ft to the groin of the aisle vault, and every
alternate one a shaft to the nave vault; and so grew the most distinct
of all German features of Romanesque church-building, alternate light
and heavy piers in the nave.

It is on the Rhine, too, that one comes upon occasional examples of
rococo architectural decoration, a species which sounds as though it
might originally have been Italian, but which was originally French. At
its best it is seldom seen on the exterior, but on inside walls and
porticoes, notably at Bruchsal on the Rhine, one sees a frankly
theatrical arrangement of ornate details.

By the twelfth century the particular variety of Romanesque architecture
which had developed, and still endures, in the Rhine valley had arrived
at its maturity.

The thirteenth century saw the interpolation and admixture of Gothic,
which elsewhere, in France in particular, was making such great strides.

Towers multiplied and became lighter and more graceful, and great Gothic
arched windows gave place to round-headed ones, though scarcely ever to
the entire exclusion of the latter variety.

The species of cross-bred style which forms the link between the
Romanesque and Gothic abounds along the Rhine, and examples are
frequently encountered.

The semicircular apsides, with a decorative band beneath the cornices of
the exterior galleries, are also a distinctly Rhenish detail. They are
to be seen in St. Peter's at Bacharach, at St. Castor's at Coblenz, St.
Martin's at Cologne, the cathedral at Bonn, in St. Quirinus at Neuss,
and again at Limburg.

The Rhenish bell-towers are a variety distinct from the towers and
spires usually met with, and often terminate suddenly, as if they were
unfinished.

Finally, there are a number of churches in this region which offer the
singular, though not unique, disposition of a chevet showing a triple
apsis. Notable examples of this style are St. Maria in Capitola, St.
Andrew and St. Martin at Cologne, and St. Quirinus at Neuss.

The churches of the Rhine valley are abundantly supplied with steeples,
often in groups far in excess of symmetry or sense, as for instance the
_outre_ group at Mayence, which is really quite indescribable.

The Apostles' Church at Cologne, the cathedrals at Mayence, Speyer, and
Worms, and the abbey church of Laach all have wonderfully broken
sky-lines; while those with great central towers, such as at Neuss, or
the parish church of Sinzig, form another class; an