The Ciborium or Lantern Tower of Valencia Cathedral: Geometry, Construction and Stability

Abstract

Early 18th century treatise writer Tomas Vicente Tosca1 includes in his Tratado de la montea y cortes de Canteria [On Masonry Design and Stone Cutting], what is an important documentary source about the lantern of Valencia Cathedral. Tosca writes about this lantern as an example of vaulting over cross arches without the need of buttresses. A geometrical description is followed by an explanation of the structural behavior which manifests his deep understanding of the mechanics of masonry structures. He tries to demonstrate the absence of buttresses supporting his thesis on the appropriate distribution of loads which will reduce the "empujos" [horizontal thrusts] to the point of not requiring more than the thickness of the walls to stand (Tosca [1727] 1992, 227-230). The present article2 assesses T osca' s appreciation studying how loads and the thrusts they generate are transmitted through the different masonry elements that constitute this ciborium. In order to do so, we first present a geometrical analysis and make considerations regarding its materials and construction methods to, subsequently, analyze its stability adopting an equilibrium approach within the theoretical framework of the lower bound limit analysis.