Why is cathedral important

The number of tools required for such a task as building a cathedral was remarkably small:. A chapter was the body that governed how much money could be spent on what. It was the chapter that would decide on the final design of the cathedral — and it was the chapter that would instruct the architect on just what they wanted. At Canterbury Cathedral, recent renovation work showed that the famous cathedral was built over the original cathedral at Canterbury — i.

It was common for foundations to go as deep as twenty-five feet underground. The building of the foundations was a skill in itself as any errors could lead to weaknesses in the walls above ground — especially when the roof was added.

While foundations were being laid, skilled craftsmen worked in quarries and produced blocks of stone that would be used in the building process. The scale of medieval cathedrals amazes visitors to this day. Find out what drove people to build such monumental buildings, and how they did it. The building of monumental cathedrals in the middle ages was a reflection of faith and the channel for much of the creative energy of medieval European society. Although cathedral building was driven by religious figures or institutions, it was often a community effort.

From the mid-twelfth century, the Church started granting indulgences forgiveness of sins to those who would help to build a church or cathedral, and therefore, rather than going on crusades, which had been a popular means of absolving sins in the late eleventh century, people dedicated more effort to the construction of houses of God instead. There was always a faction among the pious that disapproved of excessive spending on the construction and decoration of lavish religious buildings, but these were a minority, and the dominant feeling was one of great enthusiasm, ambition, and a desire to excel in this quest to construct magnificent buildings reflecting God's glory.

As cathedrals took decades, and often even centuries to complete, few people who worked on them expected to see them finished during their lifetimes. Being involved in the construction of a cathedral, even as the building patron, required a willingness to be part of a process that was larger than oneself.

Relics of important saints were an important source of prestige but also of income. What makes it so distinctive? As an architectural historian, I know less about the art inside most of which was rescued from the fire than the architecture.

But it does have features — the cross plan, the valued nave and side aisle , abundant stained glass — that lends comparison with other French cathedrals, such as Chartres. Technology may play a role in rebuilding. Years ago, a Vassar College professor used cutting-edge laser scanners to capture over a billion points of data that can be used to create a 3-D model of the cathedral.

How else is technology useful when it comes to preserving art? One of the reasons I participate in historic preservation is for its documentary function.

For nearly years now, the Historic American Buildings Survey of the National Park Service has prioritized documentation of historic American buildings through measured drawings and photography.

For historically significant buildings, thorough recording of the plan, elevation, section, and details i. New digital technologies are coming in to supplement and in some cases replace hand drawing, which makes this process in some ways easier. Still, documenting a building is never a substitute for the building itself. But these documentation processes are important nonetheless as tools to help preserve aspects of past buildings when they are lost.

While technology may help us tour museums throughout the world from the comfort of our computer, what is it about seeing art in person that makes the experience so different? And virtual reality is just what it says it is: virtual. I recently visited the Florence cathedral, and toured the inside of the massive cupola dome there. Notre-Dame: Why is the cathedral so important to so many people? This is what Notre-Dame looked like before the fire. Getty Images. Napoleon Bonaparte. More like this. Litter: The amazing ways you're cleaning our planet 16 Apr 16 April Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat could be saying goodbye to likes and streaks 15 Apr 15 April Top Stories.

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