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126-525: The tunnel is 90 metres long and follows the line of the castle's former eastern walls. The entire tunnel is vaulted and built in Neo-classical style . Construction of the Dark Gate started in 1824 by Alexander Rudnay , Archbishop of Esztergom , two years after the foundation stones of St. Adalbert's Basilica were laid. It became known as Dark Gate due to the lack of lighting. The main purpose of

252-411: A European Union study has been devised to promote a modern highway to connect the northern and southern parts of the island via a tunnel . The study proposal includes a 15.7 km (9.8 mi) section of road between the villages of Agia Varvara and Agia Deka in central Crete. The new road section forms part of the route between Messara in the south and Crete's largest city Heraklion , which houses

378-938: A coastline of 1,046 km (650 mi); to the north, it broaches the Sea of Crete (Greek: Κρητικό Πέλαγος ); to the south, the Libyan Sea (Greek: Λιβυκό Πέλαγος ); in the west, the Myrtoan Sea , and toward the east the Carpathian Sea. It lies approximately 160 km (99 mi) south of the Greek mainland. There are a number of peninsulas and gulfs on the north side of Crete, from west to east these include: Gramvousa peninsula, gulf of Kissamos, Rodopos peninsula, gulf of Chania , Akrotiri peninsula, Souda Bay , Apokoronas cape, gulf of Almiros , gulf of Heraklion , Aforesmenos cape, gulf of Mirabello , gulf of Sitia and

504-409: A framed truss with a semicircular or segmental head, which supports the voussoirs until the ring of the whole arch is completed. Corbelled vaults, also called false vaults, with horizontally joined layers of stone have been documented since prehistoric times; in the 14th century BC from Mycenae. They were built regionally until modern times. The real vault construction with radially joined stones

630-399: A hemispherical dome is cut by four vertical planes, the intersection gives four semicircular arches; if cut in addition by a horizontal plane tangent to the top of these arches, it describes a circle; that portion of the sphere which is below this circle and between the arches, forming a spherical spandrel , is the pendentive , and its radius is equal to the diagonal of the square on which

756-554: A huge 3700 m wine cellar opens, where the wines of the Archdiocese of Esztergom were kept. During the 1956 revolution , significant events occurred in Esztergom. On 26 October 1956, fourteen people died in the Dark Gate when a T-34 tank shot into a bus heading towards the seminary, which was used as a Russian military facility at the time. The Dark Gate, the seminary, and its surroundings were completely renovated by 2006,

882-614: A new airport at Kasteli , where there is presently an air force base, and the new Kasteli Airport is due to open by 2027. The island is well served by ferries, mostly from Piraeus , by ferry companies such as Minoan Lines and ANEK Lines with links to the Cyclades and Dodecanese islands. Seajets also operates routes to Cyclades . The main ports from west to east are at Kissamos (ferry link to Peloponnese), Souda (Chania), Rethymno , Heraklion (links to Cyclades), Agios Nikolaos and Sitia (link to Dodecanese). Most of Crete

1008-446: A peculiar twisting of the web, where the springing of the wall rib is at K: to these twisted surfaces the term ploughshare vaulting is given. One of the earliest examples of the introduction of the intermediate rib is found in the nave of Lincoln Cathedral , and there the ridge rib is not carried to the wall rib. It was soon found, however, that the construction of the web was much facilitated by additional ribs, and consequently there

1134-515: A series of domes carried on pendentives covered over the nave, the chief peculiarities of these domes being the fact that the arches carrying them form part of the pendentives, which are all built in horizontal courses. The intersecting and groined vault of the Romans was employed in the early Christian churches in Rome, but only over the aisles, which were comparatively of small span, but in these there

1260-536: A slight rise in the centre, so as to increase its strength; this enabled the French masons to dispense with the intermediate rib, which was not introduced by them till the 15th century, and then more as a decorative than a constructive feature, as the domical form given to the French web rendered unnecessary the ridge rib, which, with some few exceptions, exists only in England. In both English and French vaulting centering

1386-554: A span of 80 feet (24 m), more than twice that of an English cathedral , so that its construction both from the statical and economical point of view was of the greatest importance. The researches of M. Choisy ( L'Art de bâtir chez les Romains ), based on a minute examination of those portions of the vaults which still remain in situ , have shown that, on a comparatively slight centering, consisting of trusses placed about 10 feet (3.0 m) apart and covered with planks laid from truss to truss, were laid – to begin with – two layers of

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1512-573: A supplementary rib across the church and between the transverse ribs. This resulted in what is known as a sexpartite, or six-celled vault , of which one of the earliest examples is found in the Abbaye-aux-Hommes at Caen . This church, built by William the Conqueror, was originally constructed to carry a timber roof only, but nearly a century later the upper part of the nave walls were partly rebuilt, in order that it might be covered with

1638-425: A vault. The immense size, however, of the square vault over the nave necessitated some additional support, so that an intermediate rib was thrown across the church, dividing the square compartment into six cells, and called the sexpartite vault The intermediate rib, however, had the disadvantage of partially obscuring one side of the clerestory windows, and it threw unequal weights on the alternate piers, so that in

1764-416: A wider sense of the word vault. The distinction between the two is that a vault is essentially an arch which is extruded into the third dimension , whereas a dome is an arch revolved around its vertical axis . Pitched-brick vaults are named for their construction, the bricks are installed vertically (not radially) and are leaning (pitched) at an angle: This allows their construction to be completed without

1890-521: Is a form of vaulting common in Islamic architecture . The 20th century saw great advances in reinforced concrete design. The advent of shell construction and the better mathematical understanding of hyperbolic paraboloids allowed very thin, strong vaults to be constructed with previously unseen shapes. The vaults in the Church of Saint Sava are made of prefabricated concrete boxes. They were built on

