Editing Gothic architecture (section)

==Structural elements==
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| image1            = Ely Cathedral - geograph.org.uk - 1766558.jpg
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| caption1          = The south western tower at Ely Cathedral, England
| image2            = Durham.2 crop.jpg
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| caption2          = The nave vault with pointed [[transverse arch]]es at Durham Cathedral
| image3            = Abbaye aux hommes intérieur 03.jpeg
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| caption3          = The sexpartite ribbed vault at Saint Etienne, Caen
| image4            = Cefalu Cathedral interior BW 2012-10-11 12-07-53.jpg
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| caption4          = Interior of the [[Cathedral of Cefalu]]
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===Pointed arches===
{{main|Pointed arch}}

The defining characteristic of the Gothic style is the [[pointed arch]], which was widely used in both structure and decoration. The pointed arch did not originate in Gothic architecture; they had been employed for centuries in the [[Near East]] in pre-Islamic as well as [[Islamic architecture]] for arches, arcades, and ribbed vaults.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Warren|first=John|year=1991|title=Creswell's Use of the Theory of Dating by the Acuteness of the Pointed Arches in Early Muslim Architecture|publisher=BRILL|volume=8|pages=59–65|doi=10.2307/1523154|jstor=1523154|periodical=Muqarnas}}</ref> In Gothic architecture, particularly in the later Gothic styles, they became the most visible and characteristic element, giving a sensation of verticality and pointing upward, like the spires. Gothic [[rib vault]]s covered the nave, and pointed arches were commonly used for the arcades, windows, doorways, in the [[tracery]], and especially in the later Gothic styles decorating the façades.<ref>Encylopédie Larousse, ''L'Architecture Gothique'' (retrieved May 24, 2020)</ref> They were also sometimes used for more practical purposes, such as to bring transverse vaults to the same height as diagonal vaults, as in the nave and aisles of [[Durham Cathedral]], built in 1093.<ref>{{cite web|title=Architectural Importance|url=http://www.durhamworldheritagesite.com/architecture/cathedral/architectural-importance|publisher=Durham World Heritage Site|access-date=2013-03-26|archive-date=24 October 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201024061051/https://www.durhamworldheritagesite.com/architecture/cathedral/architectural-importance|url-status=live}}</ref>

The earliest Gothic pointed arches were lancet lights or [[lancet window]]s, which are narrow windows terminating in a lancet arch. A lancet arch has a radius longer than their breadth (width) and resembles the blade of a [[Lancet (surgery)|lancet]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=lancet|url=https://www.oed.com/start;jsessionid=9D1DE9F1D5CB349EAA5210147C5C13C7?authRejection=true&url=%2Fview%2FEntry%2F105422|website=Oxford English Dictionary Online|access-date=2020-05-25|archive-date=26 January 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210126203231/https://www.oed.com/start;jsessionid=9D1DE9F1D5CB349EAA5210147C5C13C7?authRejection=true&url=/view/Entry/105422|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|chapter=Lancet|date=2018|url=https://www.bloomsburyarchitecturelibrary.com/dictionary-article?docid=b-9781350122741&tocid=b-9781350122741-gloss-0001307|title=Sir Banister Fletcher Glossary|publisher=Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) and the University of London|doi=10.5040/9781350122741.1001308|isbn=978-1-350-12274-1|quote=Gothic arch or window rising to a point at its apex.|access-date=2020-05-25|archive-date=26 January 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210126201804/https://www.bloomsburyarchitecturelibrary.com/dictionary-article?docid=b-9781350122741&tocid=b-9781350122741-gloss-0001307|url-status=live}}</ref> In the 12th-century ''First Pointed'' phase of Gothic architecture (also called the ''Lancet style'') and before the introduction of tracery in the windows in later styles, lancet windows predominated Gothic building.<ref name=":03">{{Citation|title=Lancet style|date=2015|url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780198606789.001.0001/acref-9780198606789-e-2596|work=A Dictionary of Architecture and Landscape Architecture|editor-last=Curl|editor-first=James Stevens|edition=3rd|publisher=Oxford University Press|doi=10.1093/acref/9780198606789.001.0001|isbn=978-0-19-967498-5|quote=First Pointed Gothic of the late C12 before the introduction of tracery.|access-date=2020-04-09|editor2-last=Wilson|editor2-first=Susan|archive-date=26 January 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210126203259/https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780198606789.001.0001/acref-9780198606789-e-2596|url-status=live|url-access=subscription}}</ref>

