Cathedral Seeker

From the very first Cathedral that I saw, I have been in love with their architecture. Tumblr has no blogs devoted to them, so why not create one? =)

[cathedrelishumano]

Rouen Cathedral

Rouen Cathedral is in Rouen, France (naturally) and has the official name of Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Rouen. It is built in the Gothic style and is amazingly still standing despite being bombed in WWII. It has been at least partially under construction for many years due to remodels, lightning strikes, wars, the French Revolution, and WWII.

You may recognize it as being the subject of a series by Claude Monet who set up several easels and painted it throughout the day, moving from easel to easel as the day got later.

It contains a tomb with the heart of Richard the Lionheart (Richard I) whose body is buried elsewhere. When I was there I just happened to be reading the names on the tombs around the choir and noticed this. It currently has two towers (one a butter tower) and a spire. It's a beautiful cathedral. =)

[allthingseurope]

Reims, France (by Emilie Van den Bussche)

[cathedrelishumano]

Coming in the future to a tumblr near you!

[cathedrelishumano]

Milan Cathedral

The Milan Cathedral (or Duomo as it’s known in Italian) is the largest church in Italy and the fifth largest in the world. When driving through the city all is normal and then a square opens up on your right with the Duomo at the other end…which looks really impressive (and hopefully doesn’t cause too many accidents). =) It took roughly 600 years to build (which is not surprising considering its’ size) and is Gothic in style. It is very cavernous inside and very light and airy. He only cathedral I’ve been in that matches it in that regard is Sagrada Familia in Barcelona, which I’ve been delaying posting because it is my favorite. If you look in the interior pictures, you can see the metal bars, which show that it was not built perfectly and needs them to keep from gradually falling down over time.

Inside you can take pictures, but have to pay for a wristband to do so. What I especially loved about it is that you can access the roof of the Duomo (for a fee) and you walk amongst the spires and flying buttresses to do so.  Although I’m not fond of heights it was fantastic to walk amongst the architecture and survey the city from the roof of the church. And it wasn’t crowded, which was nice.

[cathedrelishumano]

Catedral de Segovia

Found in Segovia, Spain it (along with the Alcazar) dominates the skyline. Much of the old city is up on a hill. It is a Gothic Cathedral dating from the 16th Century, and one of the last built in Europe. I visited it when I was in Spain and would love to see it again. I stayed in the Parador of Segovia and even from a couple of miles away, it is easily observable. I love the abundance of Spires that seem to be at every possible peak and how it just seems to dominate everything in comparison. The inside had some nice artwork and although some lady scolded me for taking pictures (before having a friend take several of her. I wish that I could have accessed the bell tower for the view but many cathedrals and churches don’t offer this unfortunately.

[cathedrelishumano]

Basilica di Santa Chiara

The Basilica of Santa Chiara (Saint Claire in english) is located in Assisi, Umbria, Italy. was built in the 13th Century and where the body of Chiara and relics of her and Francis are kept. It has somewhat unique architecture with the flying buttresses on only one side.

I had the pleasure of staying in a hotel on the other side of the street from it, so I actually visited it more than once. It also has some nice stained glass inside and is probably overlooked by visitors to Assisi.

I did not find access to the campanile unfortunately, but the square out front is quite popular and I spent a relaxing evening there when I first arrived. If you go to Assisi, definitely stop and see it!

¡Hasta viernes!

[cathedrelishumano]

San Pietro in Vincoli

Once again, not a cathedral, but I will use it to introduce Italy. It is a small church which looks unassuming, but has phenomenal artwork within.

San Pietro in Vincoli is the traditional holding place of the chains that held Peter in Rome, and has the tomb of pope Julius II. It was originally built in the 5th Century, but has been renovated several times, most notably in the middle ages at the end of the 15th Century by Julius II.

The outside is unassuming....you'd walk right by it if you weren't looking. While I was there, they were preparing it for a wedding.

Inside it has long hall with traditional medieval arches and design:

But the coolest architecture is in the tombs. This is the tomb of Julius II (the same one who commissioned the Sistine Chapel):

It was intended by Julius II to be much larger and have a prominent place in St. Peter's, we all know that the plans of mice and men.... It contains one of my favorite statues, Michelangelo's Moses. In person, the statue looks as if it is about to come to life. The picture doesn't do it justice:

A last cool part is the tomb of Cardinal Cinthio Aldobrandino, since it has a large sculpture of the grim reaper....exactly what you expect to see in a church, right?

¡Hasta viernes!

[cathedrelishumano]

Princeton University Chapel

Wow....I made a whole list of places to post....and never did. So let me get on that. I'll try to hold myself to Fridays. =)

While not a cathedral strictly speaking, the chapel shares many features, especially appearance with a cathedral, especially English cathedrals. I visited here a couple of months ago while having dinner with a friend and was amazed by its' beauty.

Although it looks older, it was built in the 1920's to replace the old chapel that had burned down. The style is called "Collegiate Gothic" and for size reference it can fit about 2000 people. It has beautiful stained glass windows and looks much older than it's 80 odd years. Martin Luther King, Jr. even delivered a speech here in 1960!

So....if you're near Princeton University in wonderful Princeton, NJ walk the campus (it's really great) and stop at the chapel. =)

[cathedrelishumano]

This is the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela in Galicia in Spain. I was not able to make it here on my last trip, but I will make it there. It is a mostly Romanesque cathedral (which can be seen on the inside) but with some added Gothic and Baroque to the exterior.

It is well known as being stated to be the home to the relics of St. James. If you've ever heard of the Way of St. James, it culminates here. I love the outside of the cathedral more than the inside, but that is probably because I am a sap for Gothic architecture over Romanesque.

[cathedrelishumano]

This is St. John the Divine in NYC. It is still under construction so it is sometimes called, St, John the Unfinished. It is the fourth largest church in the world. It is the oldest cathedral that I can actually remember visiting. I love how it is positioned on a bluff overlooking a park in NYC. They sometimes do classical concerts there, which I would love to attend. If ou live near NYC, it is great to see. It's not as well known, but there are cool chapels and it is designed in a gothic revival/french high gothic s