Beauvais is a French town located between Amiens and Paris, at about 60 km south of Amiens. This area is characterized by offering a typical agricultural landscape without many tourism attractive buildings (besides the Cathédrale St. Pierre) or elements, although this typical French countryside appearance might be an attraction at its own way.
Although Beauvies mostly consists on agricultural landscapes and typical buildings, it contains a very interesting edification known as the Cathédrale St. Pierre. The Cathédrale St. Pierre is a gothic cathedral which looks in perfect condition and is an amazing building to meet, especially for those who enjoy architecture and history.
The Cathédrale St. Pierre is of such height that can be seen from many points of Beauvies. This cathedral doesn’t have many ornaments or elements to embellish its structure, and the main factor by which it becomes very interesting is its size. During the middle ages, religious buildings were always built looking as high and as big as possible, and this cathedral clearly reflects that.
The collapse of Cathédrale St. Pierre
When it was first built, the Cathédrale St. Pierre had some imperfections which made some parts of it collapse. One of these parts of the cathedral that collapsed was its choir, which had an original height of more than 5 meters higher than the Amiens one. This choir only endured about 11 years, from 1272 to 1283 when it fell down. Some centuries later, the choir was finally rebuilt, but again, after a few years, it collapsed.
Most appealing features of the cathedral
The most appealing feature visitors could observe in the Cathédrale St. Pierre at Beauvais is its sculpted works and its glasses, which show beautiful art works from the Gothic époque and Middle Ages. Besides this, the cathedral also contains several other gothic elements and objects, some of them not only beautiful but also impossible to find repeated at any other place.
Other sights to visit
Nearby the Cathédrale St. Pierre there are other interesting places to visit. An example of this is the Galerie Nationale de Tapisserie, a tapestry museum located next to the cathedral.
Another interesting place to visit is the Musée Départamental, where visitors can observe elements from the town history as well as historical paintings and other objects.