower of Peterborough Cathedral , which has a flat wooden ceiling. The lower level remains unexposed because of the roof trusses of the nave and transept, which are usually located behind it, while light flows in through the windows of the upper level from all sides - which is perceived as "above ground".
In the south of Europe, lantern towers are usually only one-story, e.g. B. Ste-Foy de Conques , Prieuré St-Nicolas de Civray in France or the cathedrals of Salamanca and Zamora and the collegiate church of Toro in Spain.
The architects of modern lantern towers, however, allow themselves greater design freedom (→ web links ).
Vault
Perhaps the first lantern towers (Mont-St-Michel, Jumièges) were still flat-roofed (cf. Ely , Westvierung or Wimborne Minster ) or covered by ridge vaults. After the introduction of rib vaults towards the end of the 11th century ( Durham , Speyer , possibly also Mont-Saint-Michel and Lessay ), the square lantern towers with eight-part rib vaults were closed; the far rarer octagonal buildings were given eight or sixteen-part vaults. In England in particular, vaulting experienced a rich development in the style epochs of the Decorated Style (approx. 1240–1330) and the Perpendicular Style (approx. 1330–1530) towards star , net and fan vaults .
history
Previous buildings
The most important late antique forerunner can be seen as the crossing octagon of the Symeon Monastery ( Qal'at Sim'an ) in Syria, built towards the end of the 5th century , which was probably roofed and independently illuminated. Another building worth mentioning in this context is the Church of San Vitale in Ravenna, consecrated in 547 ; here the central octagon is raised by an exposed tambour. Since the new construction of the large dome (558–562) of Hagia Sophia in Constantinople, it has been illuminated by a wreath of windows around it. Other important buildings with a view to illuminating the crossing area are the Byzantine cross-domed churches .
The oratorio of Germigny-des-Prés , dating from the Carolingian period (806), has what is probably the first lantern tower on a square floor plan, but which remained without a direct successor.
Dating
Since some of the lantern towers were not completed or were reconstructed after collapsing, exact dating is extremely difficult and questions in this regard are deliberately avoided in the literature. This problem is exacerbated by structural changes as a result of changing tastes: the vaults often come from a later era than the tower itself.
Northern and Central Europe
Lantern towers of the northern or Norman type can only be found in a few regions of Central Europe.
Germany
In the late Romanesque architecture of the Rhineland there are some interesting examples (e.g. St. Quirinus in Neuss , or St. Ludgerus in Essen-Werden ), but they are of a completely different type than the much better known Norman examples.
France
Normandy
Probably the earliest medieval lantern towers date from the 11th century and can be found in Normandy. Examples of this are the Abbey of Mont-Saint-Michel (crossing tower closed by a retracted vault in the 15th century), the Jumièges Abbey (only preserved as a ruin) and the former Saint-Étienne abbey church in Caen (in the Huguenot Wars (1566 ) and collapsed after severe destruction in World War II (1944), but rebuilt both times). Later Norman cathedrals and abbey churches build on this tradition (examples: Hambye Abbey ; Abbey Church of St. Georges de Boscherville ; Coutances, Cathedral and the Church of St-Pierre; the Cathedral and Church of St. Taurin in Evreux ; the Cathedral and the Abbey Church St-Ouen in Rouen ; the abbey church of Ste-Trinité in Fécamp ; the former collegiate church of Auffay , the church of St-Germain in Argentan and others).
The question of where the Norman clients and architects of the 11th century got their ideas for building lantern towers has not yet been answered. Both Cluniac ( Cluny II ) and Ottonian buildings (e.g. St. Michael in Hildesheim ) could be considered as temporal forerunners, but these were probably closed to the nave. Not much is known about the original architectural design of the crossing area of the Salian imperial cathedrals of Mainz, Worms and Speyer, which were built around the same time, due to later conversions and restorations.
Île-de-France
Of all the Gothic cathedrals in France outside of Normandy, only the cathedral of Laon (1155–1235) has a lantern tower, which is undoubtedly influenced by Norman or early English models. The former abbey church of Saint-Yved in Braine , only about 30 kilometers from Laon , also has such a tower. Perhaps the cathedral of Beauvais also had a lantern tower, which however - only a few years after its completion - collapsed in 1573 and was never rebuilt; today's crossing is closed by a vault.
Burgundy
Far from the Norman and northern French buildings, but only around 150 km from Lausanne and Neuchâtel (see below ), the crossing of the Notre-Dame church in Dijon , which was begun around 1225, is surmounted by a lantern tower that was originally planned, but unfinished remained and was largely only built in the 19th century.
