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More About Cathedrals
The Abbey of St.
Denis
The Abbey of St. Denis, built near Paris in the 12th
century was constructed in a new style with outside
supports or buttresses for the higher walls. This new
Gothic style placed an emphasis on height and grandeur.
The larger stained glass windows flooded the cathedrals
with divine light. Outside and inside, the houses of
worship became repositories of great sculpture and
painting. Cathedrals, an important part of medieval
religious life, were a form of civic pride as well.
Flying
Buttresses
Flying buttresses (A buttress is an architectural support
built against a wall and projecting from it. It is
intended to resist thrusts from within.) were the key to
the towering success of Gothic cathedrals. Previously,
Roman architects had buttressed inside walls with thick
stone, and church interiors were imposing and dark. The
new medieval technology of rib and cross vaults supported
high ceilings and allowed wall space to be given to
beautiful stained glass panes. Combined with the exterior
buttressing of stress points, these innovations helped
make Gothic cathedrals works of civic and artistic pride.
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