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Show Cathedral of Noire Dams The cathedral of Notre Dame at Rheims, begun In 1212 and com- ! pleted in the Fourteenth century, was one of the finest specimens of Gothic architecture in Europe. Hun- I dreds of statues and statuettes adorned Its western front, while over the center of the triple portal was a magnificent rose window of exquisite amber-colored Thirteenth century glass. The vast interior was in perfect symmetry and was i adorned with a profusion of sculp- I tured figures, magnificent tapes- I tries, and rich old glass. It con- j tained a fine organ, a clock with I moving figures, one of the oldest I In existence, and the flask of holy I oil which tradition asserts was j brought from heaven by a dove sent ! to St, liemy or Remlgius when he baptized Clovis, king of the Franks, in 49G. The cathedral was nearly destroyed in 1014 when the city of ' Rheims was shelled by the Germans. Ger-mans. After four years of war all that remained of the edifice were the walls and the series of statues within the west wall. The rose window win-dow of Rheims has been restored. |