The construction of the gothic cathedrals coincides with the crusades. The effort to liberate the grave of the Saviour can be regarded as the seamy side of the gothic cathedral. While the crusaders leave for Jerusalem, cleansing the Holy Land from the infidel, the people staying behind start to rebuild their churches in the image of the ‘New Jerusalem’, descending from Heaven, as described in the Book of Revelations. Like the messianic Jerusalem the cathedrals have glorious gates. They are transparent as gems, de-materialized by the use of stained glass windows. Like the transparency of the building hundreds of statues express the prophecy of the a new heaven and a new earth.
