Cathedrals of London 2021: photo, description, history

One of the most fashionable and aristocratic capitals in the world has a huge number of ancient cathedrals and churches with interesting stories of their origin. According to them, one can judge the process of development of the capital city and, in general, the entire great-power state. Each cathedral is a kind of monument to a particular historical era, great personalities or large-scale events that radically affected the process of formation of royal and state authorities, and the change in the social system. The galaxy of London‘s cathedrals can be called peculiar milestones in the history of not only the capital, but also England itself.

Westminster Abbey

Initially, it was a whole complex of monastic buildings and churches, where the coronation of monarchs took place and their burial took place from the 11th century. For a long time, the abbey was not only a place of worship throughout Great Britain, but also a center of culture and education, where the Bible was translated into English, from where the most educated preachers and specialists of various directions came out. The importance of this place is evidenced by the recent wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton here: the British still honor Westminster, although now only St. Peter's Church has survived from the entire abbey.

The history of the abbey

The creation of the first church is based on the legend of a fisherman who was fishing in the Thames and saw the image of a saint in the sky above it. This message spread all over the neighborhood, so it was decided, as a sign of the vision, to build the church of Peter near the symbolic place. There is also a more prosaic explanation: all fishermen paid a tax to the abbey with valuable fish, so such a romantic legend was in the hands of religious rulers.

Based on the chronicle of the 7th century, it was concluded that the founders of the abbey were the first king of Essex and the bishop of London, Mellitus, in the 600s. According to later sources, extensive construction around the church dates back to the 900s.

Westminster today

Now the two-domed church is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, where thousands of tourists seek to visit, considering it a great happiness to see a unique building, which contains more than 3,000 tombstones of great people, including famous English poets and writers. Magnificent concerts of spiritual music, mass prayer readings, gathering tens of thousands of people are organized here.

The church is interesting both as an architectural monument of the early Gothic style with its grace and beauty of lines, and as a rich treasury of objects of painting, weaving and other types of applied art from different centuries.

St Paul's Cathedral

According to numerous reviews of tourists, it is the most beautiful among its counterparts in its architecture, which delights everyone who sees it.

Brief chronology of the monument

Until now, the cathedral has undergone changes 5 times since 604, when a wooden church was first erected, which served until 675 and was destroyed by fire.

In order not to endanger destruction by fire, the building was made of stone again in 685, however, it was also brutally destroyed in 961 by the Vikings during their next barbarian raid.

For the third time, the stone church, which stood until the great fire of London in 1087, was also built of stone.

The most monumental building in Europe at the beginning of the 11th century was the cathedral, built for the fourth time and consecrated in 1240. He delighted the parishioners until 1666, until the next Great Fire happened in London, during which the massive building was badly damaged.

They did not begin to restore it, but decided to lay a stone church, the fifth in a row, erected according to the project of the famous architect Wren. The first services began here in 1697, but the grand opening took place on the birthday of the talented architect – October 20, 1708, when he was 76 years old.

A magnificent architectural structure cannot but delight with its monumentality, the unique beauty of domes and spiers, the extraordinary grace of columns and lattices. The richness and luxury of the interiors and the contents of numerous halls is amazing. The funeral list of the legendary personalities of the world buried under its vaults is impressive: Admiral Nelson, Duke of Wellington, President Churchill, Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher … It hosts high society and church celebrations and ceremonies of no less important persons of modern England. St. Paul's Cathedral is a world monument and a current religious object – an object of attraction for people from all over the planet.

Church of Saint Margaret

Saint Margaret went down in the history of Orthodoxy as a true Christian, who faithfully followed the precepts of Christ and was subjected to cruel torture by the pagans. Christians celebrate the day of the holy great martyr on July 30 and worship her as a deliverer from many misfortunes and hardships. In her honor on the territory of Westminster in the 12th century, the Benedict monks built the first church for ordinary parishioners, which was rebuilt in the early years of the Tudor dynasty. In the 17th century it was made a parish for members of the British Parliament.

It hosted the weddings of noble aristocrats and historical figures. The central façade of the church overlooks the Parliament Square, creating a uniquely beautiful view with its vertical Gothic tower, directed upwards by four spiers. The original sundial is installed on the building, showing the time until noon on the eastern facade, and after – on the western one.

A real work of stained glass art is the East Window, made by Flemish masters as a sign of the engagement of Henry VIII with Catherine of Aragon. The church has a unique organ, the sound of which is recognized as the best among other known instruments in the world. Hundreds of tourists come here to admire the architectural monument, bow to St. Margaret and listen to the divinely unique sound of the church organ.

The cathedrals of London are a symbol not only of the great past, but of the present and future of the Orthodox faith and the greatness of the state.