View allAll Photos Tagged medievalarchitecture
The main barn doors from the interior of Frocester Court Medieval Estate Barn, Frocester nr. Stroud, Gloucestershire. On a drive back from a camera shop today I went through a beautiful village (Frocester) and noticed this barn, I knocked on the door of the Farmhouse and was warmly welcomed and allowed to visit the Barn in order to take some shots......apparently it is one of the better preserved medieval tithe barns in the country, built in the late 13th century, with roof timbers dated to 1525. The barn measures 186ft (68 metres) in length, 30ft (9m) wide and 36ft (11m) to the ridge (height), a truly wonderful building!! Zeiss ExoLens (Wide-Angle), Manfrotto Tripod, Hisy remote, edited in 'Photos on iMac and Snapseed on iPad Pro.
For more info.:-
A pleasant valley of the meandering Muráň river south of Jelšava has a significant landmark. You cannot overlook the strategically interesting hill above the village of Šivetice, on which a brick Romanesque church dedicated to St. Margaret of Antioch was built in the middle of the 13th century. Šivetice belonged to the Jelšava estate back then and from the 15th century on was administered by the Castle of Muráň. In the past, the village was known for its typical ceramics.
The church has the shape of a rotunda with an internal diameter of 11 m and is one of the largest structures with circular footprint in Central Europe. In addition to the primary sacral significance, it is assumed that the rotunda originally served as a watchtower, taking into consideration its location on a hill and its proximity of a castle (that no longer exists). During the 14th century, the interior of the church was divided into a nave and a chancel by a monumental pointed triumphal arch. Original Romanesque murals depicting scenes from the legend of St. Margaret were covered by gothic paintings with the same theme and complemented with scenes of the Passion Cycle. Like many other Gemer temples, the rotunda of Šivetice belonged in the 17th century to the Evangelical Lutheran church. In the 18th century, the church was partially rebuilt into Baroque style and the bell tower with the entrance gate was inserted into the stone wall. A cemetery is surrounding the church nowadays.
Peterborough Cathedral, properly the Cathedral Church of St Peter, St Paul and St Andrew – also known as Saint Peter's Cathedral is the seat of the Anglican Bishop of Peterborough, dedicated to Saint Peter, Saint Paul and Saint Andrew, whose statues look down from the three high gables of the famous West Front. Although it was founded in the Anglo-Saxon period, its architecture is mainly Norman, following a rebuilding in the 12th century. With Durham and Ely cathedrals, it is one of the most important 12th-century buildings in England to have remained largely intact, despite extensions and restoration.
Peterborough Cathedral is known for its imposing Early English Gothic West Front (façade) which, with its three enormous arches, is without architectural precedent and with no direct successor. The appearance is slightly asymmetrical, as one of the two towers that rise from behind the façade was never completed (the tower on the right as one faces the building), but this is only visible from a distance.
This description incorporates text from the English Wikipedia.
Dolbadarn Castle, Llanberis Pass, North Wales.
Dolbadarn Castle Coordinates.... 53.1166°N 4.1142°W
What Three Word Location..https://w3w.co/royal.efficient.curious.
Dolbadarn Castle is a fortification built by the Welsh prince Llywelyn the Great during the early 13th century, at the base of the Llanberis Pass, in northern Wales. The castle was important both militarily and as a symbol of Llywelyn's power and authority. The castle features a large stone keep, which historian Richard Avent considers "the finest surviving example of a Welsh round tower". In 1284 Dolbadarn was taken by Edward I, who removed some of its timbers to build his new castle at Caernarfon. The castle was used as a manor house for some years, before falling into ruin. In the 18th and 19th centuries, it was a popular destination for painters interested in Sublime and Picturesque landscapes. It is now owned by Cadw and managed as a tourist attraction, and is protected as a grade I listed building.
