between units, like the walls between the radiating chapels, have simply disappeared in favor of this vast expanse of space that seems to float around us, and it's filled with light. the wall as a surface has disappeared and s been replaced by translucent screens of glass. all this w due to the influence of one of the st eraordinary peoe 12th-ntury frce the man who coeived the w building abbot sur of saint-denis. suger believed the light flooding the choir through the stned-glass windows becomes divine light a revelation of the spirit of god. thus it was possible he said, to create in a church a strange region of the universe suspended between earth and heaven. suger also placed gold and jeweled objects everywhere in his church for these, too, were felt to reflect the divine light. in june 1144 suger consecrated the new choir at saint-denis in the presence of the king of france, his nobles and the chief archbishops and bishops. dazzled by what they saw they returned home inspired to...

and the chief archbishops and bishops. dazzled by what they saw they returned home inspired to equal or even outdo suger's creation. reims, sens, senlis, soissons beauvais, canterbury and chartres would soon show the influence of the new saint-denis. the medieval cathedral was the focus of popular pride and intense rivalry, for the prestige and importance of a town was determined lgely by the size, height, and beauty of its cathedral. this rivalry pued church spires to unprecedeed heights. the spire of chartres would extend beyond the top of a 30-story skyscraper. a 40-floor skyscraper would be needed to surpass the spire at strasbourg. the dimensions of the cathedral at amiens made it possible for the entire city, 10,000 people to attend one ceremony. but it was in the height of the vaulting