Page 341 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Germany

INTRODUCING WESTERN GERM AN Y  339

Tower at the
intersection of the
nave and transept
Cross-vaulting
(or cross-
ribbed vaulting)

The portal of the Dom in Trier has a
magnificent tympanum, depicting Christ
with the Virgin Mary and St Peter.
Romanesque
Cathedrals
Cathedrals of the type
shown here were built with
a basilica-type internal
arrangement, including
a transept and presbytery,
and a double choir usually
ending in a semicircular
apse. The Dom in Speyer has
a massive twin-towered west
front, as shown here. The
other pair of towers rises
above the presbytery, and
the intersection of the nave
and transept has a lower,
broad fifth tower.

Romanesque Capitals
Romanesque churches in the Rhine Valley
feature exquisite stone sculptures. The
capitals, with their extraordinary variety of
form, ranging from simple blocks to fine
Twin eastern figurative or animal-decorated compositions,
The system of vaults towers
also acts as support. are of particular interest.

Water-leaf capital of a Simplified
bonded column Corinthian capital

The St Gotthard-Kapelle in Mainz, next to the
Dom, was the archbishop’s personal chapel for private Cushion (or block or Zoömorphic
prayer. It is comparable to similar private buildings in cube) capital (animal-decorated) capital
secular palaces.

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