Dolbadarn Castle was built in either the 1220s or the 1230s by Llywelyn the Great, at the base of the Llanberis Pass, overlooking the lake of Llyn Padarn in northern Wales. Traditionally the Welsh princes had not constructed castles, instead using undefended palaces called llysoedd, or courts. From the late 11th century onwards, the Normans had advanced into Wales, taking lands in the north and establishing a band of occupied territory in the south called the Welsh Marches. During the 12th century, some timber and earthwork castles began to be built but in small numbers.
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The village of Urchfont (pop. 1,181) near Devizes in Wiltshire is centred on its pond. Behind it stands the attractive Grade II listed Mulberrry House, dating to the early-to-mid 18th Century. Over it peeps the late 15th Century tower of the 15th Century parish church of St Michael and All Angels.
Krak des Chevaliers - wikipedia - Qal’at Salah El-Din
Il Krak des Chevaliers domina il passo, strategicamente determinante, che divide il Mediterraneo dalle città dell’entroterra mediorientale di Homs e Hama, e sorge sulle rive del fiume Oronte.
Noto fra gli Arabi con il nome di Hisn al Akrad, o Fortezza dei Curdi, venne costruito sulle fondamenta di un preesistente castello mussulmano.
Arroccato su di una montagna costantemente sconvolta e modellata dai venti e che strapiomba vertiginosamente su tre lati, il Krak, sia per il suo modello costruttivo, sia per la particolare collocazione geografica scelta per la sua ubicazione, per lungo tempo fu il più inespugnabile dei castelli crociati in Terra Santa.
E non possiamo non dare una prima menzione delle meravigliose architetture che lo compongono, se non attraverso gli occhi di un giovane studioso dei primi del ‘900, T.E. Lawrence, meglio noto come Lawrence d’Arabia : “…è questo forse il più meraviglioso dei castelli del mondo…”.
The best thing I can do for a description of St Peter's in the Wiltshire village of Poulshot, near Devizes, is to copy the text of the Small Pilgrimage Places Network page about the church, which is repoduced with gratitude.
“St Peter’s Church lies in the vale of Seend, to the north of the Salisbury Plain. To truly appreciate the tranquil, peaceful atmosphere present within the St Peter’s, it requires a visit. There is an air of still and calm throughout the church. It is a simple, not large, stone church set apart from the village in the countryside. This makes it a quiet place, being surrounded by fields. Unlike many other historic churches, St Peter’s is a light place, with lots of sunlight, giving it a life giving and open feel. It is a place particularly suited for the Celtic services held there once a month on a Wednesday evening. Its unpretentious nature and peaceful atmosphere make it ideal for quiet contemplation and prayer. Its simplicity makes it a place to concentrate the mind and to centre oneself in the still calm.
“The oldest parts of the church, including the Nave, date to the 13th Century. It underwent considerable alterations in the 15th Century. A fire in the church in 1916 destroyed the main part of the nave roof which was subsequently rebuilt.
The church was built outside of the village and to this day remains set apart from the village. This was thought to be because of Plague fears, which link with the history of St Peter’s through the presence of Plague pits in the churchyard, denoted by the location of skull and crossbones set in the stone on one side of the church. This is a fascinating part of St Peter’s history, giving reason for why the main part of Poulshot is so distant from the church. The history of St Peter’s is also found in the presence of a dole stone in the corner of the churchyard on which alms and dole would have been distributed to those in need in the village.
“The churchyard is a picturesque place, with grassy verges and snowdrops in spring as well as other wildlife throughout the year. Situated where it is, it also has beautiful views of Salisbury plain and the countryside around.”
The fortifications of the town were built after the Mongol Invasion. It had four gates, which opened to the south, west, north and northeast. The plain of the town slightly slopes north, so the southern gate, which was located on the highest point, was called Upper Gate, while the northeastern gate, which was located on the lowest point, was called Lower Gate. The walls were defended by wide moats.
The wooden bridge leading across the moat in front of the Upper Gate was demolished in 1770 and a new stone bridge was built with five 4.5-metres wide arches.
www.explorecarpathia.eu/en/slovakia/bartfa-bardejov/stone...
