Architecture 200 :: History of Ideas in Architecture I

Study Guide :: Unit 6

Architecture as Mystical Experience: Cathedral, Mosque, Tomb, and Temple Architecture, 800 CE–1400 CE

In this section we trace the architectural expression of two intertwining ideas: the experience of heaven on earth (the mystical experience) and secular governance. Europe typically illustrates the dual nature of the imperial state and the tensions within it: emperor and pope, bishops and kings, diocese and states. A similar duality is evident in Byzantine Christendom, in the Umayyad caliphates, which saw the rapid expansion of Muslim power into and beyond the Arab Peninsula, and in theocratic imperialism as expressed in Hindu India and Buddhist China.

Within this system in Europe, for example, the mass of citizenry—serfs, peasants, merchants, clergy, minor nobility—find its place. And the massive Gothic cathedrals serve them all: soaring spires, towering vaulted naves suffused with the patterned colours of stained glass, sumptuous decorations, surfaces inside and out sheathed in complex sculptural programs; it is all to support lavish communal ceremonies, polyphonic choirs, individual devotion, and inspiration. The cathedrals are visual encyclopedias of Christian belief, soaring spatial statements in stone, exhibitions of the skill and knowledge of the mason’s craft, but seemingly supported mainly by the hand of God. In reality of course there is an increasing amount of science and mathematics applied in their construction, as monastic institutions of learning and knowledge evolve into universities at the service of kings.

As Abbot Suger of St. Denis, Frankish cleric-statesman, close friend and adviser to both Louis VI and Louis VII of France, and delegate to the court of Pope Gelasius II, writes in support of the sumptuously decorated and impressive abbey church on which he had lavished countless sums for the construction and decoration:

Thus, when—out of my delight in the beauty of the house of God—the loveliness of the many coloured gems has called me away from external cares, and worthy of meditation has induced me to reflect, transferring that which is material to that which is immaterial, on the diversity of the sacred virtues, then it seems to me that I see myself dwelling, as it were, in some strange region of the universe which neither exists entirely in the slime of the earth, nor entirely in the purity of Heaven; and that by the grace of God, I can be transported from this inferior to that higher world… (Libellus de consecratione ecclesiae S. Dionysii, Mediaeval Sourcebook, Translated by David Burr (1996) https://www.fordham.edu/Halsall/source/sugar.asp)

Under imperial patronage monasteries, shrines, churches, and temples multiply and expand in size and complexity, a fusion of church and state. State-controlled financial and monetary systems, often extensions of unified theologies, assist the expansion of trade and lead to concentrations of wealth that in turn support lavish building programs by church and state, as well as armies, fleets of ships, roads, and irrigation systems. Shrine and palace become one and the same: the Palatine Chapel, Aachen, in the European Carolingian Empire; the palace-temple of Toda-ji, Nara, Japan; Istanbul’s royal mosques; Indian minarets that serve as watchtowers; Islamic military-victory monuments from which the faithful are called to prayer.

Learning Objectives

• Trace the rise of imperial religions throughout the world (ca. 800 CE to ca. 1400 CE), and with them the refinement of architectural types such as the cathedral, the mosque, the tomb, and temple.
• Understand the link between the economy and patronage, as the fusion of church and state creates massive new wealth and vast territorial empires.
• Appreciate the “inspirational” effects of this kind of architecture, often intended to transport the visitor, providing a foretaste of paradise.
• Document the emergence of the codification of building practices, and of the developing theoretical discussion on the role of architecture in society.

Learning Activities

• Recommended time to complete this unit: 3 weeks.
• Access the course home page for news and updates.
• Access and review the course-support websites.
• Check in with your Academic Expert.
• Read the Study Guide case studies and the assigned readings for this unit; check the recommended online links.
• Continue to build your Journal.
• Read your textbook: A Global History of Architecture, “1000 CE” and “1200 CE.”
• Answer five of the study questions at the end of this unit.
• Complete and submit Assignment 6: Final Course Work Journal

Case Study 1

Lakshmana Temple, Khajuraho, India

The temple, which was built under the rule of the Chandela leader Yashovarman ca. 930–950 CE was dedicated to Shiva. The three roof towers (shkhara) rise dramatically against the sky from a flat country plain. The complex elevation scheme is designed to allow humans to experience “in perspective,” a mystical stairway to heaven, but is also a model of the Hindu universe, symbolizing its inherent order and beauty.

