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Amiens Cathedral
| Amiens Cathedral | |
|---|---|
| Cathedral of Our Lady of Amiens | |
French: Notre-Dame d'Amiens | |
_-_2021-05-30_-_14.jpg) Amiens Cathedral | |
  Amiens Cathedral | |
| 49°53′42″N 2°18′08″E / 49.89500°N 2.30222°E | |
| Location | Amiens |
| Country | France |
| Denomination | Catholic Church |
| Sui iuris church | Latin Church |
| Website | www |
| History | |
| Status | Cathedral |
| Relics held | Alleged head of John the Baptist |
| Architecture | |
| Functional status | Active |
| Architect(s) | Robert of Luzarches Thomas and Regnault de Cormont[1] |
| Style | Rayonnant |
| Years built | c. 1220–1270 |
| Specifications | |
| Length | 145 m (476 ft) |
| Width | 70 m (230 ft) |
| Nave width | 14.60 m (47.9 ft)[2] |
| Height | 42.30 m (138.8 ft) |
| Other dimensions | Façade: NW |
| Floor area | 7,700 square meters |
| Number of spires | 1 |
| Spire height | 112.70 m (369.8 ft)[2] |
| Administration | |
| Province | Reims |
| Diocese | Amiens |
| Clergy | |
| Bishop(s) | Bishop Gérard Le Stang[3] |
| Official name | Amiens Cathedral |
| Type | Cultural |
| Criteria | i, ii |
| Designated | 1981[4] |
| Reference no. | 162 |
| Region | Europe and North America |
| Session | 5th |
| Official name | Cathédrale Notre-Dame |
| Designated | 1862 |
| Reference no. | PA00116046[1] |
| Denomination | Église |
The Cathedral Basilica of Our Lady of Amiens (French: Basilique Cathédrale Notre-Dame d'Amiens), or simply Amiens Cathedral, is a Catholic cathedral. The cathedral is the seat of the Bishop of Amiens. It is situated on a slight ridge overlooking the River Somme in Amiens, the administrative capital of the Picardy region of France, some 120 kilometres (75 miles) north of Paris.
The cathedral was built almost entirely between 1220 and c. 1270, a remarkably short period of time for a Gothic cathedral, giving it an unusual unity of style. Amiens is an early example of the High Gothic period, and the Rayonnant style of Gothic architecture.[5][6] The Rayonnant appeared in the triforium and clerestory, which were begun in 1236, and in the enlarged high windows of the choir, added in the mid-1250s.[6]
Its builders were trying to maximize the internal dimensions in order to reach for the heavens and bring in more light. As a result, Amiens Cathedral is the largest in France,[7] 200,000 cubic metres (260,000 cu yd), large enough to contain two cathedrals the size of Notre Dame of Paris.[8]
The cathedral has been listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1981.[9] Although it has lost much of its original stained glass, Amiens Cathedral is renowned for the quality and quantity of early 13th-century Gothic sculpture in the main west façade and the south transept portal, and a large quantity of polychrome sculpture from later periods inside the building.
- ^ a b Mérimée database 1992
- ^ a b "Chronologie". Monumentshistoriques.free.fr. 18 April 1928. Retrieved 25 March 2013.
- ^ "Bishop Jean-Luc Marie Maurice Louis Bouilleret". Catholic-Hierarchy.com. Retrieved 29 July 2011.
- ^ "Kremlin and Red Square, Moscow". UNESCO World Heritage Convention. Retrieved 12 July 2011.
- ^ Encyclopaedia Britannica on-line, (by subscription), "High Gothic"
- ^ a b Watkin 1986, p. 134.
- ^ Mignon 2015, p. 28.
- ^ Lours 2018, p. 41.
- ^ "Amiens Cathedral". UNESCO World Heritage Centre. United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization. Retrieved 9 October 2021.
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