The [[Flamboyant]] style of Gothic architecture is particularly known for lavish pointed details such as the ''arc-en-accolade'', where a pointed arch over a doorway was topped by a pointed sculptural ornament called a [[Fleuron (architecture)|fleuron]] and by pointed pinnacles on either side. The arches of the doorway were further decorated with small cabbage-shaped sculptures called ''chou-frisés''.{{sfn|Renault|Lazé|2006|p=37}}

<gallery heights="180" align="center">
File:Wells-Cathedral 9762.jpg|Eastern end of Wells Cathedral (begun 1175)
File:Reims Cathedral, exterior (4).jpg|West front of [[Reims Cathedral]], pointed arches within arches (1211–1275)
File:Catedral de Salisbury, Salisbury, Inglaterra, 2014-08-12, DD 35-37 HDR.JPG|Lancet windows of [[transept]] of [[Salisbury Cathedral]] (1220–1258)
File:Lincoln, Cathedral 20060726 015.jpg|Pointed arches in the arcades, [[triforium]], and [[clerestory]] of [[Lincoln Cathedral]] (1185–1311)
File:Cathedrale-de-Strasbourg-IMG 4235.jpg|A detail of the windows and galleries of the west front of [[Strasbourg Cathedral]] (1215–1439)
</gallery>

===Rib vaults===
{{Main|Rib vault}}
[[File:Ossature.voute.arc.ogive.png|thumb|right|Structure of an early six-part Gothic rib vault. (drawing by [[Eugène Viollet-le-Duc]])]]
The Gothic [[rib vault]] was one of the essential elements that made the great height and large windows of Gothic architecture possible.{{Sfn|McNamara|2017|p=122}} Unlike the semi-circular [[barrel vault]] of [[Ancient Roman architecture|Roman]] and [[Romanesque architecture|Romanesque]] buildings, where the weight pressed directly downward, and required thick walls and small windows, the Gothic rib vault was made of diagonal crossing arched ribs. These ribs directed the [[thrust]] outwards to the corners of the vault, and downwards via slender [[colonnette]]s and bundled columns, to the pillars and columns below. The space between the ribs was filled with thin panels of small pieces of stone, which were much lighter than earlier [[groin vault]]s. The outward thrust against the walls was countered by the weight of [[buttress]]es and later [[flying buttress]]es. As a result, the massive, thick walls of Romanesque buildings were no longer needed, as since the vaults were supported by columns and [[Pier (architecture)|piers]], the walls could be made thinner and higher, and filled with windows.{{Sfn|Ducher|1988|p=46}}{{sfn|Mignon|2015|pp=10–11}}{{sfn|Bechmann|2017|pp=183–185}}

The earlier Gothic rib vaults, used at [[Sens Cathedral]] (begun between 1135 and 1140) and [[Notre-Dame de Paris]] (begun 1163), were divided by the ribs into six compartments. They were very difficult to build and could only cross a limited space. Since each vault covered two bays, they needed support on the ground floor from [[Alternation of supports|alternating columns and piers]]. In later construction, the design was simplified, and the rib vaults were divided into only four compartments. The alternating rows of alternating columns and piers receiving the vaults' weight were replaced by simple pillars, each receiving the same weight. A single vault could cross the nave. This method was used at [[Chartres Cathedral]] (1194–1220), [[Amiens Cathedral]] (begun 1220), and [[Reims Cathedral]].{{sfn|Renault|Lazé|2006|p=35}} The four-part vaults made it possible for taller buildings to be constructed. Notre-Dame, which had begun with six-part vaults, reached a height of {{cvt|35|m|ft}}. Amiens Cathedral, which had begun with the newer four-part ribs, reached a height of {{cvt|42.3|m|ft}} at the transept.{{Sfn|Ducher|1988|p=46}}{{sfn|Mignon|2015|pp=18–28}}

<gallery heights="180">
File:Sens - Cathédrale 09.jpg|Early six-part rib vaults in [[Sens Cathedral]] (1135–1164)
File:Canterbury Cathedral Choir 1, Kent, UK - Diliff crop.jpg|Rib vaults of choir of [[Canterbury Cathedral]] (1174–77)
File:Reims Cathedral, interior (4).jpg|Stronger four-part rib vaults in nave of [[Reims Cathedral]] (1211–1275)
File:Salisbury Cathedral Interior 01.jpg|A rectangular four-part vault over a single [[Bay (architecture)|bay]] in [[Salisbury Cathedral]] (1220–1258)
</gallery>
[[File:Crucero, Catedral de Sevilla, Sevilla, España, 2015-12-06, DD 94-96 HDR.JPG|thumb|A crossing vault in [[Seville Cathedral]]]]

=== Later vaults (13th–15th century) ===
In France, the four-part rib vault, with two diagonals crossing at the center of the traverse, was the type used almost exclusively until the end of the Gothic period. However, in England, several imaginative new vaults were invented which had more elaborate decorative features. They became a signature of the later English Gothic styles.{{Sfn|Harvey|1974|p=156}}

