Monarchs build large complexes

Rulers and landowners in this period built palaces, châteaux and mansions which they fortified, surrounded by ramparts and decorated. Some famous constructions date from this period :

- Charlemagne’s palace in Aix-la-Chapelle (from 790 to 814) in Germany, of which only the Palatine chapel remains, a symbol of the architecture of the Carolingian empire,

- the old city of Carcassonne (11th to 13th century) in France,

- the Krack des Chevaliers (12th to 13th century) in Syria,

- the Alhambra (13th to 15th century) in Grenada in Spain,

- the Angkor architectural complex (9th to 15th century), in Cambodia, in Asia,

- the Forbidden City in Peking (construction began in 1407), in China, etc.