FIG. 122. CANNET.
FIG. 123. THORONET—CHURCH FROM S.W.
The Monastery of Thoronet was founded in the beginning of the twelfth century, on ground granted by Raymond de Béranger, Count of Provence, to the monks of Citeaux, and continued to be occupied by that order till their property was secularised and sold at the Revolution. The plan is that usual in Cistertian buildings of the period. The church has a nave, with central and side aisles, crossed at the east end by a large transept, from which, in the centre, a short choir having a circular apse, and two smaller chapels with altars in each transept, extend towards the east. At Thoronet the choir and chapels have apsidal terminations, but in some Cistertian churches the east end is square. Nothing could exceed the unadorned nature of the design, both externally and internally. The west end ([Fig. 123]) shews the principal entrance, which is a plain round-headed doorway, without even a moulding. The tall windows and the round one in this gable are treated equally simply. These, and a round
FIG. 124. ABBEY CHURCH OF THORONET.