Art and culture ITESM Colima 31: September 2009

Sunday, September 27, 2009

I found these amazing gargoyles on a house in El Chanal. I want to share with you these images:

Saturday, September 26, 2009

Congratulations! What a lovely journey you created!

Here are some comments:

Alejandra, thank you so much for your help! I loved your comment, just make sure next time cite the information the way I have explained in class. Right after the quotation (which has to include “”) you need to write a parenthesis with the last name of the author, the organization or the most relevant information about your source, then at the end of your post, include the full citation.

Ale Castellanos, I´m glad you liked the church, and you are right about the feelings”! Same comment about citations.

Gema I loved your tour!

Cresencio, it is a good quote, but you have no sources!

Fer! You wrote a wonderful post. And you are right, spirituality is the final end and the most important issue in a church. Notre Dame of Guadalupe has a very special place.

Good choice Adriana!

Beautiful Rose Window Hernán! But, what do you see at the center?

Francisco. That was not the church I meant. Anyway, your choice is good and your comments too, but please do not use monografías.com again, it is NOT a serious source.

Vincent good job! That is the right church!

Eduardo Daniel, you need to cite your sources!

Diego I would like to read more technical details about the vitrals or stained glass windows.

Quique, great comment, Im glad you choose the one you didn´t know about.

Omar, I would also like to know your opinion about the cathedral.

Abril, I would like to know more about the original gargoles and the church better than the movie. The movie is based on a novel by Victor Hugo “Notre Dame de Paris”

Gerardo, very interesting! I did not find the source for the Kennedy´s information.

Nelva, the church is not gothic is byzantine. You also need to cite your sources.

Isaac! Good job! Do you think we could go for the road trip after Tuesday´s class?

Ngel! You finally spelled your name correctly! Interesting comment!

Alam, I tried to research the exact dates but they were hard to get, the dates you have talk about a reconstruction of the church, but it was not build in such a short period of time.

Friday, September 25, 2009

Alfredo Alam

Well, First of all church Hagia Sophia or “La iglesia de Santa Sofía” is one of the greatest surviving examples of Byzantine architecture, rich with mosaics, marble pillars and coverings. It was built from 532 to 537 during the reign of Justinian I in Constantinople, which today is Istanbul, Turkey. It was made in the “First Golden Age” period.

Its great architects were Anthemius of Tralles and Isidore of Miletus, which covered the building with a huge central dome based on pendentives.

First it was used as a christian church. In this place they used to hide the terrified inhabitants during the war in the city. In 1935 it was converted into a museum.

The floor of the church is a rectangle of 77 x 71 meters. The dome-shaped half, from 56.6 feet to 31.87 in diameter, is based on four pendentives that are concave triangular sections and is surrounded by forty small buttresses separated by so many windows, giving the feeling of being suspended from the sky. Outside, the mass of the great church stands with some harmony, but without much grace.

Each pendentive is decorated with a seraphim painting.

Its structure is based almost in half domes, pendentives, windows, porches, pillars and of course a central dome. Here is a picture where all these elements can be seen clearly:

All interior surfaces are sheathed with polychrome marble, green and white with purple porphyry, and gold mosaics.

In my opinion this amazing and gigantic church is a great work of art from their architects that also contains small but significant works of art. What I mean by this, is that the church is a masterpiece and there are other religious works like the images created with bright tiles or the columns supporting the building.

The most impressive of this site are the thousands of details that contains both within and outside the building. Also if we think about, we realize that modern technology did not exist as there is now in the subject of architecture, besides that there was no heavy machinery as there is today.

Another curious fact about this church is the speed in which it was built, according to the data I could get, this church was created in 6 years. This time really is nothing if we compare their size and quality that is built on. Variables such as time, technological advances and ideologies are tose that we must take into account to analyze and know that without doubt this church is .... simply "art".

