Editing Gothic architecture (section)

{{short description|Architectural style of Medieval Europe}}
{{Redirect|Gothic style|the visual arts|Gothic art|the fashion of the subculture|Gothic subculture#Fashion}}
{{Redirect|Gothic church|the church of the Goths in the Early Middle Ages|Gothic Christianity}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2020}}
{{EngvarB|date=March 2020}}

{{Infobox art movement
| name = Gothic architecture
| image = {{photomontage
|photo1a=Wells Cathedral West Front Exterior, UK - Diliff.jpg
|photo2a=Sainte Chapelle Interior Stained Glass.jpg
|photo3a=Rouen (38564194996).jpg
|size=250
|color_border=#AAAAAA
|color=#F9F9F9
}}
| yearsactive = Late 12th century–16th century
|country=[[Catholic Church|Catholic]] Europe and West Asia|caption='''Top:''' West front of [[Wells Cathedral]] in England (1225-1240); '''middle:''' [[Sainte-Chapelle]] in [[Paris]] (1238–1248); '''bottom:''' tympanum of [[Rouen Cathedral]] (15th century)|influences=[[Romanesque architecture]], [[Byzantine architecture]], and possibly [[Armenian architecture]]|influenced=[[Post-Gothic]], [[Gothic Revival architecture]], [[Czech Baroque architecture#Baroque Gothic|Baroque Gothic]]}}

'''Gothic architecture''' is an [[architectural style]] that was prevalent in [[Europe]] from the late 12th to the 16th century, during the [[High Middle Ages|High]] and [[Late Middle Ages]], surviving into the 17th and 18th centuries in some areas.<ref name=":04">{{Citation|title=Gothic|date=2015|url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780199674985.001.0001/acref-9780199674985-e-2072|work=A Dictionary of Architecture and Landscape Architecture|editor-last=Curl|editor-first=James Stevens|edition=3rd|publisher=Oxford University Press|language=en|doi=10.1093/acref/9780199674985.001.0001|isbn=978-0-19-967498-5|access-date=2020-04-09|editor2-last=Wilson|editor2-first=Susan|archive-date=12 January 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210112155312/https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780199674985.001.0001/acref-9780199674985-e-2072|url-status=live|url-access=subscription}}</ref> It evolved from [[Romanesque architecture]] and was succeeded by [[Renaissance architecture]]. It originated in the [[Île-de-France]] and [[Picardy]] regions of northern [[France]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Gothique ou Opus Francigenum : une architecture sans frontières venue de France (Le) {{!}} EHNE |url=https://ehne.fr/en/encyclopedia/themes/arts-in-europe/architectural-styles/gothic-or-opus-francigenum-architecture-france-without-borders#:~:text=%E2%80%9CGothic%E2%80%9D%20denotes%20an%20art%20of,seen%20in%20a%20negative%20light. |access-date=2025-02-04 |website=ehne.fr |language=en}}</ref> The style at the time was sometimes known as ''opus Francigenum'' ({{lit|French work}});<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Binding |first1=Günther |title=Opus Francigenum. Ein Beitrag zur Begriffsbestimmung |journal=Archiv für Kulturgeschichte |year=1989 |issue=71 |pages=45–54 |doi=10.7788/akg.1989.71.1.45 |s2cid=201722797 |url=https://www.mgh-bibliothek.de/dokumente/z/zsn2a043943.pdf |access-date=29 November 2020 |language=de |archive-date=25 September 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200925031244/https://www.mgh-bibliothek.de/dokumente/z/zsn2a043943.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> the term ''Gothic'' was first applied contemptuously during the later [[Renaissance]], by those ambitious to revive the [[Classical architecture|architecture of classical antiquity]].

The defining design element of Gothic architecture is the [[Pointed arch (architecture)|pointed arch]]. The use of the pointed arch in turn led to the development of the pointed [[rib vault]] and [[flying buttress]]es, combined with elaborate [[tracery]] and [[stained glass]] windows.<ref>{{Citation|chapter=Gothic|year=2018|chapter-url=https://www.bloomsburyarchitecturelibrary.com/dictionary-article?docid=b-9781350122741&tocid=b-9781350122741-gloss-0001018|title=Sir Banister Fletcher Glossary|editor-last=Fraser|editor-first=Murray|edition=21st|publisher=Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) and the University of London|language=en|doi=10.5040/9781350122741.1001019|isbn=978-1-350-12274-1|access-date=2020-05-18|archive-date=22 May 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200522004359/https://www.bloomsburyarchitecturelibrary.com/dictionary-article?docid=b-9781350122741&tocid=b-9781350122741-gloss-0001018|url-status=live}}</ref>

At the Abbey of [[Basilica of Saint-Denis|Saint-Denis]], near Paris, the choir was reconstructed between 1140 and 1144, drawing together for the first time the developing Gothic architectural features. In doing so, a new architectural style emerged that emphasized verticality and the effect created by the transmission of light through [[stained glass]] windows.{{sfn|Mignon|2015|pp=8–9}}

Common examples are found in [[Christianity|Christian]] [[Church architecture|ecclesiastical architecture]], and [[Gothic cathedrals and churches]], as well as [[abbey]]s, and [[parish church]]es. It is also the architecture of many [[castle]]s, [[palace]]s, [[town hall]]s, [[guildhall]]s, universities and, less prominently today, private dwellings. Many of the finest examples of medieval Gothic architecture are listed by [[UNESCO]] as [[World Heritage Site]]s.

With the development of Renaissance architecture in Italy during the mid-15th century, the Gothic style was supplanted by the new style, but in some regions, notably England and Belgium, Gothic continued to flourish and develop into the 16th century. A series of [[Gothic Revival architecture|Gothic revivals]] began in mid-18th century [[England]], spread through 19th-century Europe and continued, largely for churches and university buildings, into the 20th century.