Gothic Architecture: The Scenery I Couldn't Put Into Words

It happened when I went home for the New Year holidays.
My niece and nephew suddenly asked me,

"Hey, what kind of scenery do you like?"

I thought for a moment, but I was at a loss for words.
In my mind,
several images were certainly floating there,
but I couldn't bring them together
to give a short answer.

I laughed it off at the time,
but afterward, I felt a little frustrated.
I wanted to rethink for myself
the "scenery I like"
that I couldn't express back then.

Looking back at what came to mind
after that moment,
it wasn't mountains, the sea,
or seasonal landscapes.

What came to mind
was the religious architectureI saw while traveling.

A structure reaching out as if to capture the heavens.
The air is taut and crisp.
Outside sounds fade away instantly,
and only my own breathing sounds strangely loud.

A ceiling reaching out as if to capture the heavens.
The ceiling built of stacked stone
holds the ambition of those who tried to reach God,
and the awe of standing before Him,
with all its weight intact.

The light streaming in from above
feels less like a blessing and more like a test,
making me instinctively straighten my back.

I love that kind of space.
The feeling that makes you want to lower your voice,
the feeling of stopping and looking up,
and the traces of people trying to believe in the invisible
over hundreds of years.

Among such religious architecture,
what captures my heart most stronglyis Gothic style

.
In every single cobblestone
and every carved detail,

I feel the prayers and time of people.
While studying abroad in England,
I visited Westminster Abbey.

I remember feeling the air change on my skin
the moment I stepped inside with a tourist's mindset.
It was a place where the weight of the stone and the accumulated time
had become the space itself.
The crisp tension and quiet awe

I felt back then,
I think that is Gothic architecture to me,

and the "scenery I like"
that I couldn't put into words at that time.

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