Case Study 2

Copán, Honduras

One of the largest Mayan cities and ritual centres, Copán was built between 400 and 820 CE, and spans the Mayan classic period. The seven stele erected ca. 736 CE are considered masterpieces of classic Maya sculpture. The main site features an acropolis (the royal complex) and five plazas, processional ways, tombs, ball courts, altars, and a monumental hieroglyphic stairway on which 2,200 glyphs relate the story of the Copán Dynasty—the whole a vast architectural metaphor of the Mayan cult of ancestor worship.

Case Study 3

Todai-ji, Nara, Japan

Todai-ji is the third great temple on this site in Nara, Japan. The first was begun in 737 CE, dedicated in 749, and then burned during the 12th-century Fujiwara religious wars. The second was rebuilt on the same scale, 1181–1203 CE, under the leadership of Shunjobo Chogen; from it the nandaimon (great south gate), shoru (bell tower), and colossal statue of Vairocana Buddha (Buddha of the Universe), much repaired, remain. The third was a rebuilding, on a two-thirds scale, of the Main Hall (daibutsuden = Great Buddha Hall) after it had burned down in 1705; it was the largest wooden building in the world until 1998.

Case Study 4

Chichen Itza (Mouth of the Well at Itza), Yucatán, Mexico

A fusion of Mayan and Toltec beliefs are revealed at this 750 CE–ca. 900 CE ritual site, its design influenced by the earlier sacred complex at Tula. The various site elements are focused on two cenotes, deep water-filled sinkholes believed by Mayans to connect with the underworld. Within this vast complex of numerous temples and ancillary structures, the main monument is the caracol, or observatory, from which priests tracked the calendrical progression of the night skies, confirming all was right with the universe. The other dominant monument is the Castillo, the main sacrificial temple, which embodied Toltec sacrificial beliefs, functioned as a solar calendar with steps marking the days of the year, and was oriented to observe the equinoxes and solstices. A ball court (the game was a harvest ritual) there is the largest in the Americas. There is also the Temple of the Warriors, adjacent to courts of 1,000 columns, and a processional way leading to the sacred cenote, which contains evidence of both human and precious-object sacrificial remains.

Case Study 5

Palatine Palace Chapel, Aachen, Germany

The Palatine Palace Chapel was built for Charles the Great (Carolus Magnus, Charlemagne, King of the Franks) at Aachen (Aix-la-Chapelle, now in Germany). Construction began sometime after 786 and it was completed after 798, perhaps as late as 814. The exterior now dates mainly from ca. 1400. The chapel marked the emergence of a civilization, the Holy Roman Empire. Holy Wisdom church in Constantinople was the ultimate model for this sort of chapel. San Vitale, its surrogate at Ravenna, served as an intermediary—indeed, San Vitale’s supposed charisma was literally transferred to Aachen by having columns from it physically transported across the Alps to the Frankish capital and incorporated in the new building. The chapel-palace complex brought together church and state both symbolically and practically.

Case Study 6

Byodo-in, Uji, near Kyoto, Japan

The Amitabha Hall (Hall of Amida Buddha, also Phoenix Hall, the Ho-o-do) of the Byodo-in at Uji (Kyoto Prefecture) was originally a villa for a nobleman of the Fujiwara family, who gave their name to this period of Japanese history (984–1185 CE), and was converted to a temple dedicated to the Jodo, or Pure Land sect, in 1052–1053 CE. The Phoenix Hall is the only surviving part of a larger complex that once included the palaces of emperor-monks. It was a complex of pavilions set in water gardens, a here-and-now metaphor of Amida’s “pure land,” where the devotees would live forever in the Buddha’s cosmic present.

Case Study 7

Durham Cathedral, Durham, England

(The Cathedral Church of Christ, Blessed Mary the Virgin, and St. Cuthbert of Durham)

Built between 1093 CE and 1133 CE, the cathedral was of a size and scale that represented the wealth of the burgeoning economy of Norman England—witnessed during the transition from village-based agrarian life to town-based large-scale estate farming. One result was the growth of a mercantile society based within market towns. Of architectural significance is the fact that the cathedral marks the transition from the arcuated Romanesque style to the pointed-arch Gothic style; it also shows a reduction in the use of solid, heavy masonry walls in favour of an open skeleton of arches. Some evidence remains today of an elaborate interior polychrome decorative scheme.

