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| The Book |
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| The Game |
When I was in San Diego, my friend Chris Jones looked at our game shelf and saw one of our favorite games, Pillars of the World. "That is my all time favorite book!" he exlaimed. I had never heard of it, so he insisted on getting the book for me. At 806 pages, it was a hefty read, but it was so engaging that I plowed through it in 3 weeks. The author, Ken Follett, takes the reader down an engaging journey through a century in the middle ages as a cathedral is built, following many generations of the same families. As I visited the Cathedral in Strasbourg, the story came back to me vividly. We had visited other cathedrals in Paris, London, Venice and Milan on this trip through Europe, but this was the one that immediately brought me to think about the book.
I'm not a student of architecture, but I read that this cathedral combines classic Romanesque features, with what is supposed to be some of the finest examples of Gothic architecture. Whatever those entail, it is marvelous to behold. The front facade is so decorated with peaks and intricate decorations that you could spend a long time studying all the details. And its single peaked tower was the tallest building in the world at 466 feet for more than 200 years. We can actually see it from our AirBnB, outside of the Grande Île de Strasbourg, beautifully lit up.
But for me, it was walking inside this cathedral that really captured me. The arching roofs in the main church were high and soaring. It's like someone tried to enclose the sky. They almost succeeded!
From what I recall from the book, these high roofs are made possible by flying buttresses on the exterior - these are huge arches hidden on the outside of the building that support the huge load of the high wall. The model below which was outside of the church shows the detail, but it is hard to see from the ground level. You can glimpse them from the side if you look carefully. We plan on going back to climb the tower, which should give us a better view of the buttresses.
The rest of the inside of the cathredral did not disappoint either. A beautiful dome, an ornate organ, many sculptures ordaning the walls and columns, and one particular piece of artwork with the Magi, the Christ Child, and his parents. This painting has to be one of my favorite pieces of art that I have seen on this trip - funny thing, I tried searching for details about it and could not find anything - it was not on any of the virtual tours of the cathredral that I could find..
Other beautiful features were an astronomical clock
and the largest nativity scene I have ever seen.
So I guess this post is really three recommendations in one.
1. Go see this cathedral.
2. Read the book, Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett
3. Play the game with the same name
I'm not a student of architecture, but I read that this cathedral combines classic Romanesque features, with what is supposed to be some of the finest examples of Gothic architecture. Whatever those entail, it is marvelous to behold. The front facade is so decorated with peaks and intricate decorations that you could spend a long time studying all the details. And its single peaked tower was the tallest building in the world at 466 feet for more than 200 years. We can actually see it from our AirBnB, outside of the Grande Île de Strasbourg, beautifully lit up.
Wow! I love it!! Well written, I will now follow your blog. ��Another point, you may or may not be aware of... Those majestic cathedrals were also designed to evoke paradise and tranquility... If you look up at the arches of the pillars inside the cathedrals, you will notice that they look like palm trees. To wit... Paradise. - - I took a class on cathedrals with the Yoda on this topic, the since deceased, "Willy Meltzer," while in Spain and Italy.
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