Reims cathedral (begun 1211 AD) Reims was already an important Christian church in 496 AD, just after the fall of Rome, when the first Christian king of France, Clovis, was baptized there (the remains of the baptismal [...]
Leaning Tower of Pisa Why did Pisa build a Leaning Tower? The Leaning Tower of Pisa wasn't supposed to lean at all. It was supposed to just be the bell [...]
Cathedral of Pisa (the Duomo) This is the cathedral of medieval Pisa, in Italy. The architects built the cathedral in the Romanesque style around 1064 AD. The rounded arches are typical of the Romanesque style. So is the [...]
The baptistery of Pisa, Italy When did Pisa build their baptistery? This baptistery is where people baptized their children in medieval Pisa (PEE-za), in Italy. The people of Pisa built their round [...]
Notre Dame of Paris nave Building the apse of Notre Dame After they had pretty much finished the nave of Notre Dame of Paris, the builders worked on the crossing. [...]
Notre Dame of Paris (1160s AD) Why did Sully build Notre Dame? It was 1160 AD, a hundred years after Matilda built the Abbaye aux Dames in Caen, and about the same time [...]
A misericorde in a church Why did people need misericordes? In the Middle Ages, Christian priests and monks sang in their church choirs just as people do today. Sometimes they had to sing for [...]
Colleta di Castelbianco, Italy Medieval European houses Houses in the Middle Ages were different from Roman houses in several ways. One important change was that more people lived in small villages for [...]
Laon Cathedral, France(begun 1160 AD) Where is Laon? In 1100 AD, Laon was a very rich town in northern France, with strong walls and a lot of farmland. It's on top of a [...]
Medieval European houses Half-timbered houses in Toulouse, France In the Middle Ages, many people in northern Europe (northern France, Germany, and England) built their houses in this half-timbered way. This was [...]
