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Murray (1847a) p.28 draws attention to the influence on the church architecture of Provence both of the climate and of the examples of Roman buildings still to be found in the area:
The student of Christian Architecture will find much to interest him in the churches of Arles and its vicinity, of St.Gilles, of Aix, of Avignon (the cathedral), where the stupendous Papal palace is also a very interesting historical monument, and many more. In these and other mediaeval monuments of S.E. France the traveller will not fail to observe the long-perpetuated influence of Roman architecture on the ecclesiastical edifices of the district, which still retains the Roman name of THE PROVINCE, par excellence.
A marked difference of character prevails between the church architecture of the S. of France and that of the N., in the smallness of the windows, designed no doubt to exclude the glare and the heat. This gives the southern character a much greater solemnity than those immense lantern-structures of the N.: unless where the windows are entirely filled with stained glass, it is difficult to produce the same effect. The influence of climate evidently gave rise to the distinction of the two styles. - E.o.S.
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[Version 0.05: May 2008]