🗼 GOTHIC LIGHT
PAGE 1 OF 5 — CHURCHES THAT TOUCH THE SKY
A NEW WAY TO BUILD
TALLER, LIGHTER, CLOSER TO HEAVEN
Around the year 1140, builders near Paris discovered a brand new way to build, and the Gothic style was born. Instead of the heavy round arch of the Romanesque, they used the pointed arch, which carries weight upward instead of pushing it outward. This let them raise churches taller than anything seen before, with thin walls, soaring ceilings and tall pointed towers called spires. The whole design was meant to amaze you the instant you stepped inside, lifting your eyes, and your thoughts, high toward the heavens.
⚡ DID YOU KNOW?
For hundreds of years, Gothic cathedrals were the tallest buildings on Earth. The spire of Cologne Cathedral in Germany is taller than a 50 storey tower.
SOAR!
THE POINTED ARCH
⌃ Replaced the old round Roman arch
⬆️ Its point carries the weight upward
📏 Lets walls grow much taller and thinner
⬆️ Its point carries the weight upward
📏 Lets walls grow much taller and thinner
SOARING SPIRES
🗼 Tall pointed towers on the roof
☁️ Seemed to reach right up to heaven
👀 The tallest things for miles around
☁️ Seemed to reach right up to heaven
👀 The tallest things for miles around