"Ngel" Moises :D

Well watching the comments I notice that no one has talked about the arcs, I'm going to talk about Notre Dame's arc.
The Notre Dame arcs are called harmonica arcs; this is the name of the architectural form.
These arcs are based on a high difficult mathematic equation, which it’s supposed to give balance between the two towers and the curvature part in the center, as we can see in the Triumph Arc
It’s also supposed that the equation frame on a mathematical space with solid and symmetrical towers, divided horizontally into a zone that seems governed by an equation. Produces an effect of harmony and feeling. This set is rarely repeated in architecture except for some of the French cathedrals.
As the last paragraph says the harmonic arcs are rarely used for common churche, so we can imagine the importance that de French people gave to Notre Dame.
Adding more info to this, the Notre Dame architecture has a mental game, because the part of the apse with buttresses also produce the artistic effect of a mechanism, designed for superior mentality.
Here are some images to have an idea of what I’m saying

Bibliography
http://www.viajeuniversal.com/francia/paris/notredame/arquinotredame.htm
es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gótico_clásico
www.ipfagranada.com/17_Gotico2.pdf
www.arquitectuba.com.ar/.../catedral-notre-dame-de-paris/

Isaac Aguirre

I chose the picture of Haiga Sophia because most of my classmates have chosen the Notedrame Cathedral. So let’s talk about it.
Known as Hagia Sophia (Άγια Σοφία) in Greek, Sancta Sophia in Latin, and Ayasofya or Aya Sofya in Turkish, =) Is a Byzantine church and mosque located in Istanbul, Turkey. What we can see now is the result of many reconstructions of the building because it has been damage by earthquakes and many wars.
We can see a lot of particularities of byzantine art like many paintings of Christianize representing God, Christ, Virgin Mary and Saints. Remember that Byzantine art is derivate of the Greek art. Justinian's basilica (how was named first because of the emperor) is the representation of the first amazing Bizantine architecture. Its influence, both architecturally and liturgically, was widespread and enduring in the Eastern Orthodox, Muslim worlds alike and especially Roman Catholic art.
I really appreciate the domes and semi domes, I mean they are just huge and I can’t imagine how they built it. For over 900 years the Hagia Sophia was the principal basilica of the Orthodox Patriarch of Constantinople and a principal church for councils and imperial ceremonies.
But I want to focus on an specific part of the Church. A pillar. But no one of the huge 4 that are outside. But, in one which is inside. I was looking for information on internet and I found this strange picture, first I watched it and I think was nothing great compared with the whole church so I click on the link of the photo to see what was it and I found this:
The Miraculous Pillar

“This rectangular pillar, located behind one of the large urns to the left of the imperial door as you enter the nave, is known by many fabulous names, including the Pillar of St. Gregory the Wonder-Worker, the Sacred Column, and the Sweating Column”.
“Legend has it that if you successfully complete a 360-degree circle with your thumb in the hole, you will be granted a wish. It is also said to "weep water" that has healing properties”.
Now I want to be there to try to do the experiment, so we should organize a trip there.
I hope you enjoy it. Here I let you the pages where I found good information.
Hagia Sophia at dusk. Photo © Helen Betts.
Pictures of Hagia Sophia. Visited 25 september 2009 http://www.sacred-destinations.com/turkey/hagia-sophia-photos/index.html
Byzantine art. Visited 25 september 2009 http://www.huntfor.com/arthistory/medieval/byzantine.htm

Nelva Mildred

The dome of Hagia Sophia has spurred particular interest for many art historians, architects and engineers because of the innovative way the original architects envisioned the dome. The dome is supported by pendentives which had never been used before the building of this structure. The pendentive enables the dome to transition gracefully into the square shape of the piers below. The pendentives not only achieve a pleasing aesthetic quality, but they also restrain the lateral forces of the dome and allow the weight of the dome to flow downward.
Although this design stabilizes the dome and the surrounding walls and arches, the actual construction of the walls of Hagia Sophia weakened the overall structure. The bricklayers used more mortar than brick, which weakened the walls. The structure would have been more stable if the builders at least let the mortar cure before they began the next layer; however, they did not do this. When the dome was placed atop the building, the weight of the dome caused the walls to lean outward because of the wet mortar underneath. When Isidorus the Younger rebuilt the original dome, he had to first build up the interior of the walls so that they were vertical in order to support the weight of the new dome. Another probable change in the design of the dome when it was rebuilt was the actual height of the dome. Isidore the Younger raised the height of the dome by approximately twenty feet so that the lateral forces would not be as strong and the weight of the dome would flow more easily down the walls.
Well I really like this part of the church because it is amazing how they built it. And because they use the light to scare people and make them feel less that god.
This is the part of the principal of the gothic art, that this way the dome is that way really high and whit some one light.

