Amiens Cathedral

Amiens holds more interior volume than any other cathedral in France, and unusually it was built almost in one push, from the 1220s into the 1280s, which gives it a consistency that Chartres and Bourges cannot match. The nave is very tall and narrow in proportion, so the effect from the door is vertical rather than long. The west front carries hundreds of carved figures, and laser cleaning in the 1990s found traces of their original paint. Those colours are now projected back onto the stone on summer and December evenings, turning the facade into something closer to what the thirteenth century saw. A black and white labyrinth is set into the nave floor.

History

A Romanesque cathedral built in 1137-1152, where King Philip II married in 1193, received in 1206 the reputed head of John the Baptist from Constantinople, which made Amiens a major pilgrimage destination; after fire took that cathedral in 1218, the master builder Robert de Luzarches drew up a new plan, and Bishop Evrard de Fouilloy laid the first stone in 1220. Luzarches used stones of standard sizes and forms rather than cutting each one for its place, and was followed by Thomas de Cormont until 1258 and his son Renaud until 1288; unusually the work went from west to east, the nave was finished in 1236 and by 1269 the upper choir windows were in place, so that the cathedral was built almost entirely between 1220 and about 1270, giving it an unusual unity of style. In the 15th century a second, lower row of flying buttresses had to be added to save the choir, whose first buttresses had been set too high (Wikipedia, Amiens Cathedral).

Highlights

• The nave - the tallest complete cathedral interior in France.
• The west front carvings - hundreds of figures across three deep portals.
• The colour projection - the original paint thrown back onto the facade after dark.
• The floor labyrinth - an octagonal path laid into the nave paving.

When to go

The projection runs on summer evenings and again through December, and it is the single best reason to time a visit; it starts only once it is properly dark, so June means a very late showing. Daytime visits are easiest on weekday mornings. The tower climb is seasonal and closes in wind or rain.

Practical notes

The square fills for the projection and there is nowhere comfortable to sit, so people stand for forty minutes. Inside, the scale reads better in photographs than in person because the proportions are so even that nothing gives you a measure. Amiens is a working city rather than a pretty one, and much of the centre around the cathedral is modern rebuilding.

Nearby

The floating market gardens on the Somme canals, the Jules Verne house and the arcaded squares of Arras up the line.

Key facts