Videos

Infinity made imaginable is how philosopher Samuel Taylor Coleridge described gothic architecture.

Stand inside a cathedral from this period, and you'll understand what he meant.

The walls extend almost infinitely high above as if climbing to heaven.

It was the powerful state of France that started the transition from Romanesque - a grounded, solid architectural style characterized by thick walls and round arches to the soaring new heights of the gothic style in the early 12th century.

Innovations such as the ribbed vault and flying buttress created a lacey, almost ethereal quality to the new cathedrals, which boasted high walls pointed arches, reaching to the sky and windows, bathing interiors with heavenly colored light.

The stained glass not only contributed to the holy atmosphere, but also illustrated biblical stories for the illiterate masses.

The gothic style evolved over the next 400 years, but one of its drawbacks was the immense cost.

Economic downturns led to many unfinished cathedrals.

Germany's Cologne cathedral being a prime example.

Begun in 1248, it took more than 600 years to complete.

With a dawn of the 16th century, architecture came under the influence of the Renaissance as Europe entered a new age of humanism and departed from the focus on God and the afterlife.

So it was that along with a change in emphasis from the heavenly to the temporal, architecture too changed forever.

The gothic cathedrals of Europe endure as monuments of ingenuity and faith.

These testimonials to a bygone era where religion was the center of life, never fail to inspire awe.

When you visit Europe, be sure to spend some time in a few of its grand cathedrals.

Explore Cologne cathedral, or perhaps view Monet's beloved Rouen Cathedral.

Take a moment, pause in silence, and look up.

You may even catch a glimpse of heaven.