THE MARNE AT MEAUX
THE LIONS' DOORWAY (Cathedral)
After having viewed the west façade, the tourist, keeping to the right of the cathedral, should go and look at the Lions' Doorway, which is on the south front.
This thirteenth century doorway, restored in the nineteenth by Viollet-le-Duc, takes its name from the gargoyles, representing lions, which flank it. It is a reproduction of the southern doorway of Notre-Dame de Paris.
Entering the Cathedral by the Lions' Doorway, the tourist will be struck by the lightness and richness of the decoration of the interior, which has been subjected to extensive restoration.
The great height of the aisles is noticeable. It is explained by the existence, in the original church, of vaulted galleries which were raised above the aisles, as in Senlis and Notre-Dame de Paris. These galleries disappeared in the great transformations which took place at the end of the twelfth century and the aisles therefore remained notably super-elevated.
