Editing Romanesque architecture (section)

===Transitional style and the continued use of Romanesque forms===
During the 12th century, features that were to become typical of [[Gothic architecture]] began to appear. It is not uncommon, for example, for a part of building that has been constructed over a lengthy period extending into the 12th century, to have very similar arcading of both semi-circular and pointed shape, or windows that are identical in height and width, but in which the later ones are pointed. This can be seen on the towers of [[Tournai Cathedral]] and on the western towers and façade at [[Ely Cathedral]].<ref name=ACT/><ref name=WS/> Other variations that appear to hover between Romanesque and Gothic occur, such as the façade designed by [[Abbot Suger]] at the Abbey of Saint-Denis, which retains much that is Romanesque in its appearance, and the façade of [[Laon Cathedral]], which, despite its Gothic form, has round arches.<ref name=WS>Wim Swaan, ''Gothic Cathedrals''</ref>

Abbot Suger's innovative choir of the [[Abbey of Saint-Denis]], 1140–44, led to the adoption of the Gothic style by Paris and its surrounding area, but other parts of France were slower to take it up, and provincial churches continued to be built in the heavy manner and rubble stone of the Romanesque, even when the openings were treated with the fashionable pointed arch.

In England, the Romanesque groundplan, which in that country commonly had a very long nave, continued to affect the style of building of cathedrals and those large abbey churches which were also to become cathedrals at the [[dissolution of the monasteries]] in the 16th century. Despite the fact that English cathedrals were built or rebuilt in many stages, substantial areas of Norman building can be seen in many of them, particularly in the nave arcades. In the case of [[Winchester Cathedral]], the Gothic arches were literally carved out of the existent Norman piers.<ref name=ACT/> Other cathedrals have sections of their building which are clearly an intermediate stage between Norman and Gothic, such as the western towers of Ely Cathedral and part of the nave at [[Worcester Cathedral]]. The first truly Gothic building in England is the long eastern end of [[Canterbury Cathedral]] commenced in 1175.<ref name=ACT/>

In Italy, although many churches such as [[Florence Cathedral]] and [[Santa Maria Novella]] were built in the Gothic style, or utilising the pointed arch and window tracery, Romanesque features derived from the Roman architectural heritage, such as sturdy columns with capitals of a modified Corinthian form, continued to be used. The pointed vault was utilised where convenient, but it is commonly interspersed with semicircular arches and vaults wherever they conveniently fit. The façades of Gothic churches in Italy are not always easily distinguishable from the Romanesque.

Germany was not quick to adopt the Gothic style, and when it did so in the 1230s, the buildings were often modelled very directly upon French cathedrals, as [[Cologne Cathedral]] was modelled on Amiens. The smaller churches and abbeys continued to be constructed in a more provincial Romanesque manner, the date only being registered by the pointed window openings.<ref name=RH/>

<gallery mode="packed" caption="Churches showing the transition between Romanesque and Gothic" heights="220px">
File:2-Cathédrale de Laon.JPG|The façade of [[Laon Cathedral]], 1225, a Gothic cathedral, maintains rounded arches and arcading in the Romanesque manner.
File:Ely Cathedral 3.jpg|[[Ely Cathedral]], England, the central western tower and framing smaller towers all had transitional features, 1180s. The tower to the left fell. <small>Gothic porch, 1250s; lantern, 1390s.</small>
File:Cattedrale di San Lorenzo Genoa.jpg|The façade of the [[Cathedral of Genoa]] has both round and pointed arches, and paired windows, a continuing Romanesque feature of Italian Gothic architecture.
</gallery>