The first of these new vaults had an additional rib, called a [[tierceron]], which ran down the median of the vault.{{Sfn|McNamara|2017|p=126}} It first appeared in the vaults of the choir of [[Lincoln Cathedral]] at the end of the 12th century, then at Worcester Cathedral in 1224, and then the south transept of [[Lichfield Cathedral]].{{Sfn|Harvey|1974|p=156}}

The 14th century brought the invention of several new types of vaults which were more and more decorative.{{Sfn|Harvey|1974|p=157}} These vaults often copied the forms form of the elaborate tracery of the Late Gothic styles.{{Sfn|McNamara|2017|p=126}} These included the [[stellar vault]], where a group of additional ribs between the principal ribs forms a star design. The oldest vaults of this kind were found in the crypt of Saint Stephen at [[Westminster Palace]], built about 1320. A second type was called a reticulated vault, which had a network of additional decorative ribs, in triangles and other geometric forms, placed between or over the traverse ribs. These were first used in the choir of [[Bristol Cathedral]] in about 1311. Another late Gothic form, the [[fan vault]], with ribs spreading upwards and outwards, appeared later in the 14th century. An example is the cloister of [[Gloucester Cathedral]] ({{circa|1370}}).{{Sfn|Harvey|1974|p=156}}

Another new form was the skeleton vault, which appeared in the English [[Decorated style]]. It has an additional network of ribs, like the ribs of an umbrella, which criss-cross the vault but are only directly attached to it at certain points. It appeared in a chapel of [[Lincoln Cathedral]] in 1300.{{Sfn|Harvey|1974|p=156}} and then several other English churches. This style of vault was adopted in the 14th century in particular by German architects, particularly [[Peter Parler]], and in other parts of central Europe. Another exists in the south porch of the [[Prague Cathedral]]{{Sfn|Harvey|1974|p=156}}

Elaborate vaults also appeared in civic architecture. An example is the ceiling of the [[Vladislav Hall]] in [[Prague Castle]] in [[Bohemia]] designed by [[Benedikt Ried]] in 1493. The ribs twist and intertwine in fantasy patterns, which later critics called "Rococo Gothic".{{Sfn|Harvey|1974|p=170}}

<gallery widths="150" heights="200" perrow="5">
File:Perpendicular Vaulting.JPG|Lierne vaults of [[Gloucester Cathedral]] (Perpendicular Gothic)
File:Aisle.bristol.cathedral.arp.jpg|Skeleton-vault in aisle of [[Bristol Cathedral]] ({{circa|1311}}–1340)
File:Lincoln cathedral 13 Nave vault.jpg|Lincoln Cathedral – quadripartite form, with tierceron ribs and ridge rib with carved bosses
File:Bremer Dom Juli 2009 PD 060.JPG|Bremen Cathedral, Germany – north aisle, a reticular (net) vault with intersecting ribs
File:Wolfsberg Sankt Marein Pfarrkirche Mariae Himmelfahrt Netzrippengewoelbe 03092014 742.jpg|Church of the Assumption, [[Wolfsberg District|St Marein, Austria]] – star vault with intersecting lierne ribs
File:Bóvedas catedral Salamanca 40.jpg|Salamanca Cathedral, Spain Flamboyant S-shaped and circular lierne ribs. (16th–18th century)
File:Jacobins-11(1).jpg|[[Church of the Jacobins]], Toulouse – palm tree vault (1275–1292)
File:Peterborough Retrochoir fan vaulting.JPG|Peterborough Cathedral, retrochoir – intersecting fan vaults
File:Prag Vladislav-Saal.jpg|"Rococo Gothic" vaults of [[Vladislav Hall]] of [[Prague Castle]] (1493)
</gallery>

===Columns and piers===
{{See also|Column|Pier (architecture)}}
In early French Gothic architecture, the capitals of the columns were modeled after Roman columns of the [[Corinthian order]], with finely-sculpted leaves. They were used in the ambulatory of the Abbey church of Saint-Denis. According to its builder, the Abbot Suger, they were inspired by the columns he had seen in the ancient baths in Rome.{{Sfn|Watkin|1986|p=127}} They were used later at Sens, at Notre-Dame de Paris and at Canterbury in England.

