Bury St Edmunds remarkably boasts two major churches a short distance apart, almost sharing a churchyard, with St Mary's a short walk to the south of the former St James (now the cathedral). St James is now the focus of the diocese and has been magnificently extended for its new role, but St Mary's is by far the more significant medieval building. Given its grand scale it was also considered for cathedral status upon the foundation of the new diocese but was not chosen as its historic value was too great to allow major alteration, whereas St James's was a far more flexible building already much altered and rebuilt, thus it was chosen instead.

The sight of these two great churches (and another since vanished) standing before the great and now tragically lost Abbey in the monastic precinct must have been an unforgettable sight in the Middle Ages. St Mary's is one of the grandest parish churches not only in Suffolk but the whole country, impressively proportioned and almost entirely rebuilt in the 15th century aside from the fortress-like tower on the north side that appears to date back at least to the previous century.

The interior also impresses with its great volume but most of all the wonderful original nave roof borne aloft on slender arcades. This is one of the very finest medieval hammerbeam angel roofs to have survived, and the carvings are in wonderful condition, surviving the iconoclasts unblemished unlike so many other examples, the great smiling wooden angels gazing down benevolently as they have done for centuries. The darkened woodwork makes the detail a little difficult to appreciate without a good zoom lens and requires the eye to adjust.to fully enjoy it.

The chancel beyond also possesses a fine 15th century ceiling but of a very different design and much easier see in detail owing to its rich colouring and gilding. Paintings of angels line the edges and carved bosses abound, the former have been retouched but are otherwise largely original. A further ornate medieval ceiling, uniquely adorned with mirrored glass, can be seen over the east end of the south aisle where the cadaver tomb of John Baret (benefactor of much of the rebuilding) can also be found.

The chancel contains further monuments with effigies to members of the Carewe and Drury families, both now sadly bereft of their canopies. A further burial here is that of Mary Rose Tudor, sister of Henry VIII, who was initially interred in the Abbey only to be reburied here after her brother destroyed it. The original monument is lost so her resting place here is now marked by a simple marble slab.

My time at St Mary's was limited since not long after I arrived people started gathering for a funeral so I didn't get all the shots I wanted (so many of the roof carvings thus eluded me). I quietly exited via the delightful Notyngham porch on the north side which has another gem of a medieval ceiling carved with a central pendant (which I was delighted to finally see having found this porch closed on previous visits).

St Mary's is happily normally open and welcoming daily and no visitor should miss it.

www.suffolkchurches.co.uk/burymary.htm

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palazzo delle poste di agrigento, sicily 1932-34.

architect: angiolo mazzoni, 1894-1979.

we went to palermo for its medieval architecture but true to our meandering travels, we were sidetracked during a detour as we passed by mazzoni's post office in agrigento on a daytrip to see the valley of temples.

old agrigento sits on a hilltop with the new town below. mazzoni placed his cylindrical post office right on the edge between the two, the house appearing as a one storey building to the old town and a four storey building to the new with an exterior and an interior staircase offering connections. the exterior staircase is particularly good as it cuts into the building which itself cuts into the hillside. google maps shows it well, even if the circular geometry of the plan is distorted in the collage of satellite images.

despite its formal purity, the building is effectively tied into the local topography - not romantically, not continuing the landscape by other means or treading lightly; rather, it takes charge, orders and resolves in the spirit of roman architecture. the luxurious and somewhat overwhelming pink marble cladding is also roman at heart and even if the lack of ornament makes it appear loosian, we mustn't forget that the ideology was something different from the critical stance of karl kraus' best friend.

ideology aside, I haven't been entirely fair to mazzoni (here and here). he did excellent work outside palermo. his buildings fluctuate between overblown fascist rhetoric and some much finer work in that strange, pared down classicism often identified with the school of metaphysical painters in italy.

while the post office in agrigento falls under the latter category, mazzoni himself no doubt fell under the first. he was that rare thing, an unapologetic, unremitting fascist and left for south america when the war was lost to continue his career in bogota. at least you knew where you had him. I have always felt uncomfortable about the way fascism seemed to evaporate from europe in 1945. did everyone really change their mind at once?

mazzoni was closely connected with the government and his many train stations and post offices around italy were at the heart of mussolini's program to modernize and unify the young state, effectively making them the official architecture of fascist italy. as such, it is interesting to find that the post office in agrigento also acts as a memorial to the dead in the first world war. when you think about it, it is only the second, symbolic function which fully justifies the shape of the building - the cylindrical tomb being a stable of roman burial architecture.

it is more difficult to find the connection between the two functions, unless we see them as two central aspects of fascist myth: one is part of the whole "trains-on-time" story which you still hear about mussolini: he made the infrastructure of the country work - and judging by the building activity, he more or less created the infrastructure, so there could be something to it - the other is about defining what happened in italy 1915-1918.

what did happen was a self-inflicted tragedy of unbelievable proportions. the italian government had joined england and france in 1915 in order to win habsburg territory and "honour" for their country. they could have stayed out of the war but saw it as an opportunity.

as it turned out, they had neither the leadership nor the equipment to wage war. what they did have was a supply of young italian men who were massacred by the hundreds of thousands, not so much by the austro-hungarian army as by their own generals who sent them on suicide missions and even ordered the decimation of own troops on failure to win. and there was plenty of failure.

in the end, italy had lost more men in proportion to its population than england. the country was traumatized, a generation of men were dead, finances were in ruins and political chaos ensued. the stage was set for the fascists. to a nation in need of coming to terms with the biggest catastrophe of its brief history, they offered sweet denial. victims became heroes and sense was made of the senseless. the world would pay for their lies.

