Strasbourg Cathedral: Medieval aesthetics in a mixed city

As a mixed-race city on the German-French border, Strasbourg’s most impressive thing is the Strasbourg Cathedral, a masterpiece of Gothic architecture that towers into the sky and was once the A long-standing source of contention between France and Germany. It was built in 1176 and took 263 years to complete. Standing in front of the church and looking up at its spire, it feels like you can touch God's heaven. The church building is made of pink sandstone, which shines with dreamy pink highlights in the sun, complementing the ingenious stone carvings on the wall. On the top of the facade, there is a 142-meter-high minaret on one side, and there is only a platform on the other side. There should have been a symmetrical spire here, but there are many reasons why it was not repaired. The most common one is that it is because of insufficient financial resources. Stepping into the church, the huge space inside and the solemn religious atmosphere make people hold their breath unconsciously. The dazzling stained glass windows seem to tell the stories that have happened here for thousands of years. Inside the church There is an 18th-century astronomical clock, which can calculate leap years, solar eclipses, lunar eclipses, and various major festivals. Above the clock, four dolls of children, youth, adults, and old people will appear every 15 minutes. It symbolizes a reincarnation. Everyone has to go through these four stages, and no one can escape. If Cologne Cathedral is shadow and charm, using black and white to intimidate mortals in the alternation of light and shadow, then Strasbourg Cathedral is love and affection, comforting all living beings with France's unique tenderness.