Pointed arch (architecture)

A pointed arch, ogival arch, or Gothic arch is an arch with a pointed crown, whose two curving sides meet at a relatively sharp angle at the top of the arch. This architectural element was particularly important in Gothic architecture. The earliest use of a pointed arch dates back to bronze-age Nippur. As a structural feature, it was first used in Islamic architecture, but in the 12th century it began to be used in France and England as an important structural element, in combination with other elements, such as the rib vault and later the flying buttress. These allowed the construction of cathedrals, palaces and other buildings with dramatically greater height and larger windows which filled them with light.

Early arches

Crude arches pointed in shape have been discovered from the Bronze Age site of Nippur dated earlier than 2700 BC. The palace of Nineveh also has pointed arched drains but they have no true keystone.

File:Trivikram Temple Ter 1.jpg, Temple of Trivikrama in Ter in Maharashtra India (3rd century AD)
File:Bhitargaon front.jpg, Arched entrance of the Bhitargaon temple (4th–5th century AD)
File:Sitamarhi cave.jpg, alt=, cross-sectional view and plan of Sitamarhi cave.

A very early structure in the form of a pointed arch, carved from stone and dating from the 3rd century BC, was discovered in India at the Sitamarhi caves. Later, the temple of Trivikrama at Ter in Maharashtra India dated to Satavahana period also included a structure in the form of a pointed arch. Another archaeological excavation by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) at Kausambi revealed a palace with its foundations going back to 8th century BC until 2nd century AD and built in six phases. The last phase, dated to 1st–2nd century, included a large structure with arches similar to four pointed arch, which were used to span narrow passageways, and an arch similar to segmental arch that crossed wider areas. However the actual shapes of those arches cannot be accurately determined because of irregular sizes of stones and missing arch-ring. Pointed arches with a load-bearing function were also found in Gandhara. There, a two pointed arch vault system was built inside the Bhitargaon temple, which is dated to early Gupta period (4th–5th century). Pointed arches also appeared in the Mahabodhi temple, an ancient Buddhist temple (6–7th century). These arches were result of 12-13th century Burmese restoration of the temple and weren't part of original construction.

Some scholars question the Indian origin of pointed arch. They argue that pointed arches were first used in the Near East in pre-Islamic architecture, but others have stated that these arches were, in fact, parabolic and not pointed arches.

Pointed arches – Islamic architecture

File:قصر العاشق 03.JPG, Restored Abbasid architecture arches of the city gates of Samarra (9th century)
File:Ibn-Tulun-Moschee 2015-11-14i.jpg, Central prayer niche in the Mosque of Ibn Tulun in Cairo (876–879 CE)
File:Ar^Raqqa SYRIE 324.jpg, The 11th/12th century Baghdad Gate, Raqqa
File:Zubaida tomb.JPG, Zumurrud Khatun Mosque and Mausoleum, Baghdad, Iraq (12th century)
File:SamarkandBibiKhanym.jpg, Bibi-Khanym Mosque, Samarkand, Uzbekistan (1399–1404)
File:AspendosBrücke1.jpg, The Eurymedon Bridge in Turkey, originally built by the Romans and rebuilt with a pointed arch in the 13th century by the by Seljuk Turkish Sultan
File:Lotfollah mosque, isfahan.jpg, The arched doorway from the vestibule to the interior of Sheikh Lotfollah Mosque (1603–1619)
File:Sheikh Lotf Allah 3D aa.jpg, Sheikh Lotfollah Mosque, Isfahan Iran (1603–1619)

Pre-Islamic pointed arches and some early Islamic pointed arches were decorative rather than structural in their functions. The earliest example of pointed arch as structural feature appeared in several early Iranian bridges of 10th and 11th century AD. The pointed arch became an early feature of architecture in the Middle East, It appeared in Islamic architecture during the Abbasid Caliphate in the middle of the 8th century CE. It appeared in Islamic architecture appeared as a decorative feature in doorways, windows and niches in Mosques in Egypt, Turkey, Iran and Central Asia. It was also used by the Seljuk Turks for the arches of reconstructed Roman bridges in Anatolia. such as the Eurymedon Bridge.

The most common form of pointed arch in Islamic architecture was the four-centred arch, which appeared frequently in the architecture of the Abbasids and especially that of Persianate cultures, including Mughal architecture and Persian architecture. It was also used in the Timurid Empire. Early examples include the portals of the Qubbat al-Sulaiybiyya, an octagonal pavilion, and the Qasr al-'Ashiq palace, both at Samarra, built by the Abbasid caliphs in the 9th century for their new capital.

Gothic architecture – pointed arches and rib vaulting

File:Voute.Villard.de.Honnecourt.png, Thirteenth-century illustration by Villard de Honnecourt of how different pointed arches can be made from a single curve of the compass. From Eugène Viollet-le-Duc ""Dictionnaire raisonné de l’architecture française du XIe au XVIe siècle"'
File:Coupe.nef.eglise.Saint.Denis.png, Gothic pointed windows, colonnades and vaults at the Abbey of Saint-Denis, Paris, drawn by Eugène Viollet-le-Duc
File:Rib vault model - Museum of French Monuments.jpg, The dynamics of a rib vault, with outward and downward pressure from ribs balanced by columns and buttresses. The pieces can stand by themselves, without cement. (National Museum of French Monuments, Paris)
File:Ossature.voute.arc.ogive.png, An early sexpartite rib vault drawn by Eugène Viollet-le-Duc