Gothic Architecture: in France Notable Churches On Île-de-France Region

Gothic
Architecture
IN FRANCE
Notable Churches on
Île-de-France Region
1. ABBEY CHURCH OF ST. DENIS,
(completed in 1144)
Now a Basilica, Abbey Church of
St Denis ranks as an architectural
landmark—as the first major structure
of which a substantial part was
designed and built in the Gothic style.
Around 1135, Abbot Suger began to
rebuild the venerable but outmoded
Carolingian church, He began with the
west-end, adding a narthex with tribunes,
and a twin-towered west façade.
The west front seems to have been the
first to have incorporated a triple portal
with column figures.
The choir was finished and consecrated
in 1144, and although the main elevation
and upper parts of choir were rebuilt in
the 13th century (under
Rambulatoriesayonnant period), the earlier
and chapels are still intact. BASILICA OF ST. DENIS (At Present)
Photo from en.wikipedia.org
French Gothic ARCHITECTURE

ON ILE-DE-FRANCE REGION
(completed in 1144)
There are 2 ambulatories, with a
continuous ring of shallow radiating
chapels, the outer arcade piers are very
slender, and cannot have supported a
tribune above them; the radiating chapels are
lit by enormous stained-glass windows
making St. Denis an eclectic building,
as Suger had been impressed by, and
wished to emulate, Early Christian
basilica in Italy.
The site originated as a Gallo-Roman
cemetery in late Roman times. The ABBEY CHURCH OF ST. DENIS 2
basilica became a place of pilgrimage ambulatories
and the burial place of the French Kings
with nearly every king from the 10th to
the 18th centuries being buried there,
as well as many from previous centuries.
(It was not used for the coronations of kings, that
function being reserved for the Cathedral of Reims;
however, French Queens were commonly crowned
there.)

(completed in 1144)
Saint-Denis" soon became the abbey
church of a growing monastic
complex, became a cathedral in 1966
and is the seat of the Bishop of Saint-
Denis. Then granted the title of
Minor Basilica by the Vatican.
In the early 1840s, cracks appeared
in the north tower's masonry
following several extreme weather
events, the 86m high spire,
dismantled in the 19th century.
In March 2018, the culture ministry
of France signed an accord with the
association, officially launching the
tower reconstruction project, with
works expected to commence in May ABBEY CHURCH OF ST. DENIS (CIRCA
BASILICA OF ST. DENIS (At Present)
2020.
1297)
Photo from alamy.com

2. SENS CATHEDRAL, Burgundy, E. France
(completed in 1534)
Sens was the first Cathedral to be
built in the Gothic architectural
style (the Basilica of Saint Denis,
the other pioneer Gothic building built
at about the same time, was an Abbey,
not a cathedral).
The choir was begun around 1140,

and construction progressed
westward. The west front and the
west portals date from around 1200,
the plan comprised single aisles and
ambulatory, with three spaced
chapels, but originally no transepts.
SENS CATHEDRAL (circa 2019)

(completed in 1534)
The span of the nave is usually
large. The piers alternate between
composite and double column
designs and correspond with the
sexpartite high vault spanning
double bays. The elevation consists
of the alternating arcade,
surmounted by decorative openings SENS CATHEDRAL nave (circa 2019)
into the aisle roof spaces with Photo from alamy.com
clerestory above.
Flying Buttresses were present in

original design, though the present
one’s date from 13th century, when
the clerestory windows were much
enlarged.
(completed in 1534)
Sens adopt the Norman
Romanesque sexpartite vault.
The vaulting, pier alteration and the

double column support proved very
popular in the next generation of
Gothic buildings.
Formally known as Cathédrale

Saint-Étienne de Sens.
SENS CATHEDRAL sexpartite vault

Photo from en.Wikipedia.org

3. CATHEDRAL OF NOTRE DAME, Paris
(Groundbreaking 1163 ~ Completed 1345)
Its pioneering use of the rib vault
and flying buttress, its enormous
and colorful rose windows, as well
as the naturalism and abundance of
its sculptural decoration set it apart
from the earlier Romanesque style,
it houses one of the world's largest
organs and its immense church bells.
Begun by Bishop Maurice de Sully
around 1163, the west towers were
the last to be completed in 1250.
The original plan comprised double
aisles and ambulatories and was on
bent axial line. The transepts, as so
often in the Paris region, did not
project beyond the aisle wall. NOTRE DAME CATHEDRAL
(Before the Fire - circa 2019)