In early Gothic churches with six-part rib vaults, the columns in the nave alternated with more massive piers to provide support for the vaults. With the introduction of the four-part rib vault, all of the piers or columns in the nave could have the same design. In the High Gothic period, a new form was introduced, composed of a central core surrounded several attached slender columns, or colonettes, going up to the vaults.{{Sfn|McNamara|2017|p=97}} These clustered columns were used at Chartres, Amiens, Reims and Bourges, Westminster Abbey and Salisbury Cathedral.{{Sfn|Ducher|2014|p=40}} Another variation was a quadrilobe column, shaped like a clover, formed of four attached columns.{{Sfn|Ducher|2014|p=40}} In England, the clustered columns were often ornamented with stone rings, as well as columns with carved leaves.{{Sfn|McNamara|2017|p=97}}

Later styles added further variations. Sometimes the piers were rectangular and fluted, as at Seville Cathedral, In England, parts of columns sometimes had contrasting colours, using combining white stone with dark [[Purbeck marble]]. In place of the Corinthian capital, some columns used a stiff-leaf design. In later Gothic, the piers became much taller, reaching up more than half of the nave. Another variation, particularly popular in eastern France, was a column without a capital, which continued upward without capitals or other interruption, all the way to the vaults, giving a dramatic display of verticality.{{Sfn|Ducher|2014|p=40}}

<gallery widths="150" heights="200" perrow="5">
File:Intérieur cath de Sens.jpg|Early Gothic – Alternating columns and piers, [[Sens Cathedral]] (12th century)
File:ReimsCattedraleInternoPareteNavataCentrale.jpg|High Gothic – Clustered columns of [[Reims Cathedral]] (13th century)
File:Salisbury Cathedral Nave, Wiltshire, UK - Diliff.jpg|Early English Gothic – Clustered columns in [[Salisbury Cathedral]] (13th century)
File:Canterbury Cathedral Nave 1, Kent, UK - Diliff.jpg|Perpendicular Gothic – Columns without interruption from floor to the vaults. [[Canterbury Cathedral]] nave (late 14th century).
File:Navata certosa pavia.jpg|Late Gothic - Clustered columns in [[Certosa di Pavia]] (15th century).
File:Bueckeburg Stadtkirche n O1.JPG|Post-Gothic - Columns with Renaissance capitals in the city church in [[Bückeburg]] (17th century)
</gallery>

===Flying buttresses===
{{main|Flying buttress}}
An important feature of Gothic architecture was the [[flying buttress]], a half-arch outside the building which carried the thrust of weight of the roof or vaults inside over a roof or an aisle to a heavy stone column. The buttresses were placed in rows on either side of the building, and were often topped by heavy stone pinnacles, both to give extra weight and for additional decoration.<ref name="ReferenceB">{{Britannica |32952 |Western architecture}}</ref>

Buttresses had existed since Roman times, usually set directly against the building, but the Gothic vaults were more sophisticated. In later structures, the buttresses often had several arches, each reaching in to a different level of the structure. The buttresses permitted the buildings to be both taller, and to have thinner walls, with greater space for windows.<ref name="ReferenceB"/>

Over time, the buttresses and pinnacles became more elaborate supporting statues and other decoration, as at [[Beauvais Cathedral]] and [[Reims Cathedral]]. The arches had an additional practical purpose; they contained lead channels which carried rainwater off the roof; it was expelled from the mouths of stone [[gargoyles]] placed in rows on the buttresses.{{sfn|Ducher|1988|pp=50–51}}

Flying buttresses were used less frequently in England, where the emphasis was more on length than height. One example of English buttresses was [[Canterbury Cathedral]], whose choir and buttresses were rebuilt in Gothic style by William of Sens and William the Englishman.<ref name=EBWoS/> However, they were very popular in Germany: in [[Cologne Cathedral]] the buttresses were lavishly decorated with statuary and other ornament, and were a prominent feature of the exterior.

<gallery widths="160" heights="190">
File:Canterbury Cathedral 04.JPG|[[Canterbury Cathedral]] with simple wall buttresses and flying buttresses (rebuilt into Gothic 1174–1177)
File:Lincoln, UK - panoramio (30).jpg|East end of [[Lincoln Cathedral]], with wall buttress, and chapter house with flying buttresses. (1185–1311)
File:Notre Dame buttress.jpg|Flying buttresses of [[Notre Dame de Paris]] ({{Circa|1230}})
File:Amiens Cathédrale Notre-dame arc-boutant sud-est 4.jpg|Buttresses of [[Amiens Cathedral]] with pinnacles to give them added weight (1220–1266)
File:Strebewerk-2.jpg|Section of [[Reims Cathedral]] showing the three levels of each buttress (1211–1275)
File:Koelner dom blick nach osten.jpg|Decorated buttresses of [[Cologne Cathedral]] (1248–1573)
</gallery>

[[File:Cathédrale de Rouen vue de l'Opéra.JPG|thumb|[[Rouen Cathedral]] from the south west – façade towers 12th–15th century, the flamboyant tower to the 15th century, spire rebuilt in 16th century]]