2016-434: Is a self-supporting arched form, usually of stone or brick, serving to cover a space with a ceiling or roof. As in building an arch, a temporary support is needed while rings of voussoirs are constructed and the rings placed in position. Until the topmost voussoir, the keystone , is positioned, the vault is not self-supporting. Where timber is easily obtained, this temporary support is provided by centering consisting of

2142-508: Is another dome, (the dome that one sees from the inside), but of plaster supported by a wood frame. From the inside, one can easily assume that one is looking at the same vault that one sees from the outside. There are two distinctive "other ribbed vaults" (called "Karbandi" in Persian) in India which form no part of the development of European vaults, but have some unusual features; one carries

2268-470: Is due to the Romans . When two semicircular barrel vaults of the same diameter cross one another their intersection (a true ellipse) is known as a groin vault , down which the thrust of the vault is carried to the cross walls; if a series of two or more barrel vaults intersect one another, the weight is carried on to the piers at their intersection and the thrust is transmitted to the outer cross walls; thus in

2394-573: Is fairly mild. Snowfall is common on the mountains between November and May, but rare in the low-lying areas. The south coast, including the Mesara Plain and Asterousia Mountains , falls in the North African climatic zone, enjoying significantly more sunny days and high temperatures throughout the year. There, date palms bear fruit, and swallows remain year-round rather than migrate to Africa . The fertile region around Ierapetra , on

2520-527: Is known as a squinch . There is one other remarkable vault, also built by Justinian, in the Church of the Saints Sergius and Bacchus in Constantinople. The central area of this church was octagonal on plan, and the dome is divided into sixteen compartments; of these eight consist of broad flat bands rising from the centre of each of the walls, and the alternate eight are concave cells over

2646-409: Is one in which all of the groins are covered by ribs or diagonal ribs in the form of segmental arches. Their curvatures are defined by the bounding arches. Whilst the transverse arches retain the same semi-circular profile as their groin-vaulted counterparts, the longitudinal arches are pointed with both arcs having their centres on the impost line . This allows the latter to correspond more closely to

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2772-425: Is one of the few Greek islands that can support itself without a tourism industry. The economy began to change visibly during the 1970s as tourism gained in importance. Although an emphasis remains on agriculture and stock breeding, because of the climate and terrain of the island, there has been a drop in manufacturing, and an observable expansion in its service industries (mainly tourism-related). All three sectors of

2898-452: Is served by the road network. A modern highway is currently being upgraded along the north coast connecting the four major cities ( A90 motorway ), the sections bypassing the main cities (Heraklion to Malia, Rethymno, Chania to Kolymvari) are at motorway standard, while the sections in between, and west to Kissamos and east to Sitia, should be completed by 2028. A link will also connect to the new Kasteli international airport . In addition,

3024-648: Is surmised that to the top of the pendentives they were built in horizontal courses of brick, projecting one over the other, the projecting angles being cut off afterwards and covered with stucco in which the mosaics were embedded; this was the method employed in the erection of the Périgordian domes, to which we shall return; these, however, were of less diameter than those of the Hagia Sophia, being only about 40 to 60 feet (18 m) instead of 107 feet (33 m) The apotheosis of Byzantine architecture , in fact,

3150-647: Is the Linear B archive from Knossos, dated approximately to 1425–1375 BC. After the Bronze Age collapse , Crete was settled by new waves of Greeks from the mainland. A number of city states developed in the Archaic period . There was limited contact with mainland Greece, and Greek historiography shows little interest in Crete, as a result, there are few literary sources. During the 6th to 4th centuries BC, Crete

3276-409: Is the southernmost of the 13 top-level administrative units of Greece , and the fifth most populous of Greece's regions. Its capital and largest city is Heraklion , on the north shore of the island. As of 2021 , the region had a population of 624,408. The Dodecanese are located to the northeast of Crete, while the Cyclades are situated to the north, separated by the Sea of Crete . The Peloponnese

3402-767: Is to expropriate 850 ha (2,100 acres) of land. The port would handle two million containers per year, but the project has not been universally welcomed because of its environmental, economic and cultural impact. As of January 2013, the project has still not been confirmed, although there is mounting pressure to approve it, arising from Greece's difficult economic situation. There are plans for underwater cables going from mainland Greece to Israel and Egypt passing by Crete and Cyprus: EuroAfrica Interconnector and EuroAsia Interconnector . They would connect Crete electrically with mainland Greece, ending energy isolation of Crete. At present Greece covers electricity cost differences for Crete of around €300 million per year. In

3528-736: Is to the region's northwest. Crete was the center of Europe 's first advanced civilization, the Minoans , from 2700 to 1420 BC. The Minoan civilization was overrun by the Mycenaean civilization from mainland Greece. Crete was later ruled by Rome, then successively by the Byzantine Empire , Andalusian Arabs, the Venetian Republic , and the Ottoman Empire . In 1898 Crete, whose people had for some time wanted to join

3654-461: Is unknown. One proposal derives it from a hypothetical Luwian word * kursatta (compare kursawar 'island', kursattar 'cutting, sliver'). Another proposal suggests that it derives from the ancient Greek word "κραταιή" (krataie̅) , meaning strong or powerful, the reasoning being that Crete was the strongest thalassocracy during ancient times. In Latin , the name of the island became Creta . The original Arabic name of Crete

3780-531: The 88th largest island in the world and the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea , after Sicily , Sardinia , Cyprus , and Corsica . Crete is located about 100 km (62 mi) south of the Peloponnese , and about 300 km (190 mi) southwest of Anatolia . Crete has an area of 8,450 km (3,260 sq mi) and a coastline of 1,046 km (650 mi). It bounds

3906-632: The Crete Region ( Greek : Περιφέρεια Κρήτης , Periféria Krítis , [periˈferia ˈkritis] ), one of the 13 regions of Greece which were established in the 1987 administrative reform. Under the 2010 Kallikratis plan , the powers and authority of the regions were redefined and extended. The region is based at Heraklion and is divided into four regional units (pre-Kallikratis prefectures ). From west to east these are: Chania , Rethymno , Heraklion , and Lasithi . These are further subdivided into 24 municipalities . Since 1 January 2011,

