It is situated on a slight ridge overlooking the River Somme in Amiens, the administrative capital of the Picardy region of France, some 120 kilometres (75 miles) north of Paris.

De Cormont gave the structure its striking dimensions and harmony by his construction of the grand arcades and the upper windows.

The structure was only saved when masons placed a second row of more robust flying buttresses that connected lower down on the outer wall.

The problem was finally resolved by Pierre Tarisel, who in 1498 installed a wrought iron bar chain around the level to resist the forces pushing the stone columns outward.

[17] Beginning in 1810, the neoclassical architect Etienne Hyppolyte Godde was put in charge of the work, followed in 1821 by Francois Auguste Cheussey, who commissioned three sculptors to make new statues.

Viollet-le-Duc began a more ambitious program aimed at returning the building as much as possible to its medieval spirit, including adding sculpted gargoyles and other typical Gothic features.

A recent cleaning of the sculpture revealed traces of the painted red marks on Christ's hands, representing where nails were driven during his crucifixion.

[24] The elaborate Bell-Ringers or Musicians Gallery, which joins the two towers at the roof level, was added at this time, and was substantially restored or recreated in the 19th century by Viollet-le-Duc.

The pillar and chapels were commissioned by Jean de la Grange, Bishop of Amiens (1373–1375) who was a principal advisor to King Charles VI of France.

It was frequently damaged by storms and repaired in the following years but, unlike the flèche of Notre Dame de Paris, never entirely redesigned and rebuilt.

The arched buttresses leap over the outer, lower level of the cathedral, where the ambulatory and chapels are located, to stabilise the upper walls of the clerestory.

Each buttress has two vertical piers, one taller than the other, and the arches reach the wall by means of two vaults, meeting it at the point of maximum outward thrust.

These choir buttresses have an additional function; channels in the top of the arches carry rain water as far as possible from the structure, jetting it out from the mouths of carved gargoyles.

The pillars of the arcade, eighteen meters high, are composed of massive columns surrounded by four thinner colonettes, which continue up the walls to support the vaulted ceiling.

Atop the "clouds" is a larger angel, pointing heavenwards, holding a book with the inscription, Hoc fac et vives (Do this and you shall live).

Both subjects were connected with the cathedral; The purported head of John the Baptist was an important relic held in the treasury, and the martyred Saint Fermin was considered the first bishop of Amiens.

The tombs of several bishops and other religious figures of the cathedral, also abundantly decorated are found in the lower portions of the enclosure, below the sculptural scenes.

In 1768 the "Gloire", a monumental Baroque screen of sculpted and gilded wood representing heaven and crowded with sculpture of cherubs and angel was placed behind the altar.

[35] The east end of the cathedral largely preserves the original medieval design, containing the choir, the space reserved for the clergy.

Each chapel is dedicated to a particular saint, and features large paintings reaching up to the windows, altars, stone and wooden statuary, all from the 18th century.

[36] On the west wall of the north transept are four scenes in high relief showing Christ driving the merchants from the Temple, made in 1523 by Jean Wytz.

A group of polychrome reliefs illustrating the vow of John the Baptist, made in 1511, is found on the west wall of the south transept.

The collection of reliquaries and other precious objects was dispersed in 1793 during the Revolution, but gradually some of the treasures were returned, some were recreated, while others were added by other donors.

The head was part of the loot of the Fourth Crusade, which had been diverted from campaigning against the Turks to the sacking of Constantinople, the capital of the Byzantine Empire.

They depict a procession of saints, apostles, prophets and bishops of monumental size, set against a background of light-coloured glass, to make them stand out.

A few other original 13th century panels, including one representing King David from a Tree of Jesse window depicting the genealogy of Christ, are found in the Chapel of Saint Francis of Assisi, in the apse.

The window in the Chapel of Saint Theodosius in the apse, for example, was made by the glass artist Gérente in 1854 donated by Emperor Louis Napoleon.

The lower portions of the window depict the Emperor, the Empress Eugenie, the Bishop of Amiens and Pope Pius IX.

The rose window on the west facade is the oldest, from 1221 to 1230, from the High Gothic period, and represents Jesus Christ surrounded by the symbolic figures of the Apocalypse.

In conjunction with the laboratories of EDF and the expertise of the Society Skertzo, lighting techniques were developed to project these colours directly on the façade with precision, recreating the polychromatic appearance of the 13th century without touching the surface of the stone.