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European architecture has gone through several architectural styles in history, the name may have some impression on you, but the ways to distinguish is not very clear. When divided by the time it can be roughly divided into ancient Greek architecture, Roman architecture, Romanesque architecture, Byzantine architecture, Gothic architecture, Renaissance architecture, Baroque architecture, classical architecture, and so on. The relationship between styles is sometimes clear-cut, and in the actual transmission of architectural culture, different styles often learn from each other, so it is not surprising that some buildings appear to have several styles.
Ancient Greek Architecture
Ancient Greece was the birthplace of European culture, and the architecture of Ancient Greece was also the source of European architecture, flourishing from the 5th to the 4th century B.C. The architecture of Ancient Greece is represented by temple buildings, the most distinctive features of which are rectangular foundations, columns, and triangular walls.
The earliest ancient Greek temples only have the rectangular porch, but then later added a column type, from the early "Sota" gradually developed to "front porch", that is, the front porch of the temple is composed of four columns, and then developed to "front and back porch", to the 6th century BC and evolved into "Peripteros", and became the standard.
There are four main types of columns, from simple to complex: Doric, Ionic, Corinthian, and the special goddess column which is called "Caryatid", the whole column is a goddess statue. Ancient Greek colonnades were often borrowed from later architectural styles, so not all buildings with columns are ancient Greek.
Caryatid
The most representative of ancient Greek architecture is the Acropolis Parthenon, after more than two thousand years of vicissitudes, the temple roof has collapsed, the statues are no longer there, the reliefs are also severely peeling, but from the towering colonnade, you can still see the temple's rich posture. The columns around the Parthenon are the simplest Doric columns.
Parthenon (4th century B.C.)
A representative example of late Greek architecture is the Epidoros Theater, which was built on a hillside to create staggered seating for the audience in a semicircle around a central stage. This amphitheater can be compared to the Colosseum in ancient Rome, which was built on a hillside and on level ground, with both references and breakthroughs.
Theater of Epidauros (4th century B.C.)
The earliest use of Corinthian columns in Greek architecture is the musical pavilion of the Athenian Lysergarde, which has a 2.9-meter-square, 4.77-meter-high pedestal at its base, and a 6.5-meter-high solid circular pavilion on a 6.5-meter-high pedestal surrounded by six Corinthian columns. At the top is a dome, carved from a single piece of marble, which holds the trophy, and on the eave wall is a relief depicting the story of Dionysus, the god of wine, who met a pirate and turned him into a dolphin.
Musical Memorial Pavilion of the Athenian Lexiograd (335 B.C.)
As mentioned earlier, ancient Greek architecture, as the source of European architecture, its columnar structure was borrowed by many buildings, the Dugald Stewart Memorial Pavilion in Edinburgh is built on the model of the musical memorial pavilion of Lysergarde in Athens, Greece. Although it looks like ancient Greece, it belongs to neoclassical architecture.
Dugald Stewart Memorial Pavilion (Edinburgh, built-in 1831)
Ancient Roman architecture
Roman architecture inherited the classical three-column style from the ancient Greeks, while at the same time developing a style of architecture characterized by vaulted structures and domes. Another contribution of Roman architecture was the use of concrete technology, which in combination with the vaulted structure gave Roman architecture a new artistic image. Coupon cavities could be cleverly combined with the square column elements to form continuous coupons and coupon columns, and the composition became rich and varied, ranging from a single-span triumphal arch to a large gladiatorial arena with 240 coupon cavities.
As an architectural structure, the arch, in addition to having good load-bearing properties when loaded vertically, also serves as a decorative feature. Semi-circular coupons were an important feature of ancient Roman architecture, pointed coupons were used in Gothic architecture, and Islamic coupons were pointed, horseshoe, bowed, trilobed, compound, and stalactitic. Therefore, arches are an important feature of ancient Roman architecture, not the only one, and this should be taken into account when judging them.
