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MEDIEVAL EUROPE
• IN THE HISTORY OF EUROPE, THE MIDDLE AGES
LASTED FROM THE 5TH TO THE 15TH CENTURY. IT
BEGAN WITH THE FALL OF THE WESTERN
ROMAN EMPIRE AND MERGED INTO THE
RENAISSANCE AND THE AGE OF DISCOVERY.
• POPULATION DECLINE,
COUNTERURBANISATION, INVASION AND
MOMENT OF PEOPLE, WHICH HAS BEGUN IN
LATE ANTIQUITY, CONTINUED IN THE EARLY
MIDDLE AGES.
• HIGH MIDDLE AGE BEGUN AFTER 1000, THE
POPULATIONN OF EUROPE INCREASED GREATLY
AS TECHNOLOGY AND INNOVATION ALLOWED
TRADE TO FLOURISH AND CLIMATE CHANGE
ALLOWED CROP YIELD TO INCREASE.
• THE LATE MIDDLE AGES WAS MARKED BY
DIFFICULTIES AND CALAMITIES INCLUDING
FAMINE, PLAGUE, AND WAR, WHICH
DIMINISHED THE POPULATION OF EUROPE,
BETWEEN 1347 AND 1350, THE BLACK DEATH
KILLED ABOUT A THIRD OF EUROPE.
• The Medieval House in the Early Medieval Period
– Noblemen and Women
medieval cottage from the thirteenth century, has been reconstructed by the
Weald and Downland Museum, Sussex, England. It was inhabited by the Lord of
the Manor, his family and servants.
It has two rooms, one containing the hearth that would have been the main living
area. The other room contains a stone oven.
The house would have been very dark and smoky inside as there is no chimney
and only a small window.
The animals would have been housed in a separate building, probably a wooden
barn, and another building would have been used to store crops which were
grown on the land around the house.
Military influence
During this period, there was
constatnt threats from neighbouring
regions, this lead to extensive
measures for security.
It was during this time, that the
concept of fortification and defense
city walls was used widely.
Great scholar from vedic era and
kautilya has provided detailed guide
lines for designing.
Political influence:
The king and the royal court were
the seat of administration
CITY PLANNING: SHILPASHASTRA
The vedic era bestowed the world with vastushastra which formed the
basis for design and construction for centuries. All the medivial cities
followed certain parts from it and kautilya later formulated detailed
regulations for defense purpose.
The cities were not made on a regular pattern to create a maze like
plan for defense purposes. Roads generally radiated from a religious
place or market place.
The earlier Silpasasthras do not put more emphasis upon the secular
architecture
large artificial tanks are also located in all directions. Some times the
step wells are provided in alignment with the fortification walls .
The name Varanasi names the two tributaries of the Ganga that lie on
the northern and southern ends of the town, the Varuna and the Asi.
They guard the city against the entry of evil: Asi = the sword; Varuna
The averter.
CITY PLANNING
The city of Varanasi has grown
along the arc of the Ganges, with the
river as a focal point in one direction
and growth of the city taking place in
a semi-circular direction.
DEVELOPMENT
PATTERN:
Over a period of
time, with the inclusion
of a large number of
villages and urban
settlements, the city's
development has
resulted in irregularly
shaped built-up areas
along peripheries of the
central areas of the city.
As a result the
municipal city limits
have been extended as
and when the need was
felt, to regulate the
settlement
CHANGE OF LAND USE:
DASASHWAMEDH GHAT
• Godavari stream was filled up, acts as the
main approach road to Dasaswamedh ghat.
• Dasaswamedh provides a beautiful and
colorful riverfront view and sadhus.
• Today in that area there lies an incomplete
commercial complex and the area is used for
parking.
bicycles.
• The vegetable market is still there
and it has now taken the place on th • e
road. The skyline of the ghat area h
drastically changed. • as
• Sewerage pumping stations have
come up.
MANIKARNIKA GHAT
•Manikarnika Ghat is the main cremation Ghat of Varanasi.
•It is one of the oldest and most sacred Ghats here.
•It symbolizes both creation and destruction.
ASSI GHAT
•Situated at the confluence of Ganga and Assi rivers, Assi Ghat
is where people bathe before paying their homage to Lord
Shiva.
•Asi Ghat also constitutes the southern end of conventional
city.
GROWTH PATTERN:
The green spaces are reduced
considerately because of:
• New construction over them
• The trees have fallen due to
aging and no new plantation has
been done.
• Built open spaces.
• Due to high economic pressures
the city’s open spaces are
reduced considerable.