Editing Romanesque architecture (section)

===Origins===
Romanesque architecture was the first distinctive style to spread across Europe since the [[Roman Empire]]. With the decline of Rome, [[Roman architecture|Roman building methods]] survived to an extent in Western Europe, where successive [[Merovingian art and architecture|Merovingian]], [[Carolingian architecture|Carolingian]] and [[Ottonian architecture|Ottonian]] architects continued to build large stone buildings such as monastery churches and palaces. In the more northern countries, Roman building styles and techniques had never been adopted except for official buildings, while in Scandinavia they were unknown. Although the round arch continued in use, the engineering skills required to vault large spaces and build large domes were lost. There was a loss of stylistic continuity, particularly apparent in the decline of the formal vocabulary of the [[Architectural orders|Classical Orders]]. In Rome several great [[Constantine I|Constantinian]] [[basilica]]s continued in use as an inspiration to later builders. Some traditions of Roman architecture also survived in [[Byzantine architecture]] with the 6th-century octagonal Byzantine [[Basilica of San Vitale]] in [[Ravenna]] being the inspiration for the greatest building of the [[Early Middle Ages]] in Europe, the [[Emperor Charlemagne]]'s [[Palatine Chapel, Aachen]], Germany, built around the year AD 800.<ref name=HG>Helen Gardner, ''Art through the Ages''.</ref>

Dating shortly after the Palatine Chapel is a remarkable 9th-century Swiss manuscript known as the [[Plan of Saint Gall]] and showing a very detailed plan of a monastic complex, with all its various monastic buildings and their functions labelled. The largest building is the church, the plan of which is distinctly Germanic, having an [[apse]] at both ends, an arrangement not generally seen elsewhere. Another feature of the church is its regular proportion, the square plan of the crossing tower providing a module for the rest of the plan. These features can both be seen at the Proto-Romanesque [[St. Michael's Church, Hildesheim]], 1001–1030.<ref name=HG/>

Architecture of a Romanesque style also developed simultaneously in the north of Italy, parts of France and in the [[Iberian Peninsula]] in the 10th century and prior to the later influence of the [[Abbey of Cluny]]. The style, sometimes called [[First Romanesque]] or [[Lombard architecture|Lombard Romanesque]], is characterised by thick walls, lack of sculpture and the presence of rhythmic ornamental arches known as a [[Lombard band]].

<gallery mode="packed" caption="Origins" heights="240px">
File:Santa Maria del Naranco 2 crop.JPG|[[Santa María del Naranco]], [[Oviedo]], Spain, AD 848. Built as a palace for [[Ramiro I of Asturias]].
File:Santa Maria in Cosmedin-templom belso.jpg|alt=The interior of a narrow and rather dark church that has columns down each side supporting a plain wall with small high windows.|[[Santa Maria in Cosmedin]], Rome (8th&nbsp;– early 12th century) has a basilical plan and reuses ancient Roman columns.
File:Aachener1723aDom.jpg|alt=The interior of a tall octagonal church, rising in three rows of decorated arches. A large candelabra hangs above the central altar.|[[Charlemagne]]'s [[Palatine Chapel, Aachen]], Germany, 9th century, modelled on the Byzantine church of San Vitale, Ravenna
File:Hildesheim-St Michaels Church.interior.01.JPG|alt=The interior of another long narrow church with high windows. The arch leading into the chancel at the far end has alternating red and white stones.|Interior of St. Michael's, Hildesheim, Germany, (1001–1031) with alternating piers and columns and a 13th-century painted wooden ceiling
File:Bundesarchiv B 145 Bild-F078941-0014, Hildesheim, Michaeliskirche.jpg|alt=The exterior of the same church shows a short square tower with a pointed metal roof over the crossing, and a small round tower at the end of the transept.|[[St. Michael's Church, Hildesheim]] has similar characteristics to the church in the Plan of Saint Gall.
</gallery>
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