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Plenty of fancy churches in New England. In a small rural village:
In a larger town in Western Masschusetts:
Think the one on the right is a church top, one on the left is a government building.
In a Boston neighborhood:
I'm glad to have buildings like that near me, it adds to the character to have buildings from a different era rather than just now. None of the churches are cathedral size or ornateness though in the center of Boston there are a number of rather ornate ones. Could dig up photos.
Plenty of fancy churches in New England. In a small rural village:
I'm glad to have buildings like that near me, it adds to the character to have buildings from a different era rather than just now. None of the churches are cathedral size or ornateness though in the center of Boston there are a number of rather ornate ones. Could dig up photos.
Nice photos. Great examples. Remember that after the reformation, there was a radically different mindset regarding ornateness. Lutherans to some extent, the Anabaptists to a radical extent saw ornateness as breaking the commandment regarding graven images. Since the majority of the first Christians on North American soil were reformed Christians, the church architecture which they brought with them was simple. The congregationalist churches of New England, Mennonite meeting houses in Pennsylvania, Baptist churches in many locales, and so on. But that does not mean that they could not be grand!
IMO the main problem with today's housing tracts, strip malls, and the like is that the developers, architects, and builders disrespect topography, history, and modesty 99% of the time.
I'm glad to have buildings like that near me, it adds to the character to have buildings from a different era rather than just now. None of the churches are cathedral size or ornateness though in the center of Boston there are a number of rather ornate ones. Could dig up photos.
Very beautiful and one of the reasons I love New England. My personal favorite is the Old South Church in Copley Square in Boston.
a minneapolis neighborhood along the bluffs of the Mississippi river. many of the homes have tunnels from the cellar to the water's edge that were used during prohibition
The historic neighborhoods which I can afford to live in, I do not want to because they are either way out in the boonies and I would have a 1 hour commute every day, or they are infested with pockets of crime and decay, or they have no elbow room and are just too cramped.
I don't know if that is true...the guilds were responsible for the construction of cathedrals, palaces, important residences in medieval cities, were they not? It was an honor to be a member of a guild. There was a process in place to gain access to membership which included, but not limited to apprenticeship. But I don't picture the building of a church to be cheap even in those days, since it took generations to do so. Every so often they would be plundered, destroyed by war then have to be completely rebuilt. The tall spires of Europe provided homeland security an advantage...easier to see the movements of enemy forces in the distance.
It is not cheap to repair these edifices when the time comes, that's for sure. But in Europe, some of these churches are also national or UNESCO heritage sites, for which some funding may be available in addition to congregation monies.
To the OP's point...taking into consideration the difference of craftsmanship of yesteryear to today, without historic architecture, today's modern design would have nothing to respond to, and by itself would look, for the vast majority of cases, bland, vulgar and criminal. Historic architecture gives fertile soil for subsequent styles to emerge to form a TAPESTRY from multiple layers of fabric.
Been a long time since I studied that stuff, but somehow I'd bet the construction workers were not guild members.
Here's an interesting article. Cathedrals in the Middle Ages | Middle Ages
** In the 12th century, the Church began absolving people of their sins if they participated in the construction of the cathedrals. -
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mr. Stokes
Nice photos. Great examples. Remember that after the reformation, there was a radically different mindset regarding ornateness. Lutherans to some extent, the Anabaptists to a radical extent saw ornateness as breaking the commandment regarding graven images. Since the majority of the first Christians on North American soil were reformed Christians, the church architecture which they brought with them was simple. The congregationalist churches of New England, Mennonite meeting houses in Pennsylvania, Baptist churches in many locales, and so on. But that does not mean that they could not be grand!
IMO the main problem with today's housing tracts, strip malls, and the like is that the developers, architects, and builders disrespect topography, history, and modesty 99% of the time.
Been a long time since I studied that stuff, but somehow I'd bet the construction workers were not guild members.
Here's an interesting article. Cathedrals in the Middle Ages | Middle Ages
** In the 12th century, the Church began absolving people of their sins if they participated in the construction of the cathedrals. -
Maybe that's my issue; I'm Protestant.
That is an interesting article. But I don't think it supports your claim of conscription. Most people were enthusiastic about the construction of a cathedral in their city, and being able to work off their sins was just an added bonus. (or, it made lower pay more acceptable to them.) In any event, the average villager would have likely been "at the bottom" as described in the same article. These cathedrals were (and still are) great feats of engineering, and they wouldn't have allowed just anyone to do the more important work. That work would have been left to those in guilds, as Mr. Stokes said.
That is an interesting article. But I don't think it supports your claim of conscription. Most people were enthusiastic about the construction of a cathedral in their city, and being able to work off their sins was just an added bonus. (or, it made lower pay more acceptable to them.) In any event, the average villager would have likely been "at the bottom" as described in the same article. These cathedrals were (and still are) great feats of engineering, and they wouldn't have allowed just anyone to do the more important work. That work would have been left to those in guilds, as Mr. Stokes said.
The bold is the key phrase. Tell me how that's different from today. I read some other articles while looking at that issue, there were all kinds of laborers, from day-laborers to the more skilled.
The bold is the key phrase. Tell me how that's different from today. I read some other articles while looking at that issue, there were all kinds of laborers, from day-laborers to the more skilled.
OK, just an example from Riga...the Dom cathedral. Construction on it began early 13th century. Engineering feat #1. Massive structure. Acoustics magnificent. Has to do with subfloor chambers that make a microphone unnecessary for a voice to be heard anywhere in its cavernous reaches. Genius! I'd like to see construct something similar today.
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