I read once that churches centuries ago were built like this (or other magnificent building) as a representation of heaven.
Pictures and tapestries were used to teach Bible as most people were unable to read.
Do not know if that’s correct, it does make sense though
The modern day Vatican is truly a beautiful example of architecture, filled with many of the world’s great art treasures.
Unfortunately financed through the heresy of selling indulgences. As a Catholic I am sort of torn between the beauty and mortified by the use of resources that could have been used to do so much more for His work.
Medieval churches were indeed constructed so that stained glass windows were as large & elaborate as possible with their depictions of the supernatural, the saints, and heavenly vistas.
The innovation lay in the external buttressing of the walls to allow for these huge windows.
Pictures and tapestries were used to teach Bible as most people were unable to read. Do not know if that’s correct, it does make sense though
Yes. Until Gutenburg, a Bible cost the equivalent of three years' wages, so few people had a Bible, or any other book. So stained glass windows and paintings told stories to the illiterate.
Additionally, the structure itself had its own logic, an example being the overall cruciform shape.
The Cathedral from the Romanesque to the Gothic - The Theological Background
Another interesting thing is the difference between the West and the East. In the West, lofty church interiors are intended to lift our gaze to heaven, whereas dome-covered Eastern churches are meant to connote God looking down on us.
Also stained glass windows.