=== Towers and spires ===
[[File:Tour Cathédrale de Laon 150808 1.jpg|thumb|Oxen sculpture in High Gothic towers of [[Laon Cathedral]] (13th century)]]
{{See also|Steeple|Spire|Bell tower}}
Towers, [[spires]] and [[Flèche (architecture)|flèches]] were an important feature of Gothic churches. They presented a dramatic spectacle of great height, helped make their churches the tallest and most visible buildings in their city, and symbolised the aspirations of their builders toward heaven.<ref name=EBSpire>{{Britannica |560359 |Spire}}</ref> They also had a practical purpose; they often served as [[bell tower]]s supporting [[Belfry (architecture)|belfries]], whose bells told the time by announcing religious services, warned of fire or enemy attack, and celebrated special occasions like military victories and coronations. Sometimes the bell tower is built separate from a church; the best-known example of this is the [[Leaning Tower of Pisa]].<ref name=EBSpire/>

The towers of cathedrals were usually the last part of the structure to be built. Since cathedral construction usually took many years, and was extremely expensive, by the time the tower were to be built public enthusiasm waned, and tastes changed. Many projected towers were never built, or were built in different styles than other parts of the cathedral, or with different styles on each level of the tower.{{Sfn|Wenzler|2018|p=16}} At Chartres Cathedral, the south tower was built in the 12th century, in the simpler Early Gothic, while the north tower is the more highly decorated [[Flamboyant]] style. Chartres would have been even more exuberant if the second plan had been followed; it called for seven towers around the transept and sanctuary.{{sfn|Mignon|2015|p=21}}

In the Île-de-France, cathedral towers followed the Romanesque tradition of two identical towers, one on either side of the portals. The west front of the [[Basilica of Saint-Denis|Saint-Denis]], became the model for the early Gothic cathedrals and High Gothic cathedrals in northern France, including Notre-Dame de Paris, Reims Cathedral, and Amiens Cathedral.{{sfn|Wenzler|2018|pp=95–98}}

The early and High Gothic [[Laon Cathedral]] has a square [[lantern tower]] over the crossing of the transept; two towers on the western front; and two towers on the ends of the transepts. Laon's towers, with the exception of the central tower, are built with two stacked vaulted chambers pierced by lancet openings. The two western towers contain life-size stone statues of sixteen [[oxen]] in their upper arcades, said to honour the animals who hauled the stone during the cathedral's construction.<ref name="abelard">{{cite web |url= https://www.abelard.org/france/cathedrals5-laon.php |title= Cathedral 5: Laon |author= abelard |date= 2006-01-22 |access-date= 11 November 2018 |archive-date= 27 October 2020 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20201027125911/https://www.abelard.org/france/cathedrals5-laon.php |url-status= live }}</ref>

In Normandy, cathedrals and major churches often had multiple towers, built over the centuries; the [[Abbaye aux Hommes]] (begun 1066), Caen has nine towers and spires, placed on the façade, the transepts, and the centre. A [[lantern tower]] was often placed the centre of the nave, at the meeting point with the transept, to give light to the church below.

In later periods of Gothic, pointed needle-like [[spires]] were often added to the towers, giving them much greater height. A variation of the spire was the flèche, a slender, spear-like spire, which was usually placed on the transept where it crossed the nave. They were often made of wood covered with lead or other metal. They sometimes had open frames, and were decorated with sculpture. Amiens Cathedral has a flèche. The most famous example was that of Notre-Dame de Paris. The original flèche of Notre-Dame was built on the crossing of the transept in the middle of the 13th century, and housed five bells. It was removed in 1786 during a program to modernize the cathedral, but was put back in a new form designed by Eugène Viollet-le-Duc. The new flèche, of wood covered with lead, was decorated with statues of the Apostles; the figure of St Thomas resembled Viollet-le-Duc.<ref>Trintignac and Coloni, ''Decouvrir Notre-Dame de Paris'' (1984), (in French), les Editions du Cerf, {{ISBN|2-204-02087-7}}, pp. 259-260</ref> The flèche was destroyed in the [[Notre-Dame de Paris fire|2019 fire]], but is now restored in the same design.

