Gothic Vaults
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A gif of the National Cathedrals gothic vaults    The Gothic vaults were very difficult to build. Especially, when you have to get the stones in at the precise area, or the whole thing would collapse. The stones were usually heavy and there was no real technology to help them pull up those huge stones. Soon, the builders decided to make arches formed by placing blunt, wedge-shaped stones called voussoiros on a framework.

   Another gif of the National Cathedrals gothic vaults The reasons that the cathedrals had so many of these vaulted roofs is because the medieval builders thought that they helped reduce the risk of fire. That was really good because fires often roofspread and there were no fire fighters to help extinguish the fire. Also, it made the inside of the cathedral have a finished look.



    The cons to having these vaults, however, is that they have a tremendous amount of weight and exert a lot of pressure upon the foundation. The builders had a way to help spread out the weight and pressure. They used piers or columns to help support them.

 

Bibliography:



1. Maculay, David. Cathedral: The Story of Its Construction, Boston, Houghton Mifflin Company, 1973

2. Perdrizet, Marie-Pierre, and Eddy Krahenbuhl. People of the Past: The Cathedral Builders. Brookfield, The Millbrook Press, Inc. 1990

3. Watson, Percy. Building the Medival Cathedral, Minneapolis, Lerner Publications Company, 1976

Photographs of the Washington National Cathedral are provided by Alex Lee and his father.