Editing Romanesque architecture (section)

====Pointed arched vault====
The problems encountered in the structure and appearance of vaults was solved late in the Romanesque period with the introduction of pointed arched ribs which allowed the height of both diagonal and transverse ribs to be varied in proportion to each other.<ref name=BF307/> Pointed ribs made their first appearance in the transverse ribs of the vaults at [[Durham Cathedral]] in northern England, dating from 1128. Durham is a cathedral of massive Romanesque proportions and appearance, yet its builders introduced several structural features that were new to architectural design and were later to be hallmark features of the Gothic style. Another Gothic structural feature employed at Durham is the [[flying buttress]]. However, these are hidden beneath the roofs of the aisles.
The earliest pointed vault in France is that of the narthex of [[Vézelay Abbey|La Madeleine, Vézelay]], dating from 1130.<ref name=RH/> They were subsequently employed with the development of the Gothic style at the east end of the [[Basilica of St Denis]] in Paris in 1140.<ref name=BF/> An early ribbed vault in the Romanesque architecture of Sicily is that of the chancel at the [[Cathedral of Cefalù]].