<gallery widths="140" heights="190">
File:Abbaye aux Hommes 02.jpg|[[Abbaye aux Hommes]], Caen (tall west towers added in the 13th century)
File:Facade cathedral.jpg|Towers of Chartres Cathedral; [[Flamboyant]] Gothic on left, Early Gothic on the right
File:Spire of Notre-Dame de Paris, September 2013.jpg|The 13th century flèche of Notre Dame, recreated in the 19th century, destroyed by fire in 2019, now restored
</gallery>

In English Gothic, the major tower was often placed at the crossing of the transept and nave, and was much higher than the other. The most famous example is the tower of [[Salisbury Cathedral]], completed in 1320 by William of Farleigh. It was a remarkable feat of construction, since it was built upon the pillars of the much earlier church.{{Sfn|Harvey|1974|p=145}} A crossing tower was constructed at [[Canterbury Cathedral]] in 1493–1501 by [[John Wastell]], who had previously worked on King's College at Cambridge. It was finished by [[Henry Yevele]], who also built the present nave of Canterbury.{{Sfn|Harvey|1974|p=171}} The new central tower at [[Wells Cathedral]] caused a problem; it was too heavy for the original structure. An unusual double arch had to be constructed in the centre of the crossing to give the tower the extra support it needed.{{Sfn|Harvey|1974|p=145}}

England's Gothic parish churches and collegiate churches generally have a single western tower.{{Citation needed|date=March 2020}} A number of the finest churches have masonry spires, with those of [[St James' Church, Louth|St James Church, Louth]]; [[St Wulfram's Church, Grantham]]; [[St Mary Redcliffe]] in [[Bristol]]; and [[Coventry Cathedral]]. These spires all exceed {{cvt|85|m|ft|-1}} in height.<ref>Julian Flannery, ''Fifty English Steeples: The Finest Medieval Parish Church Towers and Spires in England'', T&H, 2016, 10-0500343144 {{Page needed|date=April 2020}}</ref>{{Page needed|date=April 2020}}

Westminster Abbey's crossing tower has for centuries remained unbuilt, and numerous architects have proposed various ways of completing it since the 1250s, when work began on the tower under [[Henry III of England|Henry III]].<ref name=":7">{{Cite book|last=Rodwell|first=Warwick|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZMtXRwAACAAJ|title=The Lantern Tower of Westminster Abbey, 1060-2010: Reconstructing its History and Architecture.|publisher=Oxbow Books|year=2010|isbn=978-1-84217-761-7|location=Havertown|oclc=841909231}}</ref> A century and half later, an octagonal [[roof lantern]] resembling that of Ely Cathedral was installed instead, which was then demolished in the 16th century.<ref name=":7" /> Construction began again in 1724 to the design of [[Nicholas Hawksmoor]], after first Christopher Wren had proposed a design in 1710, but stopped again in 1727. The crossing remains covered by the stub of the lantern and a 'temporary' roof.<ref name=":7" />

<gallery widths="140" heights="190">
File:Catedral de Salisbury, Salisbury, Inglaterra, 2014-08-12, DD 52.JPG|[[Salisbury Cathedral]] tower and spire over the crossing (1320)
File:York, UK - panoramio (28).jpg|West towers of [[York Minster]], in the Perpendicular Gothic style.
File:Beverley Minster, East Riding of Yorkshire.jpg|The perpendicular west towers of [[Beverley Minster]] ({{Circa|1400}})
File:Canterbury Cathedral JC 17.JPG|Crossing tower of [[Canterbury Cathedral]] (1493–1505)
</gallery>

Later Gothic towers in Central Europe often followed the French model, but added even denser decorative tracery. [[Cologne Cathedral]] had been started in the 13th century, following the plan of [[Amiens Cathedral]], but only the apse and the base of one tower were finished in the Gothic period. The original plans were conserved and rediscovered in 1817, and the building was completed in the 19th century following the origin design. It has two spectacularly ornamented towers, covered with arches, gables, pinnacles and openwork spires pointing upwards. The tower of [[Ulm Minster]] has a similar history, begun in 1377, stopped in 1543, and not completed until the 19th century.{{Sfn|Harvey|1974|p=127}}

<gallery widths="140" heights="190">
File:Kölner Dom von Osten.jpg|[[Cologne Cathedral]] towers (begun 13th century, completed 20th century
File:Ulmer Münster-Westfassade.jpg|Tower of [[Ulm Minster]] (begun 1377, completed 19th century)
File:00 0743 Freiburg Minster - Hahnenturm.jpg|Tower of Freiburg Minster (begun 1340) noted for its lacelike openwork spire
File:Prag Dom St. Veit 01.jpg|[[Prague Cathedral]] (begun 1344) 
</gallery>

Regional variants of Gothic towers appeared in Spain and Italy. [[Burgos Cathedral]] was inspired by Northern Europe. It has an exceptional cluster of openwork spires, towers, and pinnacles, drenched with ornament. It was begun in 1444 by a German architect, Juan de Colonia (John of Cologne) and eventually completed by a central tower (1540) built by his grandson.{{Sfn|Harvey|1974|p=126}}

