Romanesque Architecture: Characteristics, Materials, and Evolution

Romanesque Characteristics

• Architectural resurgence
• Artistic and constructive production burst
• Classical ecclesiastical buildings blending eastern and international traditions
• New religiosity influencing church, cathedral, castle, and wall designs
• Rise of monasticism impacting temples and monasteries
• Longitudinal or central tower layouts with low interior luminosity and apses

Materials

• Well-crafted local stone and brick masonry
• Poor quality, heterogeneous mortar
• Plaster coverings

Building Elements

Walls

• Interior: Three-leaf emplecton (rubble and poor mortar), sometimes wood-reinforced, thickness unrelated to load transmission.
• Exterior: Ashlar and rubble, irregular rows, poorly joined, sometimes with thicker solidarity elements.

Coating

• Exterior: Lime mortar, arid, mineral pigments for protection and decoration.
• Interior: Frescos or murals depicting biblical scenes.
• Ornamentation on external stonework and arches.

Arches

• Rounded and pointed arches.
• Features: Arquivoltas, baquetón, frontón, and abocinamiento.
• Mullions dividing large arches for light control.

Cover

• Barrel or groin vaults to centralize nave loads.
• Domes placed over the transept on pendentives for light.

Vaulting System Evolution

• Vault at the church's head
• Vaulting system in the nave
• Vault partitioning and thrust counter application
• Thrust management in the aisles

Consequences

• Thrust Countering: Buttresses or pads needed externally and vault reinforcement.
• Support System: Pillars (composite, uniform, with attached half-columns or pilasters). Maximum expression in Gothic architecture. Corinthian columns with altered proportions.
• Massive walls dominate over openings. Oculi with tracery and loopholes. Thick walls with small windows (loopholes).