# Exterior view [View the canonical artwork record]() ## Artwork - Artist: [ARCHITECT, French]() - Date: 1201-1250 - Technique: Photo ## Commentary Amiens Cathedral, also called Notre-Dame d'Amiens or the Cathedral of Notre-Dame of Amiens, is a Gothic cathedral located in the historic city of Amiens, France, in the Somme River valley north of Paris. It was commissioned by Bishop Evrard de Fouilloy to replace a smaller church that had burned down in 1218. Construction of the nave began in 1220 under the direction of the architect Robert de Luzarches. The nave and western façade were completed by 1236, and most of the main construction was finished about 1270. Amiens Cathedral is the largest of the three great Gothic cathedrals built in France during the 13th century, and it remains the largest in France. It has an exterior length of 145 metres, longer than Reims Cathedral and Chartres Cathedral, with an interior length of 134 metres. The soaring nave reaches an elevation of 42 metres at the apex of the vault, yet it is only 15 metres wide. This 3:1 ratio, made possible by the sophisticated cantilevering of the Rayonnant-style construction, gives the nave a greater verticality and elegance than other cathedrals of the period. The lightness and airiness of the interior is increased by the 20-metre height of the flanking aisles and the open arcades and large windows of the triforium and clerestory. The cathedral's elaborately decorated exterior has its fullest expression in the double-towered west façade, which is dominated by three deep-set arched portals and a richly carved gallery below the immense rose window \(diameter 13 metres\). The photo shows the west façade in front of which during the Middle Ages the houses were packed together so closely that the façade could not be seen as a whole. View the <a href="\#" onClick="w=window.open \('/support/plans/zzzarchi/13c/2/1/amiens.html', 'newWin', 'scrollbars=yes,status=no,dependent=yes,screenX=0,screenY=0,width=400,height=600'\);w.opener=this;w.focus\(\);return false">ground plan</a> of Amiens Cathedral. ## Related artworks - [Aerial view]() - [Aerial view]() - [Aerial view]() - [Aerial view]() - [Aerial view]() - [Aerial view]() - [Aerial view]() - [Aerial view]() - [Aerial view]() - [Bird's eye view]() - [Burial lantern]() - [Castle]() ## Attribution [Web Gallery of Art]()