Gothic cathedrals leave no one indifferent, with their multi-colored stained glass, ogival arches, and insatiable need to touch the sky.
The earliest examples of Gothic architecture date back to the second half of the 12th century. The worksites of cathedrals involved architects, master carpenters, stonemasons, and glassworkers, and construction could last for hundreds of years and involve the efforts and donations of whole cities. Gothic cathedrals expressed the taste, values, and religiosity of the society of the time.
The accentuated verticality, the walls lightened by decorated stained-glass windows, the flying buttresses, rib vaults, and pinnacles created a spiritual and transcendent space. The Gothic style spread from Northern France throughout Western Europe from the 12th to the 15th centuries, before being supplanted by Renaissance styles.
France was the point of irradiation for this artistic current, with the construction of the first cathedral: the Abbey of Saint-Denis , not far from Paris. This imposing building was constructed between the late s and the early s, on the site of an earlier sanctuary.
It was closely linked to the Capetian domination of the region, of which it was to become a symbol. Its sculpted portals, particularly the one depicting the Last Judgment, are also remarkable. Despite their many recurrent elements, Gothic cathedrals in Europe are all distinguished by local features and national variations. In Italy, for example, Gothic architecture spread across the region but was of a less extreme style than on the other side of the Alps.
