83
votes
Why in most German places is the church the tallest building?
Many churches in Europe (not just Germany) were built centuries ago, when the church was by far the most important and prestigious building in any city. Building them took decades, sometimes even ...
- 13.4k
62
votes
Accepted
Did the Romans leave any technical instruction manuals behind?
The only book to survive from ancient Rome on architecture is Marcus Vitruvius Pollio's De architectura, found by the Renaissance scholar Poggio Bracciolini in 1414 after being largely forgotten. ...
- 108k
59
votes
Accepted
Why does the Great Wall of China follow such a bendy route?
The Chinese designed the wall to be an effective barrier; that was the goal. To answer your question, we need to ask: what land barrier stopped foreign troops the best?
The answer in China, and ...
- 7,468
48
votes
Accepted
What happened to these buildings near the Seine?
They were not regular construction, but exhibits for the Exposition Universelle (1900), showing different cultures side by side:
Each country funded, designed and on occasion constructed their
...
- 38.7k
47
votes
Accepted
Does anyone recognize the identity and location of this octagonal structure?
This was the Tannenberg Memorial, built near the town of Hohenstein, East Prussia (now Olsztynek, Poland).
Built in the mid-1920's, it was a monument dedicated to the German soldiers who fought in ...
- 4,004
46
votes
Accepted
How were medieval castles built in swamps or marshes without draining them?
As noted, this type of castle was extremely common.
Harburg (Horeburg/near Hamburg), the first castle at Danzig are perhaps the most famous of these. They were most often built along the Northern ...
- 80.8k
26
votes
Why are the ceilings so high in older houses?
Smoke. The high ceilings provided somewhere for it to dissipate above mouth and eye level.
It's rather hard to imagine how prevalent smoke was before mid-20th century. Not only was tobacco smoking ...
- 863
26
votes
Accepted
What would the Arch of Titus have looked like painted?
Last year, a team headed by Steve Fine of the Yeshiva University Center for Israeli Studies in New York which had been examining portions of the arch since 2012 announced:
High resolution three-...
- 108k
24
votes
Accepted
Does anyone know what type of structure this is?
This is a roman fountain at Djemila, Algeria (Latin: Cuicul or Curculum). There's a vast amount of literature and web material on Djemila in general (and some on the fountain), for example:
The ...
- 3,346
22
votes
Accepted
What murals and decor might have been present in the earliest Sumerian temples?
As a quick note on chronology, "5000+ years ago" would put your setting in the Jemdet Nasr period or earlier (Uruk III–V; yes, archeological periods are numbered backwards).
This is around ...
- 946
22
votes
Accepted
Seeking floor plan of a classical Roman building with 20 to 30 rooms
There are floor plans both for the House of the Vestals, the House of the Faun in Pompeii, and Fishbourne Palace in England, among others. Unfortunately, many of the floor plans available online do ...
- 108k
22
votes
Why are the ground floors windows of northern Italian palazzi often barred up?
So what where these barred windows protecting against? Theft / burglary? Angry mobs with pitchforks? Feuds/wars with rival families?
Yes.
A little more seriously, in the case of the specific example ...
- 38.7k
21
votes
Did the Romans leave any technical instruction manuals behind?
While not exactly manuals, some of the architectural instructions survive on the buildings themselves.
The Roman temple of Bziza has a wall that bears marks of an architectural sketch on how to ...
- 721
21
votes
Does anyone recognize the identity and location of this octagonal structure?
This is the Tannenberg Memorial near Hohenstein, East Prussia (now Olsztynek, Poland). This was conceived as a memorial to German Soldiers at the two Battles of Tannenberg, one in 1410 (where Poland-...
- 5,275
20
votes
Why does the Great Wall of China follow such a bendy route?
The Great Wall of China:
It is the longest man-made construction in the world. In the old times, it was of great military importance of preventing the enemies' intrusion and was regarded as the '...
- 1,900
18
votes
Are there any underground cities known except those found in Cappadocia?
There are a few underground cities that I can think of, some may fit your requirements better than others. If you consider tunneling into rocks, then Petra would be a very large city that was built ...
- 6,445
17
votes
Accepted
What was the original colour of the Colosseum (Flavian Amphitheatre)?
According to Rosella Rea, director of the Colosseum, in the restoration from 2013 they found traces of it being brightly painted in red, ochre, blue and green.
Dr. Rossella Rea, the Colosseum’s ...
- 1,900
17
votes
Why in most German places is the church the tallest building?
The maximum building hights are determined by each city (or as in Berlin possible each City District).
In Berlin the first Bebauungsplan (Building Plan) of 1862 regulated standard street widths of ...
- 9,504
16
votes
Accepted
Why in most German places is the church the tallest building?
As DevSolar noted in his answer, churches generally are tall, their spires even higher, but to answer
Q Why in most German places is the church the tallest building?
it might suffice to say just: ...
- 80.8k
16
votes
Accepted
Why do the bases of these pillars have grooves in them?
An article in the book Master Builders of Byzantium by Robert Ousterhout discussing the construction of Greek and Roman columns confirmed my suspicions from comments above:
So the channel in the ...
- 38.7k
16
votes
Did courtiers of antiquity hold in their pee or did they have common commodes available in the king/queen's court?
Tycho Brahe was not exactly a courtier, but he had to court the emperor who was sponsoring Tycho's research. In October 1601 he attended a banquet with the emperor (Rudolf II) and what happened was ...
- 38.5k
14
votes
Accepted
What are the highest and biggest half-timbered buildings built during medieval era?
While it is possible for a wooden building to exceed 200 feet (approx. 61 metres) in height (see, for example, Pagoda of Fogong Temple from 1056) there is nothing approaching this height from medieval ...
- 108k
13
votes
Before iron was common, what did common people use for door hinges?
Apart from leather hinges that were used even when iron was common (but not so common as to be cheap), there existed the different mounting of the door. I have heard about its use from my grandfather, ...
- 7,060
13
votes
Where in a city would a cathedral be built?
To understand where a cathedral might be placed, it is important to understand the function and history of cathedrals.
Note that the history is likely to depend on many different factors, and be ...
- 77.3k
12
votes
Are there any underground cities known except those found in Cappadocia?
Dating in its origins from the 2 millenium BCE and still inhabited by up to 40 million people today:
The first type of yaodong were underground dwellings that date back to the 2nd millennium BC, ...
- 80.8k
12
votes
Why is there no Islamic architecture with glass in windows before the 18th century?
The Blue Mosque may have had stained glass windows since 1617.
Nonetheless, consider the tradition of ventilated buildings in Islamic architecture. Buildings for hot, dry climates often have thick ...
- 27.6k
12
votes
Did West Germany build or mandate bomb shelters for ordinary civilians?
Yes, West Germany did build a number of large-ish air raid shelters, for several hundred to several thousand people each. Most were built underground, usually in connection to subterranean garages or ...
- 8,382
11
votes
Accepted
What is the name of a particular architectural structure from a Gothic Church?
According to "Die Wehrkirchen in Siebenbürgen" by George Oprescu, these are arrow slits ("Schießscharten"). This is a feature that is rare for churches outside of Transsylvania, ...
- 8,382
10
votes
Accepted
Did the Eastern Romans also use Roman concrete?
The use of concrete did fade after the fall of the western Roman Empire, though
at least some aspects of the use of concrete was held over into the Byzantine Architectural style, on some early ...
- 38.7k
10
votes
Are there any underground cities known except those found in Cappadocia?
Nushabad in Iran was apparently used to avoid Mongol invasions (13th Century), but is perhaps older as artefacts from earlier periods have been found within. It is not clear how long people stayed ...
- 1,116
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