Gerardo Martínez

The king’s gallery
This part of the cathedral is very important because in this part one finds the statues of the kings of Israel. In 1961, President Kennedy paid respects at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, accompanied by French President Charles de Gaulle. After the 1963 assassination of President Kennedy, Mrs. Kennedy remembered the eternal flame at the Arc de Triomphe and requested that an eternal flame be placed next to her husband's grave at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia. President de Gaulle went to Washington to attend the state funeral.
The statues are replicas: the originals were decapitated during the revolution and can be viewed at the nearby Medieval Museum at the Hôtel de Cluny.
This part of the cathedral has 28 kings carved in stone. The cathedral has kings carved in the entrance of the cathedral; it is a strategy in order that the persons who are going to see her give each other all of some important characteristics that the cathedral has.
I think this part is really important because when you go to see that you firs see this part and you thing that so big this cathedral and about that its architecture treats itself.

The king’s gallery
This part of the cathedral is very important because in this part one finds the statues of the kings of Israel. In 1961, President Kennedy paid respects at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, accompanied by French President Charles de Gaulle. After the 1963 assassination of President Kennedy, Mrs. Kennedy remembered the eternal flame at the Arc de Triomphe and requested that an eternal flame be placed next to her husband's grave at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia. President de Gaulle went to Washington to attend the state funeral.
The statues are replicas: the originals were decapitated during the revolution and can be viewed at the nearby Medieval Museum at the Hôtel de Cluny.
This part of the cathedral has 28 kings carved in stone. The cathedral has kings carved in the entrance of the cathedral; it is a strategy in order that the persons who are going to see her give each other all of some important characteristics that the cathedral has.
I think this part is really important because when you go to see that you firs see this part and you thing that so big this cathedral and about that its architecture treats itself.

http://goparis.about.com/od/sightsattractions/a/Notre_Dame_Hlts.htm
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyT9S078kLb0k-e8j2hiQXKw_tFVtW3DpOsjxNwVMHiUmvO090RuJ9oxr3XNpyfWnmlrDJocbZG57m6WgAqybJOTjUBQjyHnxq-G3UuBlBuHmc40TQ8Aov_XjHS2ikYHz5VEruEQRMLG_-/s1600-h/catedral-notre-dame-paris.jpg

Abril Amezcua

This gargoyle, I'm much attention for the position he was, it seems that it has horns and wings, it is a structure that contradicts much. I love it because you always have the feeling they are guarding the city, but with a gloomy air.

One thing I like is that this cathedral appears in "The Hunchback of North dram”. The protagonist lives in the belfry. Her guardian, the judge Frolo, He never lets down the Belfry. In the company of three cute stone gargoyles Victor, Hugo and Laverne, Quasimodo spends hours watching the comings and goings of people. One day, decides to sneak off and meet the beautiful Esmeralda, with her biggest adventure to live. Illusion, friendship and fantasy come together in this great classic Disney.

Omar Hernández

http://www.teslasociety.com/pictures/Roman%20Empire%20Images/RomanEmpire2.jpg
http://www.geocities.com/istanbulplus/foto-AyaSofya3.jpg.jpg

This is the Santa Sofia’s Church or with the name that everybody knows “Hagia Sophia”. This huge cathedral is in Istanbul, Turkey. One of the biggest and most amazing church in Europe.
The cathedral is part of the byzantine art, because it’s ubicated in Constantinople, the byzantine art origin. But this cathedral was Christian until the Byzantine Empire was conquest.
It was built on 532 to 537 by Justino I. This building is based on four arcs and for columns for them, two domes that supported a big dome on the top of the building, in the images we can watch the real size of this dome.
Years later from conquer of the ottomans change the church and convert it into a mosque, and in 1935 was converted into a museum.
If we talk about the structure, it has a base of 77x 71 meters and the big dome is supported by columns and other small domes, the Turks help to put more support on the original church.

http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iglesia_de_Santa_Sof%C3%ADa

Kike!

