Tag: church
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Ruins with a View: The Rock of Cashel
The Rock of Cashel is a dramatic medieval Irish ruin on a hill above the plains of Co. Tipperary. It has five surviving buildings you can tour.
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Glendalough: Remnants from the Age of Saints and Scholars
Glendalough, in Co. Wicklow, Ireland, is the site of an early medieval monastery that remains as picturesque ruins within a beautiful natural setting.
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The Narbonne Cathedral Dog Gargoyle
Enjoy this photo, sent in by a reader, of a Saint Bernard dog gargoyle from the cathedral of Saint-Just and Saint-Pasteur in Narbonne, France.
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Yearly Updates on the Notre-Dame de Paris Restoration
In 2019, a devastating fire ravaged Notre-Dame de Paris, the most iconic of all Gothic buildings. Find updates about the cathedral’s current status here.
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The Churches of Netflix’s Warrior Nun, Season One
Learn about the beautiful Spanish churches used in the filming of the Netflix series Warrior Nun, season one.
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Cathedral Basilica of the Sacred Heart: the Gothic Spirit in America
The Cathedral Basilica of the Sacred Heart is a beautiful, massive Gothic Revival church in Newark, New Jersey. There, I recap my recent visit.
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The Oxen of Laon Cathedral
A charming story about Laon Cathedral, an important early Gothic church, and why it has sixteen life-sized statues of oxen on its towers.
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Think gargoyle-ly, act locally
I spent my Saturday morning gargoyle hunting, and I found these charming little grotesques on a small house on the grounds of a church I sometimes attend. (To be more accurate, I already knew of their existence. I didn’t find them as much as I sought them out to take their picture.) Interestingly, I didn’t spot a single gargoyle…
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More Gargoyles and Grotesques of Reims Cathedral
This gargoyle on Reims Cathedral seems to have had a head transplant some time since the Middle Ages! The concept is actually not that unusual, since centuries of running water often erode functioning gargoyles over time. It’s difficult to tell from this photo if the replacement was done in metal or a differently-colored stone. Either way, the end result…
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Gargoyles and Grotesques of Chartres Cathedral
This grotesque is on the west portal of Chartres Cathedral – among the grandest and most famous of all French Gothic churches. While its close cousin in Paris is famous for its gargoyles, Chartres is celebrated for its beautiful stained glass and profuse sculptural decoration. Much of this sculptural work is clustered around its nine arched doors (portals);…
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Gargoyles and Grotesques of Bethlehem Chapel, Saint-Jean-de-Boiseau, France
The Bethlehem Chapel is a little medieval French church that was restored in a very unusual manner. In the 1990s, a movement began to repair the decaying chapel, which had once played host to a series of now-lost grotesques on the building’s four pinnacles. The architect and stone carver, supported by the town’s youth, decided to…
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More Gargoyle and Grotesques of Notre Dame de Paris
Today’s grotesque is a true classic. The gargoyles of Notre Dame cathedral in Paris are neither the oldest nor the most interesting of their kind, but they have certainly become the most famous. The interior and exterior of this church, which was a major milestone in the history of Gothic architecture, were both rather creatively restored by Gothic Revival proponent…
