Paris – Notre Dame Apse - 4me

Plate XXXIII - Notre Dame – a view of the apse…

Possibly because it was so relatively unobscured at the time, this remains in many ways my preferred view of the cathedral. The west elevation of Notre Dame with its towers and the elaborately Gothic carved main portal doors shows a solidity and has an almost fortress like bearing (the planned spires, still shown on some drawings, on each tower were never completed). The eastern view, from behind the apse has a far lighter feeling, with considerably more detail in the Gothic elements. Extensive use of flying buttresses was deemed necessary when stress fractures appeared in the thinner walls of the transepts, apse and the nave.

Although not part of the initial design, Notre Dame was amongst the first buildings to use the flying buttress, and they add greatly to the architectural uniqueness of the church. The Rayonnant Gothic styled, and gracefully elegant buttress examples of Notre Dame can be clearly seen here supporting the walls of the apse, with their large clerestory windows.