The cathedrals, true masterpieces, wonders of the world made of stone, wood and glass

Most medieval cathedrals still amaze us today. Cathedrals fascinate believers and non-believers alike, for even as an atheist I am captivated by the power and grandeur of the architecture created to glorify God. Although many revolutions, fires, and wars have swept through cathedrals since the 8th century, it is remarkable that, unlike castles and palaces, they have survived, partly through reconstruction.

France played a pioneering role in the transition from the Romanesque to the Gothic period. Sweeping, ascending lines, decorative forms, rose windows, ribbed vaults in the Flamboyant style (flaming upwards), and stained glass windows characterize High Gothic architecture.

For Abbot Sugar, a church leader and statesman (1081-1151), it was light that should manifest itself in architecture. Inspired by pilgrims who told him about the Hagia Sophia and its dome, illuminated by 40 small windows, he coined the new style: Gothic.

The Hagia Sophia (for me one of the most beautiful churches) is called Holy Wisdom.

It was built in 537 AD; for half a century the church was under papal authority, so for a long time it was the main church of Christianity.

In 1435, with the conquest of Constantinople by the Ottomans, the church was declared a mosque and equipped with four minarets.

It was turned into a museum in 1931 through Atatürk's reforms and renamed a mosque under Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

The interior of the church is impressive, a large hall with a gigantic dome, arcades, galleries, apses, triforium – you don't even know where to look first.

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Gothic architecture experienced its last golden age in the 16th century, notably in Rouen.

A magnificent Flamboyant masterpiece was created here on the west facade, which captivated Claude Monet.

He tried to capture the different moods. “Every day I discover something I didn’t see the day before.” Claude Monet

Notre-Dame in Rouen is excessive, extroverted, almost exuberant.

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Notre-Dame de Chartres was rebuilt in 1149 after a fire.

The transition between the Romanesque and Gothic styles has been very well preserved.

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Notre-Dame de Reims was able to be restored after the First World War, thanks to the French architect Henry Deneux in 1918 and the money of the Rockefeller family.

In 1938, the cathedral was once again badly damaged by the Second World War.

In 1962, the restored west facade served as a backdrop for reconciliation between General de Gaulle and Chancellor Konrad Adenauer.

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Antoni Gaudí designed the Sagrada Familia in 1883 based on models from nature, where one finds no right angles, let alone straight lines.

He anesthetized animals to take plaster casts of them and even went so far as to obtain human miscarriages as models. Walter Gropius described the Sagrada Familia as a spirit symbolized in stone.

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In February 1945, shortly before the end of the war, the Royal Air Force attempted to reduce Dresden to rubble and ashes with incendiary bombs.

During the GDR era, the ruins of the Frauenkirche remained a memorial.

It was only three years after reunification in 1993 that the reconstruction of the church began, thanks to an international fundraising campaign. Wedding photos in front of the main portal and a painting by Bernardo Bellotto, borrowed from the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, served as part of this effort.

With its pastel colors and tiered seating, the interior resembles a pompous theater.

The consecration took place in 2005.

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Unlike churches, cathedrals are rarely surrounded by cemeteries, fields, or gardens, but rather by squares where a city is developing. One could almost say that a cathedral breathes eternal life into a city.

Erfurt Cathedral and the adjacent St. Severus Church were built in the 14th century. The largest medieval bell, the Gloriosa, is located here. [video]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YZXnSLR4wiI[/video]

The young Martin Luther was also ordained a priest here in 1507.

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St. Paul's Cathedral in London is the most important church in Great Britain.

The site of important ceremonies, for example the wedding of Lady Diana Spencer and Prince Charles in 1981, and Queen Elizabeth II's Diamond Jubilee in 2002. Unfortunately, it is increasingly being overshadowed by office towers and hotel complexes.

When the Great Fire of London broke out in 1666, little of it remained. It was finally completed in 1711 in the form of a baroque English diva.

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St. Peter's Basilica, along with Hagia Sophia, is one of the greatest bastions of Christendom.

None other than Lorenzo Bernini, a master of Baroque style and optical illusion, adorned St. Peter's Basilica with colonnades framed by Doric columns – a symbol of the Virgin Mary's embrace.

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Last but not least, what absolutely belongs here for me is the Romanesque church built in 966 AD on Mont-Saint-Michel .

Up until the 15th century, the Benedictine monks created a magnificent monastery complex that attracted large numbers of pilgrims.

In connection with the French Revolution, the abbey was transformed into a hideous prison; it wasn't until 1966 that religious men and women returned to the Mont-Saint-Michel monastery .

In the 12th century, the veneration of the Virgin Mary experienced an enormous resurgence in churches. Mary of Nazareth was perceived as the antithesis of the violent and cruel world.

Statistically, the number of church service attendances tends to increase in a cathedral.

This is certainly related to the attractive historical significance of the surrounding buildings, i.e., the city center, as well as a certain anonymity, a quiet retreat where one can leave everyday life, stress, and noise behind. It is now quite common to find shops and libraries in cathedrals, and in 2021 they were used as a site for COVID-19 vaccinations.

For those who want to learn more, I highly recommend Simon Jenkins' "The 100 Most Beautiful Churches and Cathedrals of Europe." This book inspired me and served as a source for some of my research.

#Cathedrals,#Reims,#St. Peter's Basilica,#Rome,# Vakantio ,#Katrin Fischbach,#Erfurt Cathedral,#St. Michael's,#Sagrada Familia,#