Gothic Sacred Architecture: Temple Construction Symbolism and the Six Phases of Genesis

The consecration of places of worship had nothing arbitrary about it, but was the subject of special attention that developed into a rich and articulated symbolism. In sacred architecture, the objects and harmonies of the earthly temple symbolize the intelligences and forces present in the celestial temple, reproducing its archetypal order and indicating to the soul those powers and virtues it must acquire to celebrate the Glory of the Great Architect of the Universe. So that the earthly temple, this consecrated space, divided and protected from the profane world, would enter into resonance with the celestial temple becoming a receptacle of divine presence on earth, the Master Builders did not limit themselves to applying normal construction techniques, but attuned their works according to the laws of universal harmony, placing them in resonance with the principles and archetypes of creation expressed by Numbers and geometric Forms. In fact, in Gothic cathedrals the architectural motif is not exclusively structural or aesthetic, but is principally directed toward realizing and expressing the accord between the earthly, horizontal or human dimension, and the celestial, vertical or divine one, that is, the harmony between the earthly temple and the celestial one. This intention and will is expressed according to the unappealable geometric and musical laws that organize the structure of the earthly temple, so as to reflect on a microcosmic scale the laws and relationships of the celestial temple. The will and constructive ability of the Master Builder implements a procedure that develops in a logical crystalline network, composed of forces in perfect dynamic equilibrium. The process allows the abandonment and emptying of the continuous walls of the Romanesque and the load-bearing walls now accessory, authorizing the opening of colored windows transfigured by sunlight, light that becomes a symbol of God's presence and becomes the principal emblem of Gothic architecture. All the elements of the Gothic Temple, from the ribs of the pointed vaults to the pointed arches, from the flying buttresses to the buttresses and pinnacles, all perform a rational and severe structural function, organizing and proportioning weights and thrusts concentrating them at essential points. Everything appears to cover a vital function, so much so as to make one of the greatest cultivators of this style, Viollet le Duc, say that in Gothic art there exists no architectural form that is founded on fantasy. The Foundation of the Temple. The Gothic Temple, resting on the power and symbolic capacity of geometric forms, realizes an extremely dynamic, versatile and structured construction system from a purely technical point of view, but at the same time profoundly articulated from a theological point of view, symbolically recalling the forces of the Celestial Temple and assimilating them in the earthly construction. The Gothic Temple thus lives a strict and indissoluble relationship with the Archetypal Cosmos: everything has been conceived, designed and realized to vibrate with it. It symbolically reproduces perfect Creation, its elements reproduce the Powers and the ritual realizes the function. The essential lines of a cathedral's construction symbolically retrace those of the Creation of the Cosmos as well as those of man's spiritual realization since the genesis of the cosmos is analogically the genesis of the divine in the human. In this perspective the symbolic construction of the Gothic Temple can be divided into six progressive phases, in symbolic analogy with the six days of Genesis: • Site selection. • Determination of the vertical axis. • Orientation of space or square of heaven. • Squaring of the primitive circle or square of earth. • Construction. • Consecration. These six traditional phases are already fully and detailed described in Roman times by Vitruvius in his De Architectura and crystallize a practice already consolidated in Etruscan times. The first phase for temple construction consisted of site selection, accompanied by the necessary work to level the ground and prepare it for the first construction operations. Once the place for construction was prepared, the Master Builder proceeded by erecting a column on the ground, sign of the accomplished connection and unification between the celestial temple and the earthly temple. The cathedral, although still unexpressed, is already present in this first magic circle that separates the sacred from the profane and defends the place where Divine Presence descends, sanctioning the union between the celestial temple and the earthly one. Subsequently, the temple must be oriented in accordance with the four Cardinal points, symbol of the four universal powers that organize and arrange Nature. The orientation of sacred space occurs through the shadow of the column. At dawn of the chosen day, the sun rising on the horizon projects the column's shadow to the ground which intersects the circle at a point, whose union with the point found at sunset...