St. Andrew's Church, an Example of Romanesque Art

Romenesque architecture came about sometime during the eleventh century AD. In a lot of ways, it was the successor to the art of the Western Roman Empire, as the Byzantines continued to develop their own style different to that of the West. It reused classic Roman elements such as rounded archways, columns, and barrel vaulting. However, they took these elements, as well as elements from Germanic and Islamic architecture, and developed an entirely new style out of it. They would take ideas like joggled architecture and apply it to their columns. They took the westwerk concept of having two symmetrical towers and add to it with arcades. They would take the Roman barrel vault and create a transverse archway to mimic it.

Based on the name, you’d think that it would be limited to the Mediterranean, much like how Roman art and architecture was. Well not only would you be wrong, but you’d be stupid as well. Well, okay, maybe not stupid, but you’re still wrong. Romanesque architecture was one of the first art styles that was effectively universal in Christian Europe. You can find pieces from as far south as Spain to as far north as Scandinavia. Each region did have their own style, but they each had the following in common: One portal, and the feeling of mass, of bulk. These buildings were designed to be big, tough, and impressive. In fact, one of the best examples that demonstrate how tough these buildings are is the St. Andrew’s Church in Krakow, Poland

Kurwa!

St. Andrews is one of the oldest buildings still standing in Krakow, and it's the one of the best preserved examples of Romanesque architecture in the country. It was commissioned in the late eleventh century by Voivode Sieciech, a powerful statesman for the Kingdom of Poland. This is interesting because this means that this church was being built by a kingdom that wasn’t even 100 years old yet. Heck, the area was actually still pretty new to being Christian, since the first lord of the land who was baptized lived only 140 years prior to this being commissioned. I find that really neat to see that this building was commissioned so early on by the state. I think it shows how the Kingdom wanted everyone to make sure that yes, it was here to stay. This would also explain why this is one of the few fortress churches still standing after all of these years.

A bit anachronistic, but still pretty much what this type of church meant

Basically, back in the day, Europe was prone to going through a lot of wars all at once. Basically, what would happen is that one lord would want some tiny piece of land that they currently don't have and would beat up the person who owns that land to get it. Sometimes they would get the land and kill or drive off the owner, sometimes they failed and it's their land that comes under threat of being seized. Because of those wars, the average peasant that wasn't currently in either lord's army needed some form of protection. These churches were designed to give a safe haven for those very people during one of those many wars. These churches can be told apart from others of similar looks by the small slits inside the facade. Those slits were designed to allow the archers inside of the building to shoot at their besiegers. The fact that it was designed to be a miniature redoubt is possibly why it was the only church in the city to not be burned down by these fellows.

Now multiply this image by a billion and you get an idea on how scared you should be

When the Mongol Empire invaded Europe back in the 13^th century, they smashed through Russia and Poland like the Hulk smashes through armies. They pretty much had free reign throughout the realm, looting what they wanted and settling down when they can. Despite that though, this building was not affected. That’s how impressive the architecture was. That type of story really appeals to my inner Viking, since this church not only succeeded in being aesthetically pleasing, but it succeeded as a fortress against basically the worst thing you can throw at a fort.

However, I will admit that like the Hagia Sophia, this building has had some remodeling done, particularly on the inside.

HEY WAIT A MINUTE!

Yep. This building underwent some heavy remodeling during the 1600’s, when baroque was all the rage. They added all sorts of murals and gilding to the place to make it look more impressive on the outside. However, this church would still be defined as Romanesque, because the exterior of the building still follows many of the traditions of many of the other buildings of its type, in particular the large portal and the sheer size and mass of the building. Plus, any building that survived the Mongol Horde gets a pass from me.

This does lead me to one question though: can this church into space?