Romanesque cathedrals

The story

Churches like fortresses of stone

After the year 1000 a flowering of religious building began across Europe: in a few decades more churches were built than in the previous centuries. A chronicler of the time, Rodulfus Glaber, wrote that the world was “clothing itself in a white mantle of churches”. The style in which they were built is today called Romanesque, because it partly recalls the architecture of the Romans: round arches, that is, semicircular ones, stone vaults and massive columns.

The name is modern: it was coined in the 19th century by French scholars. The people who built then did not call it that, nor did they think they were creating a “style”. They wanted to build churches that were solid, that would last and be beautiful, to honour God and to show the wealth of the town or the monastery.

What a Romanesque church is like

A Romanesque church usually has very thick walls and small windows. There are two reasons: the stone used for the roof was extremely heavy, and the walls had to hold it up without collapsing; and large windows would have weakened the wall. Inside, therefore, there is little light, and the space is quiet and solemn. The aisles are held up by great pillars and round arches, and inside the church you feel a sense of strength and calm.

Outside, the façade is often plain, with a large doorway, sometimes with a carved semicircle above it (the “tympanum”) and a small round window, called a rose window. The bell tower is often a separate building, next to the church. The capitals, that is, the tops of the columns, are decorated with figures of animals, monsters, saints and men, sometimes with curious scenes.

Modena and its masters

Modena Cathedral is considered one of the masterpieces of Italian Romanesque. It was begun in 1099, on the spot where the tomb of Saint Geminianus, patron saint of the city, was venerated. The architect was called Lanfranco; the sculptor, Wiligelmo, one of the first artists of the Middle Ages whose name we know. His name is carved on the façade, in an inscription praising him. Wiligelmo carved on the façade some slabs with stories from Genesis, the first book of the Bible: Adam and Eve, Cain and Abel, Noah. The figures are stocky and lively, almost comic strips in stone.

The church was consecrated in 1184. Next to it rises the bell tower, the Ghirlandina, about 86-88 metres high, which became the symbol of the city. In 1997 the cathedral, the tower and the neighbouring square were placed by UNESCO on the World Heritage List.

There was not one Romanesque but many. At Pisa, where the cathedral was begun in 1064, the façades are covered with little arches and slender columns in white and dark marble, with an elegant effect. In France, at Cluny, the monks built one of the largest churches in Christendom. In Germany, at Speyer, the imperial cathedrals are very tall and severe. In England, at Durham, the columns are carved with zigzags.

Inside, artists painted on the walls scenes of saints, of the Last Judgement and of stories from the Bible, in bright colours. Unfortunately many frescoes have been damaged by time, but those that remain show large, stern figures, with wide-open eyes, meant to be seen from far away in the half-light.

Pilgrims and pictures

Many Romanesque churches stood along the roads of the pilgrims, who went to Rome, to Jerusalem or to Santiago de Compostela in Spain, where the tomb of the apostle James was kept. The largest churches had wide spaces for crowds of worshippers to walk through and chapels for relics. Sculptures and paintings served to tell the sacred stories to people who could not read. It was indeed said that pictures were the “Bible of the poor”.