"Reims Cathedral"

Reims Cathedral incorporated several new architectural techniques, notably bar tracery. It has a total finished length of 489 feet—about 26 feet longer than Chartres—with an interior length of 455 feet and a nave reaching 377 feet. The twin towers in the west facade have a height of 266 feet. The chevet (eastern end), with its five relatively large chapels, is nearly the same width as the transept (201 feet giving the cathedral an unusually compact, unified appearance. This unity is emphasized by the use of nearly identical window types in the aisle and clerestory stories, as well as the complementary rose windows in the west facade and central portal and those in the transepts’ facades.

Reims is richly decorated with elegant masonry sculpture (particularly the exterior) and exceptional stained-glass windows, making it one of the artistic masterpieces of the French High Gothic period.