I am putting together the powerpoint to go with my presentation about Islamic influence on gothic architecture. I have enough pictures of most things, but I wanted to include a few pictures of good examples of pre-1200ish Islamic architecture that people would look at and instantly go “oh yeaaah I see how that shows up in gothic” sort of thing. I figured it was worth a shot to see if anyone here knew of any specific buildings, cities, or other search terms that would give good examples, since most of my generic Googling so far is coming up with irrelevant stuff or diagrams and drawings.
I know a lot of you have traveled a lot more than I have and probably have even seen this stuff first hand.
Isfahan for pointed arches. Konya, Minare. Samarra. Also try Seville, la Giralda for some mutlilobed action.
My eyes are dilated right now and I’m half blind, so more later.
Another old one the Crusaders would have been exposed to is the Ibn Tulun Mosque in Egypt. It’s claimed as the first to make repeated use of pointed arches.
Yeah that Ibn Tulun one is awesome–that was one I had already found. Thanks for the help guys! (Aren’t these buildings just so pretty?? Part of my problem is I start off on tangents looking at the pretty pictures and lose sight of what I’m supposed to be searching for!)
Not to hijack, but to a large degree didn’t Roman architecture inspire Islamic architecture by way of Istanbul? There were definitely mosques being patterned on the Roman arch inspired the arched pendentives of Hagia Sophia centuries before Constantinople fell, and the courtyard of the al-Hambrais very definitely based on the Roman peristyle.
Oh absolutely. The Islamic world had a huge appreciation for Greek and Roman stuff, and it’s because they preserved it all that we really have it today. (Writings of the philosophers, etc.)
That garden’s actually the most famous feature of the Generalife, the seperate but adjoining summer palace. Which is kind of a meaningless nitpick in one sense - it’s part of the same overall complex in Granada. But it’s usually spoken of seperately. The water jets are very likely a Spanish ( Christian ) addition ( though an early one - 16th century ).
But yes it looks very Roman in that sense. Whether that came via Byzantium in some circuitous fashion or was a copy of designs found in Roman villas in Spain, I have no idea.
Whilst I am temped to say this is because Greek to Arabic translation was easiest I cannot discount the influence of Greek culture, even upon the Oriental mind, Inshall, Allah.
- it’s part of the same overall complex in Granada. But it’s usually spoken of seperately. The water jets are very likely a Spanish ( Christian ) addition ( though an early one - 16th century ).
