Caen, France: Church of Saint-ÉtienneWest facade of the Church of Saint-Étienne in Caen, France.(more)Saint-ÉtienneNave of the church of Saint-Étienne in Caen, France.(more)Romanesque churches characteristically incorporated semicircular arches for windows, doors, and arcades; barrel or groin to support the roof of the ; massive piers and walls, with few windows, to contain the outward thrust of the vaults; side aisles with galleries above them; a large tower over the crossing of nave and transept; and smaller towers at the church’s western end. French churches commonly expanded on the early Christian plan, incorporating radiating chapels to accommodate more priests, around the sanctuary for visiting pilgrims, and large between the sanctuary and nave. This article was most recently revised and updated by ., Romanesque architecture was the first distinctive style to spread across Europe since the Roman Empire. With the decline of Rome, Roman building methods survived to an extent in Western Europe, where successive Merovingian, Carolingian and Ottonian architects continued to build large stone buildings such as monastery churches and palaces., Romanesque architecture, architectural style current in Europe from about the mid-11th century to the advent of Gothic architecture. A fusion of Roman, Carolingian and Ottonian, Byzantine, and local Germanic traditions, it was a product of the great expansion of monasticism in the 10th–11th century..