In Italy the towers were sometimes separate from the cathedral; and the architects usually kept their distance from the Northern European style. the leaning tower of [[Pisa Cathedral]], built between 1173 and 1372, is the best-known example. [[Giotto's Campanile|The Campanile]] of Florence Cathedral was built by [[Giotto]] in the Florentine Gothic style, decorated with encrustations of polychrome marble. It was originally designed to have a spire.{{Sfn|Harvey|1974|p=171}}

<gallery widths="150" heights="200" perrow="5">
File:WLM14ES - 11072009 172016 CDB 0530 - .jpg|West towers of [[Burgos Cathedral]] (1444–1540)
File:CampanileGiotto-01.jpg|[[Giotto's Campanile]] of [[Florence Cathedral]] (1334–1359)
</gallery>

=== Tracery ===
[[File:Beauvais (60), cathédrale Saint-Pierre, croisillon sud, parties hautes 2.jpg|thumb|[[Beauvais Cathedral]], south transept (consecrated 1272)]]
{{main|Tracery}}
Tracery is an architectural solution by which windows (or screens, panels, and vaults) are divided into sections of various proportions by stone ''bars'' or ''ribs'' of moulding.<ref name=":5">{{Citation|title=tracery|url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780199674985.001.0001/acref-9780199674985-e-4762|work=A Dictionary of Architecture and Landscape Architecture|year=2015|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=2020-05-26|editor2-last=Wilson|editor2-first=Susan|archive-date=7 April 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220407040747/https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780199674985.001.0001/acref-9780199674985-e-4762|url-status=live|url-access=subscription}}</ref> Pointed arch windows of Gothic buildings were initially (late 12th–late 13th centuries) [[lancet window]]s, a solution typical of the ''Early Gothic'' or ''First Pointed'' style and of the ''Early English'' Gothic.<ref name=":5" /><ref name=":04" /> Plate tracery was the first type of tracery to be developed, emerging in the later phase of ''Early Gothic'' or ''First Pointed''.<ref name=":5" /> ''Second Pointed'' is distinguished from ''First'' by the appearance of ''bar–tracery'', allowing the construction of much larger window openings, and the development of ''Curvilinear'', ''Flowing'', and ''Reticulated'' tracery, ultimately contributing to the ''Flamboyant'' style.<ref name=":04" /> ''Late Gothic'' in most of Europe saw tracery patterns resembling [[lace]] develop, while in England ''Perpendicular Gothic'' or ''Third Pointed'' preferred plainer vertical mullions and transoms.<ref name=":04" /> Tracery is practical as well as decorative, because the increasingly large windows of Gothic buildings needed maximum support against the wind.<ref name=EBTracery>{{Britannica |601424 |Tracery}}</ref>

Plate tracery, in which lights were pierced in a thin wall of ashlar, allowed a window arch to have more than one light – typically two side by side and separated by flat stone [[spandrel]]s.<ref name=":5" /> The spandrels were then sculpted into figures like a [[Roundel (heraldry)|roundel]] or a [[quatrefoil]].<ref name=":5" /> Plate tracery reached the height of its sophistication with the 12th century windows of Chartres Cathedral and in the "Dean's Eye" rose window at Lincoln Cathedral.<ref name=EBTracery/>

At the beginning of the 13th century, plate tracery was superseded by bar-tracery.<ref name=":5" /> Bar-tracery divides the large lights from one another with moulded [[mullion]]s.<ref name=":5" /> Stone bar-tracery, an important decorative element of Gothic styles, first was used at [[Reims Cathedral]] shortly after 1211, in the chevet built by Jean D'Orbais.{{Sfn|Harvey|1974|p=132}} It was employed in England around 1240.<ref name=":5" /> After 1220, master builders in England had begun to treat the window openings as a series of openings divided by thin stone bars, while before 1230 the apse chapels of Reims Cathedral were decorated with bar-tracery with cusped circles (with bars radiating from the centre).<ref name=EBTracery/> Bar-tracery became common after {{circa|1240}}, with increasing complexity and decreasing weight.<ref name=EBTracery/> The lines of the mullions continued beyond the tops of the window lights and subdivided the open spandrels above the lights into a variety of decorative shapes.<ref name=":5" /> ''Rayonnant'' style ({{circa|1230|1350}}) was enabled by the development of bar-tracery in [[Continental Europe]] and is named for the radiation of lights around a central point in circular rose windows.<ref name=":5" /> ''Rayonnant'' also deployed mouldings of two different types in tracery, where earlier styles had used moulding of a single size, with different sizes of mullions.<ref name=EBTracery/> The rose windows of Notre-Dame de Paris (c.1270) are typical.<ref name=EBTracery/>
[[File:Lincoln Cathedral, Deans eye window (38137302184).jpg|thumb|''Plate tracery'', [[Lincoln Cathedral]] "Dean's Eye" rose window (c.1225)]]

