In the region of Aquitania in southwest France, it became customary to "cover church roofs with domes which reflected the influence of Byzantium or Armenia" (Williams, 223). Most of these Aquitanian churches contained a longitudinal, aisle-less nave which was covered by a sequence of domes which in turn were usually covered by a pitched wooden roof.
The end result of this style was quite practical since the pendentive-supported domes required far less buttressing than continuous barrel vaults, such as found in ancient Roman architecture. Although these churches and other similar structures "never aimed for the soaring heights of northern Romanesque structures" like those found in Germany, they do "represent an almost perfect fusion of geometric planning with elevation and clearly exhibit the functions of all their structural parts" (Williams, 225).
Bibliography
Smithson, Charles. The Architecture of Tuscany. New York: Abrams Publishing, 2003.
Williams, Kenneth a. The Architecture of Norman England. New York: Abrams Publishing,…
Churches represented the primary type of Romanesque architecture. Despite regional variations, Romanesque architecture shares a multitude of common characteristics such as harmonious proportions, stone barrel vault, round arches supporting the roof, thick and heavy walls and pillars, or small windows. Also, most Romanesque churches feature round arches used for exterior and interior decoration, a nave with side aisles though there is also a number of small, more modest churches which
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