Gothicmed is a European Union project carried out within the Culture 2000 program and headed by the Ministry of Culture of the regional government of Valencia, Spain.^[1] The project aims to gain further insight into Gothic architecture in the Mediterranean.

In 2004, the Instituto Cervantes (Spain) got involved with Gothicmed to create a virtual museum of Mediterranean Gothic architecture.^[2]

The Castel Maniace castle-residence in Sicily, the Bellver on Majorca, and the Castel Nuovo in Naples; in the cathedrals in Nicosia, Palma de Majorca, Girona or Albi; in the churches in Slovenia, Évora or Palermo; in the fourteenth-century palaces in Rhodes, Dubrovnik, Malta or Valencia, certain common stylistic features emerge that link them to this period in the history of architecture that we have come to call the Gothic. In reality, parallel to the re-emergence of classical forms, a coherent Gothic period emerged in the Mediterranean from the early 13th century until well into the 16th century.

Picking up the thread of a chapter of architecture whose monuments are scattered around a vast geographical area, and whose historiography is shared among different countries, is invariably a team effort. Currently, different teams of researchers are working independently in different groups. This project's goal is to create a network of research and dissemination on the Mediterranean Gothic architecture that will enable this knowledge to be shared and spread. In the Mediterranean, stylistic features readily intertwine with its contemporary mediaeval architecture in central and northern Europe. However, the buildings are often quite distinct. Not surprisingly, the mediaeval architectural styles in the Mediterranean were built following traditions from the late Roman era. The ruined buildings from the ancient world scattered around the Mediterranean were the building manuals for whoever wanted to read them. The presence of an interesting Manual on Practical Geometry, or Geometria fabrorum, conveyed by guilds and workshops, characterizes this episode in architectural history.

Study of the Gothic art and architectural landscape in the Mediterranean with traveling exhibition and conference. The action of Gothic monuments panoramic views is one of the most challenging actions of the project since it has shown to put into practice a real exchange of experience between photographers of the different participating countries.

Each of the project partners has produced panoramic pictures that are being installed in the virtual gallery of the site. A tour through a border-less, virtual museum can be made through the open halls, which correspond to each of the sponsors of the project: Valencia Region, Greece, Sicily, Alentejo, Slovenia and the initiatives promoted by the Instituto Cervantes. Images of the monuments can be accessed via each of these halls by a virtual tour (panoramic images) or a guided tour (a text written by specialists, accompanied by layouts).Other sections include a library, news and links with other related websites. Upload onto Internet novel images inserted into virtual views of the most prominent monuments in this architectural style. These virtual views have been created through panoramic photographs, picture galleries, and videos. Texts have also been written with other images and drawings by specialists in the field, and the scientific community will have access to specialized books and articles online. GOTHICmed cannot replace seeing and enjoying Mediterranean Gothic architecture firsthand, but it does encourage it to be visited and allows knowledge about it to be enhanced. All partners have been invited to produce wooden scale models of the Gothic monuments or parts of monuments, like Gothic staircases, to be shown in the traveling exhibition which has been the more time-consuming activity of the project, since it has been necessary to join efforts of an interdisciplinary team of professionals. These models are at a scale of 1/50 and have been displayed on wooden pedestals. A total of 10 models traveled to each of the project's locations in the framework of the traveling exhibition in Valencia (ES), Évora (PT), Palermo (IT), Ljubljana (SI), and Athens (GR).

• Gothic architecture
• Valencian Gothic

• Mediterranean Gothic Architecture