The Pantheon, located in Rome, Italy, is one of the oldest buildings in Rome and is a masterpiece of ancient Roman architecture. The rebuilt Pantheon, with its centralized form covered by a dome, is an example of a single-space, centralized composition of a building that is the highest example of Roman dome technology. The dome of the Pantheon has a diameter of 43.3 meters and a height of 43.3 meters at the top. In the center of the dome is a circular hole 8.9 meters in diameter, signifying some kind of connection between the word of God and the world of man.
From the front of the Pantheon, the triangular mountain wall with the columns of the front doorway resembles an ancient Greek temple, because the architects originally borrowed the style of ancient Greek architecture, but the Pantheon is Roman rather than Greek, simply because it was built during the Roman period (isn't this distinction particularly crude?) and, of course, because of its superb Roman dome technology.
The Pantheon (built-in 27 BC)
The Colosseum is already very familiar to you. The arena covers an area of 20,000 square meters, with a perimeter wall of 527 meters, along an axis of 188 meters, a short axis of 156 meters, and a wall height of 57 meters, which is equivalent to the height of a modern 19-story building. The arena can accommodate 50,000 spectators. The interior of the arena is ladder-shaped seats on 3 levels of radiating concrete cylindrical arches, with 80 trumpet-shaped arches on each level for dispersing the flow of people, and it is said that tens of thousands of spectators can completely exit the arena in less than 10 minutes. The bleachers were set back one level at a time, forming a ladder-like slope, so that after tickets were purchased, spectators would enter their respective viewing areas mainly through the vertical aisles, and then use the horizontal aisles to supplement their own seats. This design is still used to this day, with few major changes. The gladiatorial arena is more or less based on the design of the ancient Greek amphitheater, which is more blue than blue.
The Colosseum (built 72-79 AD)
In addition to the use of arches in the Colosseum, ancient Roman architecture also made superb use of them in many other public facilities, such as the Great Aqueduct.
The Roman aqueduct (built-in 53 AD)
The Arc de Triomphe in Constantine is also a representative of ancient Roman architecture, so the question arises, the Arc de Triomphe in Paris looks quite similar to it, and its name is also called the Arc de Triomphe, does it belong to ancient Roman architecture? The answer is no, it's so new, how could it be! The Arc de Triomphe in Paris is a neoclassical building (some say imperial). So the core of the judgment between Roman and Greek architecture is "ancient", that is, it has to be built in the Roman or Greek period, otherwise, it is borrowing, borrowing, no matter how much it looks like!
Triumphal Arch of Constantine (built-in 315 AD)
Arc de Triomphe de Paris (built in 1836)
Romanesque Architecture
Romanesque architecture, also known as Romanesque architecture, Romanesque architecture, Romanesque architecture, etc., is a style of architecture that was popular in Christian areas of Europe from the 10th to 12th centuries. As the name implies, Romanesque architecture is a continuation of the ancient Romanesque arch style. Therefore, it is easy to be confused with Romanesque architecture, and the best way to judge is to look at the age of the building. At the same time, the germ of Gothic architecture can be seen in Romanesque architecture, which can sometimes be mistaken for Gothic, so care must be taken to distinguish it.
PisaCathedral is a typical example of Romanesque church architecture. Built-in 1063, the cathedral is a rectangular Latin cross in plan, 95 meters long, with 68 Corinthian columns in four longitudinal rows. The deep nave is covered by an elliptical vault at the intersection of the deep nave and the broad transept, which is supported by light columns supporting the wood-framed roof.
Pisa Cathedral (Italy, built-in 1063)
Romanesque buildings prefer the Latin cross for their foundation plan, which makes the building long and narrow, unlike Byzantium, which preferred the Greek cross, which makes the building-wide.
As I mentioned earlier, some Romanesque buildings are beginning to sprout Gothic style, and the German Speyer Cathedral is typical, with four pointed towers that are still very Gothic and can easily be mistaken for Gothic architecture. From the building's perspective, although the four towers are spires, they do not give people an aggressive feeling of soaring to the sky and are in good harmony with the whole building.
Speyer Cathedral (Germany, built 1030-1061)
One difference between Romanesque and Gothic is that the Romanesque usually has thicker walls for load-bearing, smaller windows, and less light inside. The Church of San Miniato in Italy is also a representative of Romanesque architecture and is located at the highest point in Florence, overlooking the city and the famous Basilica of the Flowers of the Virgin Mary.
