france
The most magnificent Gothic cathedrals in France
Chartres Cathedral
The Cathedral in Chartres (XII-XIV centuries) is considered one of the most beautiful in Europe. Chartres, where the precious relics of our lady, enjoyed the special protection of king Louis IX, who gave the Cathedral a large window-rose. Stained glass Windows donated to the Cathedral, the artisans of the city.
In the construction of the Cathedral was attended by many people: for example, in 40-ies of the XII century Norman thousands of pilgrims came to Chartres and a few months to destroy stone blocks in the walls of the Cathedral reach two to three meters long and one meter in height. The Western facade is the only thing that survived from an earlier building. Its creation dates to 1170. The façade is adorned with three richly decorated with magnificent stone carvings of the portal belonging to the XII century. From the North and South facades of the building you can see is very typical of French Gothic, a huge, round lace box, in which the openings in lead casements inserted stained glass. The diameter of the Windows of the transept is 13 meters. A screen similar to this entered art history under the name “rose”. It first appeared in the Chartres Cathedral, Continue reading
Gothic rebus
One of the most beautiful buildings of Paris, praised by Victor Hugo, the legends and myths. A mystical image of Notre-Dame-de-Paris became an international symbol of the middle Ages, where magic is intertwined with faith and the deeper meaning of the true doctrine eternally encoded in the unique sculptures and stained glass Windows.
Notre Dame Cathedral, a magnificent structure, is able to simultaneously accommodate up to nine thousand members, is built on the Western edge of the île de La Cité in the XII century.
1. On the site of a pagan temple
For a thousand years before Christ there lived a small Gallic tribe. 400 years later the Romans came here, for which island surrounded by the waters of the Seine, was a natural fortress. On the spot where now stands the Cathedral, they erected the temple of Jupiter. Continue reading
The BRONZE AGE (around the 2nd Millennium BC)
With the improvement of method of production, there are new tools made of copper and bronze. Occurs the first major social division of labor, increasing wealth inequality. Then the craft separated from agriculture, is the second major division of labor. All this played a crucial role in the development of civilization. In the Nile valley, in Mesopotamia and China established a slave system, the first class of the state. All this led to the development of different spheres of human spiritual activity.
The overwhelming significance of monumental architecture associated with the development of religious beliefs, the cult of ancestors and nature. These were megalithic structures – menhirs (gr. meg). – a large, lit – rock) – single cigar-shaped stone pillars with a height up to 20 m (Brittany, France); sometimes they stretched in parallel rows for several miles (“the Stone army” – the Caucasus, Armenia; the alley of menhirs in Brittany); Continue reading
