Was Romanesque architecture dark?

Romanesque churches and castles were dark, with few openings. Wars and invasions were commonplace, so windows and doors were kept to a minimum. With stone and masonry buildings, buildings were safe from fire and invaders, but required large supports for the weight of walls and vaults.



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Because the walls must be so massive, or thick, to support the load from above they cannot be pierced with large or numerous windows. This renders the interior of most Romanesque churches fairly dark.

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Romanesque used light to maximize the religious rite directing it through the constructive system to emphasise the ceremony and represent divinity – backlighting the altar at dawn, while focussing light towards it at dusk.

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There is no consensus for the beginning date of the Romanesque style, with proposals ranging from the 6th to the 11th century, this later date being the most commonly held. In the 12th century it developed into the Gothic style, marked by pointed arches.

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Thick Walls, Small Windows Romanesque churches were dark. This was in large part because of the use of stone barrel-vault construction. This system provided excellent acoustics and reduced fire danger. However, a barrel vault exerts continuous lateral (outward pressure) all along the walls that support the vault.

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Indeed, some of the early large windows were later blocked up. In northern Europe, as the windows grew larger, the colour of the glass, particularly the blues, grew darker. The aim was not to make the cathedrals dark-although that was often the result-but to give the light a mystical quality.

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