Recognizable for its pointed arches and rib vaults, Gothic architecture was Europe’s primary building style for cathedrals from the late 12th to the 16th century. It evolved from its heavier ...

their defensive characteristics resulted from the specifically shaped architecture, the arrangement of walls and towers, and not from the terrain they were set in. This all applies to the most famous ...

Flying buttresses act the same way ancient Roman columns did, countering the horizontal force of the arch. They also provide for more ground area underneath: more worshippers could fit into a church ...