Amiens Cathedral - in Popular Culture

In Popular Culture

  • In the book Mr Standfast, John Buchan has his character Richard Hannay describe the cathedral as being "the noblest church that the hand of man ever built only for God."
  • The cathedral was featured in the video game Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem. In the game it first appeared as a chapel in the final year of Charlemagne's reign; the next period it was appeared in was during the height of the Spanish Inquisition. Lastly, it was used as an hospital for injured soldiers during World War One. Though the Amiens Cathedral was renamed Oublie Cathedral.
  • The cathedral was featured in an episode of the PBS science show NOVA as an example of design flaws that now threaten the structural integrity of Gothic cathedrals. In this case improperly installed flying buttresses have resulted in the main supports bowing out over time. Measurements indicate that the structure's walls were built to a height of 144 units, echoing a statement in the book of Revelation that the walls of heaven's mansions would be 144 cubits high.
  • The 1979 album Winter Songs by Art Bears comprises fourteen short songs composed by Fred Frith around texts by Chris Cutler that were based on carvings on the dado of the Cathedral's west facade.

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