About ten years ago, when the first restoration work on the upper chapel of Château de Germolles enabled its vault to be rebuilt, many people were astonished to discover that it was made of wood... However, as a few details revealed when observing the preserved elevations, the original vault must indeed have been made of this material, as in many similar cases that can still be seen today in the four corners of France. The Germolles site, for example, contains such remains dating from the 14th century.

There is no shortage of examples, from Beaune to Vincennes, from Tonnerre to Poitiers and Rouen, of secular buildings and above all countless religious edifices covered in panelled roofing, sometimes with painted decorations. Iconography, and especially miniatures from the late Middle Ages, readily reproduce such structures.

This type of vaulting was clearly very popular, particularly between the 13th and 16th centuries, for technical as well as aesthetic and even symbolic reasons. So it's hardly surprising that, in the 19th century, neo-Gothic designs were largely inspired by this model.

However, this type of roofing seems to have been forgotten today: here's a look back at a common, yet little-known, form of medieval architecture.

Show less