Detail of the South Portal, Albi Cathedral,
showing the Flamboyant Style of Architecture.
Photo: 27 May 2013.
Author: M.Strīķis
(Wikimedia Commons)
Text is from Wikipedia - the free encyclopædia,
unless stated otherwise.
The addition of the multiple small Towers and Balustrade, which did not exist in Gothic times, did not please the residents of Albi.
They protested and demanded a return to the original roofline. In 1876, Daly resigned. Many new projects were proposed and rejected before a new architect, Alphonse Potdevin, was selected in 1900.
He removed the Balustrade, reduced the new small Towers to the height of the Roof, and returned the Cathedral to approximately its earlier appearance.[15] The Baldaquin at the entrance was reconstructed, and the interior, paintings and decoration underwent important conservation programmes, which continue.[15]
The Vaults in The Choir Ceiling.
Photo: 2 July 2008.
Source: Own work.
Author: Pom²
(Wikimedia Commons)
As suitable building stone was scarce locally, it was built almost entirely of brick, which also was easier to work and gave the builders greater flexibility.[7]
It has a single Nave, without a Transept, and without lower collateral Aisles. This gives it the widest Gothic Nave in France, 18 metres (59 ft), compared with 14.65 metres (48.1 ft) at Reims Cathedral and 14 metres (46 ft) at Notre-Dame de Paris.
English: A part of the quadripartite Cross-Ribbed Vault in
The Choir, Albi Cathedral, located thirty metres above
the ground, painted between 1509 and 1512.
Deutsch: Teilansicht eines vierteiligen Kreuzrippengewölbes, 30 m über Bodenniveau, in den Jahren 1509 bis 1512 ausgemalt, Kathedrale Sainte-Cécile, Albi, Frankreich.
Français: Détail d'une voûte sur croisée d'ogives quadripartite située à 30m du sol, peintes entre 1509 et 1512
(Cathédrale Sainte-Cécile, Albi).
Photo: 2 July 2008.
Source: Own work.
Author: Pom²
(Wikimedia Commons)
Instead of using Flying Buttresses to support the Upper Walls, as in Northern France, the thick Walls of Toulouse are supported by semi-circular Buttresses integrated into the Walls, rising up to the Roof and coming inside to form the separations between the Chapels.
The principal entry is on the South Side, through an elaborate Porch, entered by a fortified Stairway, rather than through The Great West Door, as is traditional in French Gothic Architecture.[16]
The Bell Tower is seventy-eight metres (256 ft) tall, and is composed of two distinct sections and styles. The lower portion was built between 1355 and 1366. It is composed of stacked square sections, of which the exterior surfaces feature Rounded Arches and bands of decoration connecting Cylindrical Corners.
English: Vaulting in The Apse, Albi Cathedral.
Français: Albi Cathédrale Ste Cécile Le Choeur.
Photo: 6 August 2011.
Source: Own work.
Author: H Cluzeaud
(Wikimedia Commons)
The upper level, constructed in the 15th-Century, has three octagonal sections, growing smaller as they rise in height, surrounded by Balustrades. The top section has two delicate Flying Arches on the West Side and two slender supporting Towers on the East Side.[17]
Unlike most Gothic Cathedrals, where the principal entrance is via The Great West Door, at Albi Cathedral, the main entrances are on the South and South-East sides and date later than much of the Cathedral.
The South Portal previously passed through a separate Chapel, built in 1521 next to the Cathedral, which was destroyed in the 19th-Century.
English: Gothic Rood Screen in Albi Cathedral.
Français: Jubé gothique vu depuis la nef. Abside en arrière plan (Cathédrale Sainte-Cécile, Albi).
Photo: 2 July 2008.
Source: Own work.
Author: Pom²
(Wikimedia Commons)
It now is preceded by a very ornate Baldaquin, whose Vault is covered with intricate Interlocking Ribs of The Flamboyant Style of Architecure. Between the Baldaquin and the Interior, is an extraordinary forest of lace-like, twisting Spires, Crochets, and other ornaments.
The pioneer architectural preservationist Prosper Mérimée described the intent of the decoration as “admirable”, but remarked that the finished Baldaquin was “entirely absurd”, since it was open to the sky, and offered no protection at all from the wind, rain, or sun.
PART FIVE FOLLOWS.
