DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.29898#0368
332
KOMAN ARCHITECTURE.
Part I.
15. lJian of tbe Basilica
at Treves.
Scale 100 ft. to 1 in.
cathedrals the repetition and smallness of the component parts has the
effect of magnifying their real dimensions.
The roofs of these halls had one peculiarity which it would have
been well if the mediteval architects had copied, inasmuch as they
were all, or at least might have been, honestly
used as roofs without any necessity for their being
covered with others of wood, as all Gothic vaults
unfortunately were. It is true this is perhaps
one of the causes of their destruction, for, being
only overlaid with cement, the rain wore away
the surface, as must inevitably be the case with
any composition of the sort exposed horizontally
to the weather, and that being gone, the moisture
soon penetrated through the crevices of the
masonry, destroying the stability of the vault.
Still, some of these in Rome have resisted for
fifteen centuries, after the removal of any covering
fchey eArer might have had, all the accidents of
climate and clecay, while there is not a Gothic
vault of half their dimensions that would stand
for a century after the reruoval of its wooden
protection. The construction of a vault capable
of resisting the destructive effects of exposure to the atmosphere still
remains a problem for modern architects to solve. Until this is
accomplished we must regard
roofs entirely of honest wood as
preferable to the deceptive stone
ceilings which were such favour-
ites in the Middle Ages.
The provincial basilicas of
the Roman Empire have nearly
all perished, probably from their
having been converted, first into
churches, for which they were
so admirably adapted, and then
rebuilt to suit the exigencies
and taste of subsequent ages.
One example, however, still
exists in Treves of sufficient
completeness to give a good idea
of what such structures were.
As will be seen by the annexed
plan, it consists of a great hall,
85 ft. in width internally, ancl rather moro than twfice t-hat dimension
in length. The vralls are about 100 ft. in height and pierced with
206. Internal View of the Basilica at Treves.
KOMAN ARCHITECTURE.
Part I.
15. lJian of tbe Basilica
at Treves.
Scale 100 ft. to 1 in.
cathedrals the repetition and smallness of the component parts has the
effect of magnifying their real dimensions.
The roofs of these halls had one peculiarity which it would have
been well if the mediteval architects had copied, inasmuch as they
were all, or at least might have been, honestly
used as roofs without any necessity for their being
covered with others of wood, as all Gothic vaults
unfortunately were. It is true this is perhaps
one of the causes of their destruction, for, being
only overlaid with cement, the rain wore away
the surface, as must inevitably be the case with
any composition of the sort exposed horizontally
to the weather, and that being gone, the moisture
soon penetrated through the crevices of the
masonry, destroying the stability of the vault.
Still, some of these in Rome have resisted for
fifteen centuries, after the removal of any covering
fchey eArer might have had, all the accidents of
climate and clecay, while there is not a Gothic
vault of half their dimensions that would stand
for a century after the reruoval of its wooden
protection. The construction of a vault capable
of resisting the destructive effects of exposure to the atmosphere still
remains a problem for modern architects to solve. Until this is
accomplished we must regard
roofs entirely of honest wood as
preferable to the deceptive stone
ceilings which were such favour-
ites in the Middle Ages.
The provincial basilicas of
the Roman Empire have nearly
all perished, probably from their
having been converted, first into
churches, for which they were
so admirably adapted, and then
rebuilt to suit the exigencies
and taste of subsequent ages.
One example, however, still
exists in Treves of sufficient
completeness to give a good idea
of what such structures were.
As will be seen by the annexed
plan, it consists of a great hall,
85 ft. in width internally, ancl rather moro than twfice t-hat dimension
in length. The vralls are about 100 ft. in height and pierced with
206. Internal View of the Basilica at Treves.