There has been considerable effort in recent decades to rewrite History in order to make perceptions of the past fit certain ideologies of the present, and that is something I will gladly contest for the sake of the integrity and honesty of historic interpretation. One of the numerous canards I have found is the reference to the architectural feature, the cupola, as being of Moorish or Berber origins, supposedly introduced by Islamic builders to Europe in the 8th century. The term cupola comes from the Italian word meaning “dome”, and the domes of ancient Rome, such as the famous Pantheon, can be traced much further back in the past than the 8th century, and long before Islam even existed. I will give history credit where it is due regardless of politics or religion, but I will also call out something that is demonstrably wrong. I still hear tourists being told that the historic architecture of Charleston was based on the West Indies and Barbados, and that steeples and cupolas were ideas all borrowed by Europeans by someone else. That is simply not true. We are undeniably a very European city in the style of our buildings, and anyone can find much more similarity to our architecture in Europe than anywhere else. <img.src=”Charleston Architecture” alt=”The Old Exchange”
