Amiens Cathedral

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Amiens Cathedral, officially the Cathedral of Our Lady of Amiens, serves as the home church for the Bishop of Amiens. Perched on a low ridge above the River Somme, it stands in Amiens, the main city of France's Picardy region, about 120 kilometers north of Paris. Its construction took place almost entirely between 1220 and roughly 1270—an unusually fast timeline for a Gothic cathedral, which gives the building a remarkable stylistic consistency. The cathedral represents an early example of the High Gothic period and features the Rayonnant style, visible in the triforium and clerestory begun in 1236, as well as in the enlarged choir windows added in the mid-1250s. Its builders aimed to maximize interior space to reach toward heaven and let in more light, making Amiens the largest French cathedral by volume at 200,000 cubic meters—more than twice the size of Notre Dame in Paris.

Local tradition holds that Christianity reached Amiens in the third century through two martyrs, Firmin the Martyr and Firmin the Confessor. Saint Martin was baptized here in 334. The church was suppressed during Vandal invasions and only revived near the end of the fifth century with the baptism of Clovis I in 498 or 499. The first known bishop, Edibus, attended a council in 511. Documents mention an early cathedral with two churches dedicated to the two Fermins on the current site, but no archaeological proof exists. Bishop Salvius, around 600, is credited with building that cathedral, though his biography is highly unreliable. A fire destroyed both churches and much of the town, leading to a Romanesque replacement built between 1137 and 1152. That cathedral hosted the 1193 wedding of King Philip II of France. In 1206, Amiens acquired a celebrated relic—the reputed head of John the Baptist, purchased in Constantinople—which turned the city into a major pilgrimage destination and a source of significant revenue. The original reliquary was destroyed during the French Revolution, but a 1876 recreation by a Paris jeweler, incorporating some original rock crystal, is now displayed in the treasury.

A fire in 1218 destroyed the Romanesque cathedral. Master-builder Robert de Luzarches drafted plans for a new one, and Bishop Evrard de Fouilloy laid the first stone in 1220. Luzarches revolutionized Gothic construction by using standardized stone pieces instead of unique ones for each function. He served as architect until 1228, followed by Thomas de Cormont until 1258, and then Thomas's son Renaud de Cormont until 1288. Unusually, construction proceeded from west to east, starting with the nave. Renaud de Cormont gave the structure its striking dimensions and harmony through the grand arcades and upper windows. The nave was finished in 1236, and by 1269 the choir's upper windows were in place. The transept arms were completed by the end of the 13th century, and the facades and upper towers were finished in the early 14th century. During this time, chapels were added between the buttresses and at the transept angles.

The original flying buttresses around the choir were placed too high to counter the outward thrust of the ceiling arch, putting excessive lateral force on the vertical columns. The structure was saved only when masons added a second row of stronger buttresses connecting lower on the outer wall. In 1497, the four transept crossing pillars and two left columns of the chevet began cracking. Experts examined and repaired the damage, but cracks persisted. Pierre Tarisel solved the problem in 1498 by installing a wrought iron chain around the level to resist outward pressure; the chain was placed red hot to tighten as it cooled and remains in place. In 1503, Tarisel similarly reinforced parts of the choir entrance.

During the 16th century, the cathedral endured fires, windstorms, and an explosion from a nearby powder mill without major harm. It also underwent stylistic updates, including a new Flamboyant Gothic rose window in the south transept, full of curls and counter-curls. In the 18th century, modifications followed new doctrines from the Council of Trent: the old medieval rood screen was replaced with an ornate iron choir screen so parishioners in the nave could see the altar, and the altar itself was altered, removing twelve massive candelabras and twelve relic chests of martyred saints. Major work also strengthened the flying buttresses.

Like many French cathedrals, Amiens suffered considerable damage during the French Revolution, with much of its sculpture smashed. Despite losing most of its original stained glass, the cathedral is famous for the quality and quantity of early 13th-century Gothic sculpture on the main west façade and the south transept portal, as well as for a large collection of later polychrome sculpture inside. It has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1981.