Paul Foot - Art of Faith: Christianity TV - Catholics TV - Andrew Graham-Dixon TV - Cathedrals and the Bible Code TV - Rory McGrath TV - Fred Dibnah TV - Canterbury Cathedral TV - Antoine de Saint-Exupery - Marcus du Sautoy TV - Rumple of the Bailey TV - Italy’s Invisible Cities TV - Inside ... St Paul’s Cathedral TV - Simon Schama: Civilisations TV - Alastair Sooke & Janina Ramirez TV - Rebuilding Notre Dame TV - Coventry Cathedral: Building for a New Britain TV - Robert Bartlett TV - Britain's Great Cathedrals with Tony Robinson TV - Lucy Worsley TV -
President Houphouet-Boigny of the Ivory Coast, one of the poorest countries on earth, recently built an air-conditioned Catholic cathedral which is bigger even than St Peter’s in Rome. The stained glass (nine acres of it) came from France and the marble was the most expensive in the world – from Italy. The cathedral cost 200 million dollars, more than any major investment ever made in that desperately poor country – where, incidentally, only a tenth of the population is Roman Catholic. ‘The market’ operates in the Ivory Coast – yet who can say that the Catholic cathedral there is any less monstrous than Ceausescu’s palace in Romania, where state capitalism was the ruling system? Paul Foot, The Case for Socialism chapter IV
Durham’s heavy, thick-walled architecture with its sturdy columns and geometric decoration is identified by the historians as Romanesque. Art of Faith: Christianity, Sky Arts 2012
Cathedral of Our Lady of Chartres: One of Europe’s greatest Gothic cathedrals. ibid.
Height and light are what the Gothic style is all about. With thin walls and large windows made possible by flying buttresses outside and pointed vaulting inside. ibid.
Chartres: 2,600 square metres of glass. ibid.
Cathedral of Saint Basil The Blessed, Moscow: built between 1555 and 1561 ... A riot of onion domes and painted stone. ibid.
This is Westminster Cathedral, Britain's biggest Roman Catholic church. Catholic HQ for England and Wales. It’s known as the Mother Church of the Catholic community. Catholics III: Women
It’s the German Gothic Cathedral: Goethe likened it to: ‘A sublimely towering tree of God, with its thousand branches and millions of twigs.’ This is the Cathedral of Saint Peter. It was once the tallest building in the world. Andrew Graham-Dixon, The Art of Germany, BBC 2010
They thrilled awe-struck visitors for almost a thousand years. Tons of stone tower around vaulted ceilings that seem suspended in mid-air. Gothic cathedrals were built on artistic and engineering excellence, crafted by brave artisans who worked at dizzying heights. Cathedrals and the Bible Code
The pointed arch redirects the stress line down instead of sideways, and that allowed medieval builders to go higher. The pointed arch was a design innovation that led to towering cathedrals. ibid.
The flying buttress reaches dramatic proportions ... The flying buttress was the second Gothic innovation that allowed medieval engineers to capture heavenly light and to raise their structures to celestial heights. The arch and buttress are the basic building block of cathedral craft. ibid.
Two intersecting arches: a ‘ribbed vault’ channels the weight of the columns to the ceilings away from the walls. The ‘ribbed vault’ was a third Gothic innovation. ibid.
But were medieval builders also following a formula? Evidence has emerged that towering Gothic architecture is the physical manifestation of a secret mathematical code hidden in the Bible. ibid.
Britain’s medieval cathedrals are amongst the most awe-inspiring structures ever built. Rory McGrath’s Industrial Revelations s5e1: Best of British Engineering: Buildings, Discovery 2008
St Paul’s! If one building symbolises London this is it. ibid.
Britain is full of magnificent examples of architectural and engineering genius. And it stands testimony to the men who actually constructed it all and of course the architects and engineers who designed it. Fred Dibnah’s Building of Britain e1: Mighty Cathedrals, BBC 2002
Believe it or not this is a cathedral – this is the Saxon cathedral of St Peter’s ... It’s the only Saxon cathedral in the country that survives intact. It isn’t very big, it is? ibid.
After the Conquest the Normans began to build on a scale that had never been seen before. ibid.
The Normans didn’t want to leave anyone doubt down here on Earth who was in charge. ibid.
The Normans build with semi-circular or round arches just like the Romans used to build ... It saved material; it also looked very attractive and it let lots of light flood in from the side. ibid.
The rib-vaulting was of course a new invention. And very strong. ibid.
The Normans improved their techniques and moved on from the round arch to the pointed Gothic version. ibid.
The thing that distinguishes these great Norman cathedrals from the Saxon buildings they replaced is the sheer size and scale of them. Fred Dibnah’s World of Steam, Steal and Stone s1e10: Great British Builders, BBC 2006
Three tiers of arches! And all quite slender really. ibid.
All for the glory of God. ibid.
Welcome to one of the greatest buildings in the world because for fourteen hundred years welcoming is exactly what Canterbury Cathedral has been doing. Canterbury Cathedral I, BBC 2014
These windows depict the ancestors of Christ dating from the late twelfth century. ibid.
Like an army, the boys’ choir marches on its stomach. ibid.
This is one of the greatest of medieval buildings, the mighty Canterbury Cathedral, a world heritage site. Canterbury Cathedral II
A series of fund-raising lunches for local charities is being run by Canon Clare [Edwards], the Cathedral’s Canon pastor. ibid.
Canterbury has reached crisis point on its repair budget. ibid.
Towering above the roofs of a small city in Kent is one of the greatest of medieval buildings: Canterbury Cathedral. Its story is the history of England. Canterbury Cathedral III
We say nothing essential about the cathedral when we speak of its stones. We say nothing essential about Man when we seek to define him by the qualities of men. Antoine de Saint-Exupery
The precise proportions of this magnificent cathedral: to the medieval clergy these divine numbers were created by God. But to me they are evidence of something else: a hidden code that underpins the world around us, a code that has the power to unlock the doors that govern the universe. Professor Marcus du Sautoy, The Code I: Numbers BBC 2011
The code: an abstract world of numbers that has given us the most detailed description of our world we’ve ever had. For centuries, people had seen significant numbers everywhere. An obsession that has left its mark on the stones of this medieval cathedral. ibid.
I don’t share their religious beliefs; I can’t help feeling something in common with the people who built this place. I share their awe and wonder at the beauty of numbers. For them those numbers brought them closer to God. But I think they’re important for another reason: because I believe they are the key to making sense of our world. ibid.
He’s quite a big shot in the Cathedral – they made him a Canon. Rumpole of the Bailey s5e3: Rumpole and the Age of Miracles, Hilda to Rumpole, ITV 1988
They’ve made him a Canon in charge of ordinance. ibid.
The Medici was one of the wealthiest families in Europe. Florence the banking capital of Italy and they wanted a cathedral to match. Italy’s Invisible Cities III: Florence, BBC 2017
St Paul’s: an iconic London landmark and Britain’s most famous cathedral. For centuries this extraordinary building has been a church for the people … It hosted the biggest fairy-tale wedding the world has ever seen. Inside ... s1e2: St Paul’s Cathedral, Channel 5 2017
The building the Nazis were determined to destroy. ibid.
Hosted the most extraordinary wedding of the century. ibid.
The masterpiece of architect Sir Christopher Wren. ibid.
The city of London’s highest point. ibid.
For more than 1,400 years people have worshipped at his site on Ludgate Hill. ibid.
To hear Martin Luther King give a guest sermon. ibid.
Britain said goodbye to its most divisive leader Mrs Thatcher. ibid.
Winston Churchill received his great send-off here. ibid.