One thing that always amazes me was how these cathedrals were build. The techniques were amazing, even more so for the time. And then there is the way those specialized workers and architects were treated and paid. Some of that resembled modern workers rights, e.g. free weekends, limited working hours, safety. I guess it always helps to be part of very skilled, very limited group of workers that is very high demand.
What impresses me is that many of these cathedrals were built slowly over many many years. Sometimes hundreds of years. Each new king or ruler would start a new "wing" of the cathedral and many times the construction would outlive their rule.
