Editing Amiens (section)

====Notre-Dame d'Amiens====
{{main|Amiens Cathedral}}
[[File:Cathédrale Notre-Dame d'Amiens-3420.jpg|thumb|right|Façade of Notre-Dame Cathedral]]

{{Translated blockquote
|language=fr
|C’est une femme adorable, cette Cathédrale, c’est une Vierge. [...] Point de confusion vaine, ici, point d’exagération ni d’enflure. C’est l’empire absolu de l’élégance suprême.
|She's an adorable woman, this Cathedral{{snd}}a Virgin. [...] No empty confusion, here, no exaggeration or pompousness. It is the absolute empire of supreme elegance.
|author=[[Auguste Rodin]] 
|title=''Les cathédrales de France'' (1914)<ref name=RODIN-LCDF>{{cite wikisource |author-first=Auguste |author-last=Rodin| author-link=Auguste Rodin |chapter= Amiens |wslink= Auguste Rodin - Les cathedrales de France, 1914 |wslanguage=fr |plaintitle= Les cathédrales de France |year= 1914 |publisher=Armand Colin}}</ref>}}

{{pull quote|Amiens Cathedral deserves the name given by [[Eugène Viollet-le-Duc|M. Viollet-le-Duc]], 'the [[Parthenon]] of Gothic architecture'.|author =[[John Ruskin]]|source=The Bible of Amiens}}

The city is famous for its Notre-Dame Cathedral, masterpiece of [[Gothic art]] and one of the largest cathedrals in the world by its interior volume ({{convert|200000|m3|cuft|abbr=on}}).<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.francetv.fr/culturebox/amiens-la-cathedrale-en-couleurs-58273 |archive-url= https://archive.today/20130701164053/http://www.francetv.fr/culturebox/amiens-la-cathedrale-en-couleurs-58273 |url-status= dead |archive-date= 1 July 2013 |title= Amiens, la cathédrale en couleurs |date= 18 June 2011 |work= France Télévisions |access-date= 6 May 2013 }}</ref> The largest religious and medieval building of France, its interior could twice hold [[Notre-Dame de Paris]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.routard.com/guide_voyage_lieu/10252-cathedrale_notre_dame_d_amiens.htm|title=Cathédrale Notre-Dame d'Amiens|work=Guide du routard|access-date=6 May 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131112000146/http://www.routard.com/guide_voyage_lieu/10252-cathedrale_notre_dame_d_amiens.htm|archive-date=12 November 2013|url-status=dead}}</ref>

The cathedral measures {{convert|145|m|ft}} long and its spire rises {{convert|112|m|ft}} high. The vaults of the central [[nave]], finished in 1247, are {{convert|42.3|m|ft}}, close to the maximum limit for this architecture.

Dating back to the 13th century, its construction is due to the wealth of the city in the Middle Ages and to the fire of the [[Romanesque art|Romanesque]] cathedral which stood previously. Three architects, including [[Robert of Luzarches]] succeeded to complete the construction.

Amiens Cathedral is notable for the coherence of its plan, the beauty of its three-tier interior elevation, the particularly fine display of sculptures on the principal façade and in the south transept, and inlays of its floor. It is also described by [[John Ruskin]] as "Gothic, clear of Roman tradition and of Arabian taint, Gothic pure, authoritative, unsurpassable, and unaccusable."

Regarded as the archetype of the classic [[Gothic architecture|Gothic]] style, the cathedral also presents some elements of the radiant Gothic style and flamboyant Gothic. The speed of construction, barely 70 years for the shell (1220 to 1269), explains this remarkable homogeneity of style. Its façade is decorated with more than 3,000 statues, gargoyles and chimeras.

Registered since 1981 as a [[World Heritage Site]] of [[UNESCO]], it is a "masterpiece of world heritage". For a second time in 1998, it is a monumental step on the [[Camino de Santiago (route descriptions)|Camino de Santiago]]. Despite the two World Wars of the 20th century, which severely affected the city, it managed to stay intact.

A show of the reproduction of the original polychromy<ref>Unlike most cathedrals in France, Notre Dame Amiens has substantially retained all of its original statues and ornaments, which even today allows one to admire some of the colours used in Middle Ages.</ref> of façades, discovered as a result of recent [[laser]] cleaning, is given annually for free in December and during the summer period. The show is a projection on the façade of slides in color.

The {{interlanguage link|Zodiaque de la cathédrale d'Amiens|fr|3=Zodiaque de la cathédrale d'Amiens|lt=zodiac}} is a set of reliefs on the foundations of the western façade formed series of quatrefoil medallions, carved in a representative agrarian calendar and the signs of the zodiac.

The statue of the {{interlanguage link|L'Ange pleureur|fr|3=L'Ange pleureur|lt=weeping Angel}} that is on a tomb carved by {{interlanguage link|Nicolas Blasset|fr}}, and the reliefs evoking Saint-Firmin and St. John the Baptist, are some of the well-known works of the cathedral.

At ground level lies the intact {{interlanguage link|Labyrinthe de la cathédrale d'Amiens|fr|3=Labyrinthe de la cathédrale d'Amiens|lt=labyrinth}} of {{convert|234|m|ft}} long.

On the north side of the cathedral is the former {{interlanguage link|Palais de l'évêché d'Amiens|fr|3=Palais de l'évêché d'Amiens|lt=Palace of the Bishop of Amiens}}, occupied by the {{interlanguage link|École supérieure de commerce d'Amiens|fr|3=École supérieure de commerce d'Amiens|lt=École supérieure de commerce}} in Amiens.

<gallery mode="packed">
Cathédrale Notre-Dame d'Amiens.jpg|The cathedral seen from the ''Rue André''
Amiens cathédrale (les 3 portails Ouest) 1.jpg|West entrance
Amiens cathédrale4.JPG|Entrance
Amiens Cathedral Interior 1.jpg|The labyrinth
Amiens Cathedral choir Wikimedia Commons.jpg|The choir
Stalles Cathédrale d'Amiens 280808 12.jpg|Columns
Mausolée de Charles de Vitry Amiens 110608 3.jpg|Mausoleum of Charles de Vitry
Tombeau du chanoine Lucas Amiens Ange pleureur130608 .jpg|Tomb of Canon Lucas
</gallery>