Case Study 8

Sun Temple, Modhera, Gugarat, India

The Rajputs were zealous temple builders; this one, built ca. 1026 CE by the Solankis Dynasty king Rushabh Bhimdev I, is one of the most complex. A vast, richly ornamented complex, it supported the ancient Hindu Vedic cult worship of Surya, the sun god. Organized on a tight geometric grid, the site features a large terraced bathing tank for public ablutions, a pillared assembly pavilion, a processional gateway, and a main temple featuring a pure gold idol of the sun god riding his seven-horse chariot. The temple walls are alive with erotic sculpture, symbols of fertility.

Case Study 9

Mu-Ta Pagoda (Yingxian Timber Pagoda), Shaanxi, China

Built between 1031 and 1055 CE, the 67-metre high ta (pagoda) commemorated the Liao ruler Xingzong (ruled 1031–55). Originally contained within a large monastery with a monumental mountain gate, the impressive tower stood on four elevated moon terraces. It had one of the most advanced wood structural systems of its day, a rising series of separate floors, or storeys, tied together with 54 different types of bracket sets, and a complex mesh of cross-braced posts and beams. It has successfully endured numerous earthquakes over its nearly 1000-year lifespan.

Case Study 10

Sage Mother Hall, Jinci Temple, Taiyuan, China

The current temple hall (built 1038–1087 CE), one of many constructed on this site over the centuries, was dedicated to the spirit of the local Jin water-springs spirit, which was credited with guarding against the droughts that repeatedly threatened this agricultural community. The site is unusual in that the many temples, dedicated to various sanctified ancestors on this site of renowned natural beauty, are not organized on the traditional Song Dynasty manner of axial grid plans with south-facing orientation, but are scattered throughout the site and face the springs. It would seem therefore that here we have a temple complex continuing the tradition of ancient Taoist folk animist worship overlaid with later Confucian ancestor reverence. The Sage Mother Hall is an excellent example of bracketed timber construction in the manner documented by Li Jie in his architectural treatise the Yingzao Fashi.

Case Study 11

Speyer Cathedral, Speyer, Germany

(German: Dom zu Unserer lieben Frau in Speyer)

Built between 1040 and 1137 CE, it is a monument to the emergence of the European feudal system with its hierarchy of serfs, religious establishments, aristocracy, and a town-market economy. The phrase Imperium Romanum entered popular parlance (1034 CE) to describe this balance of governance, which looked to Byzantium for a model. In this imperial cathedral, the balance of the east and west towers symbolized the duel between the ecclesiastical and secular centres of power.

Case Study 12

Cathedral (Duomo) of Pisa, Pisa, Italy

Begun in 1063 CE, the complex was finished in 1278, and comprised the Romanesque cathedral itself (finished 1118), the baptistery 1153, the campanile (1173), and the campo santo, an enclosed graveyard (1278). A variation on the Mediterranean basilica and dedicated to the cult of the Virgin (Santa Maria Assunta), it was a model for northern Italian church architecture of the period. Richly decorated with mosaics, sculpture, and frescoes, the building itself betrays Islamic Mediterranean influences: columns taken from the Island of Elba, capitals from Roman and Byzantine temples, and walls of richly veined marbles. The free-standing baptistery (the largest in Italy and dedicated to St. John the Baptist) follows northern Italian tradition for this type of large-scale monument, marking a theological emphasis on the Christian initiation rite, and making formal reference to the Byzantine Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. The ancient Christian baptismal rite represents for the initiate both the death of the old spirit and the rebirth of the new spirit, thus to this day we have the idea of the “born-again Christian.”

Case Study 13

Abbot Suger and Saint-Denis, France

Abbot Suger (ca. 1081–1151), of the Benedictine Monastery of St. Denis, France, was a Frankish abbot-statesman and historian who is noted for formulating a theological defence of Gothic architecture. On the one hand he worked to strengthen royal power; on the other he promoted monastic reform: in his treatise on the construction of the abbey church at St. Denis, Liber de rebus in administratione sua gestis, he argued forcefully for the rich decoration of churches with images, rich colours, precious stones and metals, and stained glass as a means of educating and inspiring the faithful, providing a foretaste of the “Heavenly Jerusalem.”

St. Denis was the residence of Abbot Suger. It was renowned in its day for its massive scale, extensive collection of relics, sumptuous decorations, and heavenly interior lighting effects achieved by richly coloured stained glass windows. In terms of technology, it utilized advanced engineering: pointed spires, cross-rib vaulting, flying buttresses, and clustered columns. This signaled the advent of the High Middle Ages in Europe.

