Gothic can be defined as a structural system that perfected techniques tried and tested since the Romanesque period, in an effort to obtain new esthetic and symbolic effects.
Gothic can be defined as a structural system that perfected techniques tried and tested since the Romanesque period, in an effort to obtain new esthetic and symbolic effects. Between the eleventh and twelfth centuries, the typology of basilicas of Paleochristian ancestry was revamped to meet new liturgical and functional requirement. The enlargement of the sanctuary, needed to welcome the increasing numbers of clergy, was accompanied by a systematic setting out of vaults to protect the framework from fires, which were frequent at the time.