Till recently, architecture was synonymous with churches. Man had to live out his life according to the way of the Lord that he learnt on his visit to His house on Sundays. The churches for these folksy people had to be strong and simple with ample space to sit or stand (leave the jostling for the marketplace!) - preferably with etchings of visual stories from the Lord's teachings. The pattern prevailed everywhere- the Romanesque era ,for example had a single wide aisle or a wide central nave, flanked by two narrow aisles-the latter being separated by a row of columns or by square stacks of masonry called piers, usually connected by arches. The variations on the theme had to be built in according to the number of faithful, the building material, the architects' resources and the churches' vision. All this changed as religion became powerful in the Middle Ages. It now became the place to impress both the laity and often its own members - about the glory of the church .It housed the mightiest power on earth, who in turn was the messenger of the almighty. All the trappings of power, opulence, pomp and grandeur are on display in these churches. The St.Peter's Basilica is both the symbol and the celebration of the power of the church.
Your trip to destination Italy will take you through various styles .Enabling a witness the concrete manifestation of man's worldview- both sacred and temporal.
Some of the well marked architectural ones are: CLASSICAL: GREEKS & ROMANS (6TH CENTURY B.C. TO A.D. 4TH CENTURY)
The subtle harmonies of space, materials and techniques are the hallmarks of Hellenic architecture. The Romans, while utilizing these, added their own utilitarian post-and-lintel construction (essentially, a weight-bearing frame, like a door) as well as the load-bearing arch. Experience the perfection of Grecian
architecture in most Greek Temples in the Magna Graecia of southern Italy, Sicily; Greek theaters in Sicily at Taormina, Segesta, and Syracuse. Equally, relive a piece of Roman history -and architecture -in Rome's 45,000-seat Colosseum, Pantheon (A.D. 1st c.); the brick public Baths of Caracalla (A.D. 3rd c.); and the Basilica of Constantine and Maxentius in the Roman Forum.ROMANESQUE
The Romanesque architects were more hardy and utilitarian-concentrating on building large churches with wide aisles to accommodate the masses. In their hands, the Good Lord's place had to withstand the elements and often act as a shelter from the marauding enemy .Not surprisingly, the walls were necessarily thick and solid with few and small windows. These rested on huge piers that imparted a dark, somber, mysterious, feeling. Be transported into an era of strife and wars - and the power of religion in its midst in such fine examples as: Modena's Duomo, Abbazia di Sant'Antimo; Milan's Basilica di San Ambrogio; Pisa's Cathedral group; Lucca's Cattedrale di San Martino and San Michele GOTHIC (LATE 12TH TO EARLY 15TH CENTURIES)
The settled conditions of the Feudal era coincided with the rise of the Gothic style. Engineering techniques now allowed architects to build soaring, many storied structures, ceilings that pierced the skies, thin walls, and numerous windows. The church could now become the high point of a town with the interiors expressly designed to attract the churchgoers. The joy of an airy atmosphere was enhanced with comic books of stained-glass windows that they could "read".
You would be equally enchanted with Milan's massive Duomo & Baptistry, Siena's Duomo, in Florence: Basilica di Santa Maria Novella as well as Basilica di Santa Croce Santa Maria Sopra Minerva in RomeRENAISSANCE (15TH TO 17TH CENTURIES)
Renaissance reveled in proportion, order, classical inspiration, and mathematical precision to create unified, balanced structures. To this were added the notion of perspective and line of vision -ideas that changed the very notion of art .An architect, Filippo Brunelleschi, first incorporated these and masterpieces emerged in the form of the Basilica di Santa Croce's Pazzi Chapel, the interior of the Basilica di San Lorenzo and the ingenious dome capping Il Duomo. Architect Bramante built on these principles transfusing it with his own vision in Rome's St. Peter's Basilica and the textbook Tempietto at San Pietro in Montorio .The versatile Michelangelo on the other hand approached architecture like a sculptor and gave it anew dimension. He designed Florence's Medici Laurentian Library and New Sacristy, the facade of the Palazzo Farnese as well as his crowning glory, the soaring dome of St. Peter's Basilica and could well make you go weak in the knees. Andrea Palladio became the high priest of Renaissance architecture by inventing the grandiloquent Palladian style that still influences grandeur in architecture- anywhere in the world. His masterpieces include Villa Foscari and the great Villa Rotonda, Vicenza's Olympic Theater San Giorgio Maggiore could remind you of a monument you have seen in your own lands! BAROQUE & ROCOCO (17TH TO 18TH CENTURIES)
Baroque style went a step further and modeled architecture on art. Apart from the appurtenance that looked more like sculptures, the stuccoes, figurines, and paintings were all carefully integrated in a seamless harmony. Rococo on the other hand, piled on the decorative elements excessively and it comes across as an inordinately and often soulless version of the baroque.
Experience the baroque grandeur at Carlo Maderno's facade, Bernini's colonnade for Rome's St. Peter's Square, the churches of the Apulian city Lecce. The rococo style is conspicuously present at Rome's Spanish Steps.