Street photography in Chur, Switzerland. One of the many medieval passages in Chur. I especially like the light here.
The path vanished into white. Every step uncertain, every step necessary.
Only the sound of our own steps proved we were still on the way.
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Der Pfad verschwand im Weiß. Jeder Schritt unsicher, jeder Schritt notwendig.
Nur das Geräusch unserer Schritte zeigte, dass wir noch unterwegs waren.
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The restored medieval castle of Hollókő lies on the edge of a prominent cliff between the Cserhát mountains, near the UNESCO World Heritage Palóc site, on the edge of a rocky outcrop.
Holy Cross is the parish church in the Wiltshire village of Seend (pop. 1,132), just outside Devizes. It is part of the Church of England Diocese of Salisbury. The west tower dates to the 14th Century (with a 15th Century bell stage), most of the church dates slightly later, to around 1450, with the North Aisle rebuilt in 1498, and the chancel much more modern, being largely the product of an 1876 ‘restoration’ by A.J. Style.
The church has a rich collection of Georgian and Victorian memorials, and some pleasant Victorian and Edwardian glass.
Tintern Abbey (Welsh: Abaty Tyndyrn) was founded on 9 May 1131 by Walter de Clare, Lord of Chepstow. It is situated adjacent to the village of Tintern in Monmouthshire, on the Welsh bank of the River Wye, which at this location forms the border between Monmouthshire in Wales and Gloucestershire in England. It was the first Cistercian foundation in Wales, and only the second in Britain (after Waverley Abbey).
The west front of the church, with its seven-light Decorated window, was completed around 1300. The abbey fell into ruin after the Dissolution of the Monasteries in the 16th century. Its remains have been celebrated in poetry and painting from the 18th century onwards. In 1984, Cadw took over responsibility for managing the site. Tintern Abbey is visited by approximately 70,000 people every year.
This description incorporates text from the English Wikipedia.
The lovely Grade II*-listed Church of St Edmond in Castleton in Derbyshire Peak district dates from the early 1100s with the tower being completed in the 14th century. The church features a beautiful Norman chancel arch and box pews inscribed with dates ranging from 1661 to 1722. There are five three-branched brass oil lamps, now converted to electricity. The three memorials on the north wall date from 1725 to 1863.
Not quite a full moon, but a nice gibbous one on the wane.
St John's Church in the Wiltshire town of Devizes, dates from 1130 when it was constructed as a chapel to the recently completed castle. It is rumoured that the altar relic at its foundation was a feather from the wing of the Angel Gabriel. The feather has yet to be discovered!
Simon Jenkins points out the strong contrast between the - unexceptional - English Perpendicular style of the nave and the decidedly French Norman style of the east end of the church. The north and south chapels that flank the Norman chancel make up a third focus of interest.
Gloucester Cathedral Cloisters, handheld iPhone Panorama, tweaked in Snapseed on iPad Pro. Not as easy as it seems....took about 15 attempts before I finally got this one.
The Lady Chapel of Tewkesbury Abbey is to die for. I also love the effect of the different light colours, particularly rich from the candles.
The Abbey Church of St Mary the Virgin, Tewkesbury – commonly known as Tewkesbury Abbey – is located in the English county of Gloucestershire. A former Benedictine monastery, it is now a parish church. Considered one of the finest examples of Norman architecture in Britain, it has the largest Romanesque crossing tower in Europe. Tewkesbury had been a centre for worship since the 7th Century. A priory was established there in the 10th Century. The present building was started in the early 12th Century. It was unsuccessfully used as a sanctuary in the Wars of the Roses. After the Dissolution of the Monasteries, it became the parish church for the town. George Gilbert Scott led the Restoration of the building in the late 19th Century.
The churchmanship of the Abbey is strongly Anglo-Catholic.
This description incorporates text from the English Wikipedia.
