Editing Mainz Cathedral (section)

==The two chancels==

From the ninth to 12th century, several important churches in the [[Holy Roman Empire]] were built with choirs on both ends. One of the first was [[Cologne Cathedral]] of 855 ("Hildebld's Cathedral"). One of the oldest preserved examples is [[St. Michael's Church, Hildesheim]], erected since 1010. [[Gernrode Abbey]] church was added a second choir, in the 12th century. This type of footplans also was acquired in [[Poland]] ([[Tum Collegiate Church]]) and Hungary ([[Pécs Cathedral]]). The reason for building two chancels is not entirely clear. Many scholars suggest that there is some symbolic significance, such as empire and [[Christian church|church]], or [[Human body|body]] and [[Spirit (animating force)|spirit]], but no irrefutable evidence for these theories exists. Others claim that the construction has a functional purpose for ceremonial [[procession]]s. Whatever the original intent of the double chancel, the eastern chancel came to serve as the location for the mass and the western chancel was reserved for the bishop and [[pontiff]]s.

===Bardo's western chancel===

In most cathedrals at the time, the main chancel lay on the east side. Willigis, however, designed his cathedral with the main chancel on the west, presumably modeled after the great basilicas in Rome, which were constructed this way. (Willigis's design bore a striking resemblance to [[Old St. Peter's Basilica]].)

The chancel was badly damaged in the fire of 1009, and remained that way under Archbishops [[Erkanbald, Archbishop of Mainz|Erkanbald]] and [[Aribo, Archbishop of Mainz|Aribo]]. The chancel was finally reconstructed under Bardo. He then buried his predecessor Aribo there, before the rest of the cathedral was even finished. (Willigis's remains are not, as sometimes believed, in Mainz Cathedral; he was buried in his second construction project, St. Stephen's.)

===Henry IV's eastern chancel===

In 1081, fire once again struck the cathedral, and the appearance of the Salian western end is not known. In 1100, [[Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor|Henry IV]] ordered reconstruction in the old [[Lombards|Lombardic]] style. The old flat chancel end on the east side was replaced with a large [[apse]], which external gallery with a narrow [[arcade (architecture)|arcade]] supported by short columns crowned the semicircular wall with a wide pseudo arcade and tall [[pilasters]] on both sides. The new chancel had a triple-nave [[crypt]]. The damaged square tower had been replaced with an octagonal [[dome]], above which an octagonal tower was added later. Flanking stair turrets remained from the first cathedral. These changes closely resembled the renovations Henry had overseen on [[Speyer Cathedral]] a few years earlier.

Henry also undertook a few other minor changes, such as raising the transept on the east side and adding openings at the column level. These column-level portals were among the first ever such constructed.

Henry died in 1106, before his intended changes were complete. With his death, the funding for the renovation of the cathedral dried up and so the remaining construction was abandoned. Mainz Cathedral is considered one of the three ''Kaiserdome'' ("Emperor's Cathedrals") of the [[Holy Roman Empire|Holy Roman (German) Empire]], along with [[Worms Cathedral]] and [[Speyer Cathedral]].

===Evolution of the main nave===
[[Image:Mainzer Dom Hauptschiff nach Westen.jpg|right|thumb|upright|The main nave of the cathedral]]
Archbishop [[Adalbert I of Mainz|Adalbert I of Saarbrücken]] (1110–1137) had a two-story chapel, called the Gotthard Chapel, built as the official palace chapel next to the cathedral. It is believed that he also ordered the renovation of the main body of the cathedral, mainly due to similarities between the main hall and the [[Vault (architecture)|vault]] of the new chapel.

Conception for the renovations was again taken from the Romanesque Speyer Cathedral. This time, however, without money from the emperor, the builders lacked the resources to acquire the high-quality [[sandstone]] used in Henry's additions. They instead used [[limestone]]. The other aspects of the renovations were also much cheaper, and the extravagant style of Speyer Cathedral was largely avoided.

The central [[nave]] was built to {{Convert|28|m|ft|abbr=on}}, {{Convert|5|m|ft|abbr=on}} short of Speyer Cathedral's {{Convert|33|m|ft|abbr=on}}. It seems that the [[blind arch]]es were intended to encompass the windows, as in Speyer Cathedral, but the height of the roof did not allow this. The resulting three-level effect, due to the arches ending before the windows, was a technique not before seen in architecture.

The main hall was further renovated throughout the entire 12th century. The entire outer wall structure was eventually replaced. Around the year 1200, the ceiling was replaced with a [[ribbed vault]], a rather new technique for the time.

===Additional renovations===
Around the time that the ribbed vault was installed it was decided to renovate the western half of the cathedral, which had stayed relatively unchanged since Willigis' construction. In contrast to the eastern renovations done earlier, which were in a high-Romanesque style, these new changes were carried out in a late Romanesque style. A new vault was added to span the north and south arms of the transept. Large windows were added to the wall separating the transept from the main hall. The large dome connecting the transept to the main hall was decorated with [[frieze]]s and pillars.

Three small [[apse]]s and two very large [[column|pillar]]s were added to support the small flank towers. [[Pediment]]s were added to the three open sides of the chancel. In general, the western section of the cathedral was extensively decorated to keep up with the newly renovated eastern section.