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4032-526: The Mediterranean , and Minoan cultural influence extended to Cyprus , Canaan , and Egypt . Some scholars have speculated that legends such as that of the minotaur have a historical basis in Minoan times. In 1420 BC, the Minoan civilization was subsumed by the Mycenaean civilization from mainland Greece. The oldest samples of writing in the Greek language, as identified by Michael Ventris ,

4158-610: The Samaria Gorge , a World Biosphere Reserve . Crete forms a significant part of the economy and cultural heritage of Greece, while retaining its own local cultural traits (such as its own poetry and music ). The Nikos Kazantzakis airport at Heraklion and the Daskalogiannis airport at Chania serve international travelers. The Minoan palace at Knossos is also located in Heraklion. The earliest references to

4284-654: The Santa Maria del Fiore in Florence , built by Filippo Brunelleschi , and Ferguson cites as an example the great dome of the church at Mousta in Malta , erected in the first half of the 19th century, which was built entirely without centering of any kind. It is important to note that whereas Roman vaults, like that of the Pantheon , and Byzantine vaults, like that at Hagia Sophia , were not protected from above (i.e.

4410-515: The Sideros peninsula. On the south side of Crete is the gulf of Messaras and Cape Lithinon . Crete is mountainous, and its character is defined by a high mountain range crossing from west to east, formed by six different groups of mountains: These mountains lavish Crete with valleys, such as Amari valley , fertile plateaus, such as Lasithi plateau , Omalos and Nidha ; caves, such as Gourgouthakas , Diktaion , and Idaion (the birthplace of

4536-568: The Sumerians , possibly under the ziggurat at Nippur in Babylonia , which was built of fired bricks cemented with clay mortar . The earliest barrel vaults in ancient Egypt are thought to be those in the granaries built by the 19th dynasty Pharaoh Ramesses II , the ruins of which are behind the Ramesseum , at Thebes . The span was 12 feet (3.7 m) and the lower part of

4662-419: The south and east have a hot semi-arid climate ( Köppen climate classification : BSh ). The higher elevations fall into the warm-summer Mediterranean climate category ( Csb ) while the mountain peaks (>2,000 meters) might feature a cold-summer Mediterranean climate ( Csc ) or a continental climate ( Dfb or Dfc ). The atmosphere can be quite humid, depending on the proximity to the sea, while winter

4788-498: The tepidaria of the Thermae and in the basilica of Constantine , in order to bring the thrust well within the walls, the main barrel vault of the hall was brought forward on each side and rested on detached columns, which constituted the principal architectural decoration. In cases where the cross vaults intersecting were not of the same span as those of the main vault, the arches were either stilted so that their soffits might be of

4914-417: The 150th anniversary of the dedication of the cathedral. Architectural lighting was added to both the basilica and the tunnel. One-way traffic is allowed from the seminary to downtown Esztergom. 47°47′58.4″N 18°44′16″E  /  47.799556°N 18.73778°E  / 47.799556; 18.73778 Vault (architecture) In architecture , a vault (French voûte , from Italian volta )

5040-584: The 15th century BC in Mycenaean Greek texts, written in Linear B , through the words ke-re-te 𐀐𐀩𐀳 , * Krētes ; later Greek: Κρῆτες [krɛː.tes] , plural of Κρής [krɛːs] ) and ke-re-si-jo 𐀐𐀩𐀯𐀍 , * Krēsijos ; later Greek: Κρήσιος [krέːsios] , 'Cretian'). In Ancient Greek , the name Crete ( Κρήτη ) first appears in Homer 's Odyssey . Its etymology

5166-513: The Cretan economy (agriculture/farming, processing-packaging, services), are directly connected and interdependent. The island has a per capita income much higher than the Greek average, whereas unemployment is at approximately 4%, one-sixth of that of the country overall. As in many regions of Greece, viticulture and olive groves are significant; oranges , citrons and avocadoes are also cultivated. Until recently there were restrictions on

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5292-661: The Greek state, achieved independence from the Ottomans, formally becoming the Cretan State . Crete became part of Greece in December 1913. The island is mostly mountainous, and its character is defined by a high mountain range crossing from west to east. It includes Crete's highest point, Mount Ida , and the range of the White Mountains (Lefka Ori) with 30 summits above 2,000 metres (6,600 ft) in altitude and

5418-500: The Nimrud sculptures, the chief difference being that, constructed in rubble stone and cemented with mortar, they still exist, though probably abandoned on the Islamic invasion in the 7th century. A groin vault is formed by the intersection of two or more barrel vaults, resulting in the formation of angles or groins along the lines of transition between the webs. In these bays the longer transverse arches are semi-circular, as are

5544-474: The Roman brick (measuring nearly 2 feet (0.61 m) square and 2 in. thick); on these and on the trusses transverse rings of brick were built with longitudinal ties at intervals; on the brick layers and embedding the rings and cross ties concrete was thrown in horizontal layers, the haunches being filled in solid, and the surface sloped on either side and covered over with a tile roof of low pitch laid direct on

5670-542: The Roman reservoir at Baiae , known as the Piscina Mirabilis , a series of five aisles with semicircular barrel vaults are intersected by twelve cross aisles, the vaults being carried on 48 piers and thick external walls. The width of these aisles being only about 13 feet (4.0 m) there was no great difficulty in the construction of these vaults, but in the Roman Baths of Caracalla the tepidarium had

5796-591: The Romans already replaced by small cupolas or domes. These domes, however, are of small dimensions when compared with that projected and carried out by Justinian in the Hagia Sophia . Previous to this the greatest dome was that of the Pantheon at Rome, but this was carried on an immense wall 20 feet (6.1 m) thick, and with the exception of small niches or recesses in the thickness of the wall could not be extended, so that Justinian apparently instructed his architect to provide an immense hemicycle or apse at

