page_title: List of regional characteristics of European cathedral architecture
section_title: France
hierarchical_section_title: List of regional characteristics of European cathedral architecture / Regional examples / France
context_page_description: The regional characteristics of European cathedrals are those characteristic architectural features which define the local cathedrals of any given region, and often transcend period and style.
context_section_description: Amiens Cathedral is a Gothic building, 1220–1288, which typifies the cathedrals of northern France. Wim Swaan writes "In the nave of Amiens, Gothic structure and the treatment of the classic, three-stage interior elevation established at Chartres, achieved perfection."
  Note- This list presents a brief analysis of regional characteristics found in the particular building. For a complete description follow the link to the web page.
  The plan is cruciform but the transepts do not project beyond the aisles, giving the church a compact appearance.
  The eastern end of the building has an apse surrounded by a cluster of lower radiating chapels called a chevet.
  There is an emphasis on verticality. The vault is supported by flying buttresses.
  The crossing is surmounted by a delicate open-work spire called a flèche.
  The various parts of the building are united by architectural features and decoration which emphasise a verticality of design, e.g. there are shafts attached to the columns which commence at the floor and carry upwards through all the vertical stages (arcade, triforium and clerestory) to become the ribs of the vault.
  The West Front is a very significant feature having three enormous decorated portals, two towers and a rose window.  There is an arbitrary quality about the proportions and the towers are of different heights.
  The façade is divided by vertical buttresses and horizontal courses into a grid of decoration which causes the shadow to fall both vertically and horizontally.
  The dominant decorative feature is the lace-like stonework which screens the front, decorates the parapets and fills the windows with tracery. The flying buttresses and their pinnacles form a structural lacework which surrounds the exterior.
  The media used for story-telling are the stained-glass windows and the architectural statuary that surrounds the doors and fills the stone screens of the façade.
  Section references: Banister Fletcher, Larousse, Swaan.
  Examples of Cathedrals in France:
caption: Amiens Cathedral showing the three portals and rose window
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