Architecture of Italy - Gothic Architecture

Gothic Architecture

The Gothic architecture appeared in Italy in the 12th century. Italian Gothic always maintained peculiar characteristic which differentiated its evolution from that in France, where it had originated, and in other European countries. In particular, the architectural ardite solutions and technical innovations of the French Gothic cathedrals never appeared: Italian architects preferred to keep the construction tradition established in the previous countries. Aesthetically, in Italy the vertical development was rarely important.

Gothic architecture was imported in Italy, just as it was in many other European countries. The Benedictine Cistercian order was, through their new edifices, the main carrier of this new architectural style. It spread from Burgundy (in what is now eastern France), their original area, over the rest of Western Europe

A possible timeline of Gothic architecture in Italy can comprise:

• an initial development of the Cistercian architecture
• an "early Gothic" phase (c. 1228-1290)
• the "mature Gothic" of 1290-1385
• a late Gothic phase from 1385 to the 16th century, with the completion of the great Gothic edifices begun previously, as the Milan Cathedral and San Petronio Basilica in Bologna.