Suger and the birth of Gothic architecture

What Suger changed

Before him, a Romanesque church bore its vaults on thick walls and small openings. Suger had the loads rest on piers and ribs, freeing the walls: the radiating chapels of the ambulatory open onto one another instead of being partitioned, and glass replaces stone. The result is not only taller, it is permeated. The consecration of the choir on 11 June 1144 is the birth of Gothic architecture.

A theology as much as a technique

Suger writes about light as a means of elevation: the lux nova, the new light, enters the church and transforms those who receive it. Stained glass is therefore not an afterthought decoration, it is the very purpose of the design. What the master builders would later construct at Chartres, Amiens, or the Sainte-Chapelle stems from this idea. See the stained glass of Saint-Denis.

Two Gothic styles in a single building

The choir by Suger dates from the 1140s. The nave and transept, however, were rebuilt from 1231 under Louis IX by Pierre de Montreuil in the High Gothic style: more slender, more refined, even more glazed. When you enter, you cross a century of evolution in just a few dozen metres. It’s the best architectural reading exercise I know in Île-de-France: see what to see, in order.

Where to look to understand it

Stand in the ambulatory, with your back to the centre, and observe how the chapels connect: that’s where the innovation is most visible. The nave, which is freely accessible, provides the scale; the choir, in the paid section, offers the demonstration. The logical continuation of this story can be visited on the Île de la Cité: the Sainte-Chapelle and the Conciergerie.

Frequently asked questions