Spiral stairs, galleries and upper chambers in medieval cathedrals, abbeys and parish churches have been an enduring source of fascination to scholars since the eighteenth century. But what were these secret stairs, mysterious galleries and hidden upper rooms actually used for -…
Medieval stairs, galleries and upper chambers in cathedrals, abbeys, and parish churches have been an enduring source of fascination to historians and archaeologists since the eighteenth century, but their practical purposes have long been shrouded in mystery and speculation. Fr…
The transformation of a vast area - from central Spain to the delta of the Indus and from the Sahara desert and the Indian Ocean to the Mediterranean, the Caucasus, the Central Asian deserts, and the Hindu Kush - into a land controlled by Islam was accomplished within roughly a …
"This illustrated book provides an overview of Islamic art and architecture from the seventh to the thirteenth centuries, a time of the formation of a new artistic culture and its first, medieval, flowering in the vast area from the Atlantic to India. Inspired by Ettinghausen an…