Page 44 - DK Eyewitness Travel Guides - The World's Must-See Places

42 EUROPE Canterbury Cathedral

This glorious high-vaulted cathedral was designed in the French Gothic style
(Gothic Style, see p54) by William of Sens in 1070 and was the first Gothic
[;;!;) Bell Harry Tower
The central tower was built in church in England. It was built to reflect Canterbury's growing ecclesiastical rank
1496 to house a bell donated by
Prior Henry (Harry) of Eastry. The as a major center of Christianity by the first Norman archbishop, Lanfranc, on
present Bell Harry was cast in the ruins of an Anglo-Saxon cathedral. Enlarged and rebuilt
1635. The fan vaulting is a superb
example of this late-Gothic style. many times, it remains an exceptional example of the
[;;!;) Nave different styles of medieval architecture. The most
This was rebuilt by
Henry Yevele in the significant moment in its history came in 1170,
Perpendicular style when Archbishop Thomas Becket ~~iffiffi§fij~~~
from 1377-1405.
was murdered here. In 1220, .~
Becket's body was moved to
a new shrine in Trinity Chapel,
which, until Henry VIII destroyed
it, was one of Christendom's
chief pilgrimage sites.

Great
Cloister

Chapter
House A Site of the Shrine of
St. Thomas Becket
This Victorian illustration
portrays Becket's canonization.
The Trinity Chapel was built
to house his tomb. which
stood here until 1538.
The spot is now marked
by a lighted candle.

entrance
South Porch
Two stories of coupled
Corinthian columns are
topped by a pediment
carved with reliefs showing
the Conversion of St. Paul.

[;;!;) Southwest
transept window

Transepts
These contain stained-
glass panels (1957) by
Erwin Bossanyi .

KEY DATES
597 1070 1170 1534 1538 1982
St. Augustine The cathedral Archbishop Thomas Henry VIII spl~s from St. Thomas Becket's Pope John Paul II St.
founds the first is rebuilt by Becket is murdered the Church of Rome shrine is destroyed and Archbishop Chair
cathedral Archbishop at the altar and and forms the by Henry VIII. Robert Runcie pray
at canterbury. Lanfranc. canonized in 1173. Church of England. at Becket's tomb. Trinity Chapel