The early phase of ''Middle Pointed'' style (late 13th century) is characterized by ''Geometrical'' tracery – simple bar-tracery forming patterns of [[Foil (architecture)|foiled]] arches and circles interspersed with triangular lights.<ref name=":5" /> The mullions of ''Geometrical'' style typically had [[Capital (architecture)|capitals]] with curved bars emerging from them. ''Intersecting'' bar-tracery (c.1300) deployed mullions without capitals which branched off equidistant to the window-head.<ref name=":5" /> The window-heads themselves were formed of equal curves forming a pointed arch and the tracery-bars were curved by drawing curves with differing [[Radius|radii]] from the same [[Centre (geometry)|centres]] as the window-heads.<ref name=":5" /> The mullions were in consequence branched into Y-shaped designs further ornamented with cusps. The intersecting branches produced an array of [[Lozenge (shape)|lozenge]]-shaped lights in between numerous lancet arched lights.''Y-tracery'' was often employed in two-light windows c.1300.<ref name=":5" />

''Second Pointed'' (14th century) saw ''Intersecting'' tracery elaborated with [[ogee]]s, creating a complex reticular (net-like) design known as ''Reticulated'' tracery.<ref name=":5" /> ''Second Pointed'' architecture deployed tracery in highly decorated fashion known as ''Curvilinear'' and ''Flowing'' (''Undulating'').<ref name=":5" /> These types of bar-tracery were developed further throughout Europe in the 15th century into the ''Flamboyant'' style, named for the characteristic flame-shaped spaces between the tracery-bars.<ref name=":5" /> These shapes are known as ''daggers'', ''fish-bladders'', or ''mouchettes''.<ref name=":5" />

''Third Pointed'' or ''Perpendicular Gothic'' developed in England from the later 14th century and is typified by ''Rectilinear'' tracery (''panel''-tracery).<ref name=":5" /> The mullions are often joined together by [[Transom (architecture)|transoms]] and continue up their straight vertical lines to the top of the window's main arch, some branching off into lesser arches, and creating a series of panel-like lights.<ref name=":5" /> ''Perpendicular'' strove for verticality and dispensed with the ''Curvilinear'' style's sinuous lines in favour of unbroken straight mullions from top to bottom, transected by horizontal transoms and bars.<ref name=EBTracery/> [[Four-centred arch]]es were used in the 15th and 16th centuries to create windows of increasing size with flatter window-heads, often filling the entire wall of the bay between each buttress.<ref name=":5" /> The windows were themselves divided into panels of lights topped by pointed arches struck from four centres.<ref name=":5" /> The transoms were often topped by miniature [[crenellations]].<ref name=":5" /> The windows at Cambridge of King's College Chapel (1446–1515) represent the heights of ''Perpendicular'' tracery.<ref name=EBTracery/>

Tracery was used on both the interior and exterior of buildings. It frequently covered the façades, and the interior walls of the nave and choir were covered with blind arcades. It also often picked up and repeated the designs in the stained glass windows. [[Strasbourg Cathedral]] has a west front lavishly ornamented with bar tracery matching the windows.<ref name=EBTracery/>

<gallery mode="nolines" heights="150">
File:Ripon Cathedral - central part of main facade.jpg|''Lancet Gothic'', [[Ripon Minster]] west front (begun 1160)
File:Chartres Cathedral clerestory exterior.jpg|''Plate tracery'', [[Chartres Cathedral]] clerestory (1194–1220)
File:Ripon Cathedral (7557362580) crop.jpg|''Geometrical'' ''Decorated Gothic'', [[Ripon Minster]] east window
File:Straßburger Münster, Große Fensterrose.jpg|''Rayonnant'' rose window, [[Strasbourg Cathedral]] west front
File:Amiens France Cathédrale-Notre-Dame-d-Amiens-03d.jpg|''Flamboyant'' rose window, [[Amiens Cathedral]] west front
File:Limoges curvilinear tracery.JPG|''Curvilinear'' window, [[Limoges Cathedral]] nave
File:Kings College Chapel Cambridge west window.jpg|''Perpendicular'' four-centred arch, King's College Chapel, Cambridge west front
File:Cathédrale de Tours - détail de la tour nord.jpg|Blind tracery, [[Tours Cathedral]] (16th century)
File:Neupfarrkirche - panoramio (1).jpg|''Post-Gothic'' tracery, [[Regensburg, Neupfarrkirche]] (16th century)
</gallery>