The upper portion of the minster, though very stately and beautiful, is
not nearly so extraordinary as the crypts. Here the intricacy of the
arches, and the profound system on which they are arranged, is
inconceivable, even when you see them,--a whole company of arches uniting
in one keystone; arches uniting to form a glorious canopy over the shrine
or tomb of a prelate; arches opening through and beyond one another,
whichever way you look,-- all amidst a shadowy gloom, yet not one detail
wrought out the less beautifully and delicately because it could scarcely
be seen. The wreaths of flowers that festoon one of the arches are cut
in such relief that they do but just adhere to the stone on which they
grow. The pillars are massive, and the arches very low, the effect being
a twilight, which at first leads the spectator to imagine himself
underground; but by and by I saw that the sunshine came in through the
narrow windows, though it scarcely looked like sunshine then. For many
years these crypts were used as burial-ground, and earth was brought in,
for the purpose of making graves; so that the noble columns were half
buried, and the beauty of the architecture quite lost and forgotten. Now
the dead men's bones and the earth that covered them have all been
removed, leaving the original pavement of the crypt, or a new one in its
stead, with only the old relics of saints, martyrs, and heroes
underneath, where they have lain so long that they have become a part of
the spot.
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