The Cathedral of Notre-dame located in Amiens, France, embodies all of the qualities found in the cathedrals of the Middle Ages. Though this church changed designers a few times throughout its construction, it is regarded as the most pure version of the Gothic style cathedral. It contains the iconic cross pattern in its layout of the floor space, with the place of most importance located in the square formed by the crossing corridors. This floor pattern is also shared by two other cathedrals of this time period, the cathedrals at Cologne, Spain and at Salisbury, England. The building is also very tall, with the central aisle rising high up into the air. This was a major problem in the construction and design process and eventually led to the addition of supports to reinforce such a tall structure. The flying buttresses that support the walls of this majestic building also had to be redesigned throughout the course of the construction, adding more supports underneath the original ones. As the structure become more and more complete, the technology and the understanding of construction on such a large scale also became more complete. This allowed designers to possibly anticipate problems that could have been the downfall of such an ambitious structure. Another characteristic that is very prominent is the two tall towers and the middle oculus that shape the façade of the building. This idea is found on the Cathedral at Cologne, but not the one at Salisbury. This may be due to the proximity of France and Spain, or the time in which construction finished. The cathedral in England was finished in 1258, whereas the other two were not completed until much later in the Middle Ages. This building at Amiens, though it took many years to complete, is the ultimate and perfected version of this wonderful style of architecture.
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