DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.51509#0243
GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE
199
the entire length of the building. The florid
west front (fifteenth century) is a rich example
of the later Flemish treatment. Other cathedrals
of interest were found—before the desecration
of Belgium by the Germans—at Bruges, Ypres,
Ghent, Liege and Louvain, all showing the
influence of France. It was in the municipal
buildings, however, that the new style became
more thoroughly nationalised. Belgium has
some famous examples of trade-halls and town-
halls, erected by the burghers during the most
prosperous period of their cities’ history. The
cloth-halls at Ypres (shown in the Frontispiece)
and Ghent, and the town-halls of Brussels,
Ghent, Bruges and Louvain are—or were—
notable examples. The rich facades are treated
somewhat floridly in the manner of the fifteenth-
century Gothic, and are surmounted by a
steep roof, broken by several stories of dormer
windows. A lofty tower generally forms part
of the design.
In Spain, the earliest Gothic churches were
the Cathedrals of Burgos (1230) and Toledo
(1227) : these and others show the influence of
French examples. At Barcelona and Gerona
internal buttresses take the thrust of the vaults,
as they do at Albi in France. Seville Cathedral
(1401-1520), the largest of all mediaeval churches,
was built upon the site of a Moorish mosque of
similar dimensions, a fact which explains the
peculiarity of its plan—a huge rectangle, with
square east end, measuring 415 feet by 298 feet,
and covering an area of 124,000 feet.
199
the entire length of the building. The florid
west front (fifteenth century) is a rich example
of the later Flemish treatment. Other cathedrals
of interest were found—before the desecration
of Belgium by the Germans—at Bruges, Ypres,
Ghent, Liege and Louvain, all showing the
influence of France. It was in the municipal
buildings, however, that the new style became
more thoroughly nationalised. Belgium has
some famous examples of trade-halls and town-
halls, erected by the burghers during the most
prosperous period of their cities’ history. The
cloth-halls at Ypres (shown in the Frontispiece)
and Ghent, and the town-halls of Brussels,
Ghent, Bruges and Louvain are—or were—
notable examples. The rich facades are treated
somewhat floridly in the manner of the fifteenth-
century Gothic, and are surmounted by a
steep roof, broken by several stories of dormer
windows. A lofty tower generally forms part
of the design.
In Spain, the earliest Gothic churches were
the Cathedrals of Burgos (1230) and Toledo
(1227) : these and others show the influence of
French examples. At Barcelona and Gerona
internal buttresses take the thrust of the vaults,
as they do at Albi in France. Seville Cathedral
(1401-1520), the largest of all mediaeval churches,
was built upon the site of a Moorish mosque of
similar dimensions, a fact which explains the
peculiarity of its plan—a huge rectangle, with
square east end, measuring 415 feet by 298 feet,
and covering an area of 124,000 feet.