5922-414: The aisles, and the other two partly by smaller arches in the apse, the thrust being carried to the outer walls, and to a certain extent by the side walls which were built under the arches. From the description given by Procopius we gather that the centering employed for the great arches consisted of a wall erected to support them during their erection. The construction of the pendentives is not known, but it

6048-550: The aisles, which had only half the span of the nave ; of this there is an interesting example in the Chapel of Saint John in the Tower of London – and sometimes by half-barrel vaults. The great thickness of the walls, however, required in such constructions would seem to have led to another solution of the problem of roofing over churches with incombustible material, viz. that which is found throughout Périgord and La Charente , where

6174-412: The ancient Greek god Zeus ); and a number of gorges. The mountains have been seen as a key feature of the island's distinctiveness, especially since the time of Romantic travellers' writing. Contemporary Cretans distinguish between highlanders and lowlanders; the former often claim to reside in places affording a higher/better climatic and moral environment. In keeping with the legacy of Romantic authors,

6300-460: The angles of the octagon, which externally and internally give to the roof the appearance of an umbrella. Although the dome constitutes the principal characteristic of the Byzantine church, throughout Asia Minor are numerous examples in which the naves are vaulted with the semicircular barrel vault, and this is the type of vault found throughout the south of France in the 11th and 12th centuries,

6426-634: The angles, as in the Mosque of Damascus , which was built by Byzantine workmen for the Al-Walid I in CE 705; these gave an octagonal base on which the hemispherical dome rested; or again, as in the Sassanian palaces of Sarvestan and Firouzabad of the 4th and 5th century, when a series of concentric arch rings, projecting one in front of the other, were built, giving also an octagonal base; each of these pendentives

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6552-404: The arch was built in horizontal courses, up to about one-third of the height, and the rings above were inclined back at a slight angle, so that the bricks of each ring, laid flatwise, adhered till the ring was completed, no centering of any kind being required; the vault thus formed was elliptic in section, arising from the method of its construction. A similar system of construction was employed for

6678-472: The bays into square compartments. In the 12th century the first attempts were made to vault over the naves, which were twice the width of the aisles, so it became necessary to include two bays of the aisles to form one rectangular bay in the nave (although this is often mistaken as square). It followed that every alternate pier served no purpose, so far as the support of the nave vault was concerned, and this would seem to have suggested an alternative to provide

6804-459: The cathedral of Soissons (1205) a quadripartite or four-celled vault was introduced, the width of each bay being half the span of the nave, and corresponding therefore with the aisle piers. To this there are some exceptions, in Sant' Ambrogio, Milan, and San Michele, Pavia (the original vault), and in the cathedrals of Speyer , Mainz and Worms , where the quadripartite vaults are nearly square,

6930-478: The central dome of the Jumma Musjid at Bijapur (A.D. 1559), and the other is Gol Gumbaz , the tomb of Muhammad Adil Shah II (1626–1660) in the same town. The vault of the latter was constructed over a hall 135 feet (41 m) square, to carry a hemispherical dome. The ribs, instead of being carried across the angles only, thus giving an octagonal base for the dome, are carried across to the further pier of

7056-410: The choir aisles of the abbey of Saint-Denis, near Paris , built by the abbot Suger in 1135. It was in the church at Vezelay (1140) that it was extended to the square bay of the porch . As has been pointed out, the aisles had already in the early Christian churches been covered over with groined vaults, the only advance made in the later developments being the introduction of transverse ribs' dividing

7182-472: The circular buildings supported beehive shaped corbel domed vaults of unfired mud-bricks and also represent the first evidence for settlements with an upper floor. Similar beehive tombs , called tholoi , exist in Crete and Northern Iraq . Their construction differs from that at Khirokitia in that most appear partially buried and make provision for a dromos entry. The inclusion of domes, however, represents

7308-638: The coast, at Aghios Nikolaos, was formerly a freshwater lake but is now connected to the sea, in Lasithi . Three artificial lakes created by dams also exist in Crete: the lake of Aposelemis Dam , the lake of Potamos Dam, and the lake of Mpramiana Dam. Download coordinates as: Download coordinates as: A large number of islands, islets , and rocks hug the coast of Crete. Many are visited by tourists, some are only visited by archaeologists and biologists . Some are environmentally protected . A small sample of

7434-421: The concrete had set, not only made the concrete as solid as the rock itself, but to a certain extent neutralized the thrust of the vaults, which formed shells equivalent to that of a metal lid; the Romans, however, do not seem to have recognized the value of this pozzolana mixture, for they otherwise provided amply for the counteracting of any thrust which might exist by the erection of cross walls and buttresses. In

7560-403: The concrete. The rings relieved the centering from the weight imposed, and the two layers of bricks carried the concrete till it had set. As the walls carrying these vaults were also built in concrete with occasional bond courses of brick, the whole structure was homogeneous. One of the important ingredients of the mortar was a volcanic deposit found near Rome, known as pozzolana , which, when

7686-406: The construction of vaults reverted to the geometrical surfaces of the Romans, without, however, always that economy in centering to which they had attached so much importance, and more especially in small structures. In large vaults, where it constituted an important expense, the chief boast of some of the most eminent architects has been that centering was dispensed with, as in the case of the dome of

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7812-438: The courses dipped towards the former, and at the apex of the vault were cut to fit one another. In the early English Gothic period, in consequence of the great span of the vault and the very slight rise or curvature of the web, it was thought better to simplify the construction of the web by introducing intermediate ribs between the wall rib and the diagonal rib and between the diagonal and the transverse ribs; and in order to meet

