South Facade

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The view from the quay Montebello shows the structure and exterior elements of the architecture. Until the 19^th century, this facade was hidden behind the Archbishop’s Palace.

The lateral facades and the apse consist of three separate floors, set back from one another. The boldness of the flying buttresses in the apse, which have 15 m range,is to be admired.

At the top, the ridge turret of Viollet-le-Duc replaced the former one distorted and dismantled in 1786, after over five centuries of existence. It was built with oak covered with lead and weighs 750 tons. Finally, it deserves to be known that the cock located at the top of the spire contains three relics: a fragment of the Holy Crown of Thorns, a relic from Saint-Denis and another one from Saint-Geneviève (a spiritual lightning rod?).

At the bottom of the turret the twelve apostles, built in (green) pierced copper, are placed in four rows, with at their foot the four animals symbolizing the four evangelists. All the Apostles are looking at the world except for Thomas (clearly noticeable on the zoom), the patron of architects who turns over and admires the turret in deference to its architect. It is located above St. Paul, St. James the greater, and the Eagle representing St. Mark the evangelist.

At the last storey of the facade, a remarkable gable rises above the rose window. It is one of the most beautiful examples of gables built at that time (1257). It is decorated by a rose with an openwork design, which sheds light into the attic on top of the transept. Three statues decorate the top and the two bottom corners of the gable. The one at the top represents the Christ wearing half of the cloak given by Saint-Martin to the poor of the legend. He appears to the latter, whom the statue looks at from the bottom left-hand corner of the gable. Saint-Stephan is represented in bottom right-hand corner of the gable.

The whole gives the impression of a great harmony. The rose from the attic is of a proportion in perfect harmony with the great rose window of the transept. Below, the beautiful south rose is on top of the openwork window. At the bottom, Saint-Stephan’s portal is visible behind the trees.

Besides, the image is also a way to admire the flying buttresses, which support the canals bringing water from the roof to the long gargoyles through the pinnacles. These gargoyles pour the water at a distance in front of the walls.

 

^{Technical data Size: 28290 x 20204 pixels, 239 x 179 cm (300) dpi, 279 shots
Date: 23 03 2008 Camera: Nikon D70, lens (AF-S Nikkor 18-200)
 Software: Photoshop CS3, PTGui, Zoomify}