At the demand of Stéphane here is a corrected version of his poll.

The cathedral of Beauvais has been a challenge for the architects of the Middle Ages, a mad project, unfinished. Only the transept and the choir have been built. The choir with 48m (157ft) is the highest of the world. The superior half of the walls is almost made only of glass! It's needed to maintain the building standing. Since four centuries beams pass between the pillars (you can see that on the pictures) without the glass the cathedral could collapse!!

http://www.beauvais.fr/
http://www.beauvais.fr/pages/gallery/albums/Cath%E9drale/Drapeau.jpg

http://romanes2.free.fr/
http://romanes2.free.fr//Saint_Pierre_de_Beauvais0034-2.jpg

http://romanes2.free.fr//Saint_Pierre_de_Beauvais0002-2.jpg

http://romanes2.free.fr//Saint_Pierre_de_Beauvais0017-2.jpg

http://romanes2.free.fr//Saint_Pierre_de_Beauvais0021-2.jpg

http://romanes2.free.fr//Saint_Pierre_de_Beauvais0023-2.jpg

http://romanes2.free.fr//Saint_Pierre_de_Beauvais0024-2.jpg

http://romanes2.free.fr//Saint_Pierre_de_Beauvais0026-2.jpg

http://www.beauvais.fr/
http://www.beauvais.fr/pages/gallery/albums/Cath%E9drale/IMG_1306.jpg

http://www.beauvais.fr/pages/gallery/albums/Cath%E9drale/IMG_6312.jpg

http://www.beauvais.fr/pages/gallery/albums/Cath%E9drale/IMG_6627.jpg

http://www.beauvais.fr/pages/gallery/albums/Cath%E9drale/IMG_5988.jpg

http://www.beauvais.fr/pages/gallery/albums/Cath%E9drale/IMG_6248.jpg

http://www.beauvais.fr/pages/gallery/albums/Cath%E9drale/IMG_8580.jpg

this cathedral would be as beautiful as cologne cathedral if they had concluded it.
but it is still impressive.
7/10

I really like French gothic, too bad it's not finished (would likely get a 10 from me).

this cathedral would be as beautiful as cologne cathedral if they had concluded it.
but it is still impressive.
7/10
9.0 When I visited the Cathedral, I was told it had a 500 foot spire that collapsed in 1573, destroying much of the rest of the church in the process. But the 157 foot choir is still very impressive, especially considering it was built in the 16th Century.

faints..

I live in beauvais since 1983 my birthdate. I give a 10 for sure.
A lot of thousand people visited this cathedral every year.

faints..

9.5 simply because the lack of a nave makes her look a bit out of balance. But otherwise, she's beautiful - (of course, since our trip to England, I've been on a SERIOUS cathedral/Gothic architecture kick!) - soaring vaults, gorgeous stained glass, exuberant craftsmanship, etc., etc....and check out that painted ceiling!

Saw this back in August '95 ... it was wonderful.

The entrance at the front is mesmerizing.

9.5

The paper "Beauvais Cathedral" by Jacques Heyman MA, PhD, FSA, FICE, is published in the Transactions of the Newcomen Society, 1967-68 Vol 40.

In his paper, the author describes the collapse of Beauvais Cathedral, and analyses its structure, with reference to other Gothic cathedrals and suggests the possible causes of failure. In these passages he discusses the rules by which Gothic cathedrals were built and the deterioration in design towards the end of the Gothic period which contributed to the collapse of Beauvais.

It is fashionable to deny that Gothic became decadent in the second half of the thirteenth century, and to assert that the cathedrals of Amiens, of Beauvais, and, perhaps, of Cologne, were not the supreme achievements of the discipline. As a matter of aesthetic opinion, it is possible to argue endlessly about the relative merits of this or that structure, built in this or that century. As a matter of structural fact there is almost no argument possible. The decay sensed by the eye after about 1250 stems from a slow relaxation of the firm structural grasp that had been acquired during the preceding hundred years.

