French Architecture

French is an architectural city, you can spend all your days walking through the streets of Paris, or any other region, visiting the museums, and taking pictures next to one of the many impressive monuments. France has many old monuments and they are in well condition as an example are the Maison Carrée and the Pont du Gard near Nīmes.


The Carolingian dinasty of Charlemagne was a period of innovative buildings, using the Romanesque architecture, and gave rise to the architecture of the Romanesque period, many works of art were constructed in France in this period as the Gothic style cathedrals, an example of this is the Chartres Cathedral (begun 1194), St. Sernin, Toulouse (1080–1120) and Ste-Madeleine Church at Vézelay (1089-1206).

The term Romanesque comes from the buildings of the Roman Empire. The Romanesque style incorporates elements of Byzantine and Eastern origin and can be thought it was a response to the needs of monasteries and churches, the stone vault was one of the most successful Romanesque innovations. Each region has its own romanesque style which reflect the regional traditions and costumes. The Benedictine monastery church at Cluny in Burgundy is the largest and most important romanesque building, Cluny was the center of the Bebedictine order in France.