Building a cathedral was an extremely complex and expensive endeavor.
As mentioned, Notre Dame took 200 years to complete.
One of the most challenging aspects of the construction was building the nave.
The term "nave" comes from the Latin for "ship".
The name reflects the fact that the Church saw its role as guiding the congregation toward salvation.
While architects had known for centuries how to build rudimentary arched ceilings, these structures were incredibly weak.
To counteract the downward pressure of the ceiling and the outward push on the supporting walls, the walls had to be exceptionally thick.
As a result, arched buildings were typically low and dark, since adding windows would compromise the strength of the walls.
In the 11th century, architects developed a new technique, known as the rib vault, created by intersecting 2-3 arches.
With this innovation, pressure was diverted onto 4 supporting pillars rather than the walls themselves.
Another key innovation was the flying buttresses - stone arches that connect the nave to the outer walls - helping to alleviate pressure on the structure.
As the walls became more stable, architects could build them taller and thinner, allowing for the inclusion of large stained glass window, lighting up the cathedrals.
Creating stained glass was an incredibly complex process - often consuming up to two thirds of the cathedral's total budget.
Glassmakers melted sand and added special metals during the fusion to achieve different colors - cobalt for blue, copper for red, manganese for yellow...
They produced large sheets, approximately 30cm wide.
These would then be sent off to the stained glass artists, who would chip off bits of them and assemble them to form the windows.
Notre Dame's rose windows are more than 10m in diameter.
The largest rose was a gift from King Saint Louis.
It depicts 84 scenes, across 4 concentric circles, featuring martyred saints like Saint Denis or Saint Blandine, as well as Biblical scenes, such as the Exodus.
The smaller rose represents the Virgin Mary, the 12 tribes of Israel, the virtues and vices, and the 12 months of the year.
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