According to local legend, Helfštýn is named after the robber Helfried of Linva, who founded it. The castle was probably built in the last quarter of the 13th century. Around 1320 Vok of Kravař, a member of a prominent Moravian noble family, became the owner of the castle. Helfštýn remained in the possession of the Kravař family for more than a hundred years and underwent far-reaching structural changes during this period. Construction work began on a larger scale in the first half of the 14th century, but the main reconstruction of the castle into a Gothic fortress did not take place until the end of the 14th and the beginning of the 15th century. The Kravařs mainly improved the fortifications of Helfštýn. They replaced the makeshift fortification of the old parkland with a thick stone wall with four bastions, built a prismatic tower over the entrance to the castle itself and secured it with a drawbridge, built a fortified forecourt on the south side and cut the ridge of the hill with a moat carved into the rock.
The era of the Pernštejn family
In 1474, William of Pernštejn took over the castle estate and proceeded to its further reconstruction. In the last quarter of the 15th century,
Helfštýn Castle was enlarged with a thoroughly fortified, extensive farm forecourt (completed in 1480) and another forecourt, which formed a new outpost defending the entire enlarged building. At the same time, the fortifications of the old Kravaře castle were improved with bastions and a new system of towers and gates. The castle's ground plan was definitively given an elongated shape, and in its external form the perfect fortification system significantly overlapped all the other architectural elements.
Renaissance reconstruction
At the turn of the 16th and 17th centuries, the inner core of the castle was rebuilt into a Renaissance residence. The old castle palace was demolished, along with part of its original Gothic fortifications, and a magnificent Renaissance palace was built on the vacant space, in sharp contrast to the extensive system of late Gothic fortifications that surrounded it.
The destruction of the castle
In 1656, quite extensive demolition work was carried out, which, although it did not damage the fortifications of Helfštýn too much, definitively deprived it of the character of a manor house. And thus began the long-term destruction of the castle. The destruction was accelerated in the second half of the 18th century by the Ditrichstein family with demolition works. These attempts culminated in 1817, when part of the inner castle was destroyed by artillery fire.
Present day
The present-day character of the castle is that of a fortress with six gates and a series of 18th-century buildings and ramparts. Since the 19th century, the castle has been presented as a tourist and heritage site. Nowadays it has become a natural cultural centre of the region, with various cultural events taking place here throughout the season
The Rock of Cashel, County Tipperary, Ireland — a timeless silhouette rising from limestone cliffs under a moody autumn sky. Captured with the NIKKOR Z 135mm f/1.8 Plena, this view emphasizes the fortress’s weathered geometry and the soft interplay of light across the ancient stone. The cool tones and overcast sky brought out every detail in the walls — centuries of history etched into each rock.
A quiet summer evening above the Elzbach Valley: the sun has just slipped behind the hills, the forest rests in deep green, and on the horizon rises Pyrmont Castle – like a silent guardian of the land.
The slopes naturally lead the eye towards the tower, while the sky and trees dissolve into warm and cool tones. A fleeting balance between calmness and tension, captured in light.
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Palazzi signorili, elegant noble residences that once housed the ruling families of Siena lining Piazza del Campo - one of Europe's most stunning medieval squares.
Worcester Cathedral, Tripod, Hisy remote, Zeiss ExoLens (Wide-Angle), ended up having to edit this one on the Flickr app, don't know why but when uploaded it lost the editing, this doesn't look as good..oh well!!!
While most great European cathedrals were built in fits and starts over many centuries, Salisbury was essentially completed in just 32 years from 1218-1250. Some people find it just a bit too perfect on the inside as a result: I don't agree (but then I was ordained here, it's special to me). But from the outside, there can be no doubting the magnificence of its harmonious Early English design and gracile spire.