7938-626: The curvatures of the diagonal ribs, producing a straight tunnel running from east to west. Reference has been made to the rib vault in Roman work, where the intersecting barrel vaults were not of the same diameter. Their construction must at all times have been somewhat difficult, but where the barrel vaulting was carried round over the choir aisle and was intersected (as in St Bartholomew-the-Great in Smithfield, London ) by semicones instead of cylinders, it became worse and

8064-401: The difficulty, however, of working the ribs separately led to two other important changes: (1) the lower part of the transverse diagonal and wall ribs were all worked out of one stone; and (2) the lower horizontal, constituting what is known as the tas-de-charge or solid springer . The tas-de-charge, or solid springer, had two advantages: (1) it enabled the stone courses to run straight through

8190-461: The eastern end, a similar apse at the western end, and great arches on either side, the walls under which would be pierced with windows. Unlike the Pantheon dome, the upper portions of which are made of concrete, Byzantine domes were made of brick, which were lighter and thinner, but more vulnerable to the forces exerted onto them. The diagram shows the outlines of the solution of the problem. If

8316-417: The employment of centerings of one curve for all the ribs, instead of having separate centerings for the transverse, diagonal wall and intermediate ribs; it was facilitated also by the introduction of the four-centred arch, because the lower portion of the arch formed part of the fan, or conoid, and the upper part could be extended at pleasure with a greater radius across the vault. These ribs were often cut from

8442-494: The end of the 8th century B.C. Keystone vaults were built. However, monumental temple buildings of the pharaonic culture in the Nile Valley did not use vaults, since even the huge portals with widths of more than 7 meters were spanned with cut stone beams. Amongst the earliest known examples of any form of vaulting is to be found in the neolithic village of Khirokitia on Cyprus . Dating from c.  6000 BCE ,

8568-404: The four arches rest. Having obtained a circle for the base of the dome, it is not necessary that the upper portion of the dome should spring from the same level as the arches, or that its domical surface should be a continuation of that of the pendentive. The first and second dome of the Hagia Sophia apparently fell down, so that Justinian determined to raise it, possibly to give greater lightness to

8694-596: The great advance in the science of vaulting shown in this church owed something to the eastern tradition of dome vaulting seen in the Assyrian domes, which are known to us only by the representations in the bas-relief from Nimrud, because in the great water cisterns in Istanbul, known as the Basilica Cistern and Bin bir direk (cistern with a thousand and one columns), we find the intersecting groin vaults of

8820-523: The great dimensions of the vault, it was found necessary to introduce transverse ribs, which were required to give greater strength. Similar transverse ribs are found in Henry VII 's chapel and in the Divinity School at Oxford , where a new development presented itself. One of the defects of the fan vault at Gloucester is the appearance it gives of being half sunk in the wall; to remedy this, in

8946-399: The groins more complicated. This would seem to have led to a change of system and to the introduction of a new feature, which completely revolutionized the construction of the vault. Hitherto the intersecting features were geometrical surfaces, of which the diagonal groins were the intersections, elliptical in form, generally weak in construction and often twisting. The medieval builder reversed

9072-462: The ground and lifted to 40 m on chains. When made by plants or trees, either artificially or grown on purpose by humans, structures of this type are called tree tunnels . Crete Crete ( / k r iː t / KREET ; Greek : Κρήτη , Modern : Kríti [ˈkriti] , Ancient : Krḗtē [krɛ̌ːtεː] ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands ,

9198-494: The import of bananas to Greece, therefore bananas were grown on the island, predominantly in greenhouses. Dairy products are important to the local economy and there are a number of specialty cheeses such as mizithra , anthotyros , and kefalotyri . 20% of Greek wine is produced in Crete, mostly in the region of Peza. The Gross domestic product (GDP) of the region was €9.4 billion in 2018, accounting for 5.1% of Greek economic output. GDP per capita adjusted for purchasing power

9324-600: The inner is structural. Baltasar Neumann , in his baroque churches, perfected light-weight plaster vaults supported by wooden frames. These vaults, which exerted no lateral pressures, were perfectly suited for elaborate ceiling frescoes. In St Paul's Cathedral in London there is a highly complex system of vaults and faux-vaults. The dome that one sees from the outside is not a vault, but a relatively light-weight wooden-framed structure resting on an invisible – and for its age highly original – catenary vault of brick, below which

9450-402: The intermediate piers of the aisles being of much smaller dimensions. In England sexpartite vaults exist at Canterbury (1175) (set out by William of Sens ), Rochester (1200), Lincoln (1215), Durham (east transept ), and St. Faith's chapel , Westminster Abbey . In the earlier stage of rib vaulting, the arched ribs consisted of independent or separate voussoirs down to the springing;

9576-411: The introduction of the pointed arch for the transverse and wall ribs – the pointed arch had long been known and employed, on account of its much greater strength and of the less thrust it exerted on the walls. When employed for the ribs of a vault, however narrow the span might be, by adopting a pointed arch, its summit could be made to range in height with the diagonal rib; and, moreover, when utilized for

9702-568: The island of Crete come from texts from the Syrian city of Mari dating from the 18th century BC, where the island is referred to as Kaptara . This is repeated later in Neo-Assyrian records and the Bible ( Caphtor ). It was known in ancient Egyptian as Keftiu or kftı͗w , strongly suggesting a similar Minoan name for the island. The current name Crete is first attested in

9828-400: The island's biggest airport and ferry links with mainland Greece . Also, during the 1930s there was a narrow-gauge industrial railway in Heraklion, from Giofyros in the west side of the city to the port. There are now no railway lines on Crete. The government is planning the construction of a line from Chania to Heraklion via Rethymno. The construction sector in Crete responded well during

9954-407: The islands includes: Off the south coast, the island of Gavdos is located 26 nautical miles (48 km) south of Hora Sfakion and is the southernmost point of Europe . Crete straddles two climatic zones, the Mediterranean and the semi-arid climate , mainly falling within the former. As such, the climate in Crete is primarily a hot-summer Mediterranean ( Csa ) climate while some areas in