The interior elevation was originally
of 4 levels, with an arcade of columnar
piers; a tribune, originally covered with
transverse barrel vaults, and lit by round
windows; decorative oculi opening into
the tribune roof spaces; and small
clerestory windows.
The high vault is sexpartite, covering

double bays. The vault is very high – just
over 30m (100 ft.) – and the wall which
supports it very thin and articulated by
very slender face-bedded shafts.
Orig. Interior Nave Bay of

Notre Dame Cathedral

Double-span flying buttresses support the
nave. There are often said to be the
earliest-flying buttresses, though it is now
clear that earlier buildings, such as Sens
also had them.
The 13th century, attempts were made to

lighten the interior by expanding the Sens CATHEDRAL
Flying Buttresses
clerestory windows downwards,

swallowing the decorative oculi of the
3rd Storey: the tribunes were rebuilt
with larger windows and ordinary
quadripartite vaults.
NOTRE DAME CATHEDRAL

Flying Buttresses

4. LAON CATHEDRAL, Aisne Valley, France
Formally called as Cathédrale
Notre-Dame de Laon.
Begun around 1160. The original

choir and transepts were completed
by 1180, the nave by 1200. The choir
was rebuilt in 1205 and extended
eastward by a full 8 bays, and the
west & transept towers were
completed by 1230.
The original 1160 choir was apsidal,

but the enormous extension is
rectangular, which is very unusual in
France in large, non-Cistercian
building. LAON CATHEDRAL

There are massive projecting transepts,
3 bays deep and aisled on all sides.
The interior elevation has 4 levels and
the high vault is sexpartite. Most of the
shafting is ‘en delit’ face-bedded, with
heavy ring moldings. The upper levels
are supported both by Buttress walls
behind the triforium walls, and by the
flying buttresses.
The cathedral contains 3 splendid rose
windows. The north transept window
dating from 1190, is of heavy plate
tracery type, with window pattern cut
out of a skin of wall. The west and east
window of circa 1210 are large areas of
glass supported by spokes and arches of
stone. ‘EN DELIT’ SHAFTING

Exterior was designed
with no less than 7
towers, two on each
transept
(of which not all were
completed), two on the
west front and
a crossing tower.
LAON CATHEDRAL (AERIAL VIEW)
Photo from Pinterest.com

The west and transept towers are of striking
open, octagonal design, decorated with
figures of oxen, the west front has a
splendid triple portal, under boldly
projecting, and originally open porches,
topped with gables and turrets.
The Cathedral was extremely influential.

It undoubtedly supplied the architect of
(and hence the basic design for) Chartres
and had considerable influence in Eastern turrets
France, at Reims, and in Germany,

for instance at Bamberg and
Limburg an der Lahn.

5. CHOIR OF ABBEY CHURCH OF ST. REMI, Reims, France
(Add. 1170-90)
The main internal elevation was
standard: 4 levels, with an arcade of
double columns, a vaulted tribune,
and a triforium passage.
The vaults were quadripartite and

supported by massive double-span
flying buttresses. The outstanding SOUTH FAÇADE OF ABBEY OF SAINT-REMI
feature of the building is the

ambulatory chapels: they are usually

deep, and a wall passage runs in front
of their windows, making the first
appearance of the so-called “Remois”
or Champenois passage.
REMOIS” or CHAMPENOIS PASSAGE
From cathedrale.maisons-champagne.com

5. CHOIR OF ABBEY CHURCH OF ST. REMI, Reims, France
(Add. 1170-90)
The entrances to the chapels are
screened from the ambulatory by two
additional slander shafts screening the
chapel entrances were influential, the
former being particularly favored in
Champagne, Burgundy, & Normandy,
and the chapel entrance shafts
reappearing at Auxerre (both in the
cathedral and the church of St.
Germain) and S. Quentin, Mainz.

