Voronova Ariadna

The tower above the crossing and the “altar bell tower”. Possible architectural connections and Parallels

Abstract

In this article the author considers the special kind of Western European Romanesque architecture - churches with the altar bell tower (germ. - “Chorturm”; fr. - “tour chevet”). The basis of these ones is the altar space. Most of all these churches are common in the areas that located on the border between Slovenia (area named Koroshko) and Austria (area named Karnten) as well as in Southern and Western Germany (Thuringia, Alsace) and Nordic countries. This is the separate architectural type generally occurring in small rural churches and representing regional specifi c group. The volume of the bell tower could be opened the full height and then the rope from the bells were freely hanging down at the altar. In some other cases bell tower had a celling with a hole for the rope. This allowed employees in the altar to call a certain moments of liturgical events. Genesis of this architectural type is now understudied. The volume of the altar bell is usually compared with a square or rectangular tower in plan above the crossing in medieval churches as the Byzantium and the West. In these cases special attention is paid to the equivalents in the architecture of medieval Serbia and Dalmatia. In our opinion these compositional Parallels could be explained by Byzantine stylistic sway on slovenian and european architecture from behind their antic continuitet and Mediterranean communication. Mentioned architectural Parallels allow saying about genetic ties between the tower above the crossing and the altar bell tower forcing to recollect the idea of a common root with respect to Romanesque and Byzantine architecture.

Keywords

altar bell tower, tower above the crossing, the medieval architecture of Europe, Dalmatia, Rash’s school, Byzantine art, romanic

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Voronova Ariadna