When we think of the old Gothic churches, we often picture the old stained glasses with Jesus and Mary with light steaming down into the Church. Are these glasses just a showpiece? No.

In the Middle Ages, there wasn’t a printing press and the literacy rate was very low. The churches were the only place where the rich and the poor would go to. And thus apart from prayers, they were the only place to impart knowledge. Most people were illiterate and they couldn’t afford the books or tutors. They couldn’t read holy scripts. To sort this problem out, the glass around the churches was painted.

Glasses were painted right from the 1st century but their importance was eminent in the middle ages. If you observe closely the next time you visit a church, the glasses that adorn the walls together tell a story.

These glasses not only added beauty to the church and some secrecy needed to feel one with God, they also told a story.

In the 1800s, the art of the Stain Glass was revived as it had been neglected for sometime. Today you find Stained glass in most of the famous churches like the St. Paul’s Cathedral in London and Notre Dame in Paris.