ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Earthquake Baroque

Okay kiddo, an earthquake is when the ground shakes a lot, and sometimes buildings get damaged or fall down. After a big earthquake in a place called Sicily in Italy in 1693, a style of architecture called earthquake baroque started to develop.

Basically, architects and builders realized that they needed to make buildings stronger so that they wouldn't be as damaged during earthquakes. So they started using materials like stone and bricks instead of wood, and they made the buildings shorter and wider so that they wouldn't be as wobbly.

They also started using really fancy decorations on the buildings, like extra columns and sculptures, to make them look more important and impressive. This style of architecture became known as earthquake baroque because it was born out of the need to make buildings stronger during earthquakes.

And that's earthquake baroque in a nutshell, little one!