question: Why the gothic architecture have so high and sharp spires? Is there any architectural advantages to it like wind resistance, lightening rod etc?
comment: As far as steep roofs go in general it is significantly harder for a steep roof to leak even if it is in poor condition. The water rolls off too quick and it can’t get inside. So this is definitely one advantage to the steep roofs all around but certainly not the only reason.
passages: To make the churches taller and more prominent, and visible from a distance, heir builders often added a "flèche", a spire usually made of wood and covered with lead, to the top of each tower, or, as in Notre-Dame de Paris, in the center of the transept. Later in the Gothic period, more massive towers were constructed over the transept, rivaling or exceeding in height the towers of the facade.
   As an architectural ornament, spires are most consistently found on Christian churches, where they replace the steeple. Although any denomination may choose to use a spire instead of a steeple, the lack of a cross on the structure is more common in Roman Catholic and other pre-Reformation churches. The battlements of cathedrals featured multiple spires in the Gothic style (in imitation of the secular military fortress).
  
  Section::::Gothic and neo-gothic spires.
   In the late Gothic periods the buttresses became extremely ornate, with a large amount of non-functional decoration in the form of pinnacles, curving arches, counter-curves, statuary and ornamental pendants.
  
  Section::::Elements of Gothic style.:Height.
   Section::::See also.
  
  BULLET::::- Medieval Gothic
  
  BULLET::::- Castle
  
  BULLET::::- Catenary arch
  
  BULLET::::- Czech Gothic architecture
  
  BULLET::::- English Gothic architecture
  
  BULLET::::- French Gothic architecture
  
  BULLET::::- Italian Gothic architecture
  
  BULLET::::- List of Gothic architecture
  
  BULLET::::- Medieval architecture
  
  BULLET::::- Middle Ages in history
  
  BULLET::::- Polish Gothic architecture
  
  BULLET::::- Portuguese Gothic architecture
  
  BULLET::::- Renaissance of the 12th century
  
  BULLET::::- Spanish Gothic architecture
  
  BULLET::::- Gothic secular and domestic architecture
  
  BULLET::::- Gothic architecture
  
  BULLET::::- Architectural history
  
  BULLET::::- Architectural style
  
  BULLET::::- Architecture of cathedrals and great churches
  
  BULLET::::- Sondergotik
  
  BULLET::::- Gothicmed
  
  BULLET::::- Gothic Revival architecture
  
  BULLET::::- Carpenter Gothic
  
  BULLET::::- Collegiate Gothic in North America
  
  BULLET::::- Tented roof
  
  Section::::References.
   Defensive elements such as battlements, machicolations, walkways, and watchtowers are frequent in Southern Gothic churches. Most of the time, except in cases where the church is included in a defensive system, these elements have only a decorative and especially a symbolic role, tending to assert the power of the Church. At the church of Notre-Dame de Simorre, it was the 19th-century architect and conservationist Eugène Viollet-le-Duc who added battlements and watchtowers to the top of the buttresses.
  
  Section::::Secular buildings.
   Each feature of the Cathedral had a symbolic meaning. The main portals at Notre Dame de Paris, for instance, represented the entrance to paradise, with the last judgement depicted on the tympanum over the doors, showing Christ surrounded by the apostles, and by the signs of the zodiac, representing the movements of the heavens. The columns below the tympanum are in the form of statues of saints, literally reprinting them as "the pillars of the church."
   Section::::Elements of Gothic style.:The rib vault.
  
  In Romanesque architecture, the rounded arches of the barrel vaults that covered the nave pressed directly down on the walls with crushing weight. This required massive columns, thick walls and small windows, and naturally limited the height of the building. Gothic architects found a solution through an innovative use of the rib vault.
   During the 19th century the Gothic revival knew no bounds. With advances in technology, steel production, and building techniques the spire enjoyed an unprecedented surge through architecture, Cologne Cathedral's famous spires, designed centuries earlier, were finally completed in this era.
  
  Spires have never really fallen out of fashion. In the twentieth century reinforced concrete offered new possibilities for openwork spires.
  
  Section::::Traditional types of spires.
  
  BULLET::::- Conical stone spires: These are usually found on circular towers and turrets, usually of small diameter.
   Section::::Elements of Gothic style.:Towers and spires.
  
  The plan for the Basilica of Saint-Denis called for two towers of equal height on the west facade, and this general plan was copied at Notre-Dame and most of the early cathedrals. The towers of Notre-Dame de Paris, 69 meters (226 ft) tall, were intended to be seen throughout the city; they were the tallest towers in Paris until the completion of the Eiffel Tower in 1889. An informal but vigorous competition began in northern France for the tallest Cathedral towers.
   One of the most prominent features of Gothic architecture was the use of stained glass window, which steadily grew in height and size and filled cathedrals with light and color. Historians including Viollet-le-Duc, Focillon, Aubert, and Max Dvořák contended that this is one of the most universal features of the Gothic style.
   The availability of timber also influenced the style of architecture, with timber buildings prevailing in Scandinavia. Availability of timber affected methods of roof construction across Europe. It is thought that the magnificent hammer-beam roofs of England were devised as a direct response to the lack of long straight seasoned timber by the end of the Medieval period, when forests had been decimated not only for the construction of vast roofs but also for ship building.
  
  Section::::Scope.
  
