Secrets of Cathedral Styles

Exploring the world of cathedral architecture offers a fascinating glimpse into the intersection of art, religion, and history. Each architectural style, such as Gothic, Cistercian, Romanesque, Byzantine, and Neoclassical, is not just a matter of aesthetic preference; it reflects the theological and philosophical views of the era in which it was built.

For instance, Gothic cathedrals, are famous for their towering heights and soaring spires, which were not possible in early Romanesque constructions. But the reason for learning how to engineer these new heights came from a desire to flood the church nave with more light, because the theologians thought that light was the best symbol of the divine presence, of Christ "illuminating" the world. In contrast, Cistercian architecture, with its emphasis on simplicity and austerity, mirrored a monastic life dedicated to purity and asceticism.

This video is adapted from insights in the book "The House of God" by Edward Norman.

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A lot of these observations come from the book “House of God” by Edward Norman. He is a historian and former priest and goes into the psychological depth of the architectural styles mentioned here, plus many others like Romanesque, Neoclassical, and Hermit Abbeys. Absolutely stunning color photography too.

[Pheminon]

Dude
No matter what your religion is, some of those cathedrals look absolutely breathtaking

[caiobortoletto]

I gotta say, I wish we valued architecture like this today

[amberv]

Gothic cathedrals and so many others are absolutely breathtaking

[ngus]

As someone who grew up catholic going to a modern “mega” church was an experience to say the least. It was indistinguishable from a concert.

[bridgetbecker]

It can also be a reflection of acoustics or the availability of a sound system. High vaulted cathedrals carried sound before microphones.

[jebbroham]

When I was the Navy we were on a deployment in the Med, and one of our ports was Marseilles, France. While walking around with a few buddies we saw a cathedral and decided to go inside an have a look around the place. Little did we know, that church was the Notre-Dame de la Garde which had origins spanning back as far as 1218. We were standing in a structure that predated our country by almost 700 years. It was after that deployment and seeing many ancient sites and structures including Roman ruins that I decided to study history in college and made it my life's passion, because the more you know history the better you can predict the future.

[JasonBanks-kp]

Some of the coolest cathedrals I've ever seen are lit up by natural light that comes in through a small hole at the top and the light bounces around the room. I used to have a diagram of one that was still being built after a couple hundred years I can't remember the name of it but it always amazed me at how dedicated people were back then.

[jeannebouwman]

Those gothic cathedrals with tall stained glass windows behind the altar on a sunny morning is the most beautiful a church can ever be

[Undomaranel]

You failed to mention acoustics. In the eras before microphones and amplification the architecture and vaulted ceilings allowed for sound to echo and travel above the standing crowd. Look into Bach and Handel's works for differing overviews of writing music for the church, and how their chorale vs organ vs harpsichord set ups affected the quality of the performance.

Edited because autocorrect autofailed. "Perfirmance" is not a word phone 😮‍💨

[aidanmaniaMusic]

The cathedrals we could make today would be truly divine

[seedspittinspacecowboy]

I've always loved going to churches and look around. They're truly a testament of human creativity.

[ladykatie]

My dads a pastor and he my mom and I were recently taking a vacation in Italy. We were touring this cathedral and realized they were about to start mas so we started to head out. But before we did the church goers started singing and even though it was in Italian and none of us could really understand it the way the music echoed in the building was breathtaking.

[odynith]

I went to Toledo Spain and my god the cathedral of Toledo is one of the biggest and most beautiful cathedrals I’ve ever seen. Took like 400 years to build the stone work and detail of every inch is a spectacle to behold.

[gdchnbb]

ahaha, that last "modern" church just cracked me up 😂

[WeNeedJesus]

How absolutely mind blowing it would have been to be from that time and visit the big city from your small village and then see / step into one of these huge cathedrals!

[ianmacfarlane]

I'll need to remember this next time I build a cathedral.

[CHR.NBY]

churches and cathedrals will always be some of the most beautiful feats of human architecture

[g_]

Small note- the baroque style in portugal was used more as a protection insted of fully simbolic. Its sturdy and bunker like apearance was used as a place where villagers could hide if the village was ever invaded by an army

[ow]

This actually answers a lot of questions that I have had over the years. Thank you!