My friend Don recently blogged about Ken Follett's Pillars of the Earth, one of my all-time favorite books and currently a Starz mini-series -- which I am enjoying, with reservations. It got me to thinking about cathedrals I have known and loved. Along with ocean liners, they are my favorite man-made creations -- though a hot Krispy Kreme glazed donut is right up there too.
In 2000 I took a spectacular vacation: six days crossing the Atlantic on QE2, ten days touring English cathedrals and then the Eurostar to France to join Ransom for a friend's wedding. The days in England were magical. I had no set itinerary, just a BritRail Pass and a desire to see as many cathedrals as I could. Some might call it a forced march, as this itinerary from day one attests: 7:15am, disembark QE2; 7:40, train to Winchester; 8:15, coffee and pastry because the cathedral was not yet open; 9am, tour Winchester Cathedral; 10am, bus to Romsey to tour the abbey; 1pm, train to Salisbury; 2pm, quick tour of Salisbury Cathedral; 3pm, bus to Stonehenge; 5pm, back in Salisbury in time for Evensong, followed by a 90-minute tour of the roof and tower, then dinner and, finally, rest. Whew! (That's Salisbury Cathedral above; the tallest spire in England and my favorite English cathedral).
Most days were nowhere near as crowded, but I did manage to visit Bath and Tewkesbury Abbeys and the cathedrals in Wells (note the incredible scissor arches), Gloucester, York, Lincoln, Durham, Peterborough, Norwich, Kings College Cambridge, St. Alban's and Westminster. A highlight was Evensong whenever it was offered; another was tea and scones in the Chapter House after the Sunday service in Lincoln. The cathedrals drip with history but what really captures my heart is simply the architectural splendor; most of them are immense and the interior spaces are the most awe-inspiring I know.
Notre Dame in Paris is of course another fantastic cathedral, though I like Chartres even more, and Amiens and Rouen more than that. A cruise on the Rhine River in Germany provided two of my three all-time favorite cathedral moments: first, rounding the bend in the river for our first glance of the mammoth Köln (Cologne) Cathedral (picture at right) dominating the cityscape and second, walking around the closed but beautifully lit cathedral at night as a fine mist fell. It was an extraordinarily emotional moment, so much so that touring the interior the next day was almost anti-climactic.
Closer to home there's of course St. Pat's in New York, a cathedral I don't much care for, both for it's too-pretty symmetry and for its politics. Far better is St. Thomas, just up Fifth Avenue -- one of the most glorious naves in Christendom with a reredos that will knock your socks off (picture below). But the ultimate American church experience is up by Columbia University: the Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine. Started in 1892 and still unfinished, it is nonetheless the largest cathedral in the US (50% larger than the National Cathedral in Washington) and the fourth largest in the world. It is not a "pretty" cathedral, but it is massive and imposing while yet being welcoming to all people and all creeds, i.e. no Roman Catholic homophobia and self-righteousness here. And John the Divine was the site of my all-time
favorite cathedral moment. I took Chris there in 1978 or so. It was already a very special place to me and I wanted to share it with him. He was an architecture student though so I feared he might not like it as much as I did, seeing it through his more critical eyes. I couldn't have been more wrong. We walked the length of the nave in silence and as we turned around to look at the rose window there were tears in his eyes; he was overcome with the vastness and power of the space. I daresay you will be too.
I have another, even more important, connection to John the Divine. When Ransom and I married in 1996 we received many lovely gifts but my favorite came from Sally, my best man. She made a donation to the cathedral, giving a North Tower stone in our name to the eternal glory that is this magnificent place.
I found this website which seems to be a pretty good place to start for anyone who wants to explore the world's cathedrals. Or you could just come with me next time.
The nave of the Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine, New York City