Pastyme With Good Companye

Post details: The Cathedral of Our Lady of Amiens

11/23/07

04:14:33 pm, by

, 139 words

Categories: European History, Religion and Spirituality, Museums And Historic Sites, Travel & Tourism

The Cathedral of Our Lady of Amiens

Cathédrale Notre-Dame d'Amiens

Work on this the largest cathedral in France began in the year 1220, and was financed primarily through the brisk sales of woad. Woad was cultivated in order to create blue dye.

Amiens Cathedral as it is more simply known was built in order to house the head of St. John the Baptist which was brought back from the crusades in 1206, and was considered a magnet for pilgrims (medieval tourists). It is still on display in the Treasury.

Within 50 years Notre-Dame was complete, and is a masterpiece of engineering, and Gothic architecture. It was restored by Viollet Le Duc in the 1850s, and has survived two world wars. The cathedral is known world over for its awe inspiring statues, and reliefs which were the inspiration for John Ruskin's The Bible Of Amiens in 1884.

Image Credit: Wiki

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Welcome to the blog of amateur historians Matthew James Didier and Sue Darroch. Partners in life and in crime, we endeavor to entertain you with snippets from our combined historical research. Past time with good company indeed, as we shall introduce you to Kings and Knaves, Queens and Mistresses, Cons and Heroes, from our collective past......from events well known to those perhaps all but forgotten, we will do our best to bring you interesting historical factoids from around the globe. It is our belief that through understanding our past we will all gain a better perspective on our future.