📖 What you see · The choir
đź“Ť Ambulatory, around the choir
What you see
This is where it all began, around 1200. The choir is the oldest part. Notice its three levels: the main arcades below, then the triforium, then the clerestory windows. In Troyes the triforium is not a blind wall: it is glazed, which lifts the light by a whole storey. It is one of the earliest known examples of this solution. On the axis, the Lady Chapel keeps 13th-century medallion windows, read from bottom to top.
👨‍👩‍👧 For families
Count the floors, as in a house: one, the big arches; two, a row of small windows; three, the big stained glass at the top. Here even the second floor is made of glass! The windows with small circles are read from bottom to top, like a comic strip upside down.
✝️ What it says about faith
The choir is reserved for worship: it holds the altar where the Eucharist is celebrated and the bishop's cathedra. The ambulatory allowed pilgrims to walk around without disturbing the service. The windows tell the life of Christ and the saints, a lesson in pictures offered to all.
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Photographs: Jean-Marie Kameni, August 2026. Demo content, to be approved by the cathedral. Working translation, to be reviewed by a native speaker.