To the first period of Gothic architecture in Spain belong the Cathedrals of Santiago de Compostella, of cruciform plan with a vaulted roof, semicircular headed arcades and windows, and an ornate western façade recalling that of Chartres; Zamora, Taragona, and the older of the two at Salamanca, the three last retaining the characteristic cimborio, or low dome, already referred to in connection with Romanesque work in Spain, rising from the intersection of nave and transepts, but of more complex structure than in earlier examples, the ribs of the vaulting being upheld by pendentives and the whole surmounted by a secondary dome of considerable height pierced with windows, and at Salamanca flanked by four circular towers. Unfortunately, in later Spanish ecclesiastical architecture this beautiful feature was abandoned, and the Cathedrals of Toledo, Leon, and Burgos are of the French type, with chevets, double aisles, clustered pillars upholding pointed arches, vaulted roofs, ornate decorative arcading, fine open triforia, and lofty clerestories. The exterior of that of Burgos is especially ornate, with three pinnacled towers, tapering open-traceried spires rising from those at the western end. In the 14th century the cruciform plan, which had so long prevailed, was replaced in Spain by one without either aisles or transepts; the buttresses that had previously been introduced outside the building to resist the thrust of the vaulting, were brought within the walls so as to make the nave one vast vaulted hall, flanked by lateral chapels as in the fine Cathedral of Gerona and the Church of S. Maria del Pino at Barcelona. Later, however, this comparatively simple mode of structure was superseded by vast complicated buildings such as the Cathedral of Salamanca and that of Segovia, both dating from the 16th century, the vaulting of which is especially complicated, with very ornate ribs, whilst the towers closely resemble those of contemporaneous Moorish mosques.
The Gothic style, that was alike alien to the Italian temperament and unsuited to the Italian climate, never really took root in Italy, the soil of which was thoroughly impregnated with classic traditions. The horizontal cornice, so characteristic of Greek and Early Roman architecture is of frequent occurrence, the round arch was long retained in combination with pointed highly-pitched roofs, and spires are rare, whilst the beautiful groined vaulting, the flying buttresses, and the exquisite window-tracery, that lend so great a charm to the cathedrals and churches of France and England, are very seldom met with. There was no gradual evolution in Italy from Early to Late Gothic, and for this reason it is usual to treat Italian buildings in the pointed style in three geographical instead of chronological groups, namely, the northern, central, and southern. To the first belongs the Cathedral of Milan, the largest Gothic building in Italy, the exterior of which is somewhat spoiled by its over-decorated western façade, though the effect of the long rows of lateral pinnacles, the numerous flying buttresses, the low conical dome and lofty spire is very fine. The interior, with its vast nave, double aisles, and complex apse, its lofty piers, with capitals consisting of life-sized figures in niches, and its noble clerestory, presents an appearance of grandeur unequalled by any other Gothic church in Italy. The Certosa or Carthusian Monastery, the façade of which is a century older than the rest of the building; the Churches of S. Maria del Carmine and S. Michele, both at Pavia, the latter with a very typical campanile; the Cathedral of Genoa; the Churches of S. Anastasia and S. Zenone at Verona, are all good examples of Italian-Gothic, whilst amongst secular buildings in the same style in Northern Italy, the Ducal and other palaces at Venice, such as the so-called Ca' d'Ora are remarkable for the beauty of their proportions, the effectiveness of their window-grouping, and the general appropriateness and grace of their decorative details, especially of their balconies.
In Central Italy the Cathedrals of Florence and Siena are specially typical, the former, with its dome of considerably later date than the rest of the building, contrasting with the Campanile or Bell Tower named after Giotto, the latter being noteworthy for the combination of a dome with pointed arcading and horizontal cornices, and the association on the west front of rounded with stilted arches, the last a peculiarity also of the cathedral at Orvieto, the façade of which is one of the most beautiful in Italy.
The Gothic work of Southern Italy is far more florid than that of the rest of the peninsula, and this is equally true of that of Sicily. In the churches of both, as in the earlier Romanesque buildings already noticed, Saracenic, Greek, and Roman influences are alike noticeable, especially in those of Naples and the Cathedrals of Palermo, Monreale, and Messina, the three last named combining the pointed arch distinctive of Gothic, with the elaborate surface decoration so characteristic of the Norman style.
German architects did not adopt the pointed arch until considerably later than those of the south and west of Europe, but to atone for this they delighted in highly pitched roofs with stilted gables, and lofty towers, with pointed roofs and tapering spires. The exteriors of their buildings differ very greatly from the interiors, in which the round-headed windows and semicircular arches of the Romanesque style are retained, enriched, however, with beautiful and ornate carving. The term round-arched Gothic is therefore often applied to the earliest phase of the style in Germany, of which good examples are the Churches of the Holy Apostles, of S. Martin and S. Maria in Capitolo, all in Cologne, the Abbey Churches of Arnstein and Andernach and the Liebfrauenkirche at Trèves, the last built on the foundations of a much earlier chapel.
The second phase of Gothic architecture in Germany, in which the pointed arch was substituted for the semicircular, did not begin until the second half of the 13th century. To it belong the greater part of the Cathedral of Strasburg, which combines, with much beautiful Romanesque work, a typical Gothic façade with a fine open tracery spire, a companion to which was designed but never erected. The Cathedral of Freiburg, with a graceful and ornate spire, the Church of S. Stephen at Vienna, with aisles almost as lofty as the nave, portions of the Church of S. Sebald, Nuremberg, the decorative sculpture of which is remarkably fine, and, above all, the Cathedral of Cologne, the noblest example of German Gothic, with an exceptionally symmetrical plan, which in spite of the fact that the building extended over more than a century, and that the west point was only completed in the 19th century, was not departed from, so that it remains a unique specimen of mediæval design. It has a noble nave, double aisles, one of which is continued round the eastern apse and is divided into seven chapels, forming a picturesque chevet. Massive towers with a tapering central spire and many pinnacles flank the western entrance, elaborately decorated buttresses break the long lines of the walls, and from the intersecting nave and transepts rises a slender but most effective spire.
To the third period of Gothic architecture in Germany belong Ulm Cathedral, which has a nave of exceptional height; the unfinished Church of S. Barbara at Kullenberg, with a very picturesque chevet, the exterior of which is most lavishly decorated, and a steeply pitched roof of unusual height, with soaring towers and pinnacles; S. Catherine at Oppenheim, the over ornate complex decorative carvings of which are specially typical; and the parish Church of Thaun, the western portal of which is remarkably fine.
With these ecclesiastical buildings may be named the town halls of Lübeck, Brunswick, Münster, and other German towns, which, though they are neither so beautiful or so characteristic as those of Belgium, are of noble and symmetrical proportions, whilst a word of recognition must also be given to the beautiful domestic architecture of Germany, especially that of Prague, Nuremberg, and Frankfort all rich in survivals of mediæval times.