Bordeaux Cathedral, Gothic cathedral in Place Pey Berland, Bordeaux, France.
Bordeaux Cathedral is a large Gothic church with a single long nave and cross-shaped floor plan that rises majestically over Place Pey Berland. The exterior is defined by two towers, while the interior features pillars and vaulted ceilings characteristic of Gothic design.
A church of Saint-André is documented in 814 and was consecrated by Pope Urban II in 1096. From the early 14th century, Archbishop Bertrand de Got, later Pope Clement V, funded the Gothic rebuilding; the Hundred Years' War then cut the nave from three aisles to one. An earthquake damaged the vaults in 1427, and Paul Abadie demolished the south cloister in 1865.
The carvings are on the north facade's Porte royale, made around 1250, not on the west front, which was left plain because city ramparts blocked a portal there. Its tympanum shows the Last Supper, the Ascension and God the Father between two angels holding a shroud and a crown of thorns.
The cathedral sits in a central location on a busy square and is easy to reach, with large entrances for visitors to come and go. It makes sense to visit earlier in the day when fewer people are around and you can explore the spaces more freely.
The west facade is plain because the city ramparts left no room for a portal there; the sculpted entrances were placed on the north side instead. The Porte Royale, carved around 1250, has a tympanum showing the Last Supper, the Ascension and God the Father between two angels. Flying buttresses were added after the 1427 earthquake damaged the ramparts.
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