Romanesque architects concentrated on building large churches with wide aisles to accommodate the population that came to hear Mass and worship at the altars of various saints. The Romanesque took its inspiration from ancient Rome (hence the name). Early Christians in Italy had adapted the basilica (ancient Roman law-court buildings) to become churches. Few examples of the Romanesque remain in Paris, however, with most churches having been rebuilt in later eras.
Identifiable Features
Rounded arches. These load-bearing architectural devices allowed the architects to open up wide naves and spaces, channeling all that weight of the stone walls and ceiling across the curve of the arch and down into the ground via the columns or pilasters.
Thick walls, infrequent and small windows, and huge piers. These were necessary to support the weight of all that masonry, giving Romanesque churches a dark, somber, mysterious, and often oppressive feeling.
Apse. This rounded space behind the altar in many Romanesque churches opens up the holiest, east end of the church.
Radiating chapels. These smaller chapels began to sprout off the east end of the church, especially later in the Romanesque period, often in the form of a fan of minichapels radiating off the apse .
Ambulatory. This curving corridor separates the altar and choir area from the ring of smaller, radiating chapels . This, too, was a convention of the later Romanesque and carried into the Gothic.
Best Examples
St-Germain-des-Prés. The overall building is Romanesque, including the fine sculpted column capitals near the entrance of the left aisle; only the far left corner is original, the others are copies. By the time builders got to creating the choir, the early Gothic was on -- note the pointy arches. Over the (early Renaissance) portal is a Romanesque carving of the Last Judgment.
St-Julien-le-Pauvre. This small church has a general Romanesque plan overwritten by later Gothic embellishments, including the facade.