The Gloucestershire town of Lechlade-on-Thames (population 2,850) on an evening of sunshine and rainstorms. Dominating the classically Cotswold High Street is the eight-sided spire of the Parish Church of St Lawrence, which was built in 1476 on the site of an early 13th Century church and which is Grade I listed.
photo rights reserved by Ben
The David Gareja Monastery complex lies in a remote and isolated part of the rugged, semi-desert landscape of eastern Georgia, near the border with Azerbaijan. The surroundings are marked by dry hills, barren plains, and steep rock formations — far removed from any village or town. This very secluded location enhances the spiritual atmosphere of the site, which has served for centuries as a retreat for monks seeking to withdraw from the world. The monastery was founded in the 6th century by the Syrian monk David Garejeli and is partially carved into the soft sandstone cliffs. On the left side of the photo, you can see the dramatic, sloping rock wall with carved cells, chapels, and caves that once served as living and prayer quarters for the monks. Some of them are still adorned with delicate, centuries-old frescoes. On the right, the fortified walls and round watchtowers can be seen — silent witnesses to the monastery’s defensive function throughout history. In the center, a green, open courtyard connects nature and architecture in a harmonious way. Beyond its historical and architectural value, David Gareja is still a living religious site. Today, it is home to Georgian Orthodox monks who lead a modest, secluded life devoted to prayer, study, and the maintenance of the monastery. Their presence reminds us that David Gareja is not merely a ruin, but an active spiritual community. Their daily routines continue almost undisturbed — in silence, in stone, and in harmony with the land. During our visit, we were the only visitors, allowing us to explore the entire site in complete peace. From the monastery, there is a breathtaking view over the silent, endless semi-desert plains — a place of stillness, reflection, and mysticism.
Hidden in Georgia’s remote semi-desert near the Azerbaijani border, the David Gareja Monastery is a centuries-old complex carved into sandstone cliffs. Still home to Orthodox monks, it blends ancient history with quiet spiritual life. Surrounded by stark, rugged landscapes, the site offers solitude, breathtaking views, and a deep sense of timelessness.
Het David Gareja-kloostercomplex ligt afgelegen en geïsoleerd in het ruige, halfwoestijnachtige landschap van Oost-Georgië, vlak bij de grens met Azerbeidzjan. De omgeving wordt gekenmerkt door droge heuvels, kale vlaktes en steile rotspartijen — ver verwijderd van dorpen of steden. Juist deze verlaten ligging versterkt de spirituele sfeer van de plek, die eeuwenlang een toevluchtsoord is geweest voor monniken die zich wilden terugtrekken uit de wereld. Het klooster werd in de 6e eeuw gesticht door de Syrische monnik David Garejeli en is deels uitgehouwen in de zachte zandsteenrotsen. Links op de foto zie je de spectaculaire, schuin oplopende rotswand, vol uitgehouwen cellen, kapellen en grotten die ooit dienden als woon- en gebedsruimten voor monniken. Sommige zijn nog versierd met verfijnde, eeuwenoude fresco’s. Rechts zijn de versterkte muren en ronde wachttorens zichtbaar — stille getuigen van de verdedigingsfunctie die het complex door de eeuwen heen ook heeft vervuld. In het midden ligt een groen, open binnenplein dat op harmonieuze wijze natuur en architectuur met elkaar verbindt. Naast zijn historische en architectonische waarde is David Gareja nog altijd een levendige religieuze plek. Er wonen vandaag de dag nog steeds Georgisch-Orthodoxe monniken, die er een teruggetrokken en sober leven leiden, toegewijd aan gebed, studie en het onderhoud van het klooster. Hun aanwezigheid onderstreept dat David Gareja geen verlaten ruïne is, maar een actieve spirituele gemeenschap. Hun dagelijkse rituelen gaan haast ongestoord verder — in stilte, in steen, en in verbondenheid met de natuur. Tijdens ons bezoek waren we de enige bezoekers, wat het mogelijk maakte het hele terrein in volledige rust te verkennen. Vanaf het klooster strekt zich een adembenemend uitzicht uit over de stille, eindeloze semi-woestijnvlakten — een plek van verstilling, bezinning en mystiek.