Good essay on development of Basilica plan - History of Modern Art - The Evolution of Christian Architecture                  Certain aspects of Christian architecture changed quickly and dramatically between the Early Christian and Gothic periods, but the basic basilica plan remained throughout. Christian worship, being congregational, requires a hall, and the Roman basilica - a civic lawcourt - became the early model for both large and small churches. The basilica, processional in form, had a long …showed first 75 words of 1825 total…

…showed last 75 words of 1825 total…the end of the sanctuary. The major divisions of the interior elevation of the Gothic nave and choir are likewise derived from Romanesque precedents. On the other hand, the tall attenuated piers of the ground-story arcade, the pencil-thin vaulting shafts rising through the clerestory to the springing of the ribs, and the use of the pointed arch throughout the whole edifice all contribute to those unique soaring effects that constitute Gothic architecture's most dynamic expression.