Gothic: Reims Cathedral

Reims Cathedral

May 16th

3:10 PM

Reims is now one of my very favorite places in France.

I loved the cathedral. Gothic cathedrals are just beautiful. I love the arches and the different views of them and how they interconnect. A really cool thing I saw in this cathedral was how some of the stonework on the outside had been cleaned. The contrast between the bright, clean, white stone and the dark stone was striking, and it testifies to me how false the term "the Dark Ages" is. The only things I’ve seen as bright and beautiful as that stone are our church houses and temples.
After finding lunch, I went back into the cathedral. The first time felt rushed, so I went back in by myself for about fifteen minutes. I felt at peace, safe (despite being alone), and content being alone and wandering the cathedral. I must've needed it. And going through again, I found a statue of Joan of Arc. So I stopped and sat there, taking pictures [coming later], thinking, and looking at the statue. I even paid a euro to light a candle to her, in honor of her. I lit a green one, and it was the only green one lit today. All of that made me happy. She’s always been one of my heroes. I hope I may meet her someday, along with Shakespeare and Jane Austen. She freed Reims from the English in 1429, and it was there that she witnessed the crowning of Charles VII. According to tradition, all French Kings had to be crowned there.

Reims Cathedral first started to be built in 1211 after the original church that had stood on the site was destroyed in 1210. As I stated in my journal, Reims Cathedral was the coronation site of the kings of France throughout the Middle Ages. As such, when Reims was taken by the English and held for over fifty years, the dauphin, later Charles VII, was unable to be crowned king. As such, when Joan of Arc liberated the city and cathedral, she was able to accomplish her duty and witness the crowning of Charles as king of France.

An interesting note on this cathedral is that it once had a labyrinth on the floor, as several cathedral did, to give the names of the four architects and main builders of the cathedral and as a symbol of our journey through mortal life, but the labyrinth was destroyed in the 18th century either due to children's irreverence (see wikipedia.org) or to its supposed pagan connections (see www.luc.edu). 

In my post on the first Gothic cathedral, St. Denis, I listed the following characteristics of Gothic architecture: pointed windows and arches, flying buttresses, stained glass windows (including rose windows), spires, and extensive sculptural decoration. Reims cathedral exemplifies all of these characteristics.

It's flying buttresses are elaborately carved with spires and statues.

The front of the cathedral (of course it has scaffolding which covers the rose window!):

A model so you can see the front:

The entrance with its plentiful sculptures and decoration:

I found this sculpture of a man supporting the pedestal interesting.

Some of the gargoyles...or, rather, animals that decorate the cathedral:

Notice the clean white stone against the dark stone:

The nave and its pointed arches

A close up of the choir:

The beautiful stained glass rose windows from the inside:

Light scattered across the floor through a stained glass window:

Like I expressed in my journal, I've always loved how Gothic arches interconnect and all of the different views of them.

They're beautiful. A picture just can't capture it.

A close up of vaulted Gothic arches:

Hopefully you will get a sense of what it feels like to walk along the side of the nave in a Gothic cathedral with this sequence of pictures:

A slightly different view looking up the nave that captures the height.

The details in the outer decoration of Gothic cathedrals is remarkable.

I didn't want to leave.