Romanesque Architecture and Medieval Pilgrimage Churches

Templar Church of Santa Maria de Eunate, Navarra

The Templar Church of Santa Maria de Eunate in Navarra features an east semicircular apse and an external cloister enclosing the church. The main portal faces the Way of St. James. It is designed with an octagonal plan. The dome is not Islamic because the ribs pass through the center. The structure includes pillars on the southern side and double columns on the northern side.

The Pantokrator

The Pantokrator is painted in the most important part of the church. It depicts the full body of Christ holding the New Testament in his left hand and rising his right hand. It includes the four evangelists: Matthew, Luke, Mark, and John.

St. Foy de Conques

St. Foy de Conques is characterized by vertical monumentality and the internal elevation of the central nave. It features indirect light from the upper tribune and a second floor on the side aisles. There is a clear correspondence between the floor plan and volume, showing a crescendo: a volumetric articulation of the head. The structure includes semicolumns attached to pillars and three naves, with the central nave being wider. It utilizes barrel vaults for the central nave and groin vaults for the side naves. Other features include an octagonal dome, a transept, and an apse head of the church with three elongated semicircular absidioles, plus four absidioles on the transept.

St. Martin de Tours and St. Sernin de Toulouse (11th C)

These structures feature a central nave with barrel vaults, arches, and transversal arches. There are four side naves with barrel vaults and transversal arches across two floors. They include a protruding transept and a central nave with barrel vaults. The semicircular elongated apse (choir) is accompanied by five or six absidioles and a semicircular ambulatory space.

Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela (11th-12th C)

The Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela was originally a Roman necropolis and grew significantly thanks to the pilgrimage, becoming the central nucleo of the city. Bernardo el Viejo and Roberto started the head of the church; Esteban built the transept and dome; Bernardo el Joven built the longitudinal nave; and Maestro Mateo built the Portico de la Gloria.

Composition and Structure

The composition includes three naves with a wider central nave axis, a transept, and a dome with external and internal shells. Entrances are located in the transepts. The semicircular elongated apse features five absidioles, with two additional absidioles on each side of the transept. The Puertas de Platerias is the only exterior point where the Romanesque arch can be seen; it is a double portal with double height, highly decorated jambs, archivolts, and a tympanum featuring significant religious iconography.

Modular Genesis and Volume

The cathedral follows a modular genesis repetition: 11 repetitions of the module on the longitudinal nave, the Portico of Glory (Narthex), and five repetitions on each side of the transept. Volumetric arrangements include a cascading section at the head, two side square towers at the west, and four towers at the end of the transept.

Abbey of Saint Gall (9th C)

The Abbey of Saint Gall (which was never built) was designed as a multifunctional building with the fundamental idea that monks need to be separated from the world to get closer to God. These were cultural, economical, political, and agricultural centers. They were mystical places, complex and multifunctional, organized around cloisters with a pavilion. The church was the main building, featuring three naves, two towers on the west, and a protruding transept.

Cluny II (France, 10th C)

In Cluny II, the cloister is the heart of the building. It included a second cloister for novices and saw the elimination of agriculture and livestock from the immediate vicinity. The complex consisted of the church, the cloister, and chapter houses.