England
The Norman buildings had a great role model effect on English abbey churches and cathedrals (examples: Durham ; Canterbury ; Westminster Abbey ; Salisbury (vaulted to stabilize the tower); York ; Lincoln ; Peterborough ; Bury St. Edmunds and others). The Cathedral of Ely has two crossings: While the western crossing is crowned by a real lantern tower (with a painted wooden flat ceiling inside), the much more famous eastern crossing octagon belongs only to a limited extent, as it is entirely carpentry is not raised by a tower on the outside.
The vaults of the English lantern towers are the undisputed highlights of late Gothic vaulting art: star , net and fan vaults were combined with each other and put together to create architectural gems .
Flanders
In the Middle Ages, there were various relationships between Normandy and Flanders (see: William the Conqueror and Duke William I of Flanders ), which obviously had an impact on the architecture of Flanders: for example, the Sint-Niklaaskerk in Ghent (13th century) originally a lantern tower opened to the inside of the church, which was later closed by a retracted vault, which has since been removed.
The crossing of the Cathedral of Our Lady in Antwerp (14th – 17th centuries), which is open at the top , was also originally intended to be crowned by a lantern tower; in the 17th century, however, it was closed with an octagonal, exposed and multi-storey baroque hood .
Switzerland
The Notre-Dame Cathedral in Lausanne , consecrated around 1190, has a lantern tower, which, however, was only completed in the years 1873–1876 and is based on Laon.
Only around 70 km from Lausanne, in the collegiate church of Neuchâtel in Neuchâtel, there is a lantern tower from the Middle Ages with an eight-part ribbed vault that was common for that time; Restorations took place in the 19th century.
Southern Europe
South of the Alps and the Pyrenees , the crossings of sacred buildings were regularly closed by vaults or domes (mostly on an illuminated round or octagonal drum).
Italy
In Italy, all exposed structures above the crossing area are called tiburio .
Spain
In Spain, all exposed structures above the crossing area are called cimborrio ( cimbori in Catalan ). Particularly noteworthy are the late Romanesque crossing towers of Salamanca or Toro (Castile) as well as the late Gothic cimboria of the cathedrals of Burgos , Tarazona and Valencia (Catalonia), which, however, have special positions among the Spanish cathedrals.
Castile
Very idiosyncratic, but definitely worth mentioning in this context, is the lantern tower ( cimborrio ) of the cathedral of Burgos , which was rebuilt after a previous collapse in the 16th century and open to the top with an openwork star vault, which is probably also influenced to a large extent by Moorish models (see Great Mosque of Taza , Morocco).
The crossing of the new cathedral of Salamanca (16th century) is exaggerated on the outside by an octagonal drum, the two-story internal structure of which, however, is strongly reminiscent of a lantern tower. The old cathedral of Salamanca and that of Zamora as well as the collegiate church of Toro already had constructions that are located between the illuminated drum and the lantern tower.
Catalonia
Many larger churches in Catalonia have single-storey lantern towers (e.g. the cathedrals of Lleida , Barcelona and Tarragona or the monastery church of Sant Cugat del Vallès and others).
Also at the Cathedral of Valencia an octagonal lantern tower ( cimbori ) opens over the crossing. In the article from the 16th century, both levels are illuminated through window openings.
Modern lantern towers
New churches with lantern towers were also built in the 19th and 20th centuries. While the tower of the cathedral in Truro , Cornwall, is completely based on the late medieval style, the architects of the 20th century opened up completely new design possibilities due to technical progress and greater aesthetic freedom (examples: Basilica Sainte-Thérèse in Lisieux , St. Joseph in Le Havre , the Cathedral of Liverpool Cathedral, Blackburn , Sheffield Cathedral or St. Stephen in Bütgenbach ).
See also
literature
- Henrik Karge: The Cathedral of Burgos and the Spanish architecture of the 13th century. G. Mann, Berlin 1989, ISBN 3-7861-1548-6
- Günter Kowa: Architecture of the English Gothic . DuMont, Cologne 1990, ISBN 3-7701-1969-X
- Norbert Nussbaum, Sabine Lepsky: The Gothic vault. The history of its shape and construction. Deutscher Kunstverlag, Berlin-Munich 1999, ISBN 3-422-06278-5
- Frank Rainer Scheck, Johannes Odenthal: Syria. High cultures between the Mediterranean and the Arabian desert . DuMont, Ostfildern 2011, ISBN 978-3-7701-3978-1 , pp. 283-289
- Werner Schäfke : Normandy . DuMont, Cologne 1990, ISBN 3-7701-1141-9
- Werner Schäfke : English cathedrals . DuMont, Cologne 1989, ISBN 3-7701-1313-6
- Werner Schäfke : France's Gothic cathedrals . DuMont, Cologne 1979, ISBN 3-7701-0975-9
- Rolf Toman (ed.): The art of the Gothic. Architecture - sculpture - painting . Cologne 1998, ISBN 3-89508-313-5