  Section::::Scope.:New cities, town planning and urbanisation.
   By the mid 12th century many large cathedrals and abbey churches had been constructed and the engineering skills required to build high arches, stone vaults, tall towers and the like, were well established. The style evolved to one that was less heavy, had larger windows, lighter-weight vaulting supported on stone ribs and above all, the pointed arch which is the defining characteristic of the style now known as Gothic. With thinner walls, larger windows and high pointed arched vaults, the distinctive flying buttresses developed as a means of support. The huge windows were ornamented with stone tracery and filled with stained glass illustrating stories from the Bible and the lives of the Saints.
   Section::::"The Principles of Gothic Architecture".
   By 1878, the American critic Clarence Cook was already pronouncing the style "passé":
   In the early Renaissance the spire was not restricted to the United Kingdom: the fashion spread across Europe. After the destruction of the 135 m tall spire of the St. Lambert's Cathedral, Liège in the 19th century, the 123 m spire of Antwerp is the tallest ecclesiastical structure in the Low Countries . Between 1221 and 1457 richly decorated open spires were built for the Cathedral of Burgos in Spain while at Ulm Cathedral in Germany the 529-foot (161-m) spire built in the imported French Gothic style between 1377 and 1417 ultimately failed.
   Section::::Gothic era church architecture.
  
  Gothic-era architecture, originating in 12th-century France, is a style where curves, arches, and complex geometry are highly emphasized. These intricate structures, often of immense size, required great amounts of planning, effort and resources; involved large numbers of engineers and laborers; and often took hundreds of years to complete—all of which was considered a tribute to God.
  
  Section::::Gothic era church architecture.:Characteristics.
   Section::::Characteristics.:The flying buttress.
   In India, the city of Mumbai (formerly Bombay) has a rich collection of neo-Gothic architecture. The style is found in the University buildings, the courthouse, and in the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus railway station (former Victoria Terminus), the main railway station.
  
  Section::::Division of Interior Space.
   BULLET::::- Openwork spires: These spires are constructed of a network of stone tracery, which, being considerably lighter than a masonry spire, can be built to greater heights. Many famous tall spires are of this type, including the spires of Ulm Minster (the world's tallest church), Freiburg Minster, Strasbourg Cathedral, Vienna Cathedral, Prague Cathedral, Burgos Cathedral and the twin spires of Cologne Cathedral.
   Religious teachings in the Middle Ages, particularly the writings of Religious Pseudo-Dionysius, a 6th-century mystic whose book, "The Celestial Hierarchy", was popular among monks in France, taught that all light was divine. When the Abbot Suger ordered the reconstruction of the Basilica of Saint Denis, he instructed that the windows in the choir admit as much light as possible.
   The facade of Toulouse Cathedral is unusual; it is the combination of two unfinished cathedral buildings, begun in the 13th century and finally put together. Toulouse Cathedral has no flying buttresses; it is supported by massive "contreforts" the height of the building, with chapels between.
  
  Section::::English Gothic.
   BULLET::::- Poitiers Cathedral
  
  BULLET::::- Pontigny Abbey
  
  BULLET::::- Quimper Cathedral
  
  BULLET::::- Rodez Cathedral
  
  BULLET::::- Saint Denis Basilica (considered by many, the first Gothic building)
  
  BULLET::::- Sainte-Chapelle in Paris (famous for its colorful stained glass windows)
  
  BULLET::::- Saint-Étienne-du-Mont
  
  BULLET::::- Saint-Flour Cathedral
  
  BULLET::::- Saint-Germer-de-Fly Abbey
  
  BULLET::::- Saint-Omer Cathedral
  
  BULLET::::- Abbey of Saint-Remi
  
  BULLET::::- Sées Cathedral
  
  BULLET::::- Rouen Cathedral
  
  BULLET::::- Parlement de Normandie, Rouen
  
  BULLET::::- Saint-Brieuc Cathedral
  
  BULLET::::- St. George's Church, Sélestat
  
  BULLET::::- Senlis Cathedral
  
  BULLET::::- Sens Cathedral
  
  BULLET::::- Soissons Cathedral
  
  BULLET::::- Strasbourg Cathedral (with its famous pink stone West front and high north tower)
  
  BULLET::::- Thann Church
  
  BULLET::::- Toul Cathedral
  
  BULLET::::- Tours Cathedral
   This argument began to collapse in the mid-19th century as great prefabricated structures such as the glass and iron Crystal Palace and the glazed courtyard of the Oxford University Museum were erected, which appeared to embody Gothic principles through iron. Between 1863 and 1872 Viollet-le-Duc published his "Entretiens sur l'architecture", a set of daring designs for buildings that combined iron and masonry. Though these projects were never realised, they influenced several generations of designers and architects, notably Antoni Gaudí in Spain and, in England, Benjamin Bucknall, Viollet's foremost English follower and translator, whose masterpiece was Woodchester Mansion.
   The transition (in France) from Rayonnant to Flamboyant Gothic was gradual and evolutionary in form, marked primarily by a shift towards new tracery patterns based on S-shaped curves (these curves resemble flickering flames, from which the new style got its name). However, amidst the chaos of the Hundred Years War and the various other misfortunes experienced by Europe during the 14th century, relatively little large scale construction occurred and certain elements of the Rayonnant style remained in vogue well into the next century.
  
  Section::::See also.
  
  BULLET::::- Gothic architecture
  
  BULLET::::- Flamboyant
  
  BULLET::::- French Gothic architecture
  
  BULLET::::- High Gothic
  
  BULLET::::- Cologne cathedral
   BULLET::::- Complex spires: These are stone spires that combine both masonry and openwork elements. Some such spires were constructed in the Gothic style, such as the north spire of Chartres Cathedral. They became increasingly common in Baroque architecture, and are a feature of Christopher Wren's churches.
  
  BULLET::::- Clad spires: These are constructed with a wooden frame, often standing on a tower of brick or stone construction, but also occurring on wooden towers in countries where wooden buildings are prevalent. They are often clad in metal, such as copper or lead. They may also be tiled or shingled.
  
  Section::::See also.
  