Churches In France

One of the odd things about me is that while I don't even believe in any gods, I love going into old churches.

The old churches in France fall into 2 basic categories: Romanesque and Gothic. The typical tell-tale sign is the shape of the top of the arches. Are they round like AND gates? Or are they pointed like OR gates? If they're round, like in the abbey in St-Guilhem-le-Desert, you're probably in a Romanesque church. If they are pointed, like the Saint Pierre in Montpellier, you're probably in a Gothic church. The pointed arch has the property that it converts more of the weight of the structure into vertical force and less into horizontal pressure. That means there is less force pushing the top of the wall out and the church is less likely to collapse. Since it is less likely to collapse, they could build it higher.

How high? Well sometimes too high. Collapses weren't as uncommon as one would want them to be. And the state of mechanical statics and the science of building material properties was probably not as well developed either. It reminds me of an old Calvin and Hobbes. Calvin was in the car with his family and they were crossing a bridge that had a tonnage limit. Calvin asked his dad, "how do they know the weight limit?" His dad told him, "they drive bigger and bigger trucks over the bridge until it collapses and then they rebuild the bridge and put the weight of the last truck that made it across." Then Calvin's mother yelled at the father, saying "if you don't know the answer, just say you don't know the answer!" Well Gothic cathedral architecture seems like it worked more on the model of Calvin's dad.

In addition to building higher, they also didn't need so much structural support in the walls which meant--bigger windows. Romanesque churches are very dark--maybe having slots more than windows. But Gothic churches have large stained glass windows that let in a lot of light. They make the whole thing lighter and airier. Of course, these days there is electric lighting, so the effect isn't as noticeable, but you can still feel the difference between a Romanesque church and a Gothic one.