IN PRAISE OF MARY
赞美玛利亚的建筑物
BIG buildings nowadays take only months to build.Big Gothic buildings often took hundreds of years to build.One Gothic building，Cologne Cathedral，took more than six hundred years.
The most important Gothic buildings were the cathedrals.When “Gothic”is mentioned，most people think of France，for France has some of the finest Gothic cathedrals in the world.
The Gothic cathedrals were built with loving care.Every one in the village and the surrounding country did his bit for the cathedral.The stones were shaped and set in place by the members of the gilds，which were clubs of workman.The gild would not let any work pass that was not good work.There was nothing “fake”about a cathedral.The stone carvings’way up in the roof were just as carefully made as if people could get near enough to examine them.
Perhaps this is why the Gothic cathedrals rate next to the Greek buildings as the world’s most wonderful examples of architecture.The men who built the Greek temples and the men who built the Gothic cathedrals left behind them very different kinds of architecture.But they were alike in the honesty of their work.
Most of the French Gothic cathedrals were built to the glory of Mary，the mother of Christ，who in French was called Notre Dame—Our Lady.There were so many cathedrals of Notre Dame built that we generally call the cathedral simply by the name of the town it is in，such as Chartres or Rheims.But if anybody speaks of just the Cathedral of Notre Dame，he usually means Notre Dame of Paris.
Notre Dame of Paris has on the west end—the end opposite the altar—two large towers.Beneath the towers and in the center are the doorways，one to the nave and one to each side aisle.The doorways are covered with rows of statues of prophets and saints，the head of one statue below the feet of another.Above each doorway is a row of very large statues of kings.Above the kings is a huge round window called a wheel window or rose window.The rose window is filled with brilliant colored pieces of glass that cast a soft purplish glow inside the church.
This cathedral in Paris is in the form of a Latin cross.Almost all the Gothic churches are.The arms of the cross are called the transepts of the cathedral.The place where thetransepts cross the nave is called the crossing.Over the crossing was built a tall slender spire.You can see this spire between the towers in the picture.
The front of a building，like the front of Notre Dame which you see in the picture，is called the facade.Facade means about the same thing as face.Now，Notre Dame of Paris is supposed to have the finest facade of any Gothic cathedral in the world.In fact，each of the great cathedrals of France has some part that is considered the best in the world.What a building it would make if the best of each cathedral were taken and all the bests put together to make one best cathedral！But perhaps such a building wouldn’t be as interesting，after all，as the separate cathedrals.There is such a thing as being too good.
The towers with their square tops on the cathedral of Paris were meant to have tall spires on them.But by the time the cathedral was ready for the spires，so many years had gone by that the spires were never built.On some cathedrals one tower was built and the other never finished.On one very fine cathedral the spires were put on at different times，so that they are not alike.This is the famous Cathedral of Chartres.
No.74-1FACADE OF NOTRE DAME，PARIS（巴黎圣母院正面）Chartres is a little city about sixty miles from Paris.The Cathedral of Chartres is noted not only for its two spires but for the wonderful stained glass windows in its walls.You remember I told you that Gothic churches had walls of glass.This glass was made in brilliant color to show Bible pictures.The sunlight streaming through the colored glass has a marvelously beautiful effect on the interior.Instead of the glass of Chartres Cathedral，however，I’m going to show you a picture of the interior of a church in Paris called the Sainte Chapelle so you can see how much of the wall space is glass.The stone parts，as you can see，are hardly more than a framework for whole walls of glass.
The glass was held by stone framework in the windows，and the separate pieces of glass were kept in place with strips of lead.The stone framework holding the glass in the windows is called tracery.
No.74-2INTERIOR OF SAINTE CHAPELLE，PARIS（巴黎圣礼拜堂内景）Potograph by Ewing Galloway
As new Gothic cathedrals were built，the tracery was made in different shapes.Often the shapes of the tracery is a good way to tell in what period the cathedral was built.
Rheims Cathedral is thought to have the best portals or doorways.It also is famousfor its proportion or shape as a whole building.And many of the carved stone statues that are all over the building are famous.Unfortunately this beautiful cathedral was in the fighting area during World War I and the German shells that struck it damaged it terribly.After the war the damage was repaired as carefully as possible，so that Rheims looks almost the same as before.
Fortunately this cathedral could be repaired，but many of the beautiful buildings of the past have been destroyed in wars or so badly damaged that they could not be repaired.The wonderful Parthenon，you remember，was blown up by an explosion during a war.
The best Gothic nave is thought by many to be the nave of the cathedral at Amiens.So now let’s see what we have best from these cathedrals ：
The facade of ParisThe nave of Amiens The doorways of RheimsThe statues of RheimsThe spires and glass of Chartres