… On the basis of twentieth century engineering technique, it seems that numerical rules of proportion are precisely those required for masonry construction; the stress level in most of the fabric of a Gothic cathedral is so low that strength of the material is of only secondary importance. But such numerical rules could have been constructed in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries only empirically by trial and error, and by taking note of structural successes, and most importantly, of structural failures. Once this experience was no longer within living memory, there was no way of reconstructing the rules by any process of thought or intellectual argument. If the rules were followed, a safe structure probably resulted; if they were tampered with (say for "aesthetic" reasons) a safe structure probably still resulted. Any structural disaster after the middle of the thirteenth century, it is almost safe to say, can be attributed to ignorance of the rules, to gross tampering with the rules, to workmanship so poor as to be fraudulent, or to a simple Act of God.

Beauvais seems to have been particularly unfortunate. The apse and choir were started in 1247, and finished in 1272. On 29 November 1284 the vault fell... Whatever the actual reason, it was certainly believed at the time that the pier spacing was too large, and the repairs over the next 50 years included the intercalation of piers between these originally built for the choir, so that the bays were halved from about 9m to about 4.5m. The choir had been rebuilt by about 1337 but work was interrupted for the next 150 years by the Hundred Years War and by the English occupation. It was not until 1500 that a start was made on the transept...

The transept being well under way, the Bishop and Chapter called in expertise in 1544 on the subject of a tower over the crossing, at which masons and carpenters were to decide whether the tower should be of stone or timber. Models were examined in 1547, but it was not until 1558 that a decision was made in favour of a masonry tower, and it was 1564 before Jean Vast started the construction. This tower, completed in 1569, was immense, rising 153m from the ground, and alarmed the Chapter from the first. Several examinations were made, and the detailed report of two King's masons, Giles de Harlay and Nicolas Tiersault, about 2 years after completion of the tower, found that the four main crossing piers were beginning to lean…

…The masons proposed as a remedy the immediate erection of two nave bays, and the strengthening of the pier foundations. In the meantime, temporary walls were recommended between the crossing and the piers. The Chapter was pusillanimous, sought further advice, and only two years later finally decided on 17 April 1593, to put the work in hand. Thirteen days later, on Ascension Day, 30 April, the tower fell… The clergy and people had just left the cathedral in procession; only three people were left inside, and all three escaped. The Chapter decided to celebrate annually on 30 April the signal protection that the faithful of Beauvais had been afforded… There were sporadic attempts to complete the cathedral, but in 1605 the decision was taken to consolidate the existing work, and Beauvais became what it is today, a choir and transept without a nave.

Beauvais Cathedral todayThere seems little doubt, however, that had the advice of the King's masons been taken in 1571, and the crossing piers braced, the tower might be standing today. It seems that the structure, from 1569 when the tower was completed, until 1573, when it fell, was never truly in equilibrium... The structural system of a massive tower supported by four unbraced piers would be liable to "drift", the movement restrained by tensile and shearing stresses developed in the mortar, and by possible interlocking of stones. Eventually, however, the columns would have been pushed so far out of true as to be useless. The Chapter was right to call a halt in 1605: "le temps n'était plus a b&acirctir des cathédrales".

Here you go.

8/10

9/10

great interior

France elegance, but lower flights

9,5/10

10/10

great gothic work, attract my attention the tall of the building

10/10

even though not finished, still amazing and the tallest of them all.10/10.

9.5/10

8.5

9.5/10

8.5/10 - Not really me,but with some great details!

9/10

9/10

In beauvais we have not building ( just a few résidential tower not higher than 15 stories) but we have st pierre cathedral ;)

9.5/10

9.0/10

11/10.
MAGNIFICENT!

8/10

9:)

8/10

8/10

9.5/10. I'm losing my mood watching the chairs. It looks not so match.

8.5/10

incroyable :D
10/10

10/10 :)

8/10

9/10

8/10

9/10

10/10

10. Excellent. Regards.

9/10 Icarus

9/10

9/10

9/10

9/10

no pics why??