Construction on the Cathedral of Saint James was begun in 1975 CE. in Santiago de Compostela, Spain. In the time period when it was built, there was an obsession with relics, religious objects thought to have curative powers. Pilgrims traveled from far and wide to be in their presence. The churches with the most relics were the most visited and competed to draw in the devout, and thus donations. In that time they were very concerned with physical things like relics and money. Chemists also focus mainly on what is physically present in the world and can be proven. The Cathedral of Saint James is enormous and its construction used the architectural revelations of the past to create a space that visually moves followers towards the heavens. Progressing with the help of past discoveries is a large part of both architecture and chemistry. The architects of The Cathedral of Saint James had to anticipate the needs of the church that would arise from the great influx of pilgrims, as such, Romanesque churches have a few key differences from their predecessors. Displaying a large number of relics required extra space so radiating chapels were added along the outer walls. This allowed for each relic to have its own space, but people couldn’t look at them without clogging the way to the altar unless yet another change was made to past church designs. An extra aisle had to be added to each side of the chapel. Also, a lantern tower brought more light into the space and made it easy for travelers to find the church. Chemists are some of the people who deal with meeting the needs of their society and finding remedies for problems of humankind. Both the architects of the Romanesque period and chemists are charged with solving problems and making things more convenient.
Cathedral of Saint James
Santiago de Compostela, Spain
Romanesque
Santiago de Compostela, Spain
Romanesque