Well, surfing in my Art and Culture Blog, I saw the two pictures and I thought about which one select for doing my work, then I select the first one, because I thought that choosing this one I was going to improve my knowledge about some cathedral. The reason was that I already know about the Notre dame cathedral and I wanted to discover the world that followed that picture in which I was interested very much.
Now, when I was checking up some links that I found in “GOOGLE” I took some specific information about the history of this mosque, nowadays a museum in Istanbul, Turkey.
The Church of the Holy Wisdom, known as Hagia Sophia in Greek, is a former Byzantine church and former Ottoman mosque in Istanbul. Hagia Sophia is universally acknowledged as one of the great buildings of the world.
Constantine was the first Christian emperor and the founder of the city of Constantinople, which he called "the New Rome." The Hagia Sophia was one of several great churches he built in important cities throughout his empire.
It is one of the greatest surviving examples of Byzantine architecture, rich with mosaics and marble pillars and coverings.
The Hagia Sophia has a classical basilica plan. The main ground plan of the building is a rectangle, 230 feet in width and 246 feet in length. The area is covered by a central dome with a diameter of 102 feet , which is just slightly smaller than that of the Pantheon in Rome.
For over 900 years the Hagia Sophia was the seat of the Orthodox Patriarch of Constantinople and a principal setting for church councils and imperial ceremonies.
http://www.sacred-destinations.com/turkey/istanbul-hagia-sophia
Then viewing, all the pieces of art that make part of this magnificent mosque, I choose some mosaics, but the I chose only one and I think that the Deësis Mosaic was the most important of all the mosaics.
The most famous of Hagia Sophia's Byzantine mosaics is this 13th-century Deësis Mosaic, depicting Christ Pantrocrator flanked by the Virgin Mary and St. John the Baptist.
Christ holds a closed Book of Gospels in his left hand and raises his right in benediction. His gentle expression is that of the "Palaeologan Christ," who reveals God’s compassion for humanity. On either side, the Virgin and St. John the Baptist are turned towards Christ in attitude of worship.
The wistful and grave expressions of Christ and the saints in this mosaic reflect a profound spirituality and announce a new epoch of Byzantine art marked by high aesthetic standards and classical trends.
http://www.sacred-destinations.com/turkey/istanbul-hagia-sophia-photos/slides/deesis-mosaic3-c-hlp
We can have a virtual tour on this beautiful building at: http://www.sacred-destinations.com/turkey/istanbul-hagia-sophia-photos/slides/deesis-mosaic3-c-hlp
In this picture, we can see that the mosaic is a little bit destroyed, cause of the years, but it represents to me the magnifency of Jesus and Santa Maria.
Also, we can see the type of architecture that the Byzantines used to paint in ther mosaics, only one shaped pictures without perspectives, and the image that they had of Christ is our nowadays picture of Jesus and God.

“My representation”
I think that the Byzantines, spend a lot of time, building this mosque that is one of the most important all over the world, when I first saw it I felt tiny, like If I were an ant, I I was overexposed to the humongous piece of art, that I haven’t seen before. It was great…
Bibliography:
http://www.360tr.com/34_istanbul/ayasofya/english/
http://www.sacred-destinations.com/turkey/istanbul-hagia-sophia-floor-plan.html
http://www.vacance-roumanie.com/vacaciones_a_Rumania/La_religion_ortodoxa.html

Diego Fernando

First, I chose the second picture
The moment I saw it, I thought the movie of Wuasimodo. And I thought the Cathedral Notre Dame.
When I saw carefully, I saw that the architecture is gothic in the medieval age. Medieval is like the middle of all. In the Medieval time was like a war with the muslin and Christian.
The Notre Dame Cathedral is in Paris and it started to construction in 1163 and finished in 1345. The appearance of the interior was radically transformed in the 13 century. And the exterior is appears in the High Gothic. This Cathedral functioned for The Christian Religion and to prey.

