Flèche (architecture)

A flèche (French: [flɛʃ]; French for 'arrow')^[3] is the name given to spires in Gothic architecture. In French, the word is applied to any spire, but in English it has the technical meaning of a spirelet or spike on the rooftop of a building.^[4][5] In particular, the spirelets often were built atop the crossings of major churches in mediaeval French Gothic architecture are called flèches.^[5]

Flèche of Sainte-Chapelle, Île de la Cité, designed by Jean-Baptiste Lassus.^[1]

Two pictures of Notre-Dame de Paris with its 19th century flèche, lost to fire in 2019.

Flèche of St Michael's Castle, St Petersburg, designed by Vasily Bazhenov.^[2]

Model of the flèche of Notre-Dame de Paris made for Eugène Viollet-le-Duc (1859) (Museum of Historic Monuments, Paris)

On the ridge of the roof on top of the crossing (the intersection of the nave and the transepts) of a church, flèches were typically light, delicate, timber-framed constructions with a metallic sheath of lead or copper.^[6] They are often richly decorated with architectural and sculptural embellishments: tracery, crockets, and miniature buttresses serve to adorn the flèche.^[6]

Flèches are often very tall: the Gothic Revival spire of Notre-Dame de Paris (1858–2019) by Eugène Viollet-le-Duc was about 100 feet (30 m) before its destruction in the Notre-Dame de Paris fire, while the 16th century flèche of Amiens Cathedral is 148 feet (45 m) high.^[6]

The highest flèche in the world was built at the end of the 19th century for Rouen Cathedral, 157 metres (515 ft) high in total.^[7]

A short spire or flèche surrounded by a parapet is common on churches in Hertfordshire; as a result, this type of flèche is called a Hertfordshire spike.^[8]

The Gothic Revival flèche on the St. Peter's Church of Leuven, Belgium.

See also

• Flèche faîtière
• Ridge turret