Romanesque architecture

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.