Laon Cathedral Laon cathedral faade (France, 11601215 AD)

Notre-Dame of Laon The city contains many medieval buildings. The most important of these is the cathedral Notre-Dame of Laon, dating mostly from the 12th and 13th centuries. The chapter-house and the cloister contain beautiful specimens of the architecture of the beginning of the 13th century. The old episcopal palace, contiguous to the cathedral, is now used as a court-house. The front, flanked by turrets, is pierced by great pointed windows. There is also a Gothic cloister and an old chapel of two storeys, of a date anterior to the cathedral. The church of St Martin dates from the middle of the 12th century. The old abbey buildings of the same foundation are now used as the hospital. The museum of Laon had collections of sculpture and painting. In its garden there is a chapel of the Templars belonging to the 12th century. The church of the suburb of Vaux near the railway station dates from the 11th and 12th centuries.

[edit] Transportation
The town has the only fully automated municipal cable car system in the world, called the Poma 2000. It links the upper town (the historical center, located on a plateau) with the lower town, has three stations and runs on rubber tyres. In contrast, the San Francisco cable car system is manually operated, and all the other automated cable car systems have restricted operations within airports and hospitals.

[edit] Miscellaneous
Laon was the birthplace of:

Bertrada of Laon (720-783), mother of Charlemagne Anselm of Laon (d. 1117), theologian Jacques Marquette, (1636-1675), Jesuit missionary Pierre Mchain (17441804), French astronomer

Laon is twinned with the city of Winchester in England. Laon is featured in the book Pursuit of Passy by D. M. Crook.

Gothic Architecture
Gothic architecture has always been seen as symbolism for a dark, mysterious and deeply religious era in time, with the powerful meaning of its cathedrals still rising out of modern day villages and communities. The design of gothic architecture came about in the period of the med-evil times. Most of this design consists of narrow, pointed arches, the buttress, the flying buttress and stained glass windows, just to name some characteristics. Most of gothic design has been used in catheradrals and churches. This is because Gothic architecture is the most appropriate style for the space and look of these buildings. As well the gothic syle has been used all over the world from America to Paris and Italy.

A Little Bit Of History...

The term "Gothic", comes from a term given to the style of Renaissance Schlor, Giorgi Vasari, who wrongly associated the form to the Gothics, Germanic invaders who helped lead to the downfall of the Holy Roman Empire. Gothic Cathedrals were built to hold holy rellics and serve as pilgrimage destination for the faithful. This would help lead into increased traffic and into the community's econmy and culture. In order to totally understand Gothic form, it helps to look at its predecessor, the Romanesque era.

The Basic Design...

The first form was taken from the early Christian and Roman basilica forms, which created a long central barrel vaulted nave pointing East to West. Romanesque took this form and put it into a cruciform, added in a transept 3/4 of the way perpendicular to the nave, forming the shape of a cross. The addition of side aisles and an ambulatory was also made to help account for the pilgrimage, so pilgrims could enter and view without disturbing or overcrowding the parish. Other features that the Romanesque style made use of were the replacement of wooden roofs with stone (reducing chance of fire) and solid stone buttressing, the entrance and sculptural importance of the West facade, multiple sectioned vaulting, ribbed vaulting , and the symbolic importance and placement of towers, usually on the West end and transept crossing.

The Three Basic Styles...

During the Gothic era, three main styles were created in order, throughout the 300 years of the Gothic style's popularity. These orders were the Early, High, and Late Gothic styles.

Early Gothic... Early Gothic was the first style and was a stage of experiments of what did and didn't work. (However, Gothic builders continued to experiment throughout later styles and as a result, many cathedrals collapsed and had to be rebuilt). Also... Side elevations for Early Gothic was mostly quadripartite elevation, with four stories of windows and levels, labeled the nave arcade, gallery, triforium, and clerestory. Ceiling vaulting was sexpartitite, meaning that there were 6 seperate sections in the vault. Early Gothic also started to deal with the notion of unity and the breaking up of wall mass (interior and exterior) by using numerous and ornate sculptures in order to take back the bulk and weight of the stone and create a lighter feel. This style is primarily categorized with: St. Denis Laon Notre Dame (Paris)

LIFTING THE VEIL ON THE MYSTERIES OF LAON CATHEDRAL... Stay theme : The mysteries and secrets of Picardys cathedrals...

This suggestion is part of the theme "The mysteries and secrets of Picardys cathedrals...". Discover the atmosphere of this theme in a few lines

Laon, France

Notre-Dame of Laon. Laon is a city and commune of France, prfecture (capital) of the Aisne dpartement. Population: 26,265.

Sights
The city contains many medieval buildings. The most important of these is the cathedral Notre-Dame of Laon, dating mostly from the 12th and 13th centuries. The chapter-house and the cloister contain beautiful specimens of the architecture of the beginning of the 13th century. The old episcopal palace, contiguous to the cathedral, is now used as a court-house. The front, flanked by turrets, is pierced by great pointed windows. There is also a Gothic cloister and an old chapel of two storeys, of a date anterior to the cathedral. The church of St Martin dates from the middle of the 12th century. The old abbey buildings of the same foundation are now used as the hospital. The museum of Laon had collections of sculpture and painting. In its garden there is a chapel of the Templars belonging to the 12th century. The church of the suburb of Vaux near the railway station dates from the 11th and 12th centuries.

Miscellaneous
Laon was the birthplace of:

Bertrada of Laon (720-783), mother of Charlemagne Anselm of Laon (d. 1117), theologian Jacques Marquette, (1636-1675), Jesuit missionary

The town has the only fully automated municipal cable car system in the world, called the Poma 2000. It links the upper town (the historical center, located on a plateau) with the lower town, has three stations and runs on rubber tyres. In contrast, the San Francisco

cable car system is manually operated, and all the other automated cable car systems have restricted operations within airports and hospitals.