10080-632: The late vaulting of the entrance gateways to the colleges. Fan vaulting is peculiar to England, the only example approaching it in France being the pendant of the Lady-chapel at Caudebec-en-Caux , in Normandy. In France, Germany, and Spain the multiplication of ribs in the 15th century led to decorative vaults of various kinds, but with some singular modifications. Thus, in Germany, recognizing that

10206-690: The later Neolithic and Bronze Age periods, under the Minoans, Crete had a highly developed, literate civilization. It has been ruled by various ancient Greek entities, the Roman Empire , the Byzantine Empire , the Emirate of Crete , the Republic of Venice and the Ottoman Empire . After a brief period of independence (1897–1913) under a provisional Cretan government, it joined the Kingdom of Greece. It

10332-576: The level of the transverse arches and of the wall ribs, and thus gave the appearance of a dome to the vault, such as may be seen in the nave of Sant'Ambrogio, Florence . To meet this, at first the transverse and wall ribs were stilted, or the upper part of their arches was raised, as in the Abbaye-aux-Hommes at Caen , and the Abbey of Lessay , in Normandy . The problem was ultimately solved by

10458-511: The main ribs, and were employed chiefly as decorative features, as, for instance, in the Liebfrauenkirche (1482) of Mühlacker , Germany. One of the best examples of Lierne ribs exists in the vault of the oriel window of Crosby Hall, London . The tendency to increase the number of ribs led to singular results in some cases, as in the choir of Gloucester Cathedral , where the ordinary diagonal ribs become mere ornamental mouldings on

10584-449: The mountains are seen as having determined their residents' 'resistance' to past invaders which relates to the oft-encountered idea that highlanders are 'purer' in terms of less intermarriages with occupiers. For residents of mountainous areas, such as Sfakia in western Crete, the aridness and rockiness of the mountains is emphasised as an element of pride and is often compared to the alleged soft-soiled mountains of others parts of Greece or

10710-403: The octagon and consequently intersect one another, reducing the central opening to 97 feet (30 m) in diameter, and, by the weight of the masonry they carry, serving as counterpoise to the thrust of the dome, which is set back so as to leave a passage about 12 feet (3.7 m) wide round the interior. The internal diameter of the dome is 124 feet (38 m), its height 175 feet (53 m) and

10836-427: The only change being the occasional substitution of the pointed barrel vault, adopted not only on account of its exerting a less thrust, but because, as pointed out by Fergusson (vol. ii. p. 46), the roofing tiles were laid directly on the vault and a less amount of filling in at the top was required. The continuous thrust of the barrel vault in these cases was met either by semicircular or pointed barrel vaults on

10962-420: The pandemic and has come out strong in the post-recession recovery period. Total construction spending recovered and is expected to peak a record high (approximately 8% higher than 2019 average levels) signalling consistent expansion in construction projects and real estate investments in Crete. The evolution of the private sector in Crete is tightly linked with the demand for tourism-related investments. Moreover,

11088-443: The pointed arch rib took place at Cefalù Cathedral and pre-dated the abbey of Saint-Denis . Whilst the pointed rib-arch is often seen as an identifier for Gothic architecture, Cefalù is a Romanesque cathedral whose masons experimented with the possibility of Gothic rib-arches before it was widely adopted by western church architecture. Besides Cefalù Cathedral, the introduction of the pointed arch rib would seem to have taken place in

11214-536: The primacy of ancient Knossos. While the cities continued to prey upon one another, they invited into their feuds mainland powers like Macedon and its rivals Rhodes and Ptolemaic Egypt . In 220 BC the island was tormented by a war between two opposing coalitions of cities . As a result, the Macedonian king Philip V gained hegemony over Crete which lasted to the end of the Cretan War (205–200 BC) , when

11340-420: The process, and set up the diagonal ribs first, which were utilized as permanent centres, and on these he carried his vault or web, which henceforward took its shape from the ribs. Instead of the elliptical curve which was given by the intersection of two semicircular barrel vaults, or cylinders, he employed the semicircular arch for the diagonal ribs; this, however, raised the centre of the square bay vaulted above

11466-808: The record for the highest temperatures ever recorded in Europe during October, November, January and February from World Meteorological Organization stations. According to the Hellenic National Meteorological Service , South Crete receives the most sunshine in Greece with more than 3,257 hours of sunshine per year. Crete is the most populous island in Greece with a population of more than 600,000 people. Approximately 42% live in Crete's main cities and towns whilst 45% live in rural areas. Crete with its nearby islands form

11592-456: The recovery of the tourism sector is expected to lead to further growth in housing prices and rental demand. Newspapers have reported that the Ministry of Mercantile Marine is ready to support the agreement between Greece, South Korea , Dubai Ports World and China for the construction of a large international container port and free trade zone in southern Crete near Tympaki ; the plan

11718-446: The region's population has increased by 1,343 people between 2011 and 2021, experiencing a rise of 0.22%. The island is home to 308,608 men and 315,800 women, accounting for 49.4% and 50.6% of the population respectively. The island is divided into four regional units, Heraklion, Rethymno, Chania, and Lasithi. The economy of Crete is predominantly based on services and tourism. However, agriculture also plays an important role and Crete

11844-579: The regional governor is Stavros Arnaoutakis of the Panhellenic Socialist Movement . First elected in 2010 , he was re-elected in 2014 , 2019 and 2023 . Heraklion is the largest city and capital of Crete, holding more than a fourth of the island's population. Chania was the capital until 1971. The principal cities are: According to official census data by the Hellenic Statistical Authority ,

11970-594: The reign of king Sennacherib they were used to construct aqueducts, such as those at Jerwan . In the provincial city Dūr-Katlimmu they were used to created vaulted platforms. The tradition of their erection, however, would seem to have been handed down to their successors in Mesopotamia , viz. to the Sassanians , who in their palaces in Sarvestan and Firouzabad built domes of similar form to those shown in

