Real estate group specializing in the sale in France and abroad of castles, rural properties, any building of character. In Paris and its close surroundings, sale of apartments, townhouses, mansions, pied-à-terre, artist studios…

Abacus

Flat top of the capital of a column.
Abbey

Main or sole church built in conjunction with an abbey
Abbey

A building inhabited by a community of monks or nuns governed by an autonomous leader
Abutment

Solid masonry placed to counteract the lateral thrust of a bridge, arch, or vault.
Altar

A structure on which to place or sacrifice offerings to a deity. In a Christian church the altar is usually a stone table or slab on supports, on which the celebration of the sacrament takes place.
Alure

A passage or gallery behind a parapet at the top of a wall of a fortification.

Ambulatory

A semicircular or polygonal aisle. Often an ambulatory leads around the east end of the choir.
Apse

The semi-circular termination of the east end of the chancel or chapel.
Apsidiole

Semi-circular chapel (in the transept or chancel) or secondary apse .
Arcade

A series of arches supported by columns or piers.
Arcature

Series of small arcades topped by an arch.
Arch

A carved structural member that spans an opening.

Arch moulding

Concentric arches set back from one another above a doorway or a window and topped by the archivolt.
Architrave

The beam which extends across the top of the columns; it forms the lowest part of the entablature.
Archivolt

Set of arches rising above a doorway. In the Romanesque and gothic styles, the archivolt frames the tympanum, a richly sculpted panel.
Arms of a transept

Sections of the transept on each side of the crossing.
Astragal

A small plain or ornamental moulding.
Attic

A room, usually with sloping ceilings, just beneath the roof

Avant-corps

Part of a building which projects prominently from the main facade.