3391 x 5100 px | 28,7 x 43,2 cm | 11,3 x 17 inches | 300dpi
Aufnahmedatum:
20. August 2006
Ort:
Cathedral of Notre-Dame, Reims, Marne, Champagne-Ardenne, France
Weitere Informationen:
Notre-Dame de Reims is the cathedral of Reims, where the kings of France were once crowned. It replaces an older church, destroyed by a fire in 1211. The cathedral was completed by the end of the 13th century, with the exception of the Western front. That portion was erected in the 14th century, following 13th century designs-the nave having in the meantime been lengthened to afford room for the crowds that attended the coronations. The towers, 81 m tall (approx. 267 ft), were originally designed to rise 120 m (approx. 394 ft). The south tower holds two great bells; one of them, named “Charlotte” by Charles, Cardinal of Lorraine in 1570, weighs more than 10, 000 kg (about 11 tons). The façade is the finest portion of the building, and one of the great masterpieces of the Middle Ages. German shellfire during the First World War burned, damaged and destroyed important parts of the cathedral. Restoration work began in 1919; the cathedral was fully reopened in 1938, but work has been steadily going on since. The three portals are laden with statues and statuettes. The central portal, dedicated to the Virgin Mary, is surmounted by a rose window framed in an arch itself decorated with statuary, in place of the usual sculptured tympanum. The "gallery of the kings" above shows the baptism of Clovis in the centre flanked by statues of his successors. The façades of the transepts are also decorated with sculptures—that on the North with statues of bishops of Reims, a representation of the Last Judgment and a figure of Jesus (le Beau Dieu) while that on the south side has a beautiful modern rose window with the prophets and apostles. Fire destroyed the roof and the spires in 1481: of the four towers that flanked the transepts, nothing remains above the height of the roof. Above the choir rises an elegant lead-covered timber belltower that is 18 m (approx. 59 feet) tall, reconstructed in the 15th century and in the 1920s. (source: Wikipedia)