I chose the Vitrales or Windows. Each one of the colors is a different vitral(windows). And when you saw it you wonder how long it took to made in. The Windows is in the interior of The Cathedral of Notre Dame. Also each window has a figure relation with the Catholic.
I think that in this time did all very detail. In this time most of the temple did a big windows or with a small windows.
The windows is in the high of the cathedral because when the sunrise passes you can see all the light that reflects like a passed for an angel and this light reflect in the door.
I chose the Windows because I like the colors of the windows and in my opinion is reflect like the purity and the glory.
http://www.telefonica.net/web2/sabas/fotos/europa/paris/paris1023.jpg
http://www.discoverfrance.net/France/Cathedrals/Paris/Notre-Dame.shtml

Eduardo Daniel

Architecture
The design of the Sultan Ahmed Mosque is the culmination of two centuries of both Ottoman mosque and Byzantine church development. It incorporates some Byzantine elements of the neighboring Hagia Sophia with traditional Islamic architecture and is considered to be the last great mosque of the classical period. The architect has ably synthesized the ideas of his master Sinan, aiming for overwhelming size, majesty and splendour, but the interior lacks his creative thinking. During the rule of Ahmed I, Sultan Ahmed mosque was built between 1609 and 1616 CE. Designed by architect Sedefkar Mehmet Aga, the Sultan Ahmed Mosque is considered to be the last example of classical Ottoman architecture.
History
After the Peace of Zsitvatorok and the unfavourable result of the wars with Persia, Sultan Ahmed I decided to build a large mosque in Istanbul to placate Allah. This would be the first imperial mosque in more than fourty years. Whereas his predecessors had paid for their mosques with their war booty, Sultan Ahmed I had to withdraw the funds from the treasury, because he had not won any notable victories. This provoked the anger of the ulema, the Muslim legal scholars.

In my opinion
In the image it is possible to see, the interior part of this mosque, they are architectural impressive examples, where every detail of painting can be seen in the whole wall. The part of the crystals can be observed figures, which call very much the attention. It seemed to me to be interesting to speak about this part in it specifies, since, I am called very much the attention, every form that the things have is inside. It seemed that it has sublevels and I imagine like serious to see the things from there, it would be the only experience. This mosque begins of marble, is a stone that at present is very expensive and difficult to obtain. Imagine all that they were late in constructing this great monument, which is recognized worldwide. In his interior the roof is redressed in enormous blue rollers. This beautiful building of blue alive and green color of the mosaics that decorate the top part and the domes of the mosque, is the only mosque in Istanbul, Turkey, which possesses six minarets, which indicates his high hierarchy in the Moslem world since that of Mecca, in Arabia, is the maxim and has in addition seven minarets.

Alan Vincent Viera

I chose the first image. I started my research by searching the name of this church. I used the hints that Charlie gave us. It was a little bit hard to find, but finally, Wikipedia saved the day. This church is named Hagia Sophia or the Holy Wisdom Church in English, or in Spanish, “La Iglesia de Santa Sofia”.
Here are some pictures of the different perspectives.

It was constructed arounde 360 AC by the Constantine emperor and destroyed by to fires. It was reconstructed 530 Ac by the Justinian emperor. It is decorated with the byzantine techniques. In 1453, the Turks built the 4 pilars called minarets.

The architecture of this church is quite interesting. Some of the basic structures are

Dome- It is a hemispherical roof. It has one central vault and some other half-domes around it.
Pillars- A pillar is a column that is used to hold another structure. Specially, it has 4 central pillars that are supporting the central dome.

Arch- A curved construction used to support the weigh above it.

Ground plan of Greek cross- Is basically the way it was constructed. Making a cross in the floor

My opinion about this church is that is an awesome. It reflects the greatness of Constantinopla. I see it like Arabic influence, I don’t know, like the ones that appeared in the Aladdin movie.
It’s amazing that it was burned twice and then reconstructed. In my opinion, if I could restructure it, I would paint it with some other colors, more brilliant.

