From the Editor

The Grand Arches Tour

Tom Inglesby, editor
tom@editor7.com

I just came back from a two-week sojourn in Europe, driving frantically through France, Spain, Belgium and the Netherlands to see as much as possible. And while it wasn't a "business trip" in the tax-deductible sense, there were many sites seen that could be classified as "Masonry related."

Wonder if the IRS would consider that...no, I don't think so.

For those of you who haven't been to The Continent lately, be advised that it is much easier to get around the currency situation since the advent of the euro — no more wondering why a cup of coffee costs 10,000 lira — but the downside is, as my wife found out, the prices are more equal to those in the U.S. In other words, with the exchange rate close to one euro to the U.S. dollar, the former perception of bargains is no longer easy to find.

What is easy to find are the magnificent buildings of a bygone era, preserved and cared for by generations of local artisans and craft workers. Buildings built hundreds of years ago are in a nearly constant state of renovation and rebuilding. And with few exceptions, the work is being done with the buildings in use and open to visitors from around the world.

Our "Arches Tour" included a number of cathedrals in France and Spain, as well as some castles and forts. In Spain, we were lucky to have as a guide a former architecture student who, unfortunately, went over to the "The Dark Side" and became a lawyer instead. Francisco Caballero provided a running commentary on the architectural era of each building we entered, pointing out the differences between Romanesque, Gothic, Baroque and Renaissance columns and, of course, arches. Our paths crossed from Toledo to Madrid and West to Santiago de Camposetla.

The strange aspect of this was that regardless of the architectural era, all of the cathedrals and public buildings we visited had that one main element, the arch. In the church of Santiago, a Romanesque building started in 1075 and, in many ways, still under construction, there are views where ten or more different textured arches converge and withdraw from sight, blending and diverging, drawing the focus to themselves or the other architectural elements such as the domed ceiling or balcony.

Within this one building can be found styles from several periods due to its long running building, rebuilding, renovation and repair. Sections were completed or redone in the 12^th, 13^th, 14^th, 15^th, 17^th and 18^th centuries, spanning Romanesque through Gothic and into Baroque styles.

Honestly, the styles blurred for me, replaced not so much by "intellectual determination of the architect's intention" — the desire of our host — but just plain awe. When you think about the somewhat primitive, by our standards, building methods used in the 11^th century, to have created such beauty is amazing.

Naturally, the arches and buildings were done in masonry — granite, limestone, bricks and mortar, marble and stone. Masonry, still the best building method for creating beautiful buildings and their many elements, has been recognized as such for centuries.

As you can see in this issue, arches are still a major contribution the mason can make to architectural beauty. Someone said that arches are, in fact, one of the most pure masonry elements, not replicated by concrete, wood or steel in image nor aesthetic appeal. Perhaps it is time to restore the arch to your kit of tricks, and make sure the architects you work with know that a fine masonry arch has no equal, in this country or any other, in this age or any before or after it.