Cathedral of Notre Dame, Amiens

Our hotel was right opposite Amiens cathedral of Notre Dame, so an ideal place to head for and start our day.

They started building the cathedral in 1220, and it took around 50 years to finish, which apparently is a remarkably short period of time for a Gothic cathedral. When you get up close, you can appreciate all the incredibly intricate carving and work that went into it, it’s a classic example of high gothic architecture. As you enter it, the enormity of the building is rather extraordinary, it’s height is breathtaking.

The builders were trying to maximize the internal dimensions to allow light to flood in, and also to appear like the building was reaching for the heavens. They certainly achieved it. I was also impressed with the level of small details they added at height throughout the cathedral, like the stonework garland that runs around the upper tier.

I wasn’t aware, before going there, that Amiens cathedral is the largest in France, at 200,000 cubic metres. It’s large enough to contain Notre Dame in Paris twice!

It has been listed as a UNESCO world heritage site since 1981.

Although Amiens Cathedral has lost a lot of its original stained glass, it is renowned for the quality, and quantity, of its early 13th-century gothic sculpture.

Much of its stained glass windows were removed to protect them during the world wars, although the church actually only suffered minor damage. But sadly, in 1920, some of the windows which were being stored in the workshop of a master glass maker for their protection were destroyed by a fire. The ones that did survive have been reinstated and are magnificent.

It’s such an exquisite building, and is well worth a visit.