12096-488: The rib was no longer a necessary constructive feature, they cut it off abruptly, leaving a stump only; in France, on the other hand, they gave still more importance to the rib, by making it of greater depth, piercing it with tracery and hanging pendants from it, and the web became a horizontal stone paving laid on the top of these decorated vertical webs. This is the characteristic of the great Renaissance work in France and Spain; but it soon gave way to Italian influence, when

12222-442: The ribs of the annular vault , as in the aisle round the apsidal termination of the choir, it was not necessary that the half ribs on the outer side should be in the same plane as those of the inner side; for when the opposite ribs met in the centre of the annular vault, the thrust was equally transmitted from one to the other, and being already a broken arch the change of its direction was not noticeable. The first introduction of

12348-425: The ribs struck from four centres have their springing 57 feet (17 m) from the floor of the hall. The Jumma Musjid dome was of smaller dimensions, on a square of 70 feet (21 m) with a diameter of 57 feet (17 m), and was carried on piers only instead of immensely thick walls as in the tomb; but any thrust which might exist was counteracted by its transmission across aisles to the outer wall. The Muqarnas

12474-398: The same height, or they formed smaller intersections in the lower part of the vault; in both of these cases, however, the intersections or groins were twisted, for which it was very difficult to form a centering, and, moreover, they were of disagreeable effect: though every attempt was made to mask this in the decoration of the vault by panels and reliefs modelled in stucco . A rib vault

12600-477: The same stones as the webs, with the entire vault being treated as a single jointed surface covered in interlocking tracery. The earliest example is perhaps the east walk of the cloister at Gloucester , with its surface consisting of intricately decorated panels of stonework forming conical structures that rise from the springers of the vault. In later examples, as in King's College Chapel , Cambridge, on account of

12726-469: The shorter longitudinal arches. The curvatures of these bounding arches were apparently used as the basis for the web centrings , which was created in the form of two intersecting tunnels as though each web was an arch projected horizontally in three dimensions. The earliest example is thought to be over a small hall at Pergamum , in Asia Minor , but its first employment over halls of great dimensions

12852-579: The southeastern corner of the island, has year-round agricultural production, with summer vegetables and fruit produced in greenhouses throughout the winter. Western Crete (Chania province) receives more rain and the soils there suffer more erosion compared to the Eastern part of Crete. Average annual temperatures reach up to 21.6°C in Psari Forada which is located in South Crete. Crete holds

12978-519: The southern border of the Aegean Sea , with the Sea of Crete (or North Cretan Sea) to the north and the Libyan Sea (or South Cretan Sea) to the south. Crete covers 260 km from west to east but is narrow from north to south, spanning three longitudes but only half a latitude. Crete and a number of islands and islets that surround it constitute the Region of Crete (Greek: Περιφέρεια Κρήτης ), which

13104-437: The structure, but mainly in order to obtain increased light for the interior of the church. This was effected by piercing it with forty windows – the effect of which, as the light streaming through these windows, gave the dome the appearance of being suspended in the air. The pendentive which carried the dome rested on four great arches, the thrust of those crossing the church being counteracted by immense buttresses which traversed

13230-399: The surface of an intersected pointed barrel vault, and again in the cloisters, where the introduction of the fan vault , forming a concave-sided conoid , returned to the principles of the Roman geometrical vault. This is further shown in the construction of these fan vaults, for although in the earliest examples each of the ribs above the tas-de-charge was an independent feature, eventually it

13356-404: The thrust of these intermediate ribs a ridge rib was required, and the prolongation of this rib to the wall rib hid the junction of the web at the summit, which was not always very sightly, and constituted the ridge rib. In France, on the other hand, the web courses were always laid horizontally, and they are therefore of unequal height, increasing towards the diagonal rib. Each course also was given

13482-615: The traditional image of a roof took precedence over the vault. The separation between interior and exterior – and between structure and image – was to be developed very purposefully in the Renaissance and beyond, especially once the dome became reinstated in the Western tradition as a key element in church design. Michelangelo 's dome for St. Peter's Basilica in Rome, as redesigned between 1585 and 1590 by Giacomo della Porta , for example, consists of two domes of which, however, only

13608-578: The tunnel was to directly connect the Canonic houses with the Seminary , but it also connects the Szentgyörgymező neighborhood with downtown Esztergom. Above the southern entrance, a Latin sign carved in red marble commemorates Archbishop Rudnay and the year of construction: "PRINCEPS PRIMAS ALEXANDER A RUDNA MDCCCXXIV" (" Prince Primate Alexander Rudnay 1824"). From both sides of the tunnel,

13734-517: The two buildings just quoted, the complete conoid is detached and treated as a pendant . The vault of the Basilica of Maxentius , completed by Constantine, was the last great work carried out in Rome before its fall, and two centuries pass before the next important development is found in the Church of the Holy Wisdom (Hagia Sophia) at Constantinople . It is probable that the realization of

13860-491: The use of centering. Examples have been found in archaeological excavations in Mesopotamia dating to the 2nd and 3rd millennium BCE, which were set in gypsum mortar . A barrel vault is the simplest form of a vault and resembles a barrel or tunnel cut lengthwise in half. The effect is that of a structure composed of continuous semicircular or pointed sections. The earliest known examples of barrel vaults were built by

13986-540: The vault from the inside was the same that one saw from the outside), the European architects of the Middle Ages protected their vaults with wooden roofs. In other words, one will not see a Gothic vault from the outside. The reasons for this development are hypothetical, but the fact that the roofed basilica form preceded the era when vaults begin to be made is certainly to be taken into consideration. In other words,

