Information On Lake Norman Churches

By Angela Howard


A church is a sacred structure build for the purposes of Christian to meet and worship God. Although a church can symbolize many things depending on different denominations such as the catholic faith. To them a church is the body of Christ. Other than that it is simply a building built specially for purposes of worshipping God and bringing people of different backgrounds together. This is important information about lake Norman churches.

There is evidence of churches in the early days. During the eleventh and fourteenth century in Western Europe small houses of worship referred to as cathedrals were built. The cathedrals were used as worship centers and also doubled up as centers to handle communal works. These worship centers were also used as banquet halls and a place for the local community to hold meetings. Early Christians in the bible did not build churches but instead they were known to meet in temples, synagogues and other holy places to worship and pray.

They were used as meeting places for the community, banquet hall among others. Their design has really evolved from medieval times to the modern times. The styles include the Romanesque architecture. This become very popular in Europe during the Romanesque era which was a form of traditional Roman architecture. It is marked with bulkiness and compactness. It is dominated by circular arches with rough or octagonal towers.

Then came the gothic style, this were less compact compared to the Romanesque style. They always contained symbolic and allegoric features. They utilized pointed arches, rib vaults and buttresses. They were less bulky due to invention of new ways of building that improved the structural system. The structural this made it lighter and less bulky hence it gave space to build large windows hence a friendlier atmosphere inside the church.

When the gothic era ended some church structures built using this architecture were left unfinished. A new style was coming up in the course of the renaissance period around the 15th and 16th century. Church designs were hugely affected. Basilicas are the best example of a renaissance church, a style which was made easier and the major key characteristic was its conventional arrangement of columns.

The most common architectural style of churches in the renaissance period was Baroque. This design was adopted so as to reflect developments in the building industry. During the renaissance period they acted as a reflection of affluence, influence and authority. The design was complicated as most of the common features were exaggerated as the demanded by the style. Decorations were done using either sculpture of moldings. Changes in roofing included shift from ordinary roofs to use of decorated capitals and domes.

After all these eras came to pass the modern era was introduced. In the modern era a common architecture for all church structures is the shape of the cross. This is represented in terms of a long rectangle with side rectangles. The traditional church is divided in to several categories. These are the nave, altar and sanctuary.

Each division had to be well spaced and designed to suit its purpose. Due to improvements in building technology, these structures seem to have developed in consideration to design. However, there still exists basilicas and cathedrals, which are designs with origins in the old era.




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