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At the beginning of the 13th century the
three naves of the Romanesque cruciform church were demolished and
replaced by a new construction. It is typical that the first nave was
erected at the Korenmarkt : it shows the importance attached to this
meeting place of the religious community of sponsors, in others words to
the lower church as townscape with priority to the sanctuary. Religious
services took place in the remaining eastern part of the old church during
the construction works.
The new nave was twice as high as the
previous one and would also become longer. In the transition period four
broad bays replaced six Romanesque arches. The architecture was entirely
different. The rusticity of the torn down basilica was replaced by a more
refined composition. Instead of two levels each bay was now four levels
high : first of all there were the pier arches between the nave and
aisles, supported by round columns; secondly a tribune open to the nave by
means of two arches per bay; thirdly a triforium with alternating complex
and simple supports at the horizontal platform; finally the fanlight with
the threelight windows. The openings made up by the arcades, tribunes and
windows were decorated with little flank pillars, capitals, frames and
profiles which rendered the wall a rich appearance. The wall above the
tribune was a double one, leaving an inside passage at the level of the
triforium and an outside passage at the windows. Although the height of
the nave and the beautiful reliefs of the arcades were real innovations,
the concept of space was somewhat archaic. Only the aisles were vaulted,
the nave and tribune had a flat ceiling. |
There were no vaults and hence no rising
shafts to support them, no material frontier between the bays, no rhythm
in the walls. The emphasis lay on the horizontal sequences. Seen
from outside this basilica-kind of building with its well considered
measurements was quite impressive as compared to the tiny houses next to
it. The tribunes made the aisles and consequently also the nave going
steep up in the air. Subtle shades of light and dark were evoked by the
ordinance of the buttresses, passages and openings.
The western part of the building
(Korenmarkt) was less successful. The larger part of the façade was
squeezed between the little massive and upright turrets, built very
closely together.
Tournai, which had the episcopal seat for Ghent and was
an outpost of France, supplied both the design and the technical know-how
as well as the building material, which was blue grey limestone. The
cathedral of Tournai too had four levels. A lot of parish churches had
been constructed with double walls, passages and flank pillars. The
typical threelight window at the central lancet, above the "fausse
porte", had been introduced in 1198 to light the bishop’s chapel. |