6. SOISSONS CATHEDRAL, Soissons, France
Formally known as Cathédrale
Saint-Gervais-et-Saint-Protais.
The earliest part of the said cathedral

is the south transept, which was
finished by 1190. The rest of the
cathedral, built to a very different
design, was completed in 1300.
The difference between the south

transept and the rest of the church
is striking and shows the speed with
which architecture was developing
at the end of 12th century.
SOISSONS CATHEDRAL
(Circa 1920’s)

The south transept is apsidal,
like the transepts of some other
north-eastern buildings, such as the
Cathedrals of Noyon, Tournai &
Cambrai. The transept is aisled,
with a tribune and 2-level east chapel.
The elevation has four levels, with a

band triforium above the tribune.
The design is sophisticated, with
most arches and windows arranged
in groups of three, and complex piers
of clustered ‘en delit’ (face-bedded)
shafts at the entrance to the east chapel.
APSIDAL SOUTH TRANSEPT OF SOISSONS CATHEDRAL
www.jstor.org/stable

The elevations of the choir, nave and
north transept, on the other hand,
are of 3 levels, with a columnar arcade
surmounted by a band triforium, and
then by a clerestory of enormous
windows descending below
the vault capitals.
The windows have plate tracery with
large oculi above twin lancets.
The whole cathedral is very closely
related to Chartres, with which it is
almost contemporary.
A matching tower on the other side
of the façade was originally planned,
but never built.

7. CHARTRES CATHEDRAL, Chartres, France
(Completed 1220 – Gothic version)
Formally known as Cathédrale Notre-
Dame de Chartres.
Rebuilt after a fire in 1194,

incorporating substantial remains of
the previous church.
The extensive crypt (9th-12th century)

was left intact, but slightly extended to
support the new choir above it. The
western nave bay, two west towers, and
much of the west front, of early Gothic
date (1135-60), were also undamaged,
and retained in the present building.
CHARTRES CATHEDRAL

Chartres was designed as a
pilgrimage church, with broad
aisles, doubled in the choir,
for easy circulating, and enormous
aisled transepts with triple portals
and porches to rival the west front.
The aisles are of equal height. All
vaults are quadripartite, that of the
nave some 37m high. An arcade of
alternately round & octagonal
cored ‘piliers cantonnes’ (pier
flanked by four attached shafts)
supports a band triforium and a
clerestory with windows reaching
down below the vault springing, CHARTRES CATHEDRAL interior
Image From historum.com
and almost as tall as the arcade
itself.
Sample image of PILIERS
CANTONNES

The windows are of plate tracery,
with a rosette set above twin
lancets. Indeed, Chartres was
almost designed around its
windows. Vast rose windows
decorate the west front and the
two transept facades.
The exterior, as originally
designed, would have had
7 towers, including a
crossing tower.
Chartres itself had enormous
influence, providing a simplified
but highly effective design for a
big, impressive cathedral, Orig. Interior Nave Bay & flying buttress
of CHARTRES CATHEDRAL
such as Reims & Amiens Courtesy of sir banister fletcher’s
history of architecture, 20th edition

Chartres itself had
enormous influence,
providing a simplified but
highly effective design for a
big, impressive cathedral,
such as Reims & Amiens.


Gothic Architecture: in France Notable Churches On Île-de-France Region

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Gothic Architecture: in France Notable Churches On Île-de-France Region

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Gothic

French Gothic ARCHITECTURE

French Gothic ARCHITECTURE

French Gothic ARCHITECTURE

The choir was begun around 1140,

French Gothic ARCHITECTURE

Flying Buttresses were present in

The vaulting, pier alteration and the

Formally known as Cathédrale

SENS CATHEDRAL sexpartite vault

French Gothic ARCHITECTURE

French Gothic ARCHITECTURE

The high vault is sexpartite, covering

Orig. Interior Nave Bay of

French Gothic ARCHITECTURE

The 13th century, attempts were made to

clerestory windows downwards,

NOTRE DAME CATHEDRAL

French Gothic ARCHITECTURE

Begun around 1160. The original

The original 1160 choir was apsidal,

French Gothic ARCHITECTURE

French Gothic ARCHITECTURE

French Gothic ARCHITECTURE

The Cathedral was extremely influential.

France, at Reims, and in Germany,

French Gothic ARCHITECTURE

The vaults were quadripartite and

feature of the building is the

ambulatory chapels: they are usually

French Gothic ARCHITECTURE

French Gothic ARCHITECTURE

The earliest part of the said cathedral

The difference between the south

French Gothic ARCHITECTURE

The elevation has four levels, with a

French Gothic ARCHITECTURE

French Gothic ARCHITECTURE

Rebuilt after a fire in 1194,

The extensive crypt (9th-12th century)

French Gothic ARCHITECTURE

French Gothic ARCHITECTURE

French Gothic ARCHITECTURE

French Gothic ARCHITECTURE

You might also like