Bibliography

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hagia_Sophia
http://www.business-with-turkey.com/guia-estambul/santasfn.shtml
http://rebueno.files.wordpress.com/2009/02/tumadre.jpg
http://personal.telefonica.terra.es/web/galeriasb/europa/turquia/Istambul-Santa-Sofia2.jpg
http://www.artehistoria.jcyl.es/obrmaestras/jpg/CDS11092.jpg
http://www.monografias.com/trabajos55/iglesia-santa-sofia/Image13780.gif
http://rebueno.wordpress.com/2009/02/26/la-arquitectura-de-la-basilica-de-santa-sofia/

Francisco Alfonso Orozco

Well this architecture is a clearly example of byzantine art. I am going to talk about “The Blue Mosque of Istanbul”, or “La Mezquita Azul”.
This beautiful piece of art was build in 1609-1617 (it take too many years how you can see to construct it), and the one that gave the order to construct it was the Sultan Ahmed I. He made it because he wants to abate his god Ala. The reason was that in that period the empire had a lot of problems in his country with the people and with others countries not exactly like wars.
The architect was Mehmet Paşa, I think that to build this beautiful piece of art you need to be one of the best architects in the country.
What you can see in this building that is characteristics of the byzantine art is:
· The kind of material that it was done of, you can think that is done of a simple stone but is not; the byzantine sculpture was characteristic that the architects use beautiful stones and expensive like ivory and marble.
· That it has domes, which are not easy to construct and are really beautiful when they are completely finish, how you can see you can find too many domes in the Mosque, and also the make semi-domes which are like the half of a complete dome.
· They use to make columns that are like the base of all the buildings that are based on this type of art. They are like the places where the building starts growing, and the finish with enormous beaks.
Now the reason that I choose just the top of the Mosque is because all the domes and columns. I really like the way that the columns and the domes are build, because it´s not so easy that it looks too build and I am talking about this time, because it takes to the new workers a lot of time to build a dome or columns now. And now think about how many time does it took to the workers in that period to made this beautiful piece of art it´s really amazing, isn´t? Well this is why I choose this specific place of the Mosque.
Bibliography:
http://www.monografias.com/trabajos32/arte-bizantino/arte-bizantino.shtml#escult
http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mezquita_Azul#Exterior
http://www.estambul-online.com/mezquita_azul.htm

Hernán Orozco

The Front Window of The Cathedral, Rose Window

This is the window which we can see at the front of the cathedral.

This window represents a rose.
In this the window’s glass, they are some drawings… in this drawings we can see angels, books, bibles, and some other characteristics we can’t define exactly what they mean, I can’t.

This window represents lots of emotions in it. The light gives to the drawings that complement of precious art that we can see every time we look at them.

We can also make the concretization of this window just by looking at it and think about everything we know about religion, we can see a resume of everything we know about the live of Jesus, god and also the fight of the angels in here.

If you look at the angels we can see a representation of love, careless. But they are good angels and bad angels, for the bad ones; hate, anger and some other emotions we can relate with anger…

The drawings in the window are similar form each other; they have drawings in circles around, above, besides, under, everywhere.

But the most important drawing is the one ine the center, but this can be left for the people's interpretation.

Adriana Moran

“NOTRE-DAME”

Notre-Dame is one of the churches that make me feel like “wuau”. I don´t have the exactly words to describe this spectacular building, I think that nobody can understand what did the artist try to transmit.
I had a good opp

ortunity to visit this church, and is so magnify, well if outside looks spectacular, inside is more and more spectacular. You can´t imagine what you are going to find there. When I started to walked I saw an something that make me feels important, well important because I saw the most beautiful paint, that “Mexico” have. It was “LA VIRGEN MARIA” is assume , I’m not going to talk about that, I just want you to know that because I see that like an important note or important part of this beautiful church.
“PORTAL OF THE LAST JUDGEMENT”
The Portal of the Last Judgement, which was built in the 1220s-1230s. It represents the Last Judgement as described in the Gospel of Saint Matthew.
On the lower lintel, the dead are being resuscitated from their tombs. Just above that, on the upper lintel, the archangel Michael is weighing their souls according to the lives they led on earth and the love they showed to God and to men. The chosen people are led to the left towards Heaven (to Christ’s right) and the condemned are lead to the right, to hell, by a devil.

My conclusion:
Well, looking at this beautiful door I felt really really cautived, I was in shock. I love the p

art of the “people” in the top of the tower, it makes me feel good. I like this exercise very much!

Fernanda Covarrubias

To begin, I should mention that I chose the second picture because it was the most that struck me...

