27 March 2013

Lentorama 2013: There's a Name for That

Day 38: ablaq

So between the Crusades and the Moorish invasion of Europe, there's a certain amount of Christian and Islamic intermingling, and ablaq would be an example of that. The term describes the use of alternating dark and light rows of stone or brick in religious buildings. Mosques had this as a regular feature for centuries before it started showing up in Christian buildings (the cathedral of Pisa is an example), and became a feature of Romanesque architecture.  

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