The roofing structures of the Gothic age in France

The structural solution calledchevrons formant fermeis a typical invention of the FrenchGothic age. In this paper, the structural functioning of such a kind of structures is consideredand analyzed, referring to the two original different structures of the roof of Notre Dameof Paris, destroyed by the fire of 2019. The results show the great skill of the builders ofthe Middle Ages in designing very effective timber structures and how these structures wereconceived to respond to criteria of different nature.