Cathedrals (Blog Post Six)

Cathedrals in the "dark ages" where seen as beacons of hope for people. The strong stone structures gave people a place to believe in the powers of god, in a sturdy structure that they felt was strong and safe.

When they were built in towns they were by far the largest structures around. When most homes and businesses around were two and three floors high, and made out of wood. The Cathedrals were 8 to 12 floors high at their highest peaks, and made from stone, and had huge stained glass windows. They were easy to spot to say the least.

 The Salisbury Cathedral in England, here you can clearly see how it was the largest and most seen structure in all the surrounding area.

Most if  not all of these cathedrals had large glass windows high up which allowed "god's light" to shine in. This was not only symbolic, but also aesthetics to these spaces.

Light and god, have been together since the creation of men. When the sun shines through these alter spaces in these huge stone structures it would light the space immensely. It was easy for one to feel safe in the eye of the creator in this massive "temple" built in his honor, a much needed place in such hard time as the "dark ages" of Europe.

Here is the Cologne Cathedral in Germany. The high lights allow the space to lighten greatly and has a very heavenly affect to the space. Since the structures were sow tall, the large, high windows allow for a lot of light to enter the space because there is nothing to block it.

This cathedrals massive size allowed them to be the symbol of the town. Each one had to be unique and be even bigger and better then the next town. It was important for these structures the be massive, they were more or less the hearts of the towns. Their location within the city clearly can show that. The diagram from the middle ages  shows the highest buildings in the city, with crucifix tops. Looks like cathedrals to me.

In such dark times, it was important for people of faith to have a safe haven to worship god, and these massive stone cathedrals allowed for that to happen. Few made it through the test of time, but the ones still standing, one can easily see how. With such detailed work, and such a strong building, it does seem as if god's very hand built the structure. They were the largest places in towns, and served as the cities heart and connection to the higher power. They were symbols of hope, and of salvation. These cathedrals power was everything over the towns that they were in.