When I entered to the blog to know what would be the next wonderful piece of art that we would have to analyze, I felt inside me something fascinating after I saw the Notre Dame Cathedral.
Thank God and the continuous effort of my parents, I had the opportunity to travel to France and admire this amazing piece of art. And, the thing that surprised me very much (that I would like to share with you) was that how that old building could move me so many beautiful things, like memories, dreams and desires...
For me, it was very exciting and important to know this "bit of God (house)", because in addition to enjoy and contemplate the wonderful Gothic structure (ogee archways, ribbed vaults and the flying buttress wondrous or beautiful Rose windows), the beauty of the west facade (belonging to the twelfth century), and the encounter with a place specially dedicated to our Blessed Mother, Our Mother of Guadalupe... I felt that I was in heaven.
I imagine that some of you might wonder, well... and why did not you choose something more "representative" of the cathedral of Notre Dame? Why not a stained glass window, or a column or an arch? Well, because for me that is not as important as the spiritual space.
And with that, I am not saying that all those details are not important (because in fact are rather interesting and significant), but I think that them are not the most necessary in a church. This place is sacred (of course that if the churches have beautiful and striking objects... it demonstrates a greater admiration behavior toward God), but I think that the heavenly feeling of the people is the main element.
It is by this that I preferred to select the photo of our Morenita, our Blessed Mother of Guadalupe, rather than add “something more artistic”, because in it, you can appreciate a sense of harmony, peace and quiet... a hunch affection and esteem for our Virgin.

Bibliography
Notre Dame, visited on Thursday September 24, 2009. Available at: http://barcedona.blogspot.com/2008/11/notre-dame-cathedral.html
Notre Dame, visited on Thursday September 24, 2009. Available at:
http://www.discoverfrance.net/France/Cathedrals/Paris/Notre-Dame.shtml
Notre Dame, visited on Thursday September 24, 2009. Available at:
http://www.paris.org/Monuments/NDame/
Notre Dame Cathedral, visited on Thursday September 24, 2009. Available at:
http://www.greatbuildings.com/buildings/Notre_Dame_Cathedral.html
Notre Dame Cathedral and Guadalupe´s Virgin, visited on Thursday September 24, 2009. Available at:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jssutt/3569437271/

Crescencio Virgen Castellanos

On this comment I’m gonna write about the Gothic architectonic style, the gothic architecture style flourished during the high and late medieval period gothic architecture was known during the period as the French Style the term gothic first appearing during the latter part of the renaissance as a stylistic insult, the principal characteristics of the gothic style are the pointed arch, the ribbed vault and the flying buttress, the gothic style, when applied to an ecclesiastical building, emphasizes verticality and light , the pointed arch purpose was vaulting spaces of irregular plan, or to bring transverse vaults to the same height as diagonal vaults a characteristic of Gothic church architecture is its height, both real and proportional. A section of the main body of a Gothic church usually shows the nave as considerably taller than it is wide externally, towers and spires are characteristic of Gothic churches both great and small, the number and positioning being one of the greatest variables in Gothic architecture, what its moust notorious in this architectonic style are the pointing archs and they also have a signification, that it’s a suggestion of height an other of the principal characteristics are the expansive areas of the windows as at Sainte Chapelle and the very large size of many individual windows, all this factors are part of the most important part of the gothic architecture that is to create a powerful impression.For me the gothic architecture its very impressive because it’s a very original way to construct churches, castles, universities and cathedrals because it gives a mysterious touch and that touch its very important and it’s a really good style because its very peculiar characteristic of the European culture.

Gema Paulina Fernández Castillo

Mystical Notre Dame Cathedralimpressive marvel of sacred geometry and medieval architecture

After I visited “a lot” of web sites, I could deduce many things about this medieval architecture: “Notre Dame Cathedral”. I want to invite you to visit all the web sites I posted here. I hope you enjoy this presentation.
- These are different perspectives of Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris:

1.2

1.1

http://www.destination360.com/europe/france/images/s/france-notre-dame-cathedral.jpg
http://www.atkielski.com/PhotoGallery/Paris/NotreDame/NotreDameSmall.html

1.4

1.3 https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMh8uImMMcCDm1kOp0WA-GxpMR4xQO2RskPOFAxIh1kFOY6rg2xIfMr9ACqFoZqdrM5-siQ57EB4EBKqqDIKdyiZinfOuOz_cEC6s4eZMhIgyp8b2CdSEJGBPnBMi6mYrXn2YcSBy7H6AN/s400/notre-dame-cathedral-night.jpg
http://wallpapers.bpix.org/es_63__Notre-Dame_de_Paris_Cathedral,_Paris,_France.html

- The people in this picture are looking at Notre Dame Cathedral from the Seine River.
- Construction of Notre Dame began in 1163 and was finished in 1345.

