Its notion as fantastic in the 15th century as it seems to us now (particularly for the King who oversaw its construction), the château retains a special place in French design history. The arrival of the Renaissance witnessed the creation of numerous examples of these pleasure palaces in the Loire Valley. From the 15th through the 17th centuries, the revived classical engineering of Italian architects made its way to France to stir the royal French imagination. What followed was passion for architecture, the likes of which had only been seen in, well, Italy.

Before Louis XIV’s Versailles, there was Francois I’s Chambord. Rumored to have garnered the participation of Leonardo Da Vinci at its conception, the Royal Châteaux at Chambord is tall, wide, ornate, and a blend of traditional medieval and Italian classical motifs. According to historian Sir Banister in A History of Architecture, although “at first sight mediaeval in plan,” the palace nevertheless has “a Renaissance vigour of design.” Built solely as a hunting lodge for Francois I - the massive walls, partial moat, and circular towers adopted mainly for aesthetic purposes – the chateaux features a gorgeous spiral staircase and expansive open air terrace. In the words of English novelist Henry James, “Chambord is truly royal, royal in its great scale, its grand air, its indifference to common consideration."

While the French château revels in its Italian inspiration, the Gothic cathedral seems to belie more eastern roots. Its 7th century foundation completely renovated in the 12th century 13th centuries, the old Carolingian Basilique de St. Denis in Paris was once unique in France for its stone and glass architecture - most buildings at that time were constructed primarily of wood.

Characterized by a highly symmetrical design, filigree stonework, and colored stained glass, the building is one of the earliest to signal the birth of Gothic. Gothic was adapted primarily for and by the Christian church. Accordingly, its various motifs were conceived with regard to Christian symbols and iconic imagery. The “rose” window, which in many instances bears a striking similarity to the multipoint geometric star of the Moors, will also at times consist only of four rounded lobes referencing the Cross.

Still, to site the delicate profusion of ornamentation and the sense of weightlessness affected by the basilica’s appearance would be to name only a scant few of the characteristics that have been proposed as evidence for the proper origins of Gothic style - Arab, Saracenic, and Moresque by way of Spain. As Italy neighbors France to the east, so does Spain border in the south, and from as early as the 8th century, the Islamic architecture of Al-Andalus was in deed as compelling to the Western mind as anything the Italian peninsula had produced up until that point, and it only grew more so as France entered the middle ages.