Case Study 14

Li Jie, Yingzao Fashi, China

Written under the patronage of Song Emperor Huizong (reigned 1100–1125 CE), court statesman, historian, and superintendent of state buildings Li Jie compiled this detailed manual of architecture and construction techniques as an update of a previous Tang version. The intention was to regulate the construction industry, control costs, and break the secrecy of the building-trade guilds. Finished in 1103 the 24 illustrated chapters cover basic building data, regulations, division of labour and trades, materials, and specifications for drawings for eight building types. The book regularized construction standards throughout the empire and went through numerous reprints into the 13th century CE. It is the oldest Chinese architectural technical manual to survive complete and intact.

Case Study 15

Angkor Wat (Vrah Vishnulok), Cambodia

Angkor Wat (Capital Monastery), or Vrah Vishnulok, was dedicated 1113–1150 CE to Vishnu by Suryavarman II, “the Conqueror,” king of the Khmers of Cambodia. The structure may also have been his tomb shrine. The biggest (at 1,804m by 1,298m, with a central tower 65m high) cluster of monuments in the ancient capital of Cambodia, the kingdom of the Khmers, was founded ca. 880 CE along with its irrigation-control system of canals and reservoirs (barays). Restored and enlarged under Jayavaraman VII (1181–ca. 1219 CE), it was abandoned in 1432 and briefly restored 1556–1576 under a later line of Khmer kings. It is now under restoration by UNESCO. The whole complex, a map of cosmological space, may represent Vishnu dreaming the universe.

Case Study 16

Itsukushima Shrine, Hiroshima, Japan

The design was established in 1168 CE, and the shrine was last rebuilt in the mid-16th century CE. A syncretic blend of Buddhist and Shinto religious traditions, the seaside shrine is dedicated to Susano-o no Mikoto, Shinto deity of seas and storms. The axial plan of the colourful temple pavilions is oriented to a lone red entrance gate, or torii, that stands in the water eastward off the coastal shore. In Buddhism the torii is the gateway to heaven; to Shinto observants, it calls the god to come forth and respond to the supplicant’s prayers.

Case Study 17

Qutb Minar (Qutb’s Tower), Lal kot, Delhi, India

(or Qutub Minar; English = the Qutub Tower)

Qutb Minar is beside the ruins of the Quwwat-ul-Islam (Might of Islam) mosque in Lal kot, the oldest section of Delhi. The mosque, begun in 1193 CE, features the tallest known brick victory tower, built mainly under Sultan Iltutmish (1211–1236). It rose to 73 metres in four stages, and was sandstone clad, with alternating angular and round ribs divided by projecting balconies. It has been renovated many times, and now there are five storeys. As well as being used to call the faithful to prayer, it is believed also to have commemorated Islam’s conquests in India.

Case Study 18

Chartres Cathedral, Chartres, France

(Cathedral of Our Lady of Chartres or French: Cathédral Notre-Dame de Chartres)

Fires in 1135 and 1194 CE destroyed the Romanesque pilgrimage church here. The present church was built in several stages over ca. 1135–1260 CE and 1507 CE (north tower) in progressively more elaborate versions of the new Gothic style. Proportion and geometry were used throughout to control a vast system of buttresses, stone ribs, and brick vaults, arcades, and galleries, supporting a taut envelope opened up into soaring bays of stained glass. Chartres is probably the most impressive medieval evocation of the “Heavenly Jerusalem” for the Christian imagination. Chartres was restored after 1815 and again, extensively, in 1909–1914.

Case Study 19

Church of the Tithe, Kiev, Ukraine

Built between 989 and 996 CE, the Church of the Tithe was commissioned by the Grand Duke Vladimir and decorated by Byzantine workers. Little of it remains. Its basic plan was of a Greek cross, in the centre of which rose a central cupola surrounded by smaller and lower cupolas. This church design would become the standard formula for church building in Russia and its colonies over the next 800 years.

Case Study 20

Villard de Honnecourt, France

De Honnecourt was active ca. 1210–1240 CE, and wrote a work archived as Codex ms Fr. 19093 (in the Bibliotheque Nationale, Paris). The codex is known only through a surviving portfolio (33-sheet manuscript) containing about 250 drawings, a pattern book of Gothic-style sculptural figures and architectural plans, elevations and decorative details, and building machines and war engines. Recent scholarship deems him to have been a travelling statesman and/or artist rather than a mason or artisan builder.

