Exterior view

Thanks to mainly to their belfries, church buildings were the most visible urban structures. During the process of urban improvement and the construction of new suburbs, they remained among the leading construction jobs of the 18th and 19th centuries. The Benedictine church of St. Blasien in the Black Forest, constructed by Pierre-Michel d’Ixnard in 1768-83, had a round central plan with a portico in front. It derives, like so many Neoclassical churches, from the Pantheon in Rome. It features a huge dome rising behind a massive portico on Tuscan columns.