Church of San Miniato (Italy, founded in 1013)
Byzantine Architecture
After the split of the Roman Empire, the architectural styles split as well, with Western Rome continuing the Romanesque style of architecture and Eastern Rome gradually taking the Byzantine approach, represented primarily by the Orthodox churches. The main achievement of Byzantium was the creation of a structural method of supporting the dome on four or more freestanding pillars and the corresponding centralized architectural forms. Among these are the familiar Greek crosses and mosaics, which are typical of the Byzantine period.
One example of Byzantine architecture is the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul, which is somewhat unique in that it was first built as a church, then converted into a mosque after the Turkish invasion, with towers of worship added to the four corners of the building, and is now used as a museum. In the course of time, it has been transformed into a church-mosque-museum.
Hagia Sophia (Istanbul, built 532-537 AD)
The Greek Cross is usually chosen as the foundation of a Byzantine building, and the entire complex occupies a relatively square area, with the main dome located above the center of the cross. (PS: There is also a view that St. Vasilii Cathedral is not Byzantine, but as an Orthodox church, I don't see anything wrong with classifying it as Byzantine)
St. Sophia Cathedral (Kyiv, built-in 1051)
St. Mark's Basilica (Venice, built 829 AD, rebuilt 1043-1071)
St. Vasilii Cathedral (Russia, built-in 1560)
Gothic Architecture
Gothic architecture evolved from Romanesque, and many of the towers of Romanesque churches already have a Gothic shadow, but the Gothic went to an extreme, completely abandoned the dome in favor of the steeple, in order to get closer to God, the Gothic building can't wait to make all the parts that can be elevated to make it pointed, giving people the feeling that it can't wait to reach the sky, the whole building is covered with steeples, giving people the feeling of a thousand arrows.
Cologne Cathedral (Germany, built between 1248 and 1880)
Cologne Cathedral is a very typical representative of Gothic architecture, with countless spires rising into the sky. Notre Dame in Paris, Big Ben in London, and the Cathedral of the Holy Family in Spain are also famous representatives of Gothic architecture, so if you have the chance to be there, you can try to count the total number of pointy points of each building.
Gothic Support Wall
Another important feature of Gothic architecture is that there are very few complete walls, relying on ribbed arches, buttresses, and windows to carry the load.
Gothic Stained Glass Windows
Notre Dame de Paris (France, built 1163~1345)
Cathedral of the Holy Family (Barcelona, founded in 1882)
Big Ben, London (built-in 1858)
If you're looking at it in a crude way, if a building feels like it has a lot of pointy edges, it's probably a Gothic building.
Renaissance Architecture
Renaissance architecture, an anti-Gothic architectural style, is the result of the influence of the European Renaissance movement on the concept of architecture, with the Gothic concept of approaching God and approaching the divine, as opposed to the Renaissance, which rejected the supremacy of the theocracy and advocated the revival of Roman architectural forms. Renaissance architecture often had a strict façade and plan composition as well as a columnar system inherited from classical architecture.
The Cathedral of Our Lady of Flowers in Florence was the first great building of the Renaissance. The dome of the cathedral is the next great dome after the Pantheon in Rome. The architects did not use arches to complete this aerial mammoth structure but built it from the bottom up by means of interlocking fishbones and rafter tiles, a very impressive technique. Another interesting thing about this church is that the 85-meter-high bell tower next to it is Gothic in style, so it seems that Renaissance architecture didn't have to compete with Gothic architecture.
Cathedral of the Blossoms of the Immaculate Conception (Florence, built-in 1469)
Another example of Renaissance architecture is St. Peter's Basilica, which was designed by architects and artists such as Donato de Bramante, Raphael, Michelangelo, and Antonio da Sangallo, Jr. The frescoes and sculptures by Michelangelo, Raphael, and others are preserved inside the church. St. Peter's Square outside the church was designed by Baroque master Benigni, who also designed St. Peter's Throne inside the church, represented by its curved columns. St. Peter's Basilica is a perfect combination of Renaissance and Baroque architecture.
