Trail:

Bristol Byzantine

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Bristol, General Hospital

In the 1850s Bristol developed a specific style of architecture applied mainly to industrial buildings such as warehousing and factories.

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Bristol, Wait and James' Granary, Welsh Back

Its characteristics were a robust and simple outline, materials with character and colour - mainly Pennant stone and brick, the frequent use of rock-facedGlossary Term stone, and upper floors unified through either horizontal or vertical grouping of window openings,

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Bristol, Robinson's Warehouse, Bathurst Basin

Decorative details often derive from Venetian and North Italian GothicGlossary Term examples. The style has been named 'Bristol ByzantineGlossary Term'.

Glossary

Byzantine

A style which originated at Byzantium (Constantinople), the Eastern capital of the Roman Empire, in the 5th century, spreading around the Mediterranean and, with Eastern (Orthodox) Christianity, from Sicily to Russia in later centuries. It developed the round arches, vaults and domes of Roman architecture but eschewed formalized classical detail in favour of lavish decoration and ornament of emblematic and symbolic significance. Introduced to late 19th- and early 20th-century Britain as an alternative to Gothic, usually for church architecture; often called Neo-Byzantine.

Gothic

The style of the Middle Ages from the later 12th century to the Renaissance, with which it co-existed in certain forms into the 17th century. Characterized in its full development by the pointed arch, the rib-vault and an often skeletal masonry structure for churches, combined with large glazed windows. The term was originally associated with the concept of the barbarian Goths as assailants of classical civilization.

Rock-faced

Masonry cleft to produce a natural, rugged appearance.