Speyer Cathedral (or Cathedral of St. Maria and St. Stephan)--page 3 (of four pages)


consecrated 1061 CE




The east end--chevet

After the consecration in 1060, the walls of the crypt were strengthened and the choir was lengthened to include a semicircular apse, with blind arcades on the exterior and an arcaded gallery at the top on slender colonnettes. Two bell towers were addded replacing the earlier staircase towers on each side of the old choir. The choir itself on the exterior is pedimented with five arched niches, emphasizing the slope of the triangle. Delicate blind arcades emphasize the roofline of the pediment and the registers of the towers.

 

Buttressess supporting this very large and heavy church

Apparently its closeness to the Rhine River contributes to its instabilitiy.
 

The eastern towers

 
I don't recall where this little relief scupture was but it was too wonderful to delete.



Works Cited or Consulted:
Xavier Barral i Altet. The Romanesque: Towns, Cathedrals, Monasteries. Köln: Taschen, 1998.
Marilyn Stokstad. Medieval Art. New York: Harper and Row, 1988.
Rolf Toman. Romanesque. Köln: Köneman, 1997.

Continue to page 4.


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