St. Peter's Basilica (The Vatican, built-in 1506)
Baroque Architecture
Baroque architecture is a style of architecture and decoration that developed in the 17th and 18th centuries based on Italian Renaissance architecture. It is characterized by freedom of form, the pursuit of dynamism, a preference for rich ornamentation and sculpture, strong colors, often interspersed with curved and elliptical spaces. The main representatives of this style are the Cathedral of San Carlo and the Cathedral of Santiago.
Cathedral of San Carlo (Italy, built-in 1638)
Santiago de Compostela Cathedral (Spain, built-in 1748)
Baroque decor (all kinds of splendor)
As a decorative and architectural style, the Baroque mainly pursued freedom and irregularity in the early stages, usually in the form of curves, but in the later stages, it began to go luxurious and exaggerated, with all sorts of fancy and luxurious gold.
Baroque Furniture
Rococo Architecture
Some people think of the Rococo style as Baroque 2.0, and I think it is. Rococo inherits the irregularities and curves of the Baroque, but at the same time, it also likes to mimic natural forms, and if you see a building that seems to be full of plants, you've probably met Rococo!
Rococo with "planted" walls
Rococo Style Patterns
Rococo Architecture
Some people think of the Rococo style as Baroque 2.0, and I think it is. Rococo inherits the irregularities and curves of the Baroque, but at the same time, it also likes to mimic natural forms, and if you see a building that seems to be full of plants, you've probably met Rococo!
Rococo with "planted" walls
Rococo Style Patterns
Classical Architecture
Classical architecture in the broad sense actually encompasses, or at least overlaps with, Renaissance architecture, while Classical architecture in the narrower sense refers primarily to French Classical architecture, represented by the east façade of Versailles and the Louvre. If the advent of Renaissance architecture was a reaction against the excessive worship of the divine in Gothic architecture, the advent of Classical architecture can be seen as a reaction against the ostentation of Baroque architecture.
Classicalism was about rules and regulations, highlighting axes, symmetry, proportions, and master-slave relationships in architectural design.
Louvre (France, founded in 1204)
Palace of Versailles (France, built-in 1689)
Buckingham Palace (England, founded in 1703)
Pantheon (France, built-in 1791)
Neoclassical Architecture
Neoclassical architecture advocates the revival of ancient Greek and Roman decorative architecture. It is characterized by a neat composition and the pursuit of grandeur and rigor. Generally, the foundation of the ground floor is made of coarse stone, and the main body of the building is made of classical columns and various combinations of forms, with detailed decoration. There are also views that the so-called neoclassical is a simple copy of ancient Greek and Roman architecture, such as the Arc de Triomphe in Paris is an imitation of Constantine's Arc de Triomphe, and the Pantheon is an imitation of the Pantheon in ancient Rome, Britain's Buckingham Palace is also a representative of neoclassical architecture, know it is an imitation of who?
Buckingham Palace (England, founded in 1703)
Pantheon (France, built-in 1791)
Conclusion
It is normal that you are still a bit confused after counting the European architectural styles, because there are so many styles, and many of them are ambiguous. One day when we walk in Europe, it will be good to be able to judge them correctly. Finally, let's briefly summarize the characteristics of each.
Ancient Greek architecture: "Ancient", columns, triangular walls.
Ancient Roman architecture: "ancient", arcades, domes
These two are easy to judge, and not much remains as monuments.
Romanesque architecture: Latin cross base, domes, vaults, columns, small windows
Byzantine architecture: Greek cruciform, multiple domes or onions
Gothic architecture: no domes, many spires, few walls, multi-colored windows
Renaissance architecture: domes, columns (this is easily confused with Romanesque and Classical, need to refer to the building date)
Baroque architecture: irregular, curved, lavishly decorated, earthy gold
Rococo architecture: lavishly decorated, like plants
Classical architecture: regular, symmetrical, columnar
Neoclassical architecture: regular, columnar, looks like ancient Rome and Greece