Romanesque architecture

An exterior view of the medieval fortified city of Carcassonne, southwest France.

Tower of the Romanesque castle of Piacenza, Italy. The tower, with its massive stonework and tiny openings, is typical of 12th-century fortified construction. The crenellations of the battlements provided protection for archers, while machicolations (projecting galleries) enabled missiles or hot lead to be dropped on attacking troops.

Style of Western European architecture of the 10th to 12th centuries, marked by rounded arches, solid volumes, and an emphasis on perpendicular elements such as arcades. The ribbed groin vault developed in this period, which was to become central to Gothic architecture. In England Romanesque style is also known as Norman architecture.

Romanesque was the first architectural style to dominate virtually the whole of Europe. It was mainly associated with Christian religious buildings, as seen in the Romanesque architecture of Germany, Early Christian and Romanesque architecture in France, and Early Medieval and Romanesque architecture in Italy.