Image 1.5
http://www.visitingdc.com/paris/notre-dame-picture.asp

Image 1.6
http://www.visitingdc.com/paris/notre-dame-picture.asp
- This gargoyle is looking at Paris from the top of Notre Dame.

· Architecture Information:
When I looked the architecture of this Cathedral I could appreciate all the shapes, colors and the Catholic style. The colors are cold (sky blue, white, etc.), we can see round windows and long columns, and the elegant structure.
The architecture of Notre Dame is very interesting and beautiful; we can see a lot of elements, these are the most representative of them:
- Buttress: They are a masonry structure that typically consists of a straight inclined bar carried on an arch and a solid pier or buttress against which it abuts and that receives the thrust of a roof or vault.

- Arch: A curved structural member spanning an opening or recess. The wedge shaped elements that make up an arch keep one another in place and transform the vertical pressure of the structure above into lateral pressure.

- Composite pier: A type of pier that is composed not of a single member but has shafts, half-columns, or pilaster strips attached to it.

· History information:
This Cathedral is a really old structure, but it still has the beauty to make you feel different emotions.
“This is Notre-Dame Cathedral of Paris, on the Île de la Cité, an island in the Seine River that is the original birthplace of Paris. The name is pronounced /katedʁal də nɔtʁ̩ dam də paʁi/ (Cathedral de Notre-Dame de Paris), and it means “Cathedral of Our Lady of Paris”—“our lady” in this case being the Virgin Mary, the mother of Jesus in Christianity. The cathedral is almost nine hundred years old. This is the cathedral that played a key role in Victor Hugo’s Hunchback of Notre-Dame. The bells are still rung several times daily, by human beings.
Like all churches built prior to the formal separation of the Roman Catholic Church and the French Republic, this edifice is now public property; daily services are still held within. The state is responsible for the building itself, along with major maintenance, and it runs the tours of the towers; but the church is given responsibility for the interior. You can visit the interior, climb the towers to see the gargoyles, or see a small collection of art objects and relics in a tiny museum; a crypt beneath the cathedral and the plaza in front of it, along with its associated archaeological excavations, can also be visited. Notre-Dame Cathedral is a very well-known landmark, and tourists crowd around and within it all day long, every day. It is called Our Lady of Paris to distinguish it from the many other variations of Our Lady throughout Paris and France.
The rose windows (the southern rose window is visible in the photo) are the only original stained-glass windows left in the cathedral (most others were replaced several centuries ago with “new” stained glass), were removed during the Second World War and reinstalled after the war ended.” (http://www.atkielski.com/PhotoGallery/Paris/NotreDame/NotreDameSmall.html)

Southern Rose Window
Image 1.7
http://www.atkielski.com/PhotoGallery/Paris/NotreDame/NotreDameSmall.html

Opinion:
“Medieval architecture”, “Notre Dame Cathedral”, “Old Church”…you can call this structure like you want…but I would call it “Magnificence”.
I have never had the pleasure to go to Paris and know this place, but when I visited some web sites and watched some images, I felt something deep.
I felt imposing in front of this wonderful Cathedral. I would describe this place like something: splendid, magnificent, marvelous…
For me…it represents celestial power and royalty. The faith, hope and purity are present in our catholic life. And we can appreciate the catholic style in this Cathedral.
I would like to have the chance to visit this wonderful place some day. I don´t know how would I react, but I am sure that I will enjoy it a lot.
The beautiful scene, the cold landscape…everything is perfect. The bright lights inside and outside give Notre Dame a warm and elegant appearance.
I love architecture, and some day I will be able to make magnificent artworks. I just want to make something clear: “We can find art everywhere…we just have to look beyond…”

Art and culture ITESM Colima 31