Case Study 21

Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore, Cathedral of Florence, Italy

The basilica was begun between 1294 and 1296 CE, from designs by Arnolfo di Cambio for a timber-roofed basilica with an octagonal dome. The campanile (bell tower) dates from 1334 CE. Work was interrupted by the plague in 1357 but resumed in 1367; its projected dimensions and domical form were created in a model version, but building it was a challenge that was not met until 1446. The church represents a culmination of the Italian late-medieval Gothic although it became a proto-Renaissance monument when the present cupola, finally constructed after numerous attempts (1417–34) under Filippo Brunelleschi (ironically using medieval buttress-and-vaulting engineering techniques), was finished. Brunelleschi also designed the new lantern. Facade marbles and mosaics were finally applied only in 1876–1886. Until the modern era it remained the largest dome in the world, and is still the biggest brick dome.

Case Study 22

Golden Pavilion (Kinkakuji), Kyoto, Japan

(or Rokuon-ji)

The Golden Pavilion was probably commissioned in 1392 CE, when Yoshimitsu, the third Ashikaga shogun (1358–1408 CE) stabilized his imperial government. The Golden Pavilion was one of several buildings on a country estate whose layout was modeled on a Zen monastery. Yoshimitsu “retired” to it in 1395. The complex building plan had the pavilion floating within an elaborate water garden, intended to prompt the meditative visualization of Nirvana. It was restored in 1467 CE and rebuilt in 1954 after an arsonist had torched it. At that point the top two floors were gilded following Yoshimitsu’s original, but until then, unattained intentions.

Study Questions

Choose five of the study questions to answer.

1. Choose two case studies from the Study Guide for this unit. Find their sections in A Global History of Architecture, chapters “1200 CE” and “1400 CE,” and then examine two online resources covering each of these cases. What is the difference in the organization of information, point of view, analysis, emphasis, visualization, and use of sources between your print textbook and the online media?
2. During this period, 800 CE to 1400 CE, we note a structural change in the world economy, from agrarian-village societies to urban mercantile economies based on large-scale agriculture. What were some of the technical advances in the agriculture and economy of China, South East Asia, and Europe and how did they impact the development of cities?
3. Major religious monuments from this era seem to have one dominant intention: to create for the faithful a personal experience of the numinous “other.” Briefly describe how this was achieved by the builders of Chartres, France; the Phoenix Hall, Byodo-in, Kyoto; and Angkor Wat (Vrah Vishnulok) Cambodia.
4. Numerous temple complexes introduced water as a symbolic landscape element. Using sketch plans of three of the following: the Sun Temple at Modhera; Phoenix Hall (Byodo-in), Kyoto; Sage Mother Hall, Jinci Temple, China; Golden Pavilion, Kyoto; Angkor Wat, Cambodia; Itsukushima Shrine, Hiroshima, mark major elements of the sites, the ritual use of those elements, and their symbolic significance.
5. Using annotated ground plans, compare and contrast how belief, ritual, and function were accommodated in the following two monastic establishments: the (planned but never realized) monastery of St. Gall, Switzerland, and the Horyu-ji Temple, Nara, Japan.
6. Speyer Cathedral, Germany; Durham Cathedral, England; Chartres Cathedral, France: each mark a progression in construction technology, and ultimately support change in the Christian religious experience of the faithful. What were these technical developments, and what was their effect on the European populace who witnessed this reordering of church architecture?
7. Greek temples and their decorative statuary were garishly painted. Looking at many other religious monuments as they survive today we forget what a sumptuous colourful experience they presented to pilgrim visitors. With this in mind, describe the use of colour on the interior of Durham Cathedral and, similarly, on the external stucco surfaces of Angkor Wat.
8. Unlike the Holy Roman Empire, where a distinction was made between secular and religious authority, Islam, as it arose, exhibited a very different approach to the role of political governance and religious belief in the ordering of society. In a short, illustrated narrative, and using examples from any of the previous units, explain how the mosque developed as a unique architectural form to express these ideas such that by the end of the 9th century the mosque tied together the largest political entity west of China.
9. The development of monastic institutions supported both civic and economic order as well as religious institutionalization. Focusing on the plans for the monastery of St. Gall, Switzerland, and on those for the Mahabodhi Temple, India (A Global History of Architecture, “400 CE,” p. 255), describe how these purposes were served in both symbolic and practical terms.
10. The minaret, (e.g., Qutb Minar), either attached to a mosque or free-standing, became a symbol of Islam from West Asia to India. What were its distinguishing characteristics and what practical functions did it serve?

Assignment for Credit

Complete and submit Assignment 6.