| The Notre Dame
Cathedral was built between 1163 and 1345 on a site occupied first by a
Roman temple and then by 2 earlier Christian churches. The cathedral
is designed in the style of French Gothic architecture. Most notable
on the outside of the cathedral are its flying buttresses and frightening
gargoyles which look down on you. Inside are the beautiful stained
glass rose windows and a 7800 pipe organ. |
View from the front of the cathedral.
Visible in the center between the towers and about half-way up is one of
the rose windows. |
One of the rose windows from
the inside! |
Audrey and I in back of the
cathedral. You can see the flying buttresses from here. We
are standing on a bridge over the Seine River. Notre Dame is actually
on an island in the middle of the river. |
Another view of Notre Dame near
sunset. You can see more of the Ile de la Cite on which the cathedral
sits. |
Sainte Chapelle was consecrated
in 1248 and sits tucked away within the walls of the Palais de Justice
(Law Courts). The walls of the upper chapel are curtains of richly
colored and finely detailed stained glass which bathe the chapel in an
extraordinary light. The upper chapel was built for worship by the
king and his court. |
The windows are mesmerizing
with their color. The windows depict Biblical scenes, from Genesis
to the Apocalypse. |
Another beautiful part of the
chapel, other than the windows, including a rose window shown here, is
the ceiling which is covered with gold fleur-de-lis (one of the French
symbols which depicts an iris flower).
|
Home
|