I have to confess that I never really 'got' cathedrals until I read Ken Follet's 'Pillars of the Earth', which is a epic novel (and sequel) about the generations of a family involved in the building of a great cathedral. Apart from being a great novel in its own right it gives a mind-opening account of what a monumental undertaking building a cathedral was, and how politics, engineering and power would all compete over the course of more than a lifespan. A lot of the awe that the books hints at can be found in Ely, a smallish city just outside Cambridge.
A) Its a big, big building. At the time cathedrals were the tallest structures on earth as well as the largest.
B) They pushed the limits of engineering - and sometimes beyond. Notice how the picture below appears to be missing the left wing? That's because when they popped the top tier on the center structure the weight of it caused the left side to collapse - oops.
You can see if pretty clearly from here as well
And from the roof
Which we had a good look at on a guided tour
and which offers some great views
The inside is pretty spectacular too
This picture is of the central tower which is a spectacular wooden structure from 1380.
Here's a view from the tower, some of the beams used in making it were from 250 year old trees, making the timber nearly 900 years old.
Here's a pretty tourist peeking out from the top of the tower.
And here she is again heading up into the roof
And a few random shots. So read Pillars of the Earth and then go see some cathedrals
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