14112-434: The vault over the great hall at Ctesiphon , where the material employed was fired bricks or tiles of great dimensions, cemented with mortar; but the span was close upon 83 feet (25 m), and the thickness of the vault was nearly 5 feet (1.5 m) at the top, there being four rings of brickwork . Assyrian palaces used pitched-brick vaults, made with sun-dried mudbricks, for gates, subterranean graves and drains. During

14238-411: The wall, so as to bond the whole together much better; and (2) it lessened the span of the vault, which then required a centering of smaller dimensions. As soon as the ribs were completed, the web or stone shell of the vault was laid on them. In some English work each course of stone was of uniform height from one side to the other; but, as the diagonal rib was longer than either the transverse or wall rib,

14364-1249: The world. The island has a number of gorges, such as the Samariá Gorge , Imbros Gorge , Kourtaliotiko Gorge , Ha Gorge , Platania Gorge , the Gorge of the Dead (at Kato Zakros , Sitia ) and Richtis Gorge and (Richtis) waterfall at Exo Mouliana in Sitia . The rivers of Crete include the Geropotamos River , the Koiliaris, the Anapodiaris, the Almiros, the Giofyros, the Keritis, and Megas Potamos. There are only two freshwater lakes in Crete: Lake Kournas and Lake Agia , which are both in Chania regional unit . Lake Voulismeni at

14490-568: Was Iqrīṭiš ( Arabic : اقريطش < (τῆς) Κρήτης) , but after the Emirate of Crete 's establishment of its new capital at ربض الخندق Rabḍ al-Ḫandaq (modern Heraklion ; Greek : Ηράκλειο , Irákleio ), both the city and the island became known as Χάνδαξ ( Chandax ) or Χάνδακας ( Chandakas ), which gave Latin, Italian, and Venetian Candia , from which were derived French Candie and English Candy or Candia . Under Ottoman rule , in Ottoman Turkish , Crete

14616-455: Was a tendency to increase their number, so that in the nave of Exeter Cathedral three intermediate ribs were provided between the wall rib and the diagonal rib. In order to mask the junction of the various ribs, their intersections were ornamented with richly carved bosses, and this practice increased on the introduction of another short rib, known as the lierne, a term in France given to the ridge rib. Lierne ribs are short ribs crossing between

14742-499: Was a tendency to raise the centres of these vaults, which became slightly domical; in all these cases centering was employed. One good example of the fan vault is that over the staircase leading to the hall of Christ Church, Oxford , where the complete conoid is displayed in its centre carried on a central column. This vault, not built until 1640, is an example of traditional workmanship, probably in Oxford transmitted in consequence of

14868-693: Was already known to the Egyptians and Assyrians and was introduced into the building practice of the West by the Etruscans. The Romans in particular developed vault construction further and built barrel, cross and dome vaults. Some outstanding examples have survived in Rome, e.g. the Pantheon and the Basilica of Maxentius. Brick vaults have been used in Egypt since the early 3rd millennium BC. widely used and from

14994-698: Was called Girit ( كريد ). In the Hebrew Bible, Crete is referred to as ( כְּרֵתִים ) "kretim". Crete is the largest island in Greece and the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea . It is located in the southern part of the Aegean Sea separating the Aegean from the Libyan Sea . The island has an elongated shape: it spans 260 km (160 mi) from east to west, is 60 km (37 mi) at its widest point, and narrows to as little as 12 km (7.5 mi) (close to Ierapetra ). Crete covers an area of 8,336 km (3,219 sq mi), with

15120-460: Was comparatively free from warfare. The Gortyn code (5th century BC) is evidence for how codified civil law established a balance between aristocratic power and civil rights. In the late 4th century BC, the aristocratic order began to collapse due to endemic infighting among the elite, and Crete's economy was weakened by prolonged wars between city states. During the 3rd century BC, Gortyn , Kydonia ( Chania ), Lyttos and Polyrrhenia challenged

15246-479: Was found easier to carve them and the web out of the solid stone, so that the rib and web were purely decorative and had no constructional or independent functions. This form of vaulting is found in English late Gothic in which the vault is constructed as a single surface of dressed stones, with the resulting conoid forming an ornamental network of blind tracery. The fan vault would seem to have owed its origin to

15372-576: Was occupied by Nazi Germany during the Second World War . Stone tools suggest that archaic humans may have visited Crete as early as 130,000 years ago, but there is no evidence of permanent settlement of the island until the Neolithic , around 7,000 BCE. Settlements dating to the aceramic Neolithic in the 7th millennium BC, used cattle , sheep , goats , pigs and dogs as well as domesticated cereals and legumes ; ancient Knossos

15498-411: Was rarely required for the building of the web, a template (Fr. cerce ) being employed to support the stones of each ring until it was complete. In Italy, Germany and Spain the French method of building the web was adopted, with horizontal courses and a domical form. Sometimes, in the case of comparatively narrow compartments, and more especially in clerestories , the wall rib was stilted, and this caused

15624-432: Was reached in Hagia Sophia, for although it formed the model on which all subsequent Byzantine churches were based, so far as their plan was concerned, no domes approaching the former in dimensions were even attempted. The principal difference in some later examples is that which took place in the form of the pendentive on which the dome was carried. Instead of the spherical spandril of Hagia Sophia, large niches were formed in

15750-481: Was the site of one of these major Neolithic (then later Minoan) sites. Other neolithic settlements include those at Kephala , Magasa , and Trapeza . During the Bronze Age , Crete was the centre of the Minoan civilization , notable for its art , its writing systems such as Linear A , and for its massive building complexes including the palace at Knossos . Its economy benefited from a network of trade around much of

15876-578: Was €17,800 or 59% of the EU27 average in the same year. The GDP per employee was 68% of the EU average. Crete is the region in Greece with the fifth highest GDP per capita. The island has three significant airports, Nikos Kazantzakis at Heraklion, the Daskalogiannis airport at Chania and the smaller Sitia airport. The first two serve international routes, acting as the main gateways to the island for travellers. Work has begun plan to replace Heraklion airport with

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