St Mary's at Longnor is unusual building, a long single-cell structure little altered since it was built in the 13th century; towerless with only a few slit-like lancet windows piercing its flanks, giving it a picturesquely rustic, slightly barn-like appearance.

Within it is a long tunnel-like space, the main sources of light being the large clear-glazed windows at either end. There is no structural division between nave and chancel, only an increase in the number of windows towards the east denotes the more sacred part of the church.

There is a surprising lack of Victorian restoration here which is most welcome (given how heavily restored many churches are in this area this is a pleasant surprise) and all the furnishings appear to date from the Georgian period, with box pews throughout and a gallery at the west end. The only Victorian work seems to be the glass in the side windows in the chancel, which are so narrow and deeply splayed as to be practically invisible from the nave anyway, leaving the visitor with the impression that they've just stumbled into an interior from the 1800s, as many more churches would have felt like this one at that time.

This is a quiet and welcoming place and feels like a little known gem, and whilst it doesn't require a long visit it is a church with a good sense of antiquity and atmosphere.

Originally a Benedictine monastery founded in 660, the priory church of St Peter & St Paul is today the parish church of the picturesque town of Leominster. The present building consists of the western half of the original monastic church, its Norman nave and west tower adjoined by a second nave (now the main focus of worship) and a spacious north aisle in the 14th century, the aisle having some especially attractive traceried windows decorated with rich ballflower ornament. The transepts and apsed choir were demolished following the Dissolution of the Monasteries, thus the eastern half of the church and the monastic buildings that surrounded it have all vanished almost without trace.

The interior is rather a complex space, almost as wide as it is long and divided into three main vessels, the south aisle, the present nave (divided by a slender arcade) and the original Norman nave whose architecture contrasts strongly in its muscular Romanesque form, very much a separate space from the later parts of the building with an identity of its own.

Most of the historic furnishings were sadly lost in a fire in the early 19th century, thus there is much Victorian work, including several of the main windows.

The Priory is open and welcoming to visitors most days, exact times are on their website below:-

www.leominsterpriory.org.uk/

Italien / Toskana - San Gimignano

San Gimignano (Italian pronunciation: [san dʒimiɲˈɲaːno]) is a small walled medieval hill town in the province of Siena, Tuscany, north-central Italy. Known as the Town of Fine Towers, San Gimignano is famous for its medieval architecture, unique in the preservation of about a dozen of its tower houses, which, with its hilltop setting and encircling walls, form "an unforgettable skyline". Within the walls, the well-preserved buildings include notable examples of both Romanesque and Gothic architecture, with outstanding examples of secular buildings as well as churches. The Palazzo Comunale, the Collegiate Church and Church of Sant' Agostino contain frescos, including cycles dating from the 14th and 15th centuries. The "Historic Centre of San Gimignano" is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The town also is known for saffron, the Golden Ham, pecorino cheese and its white wine, Vernaccia di San Gimignano, produced from the ancient variety of Vernaccia grape which is grown on the sandstone hillsides of the area.

Territory

The municipality of San Gimignano extends for 138 km² and is located on a hill in Val d'Elsa. The altitude difference is between a minimum of 64 meters a.s.l. in the plain of the river Elsa near Certaldo at a maximum of 631 meters in the area of Cornocchio.

History

In the 3rd century BC a small Etruscan village stood on the site of San Gimignano. Chroniclers Lupi, Coppi and Pecori relate that during the Catiline conspiracy against the Roman Republic in the 1st century, two patrician brothers, Muzio and Silvio, fled Rome for Valdelsa and built two castles, Mucchio and Silvia (now San Gimignano). The name of Silvia was changed to San Gimignano in 450 AD after Bishop Geminianus, the Saint of Modena, intervened to spare the castle from destruction by the followers of Attila the Hun. As a result, a church was dedicated to the saint, and in the 6th and 7th centuries a walled village grew up around it, subsequently called the "Castle of San Gimignano" or Castle of the Forest because of the extensive woodland surrounding it. From 929 the town was ruled by the bishops of Volterra.

In the Middle Ages and the Renaissance era, it was a stopping point for Catholic pilgrims on their way to Rome and the Vatican, as it sits on the medieval Via Francigena. The city's development was also improved by the trade of agricultural products from the fertile neighbouring hills, in particular saffron, used in both cooking and dyeing cloth and Vernaccia wine, said to inspire popes and poets.

In 1199, the city made itself independent of the bishops of Volterra and established a podestà, and set about enriching the commune with churches and public buildings. However, the peace of the town was disturbed for the next two centuries by conflict between the Guelphs and the Ghibellines, and family rivalries within San Gimignano. This resulted in competing families building tower houses of increasingly greater heights. Towards the end of the Medieval period, there were 72 tower houses in number, up to 70 metres (230 feet) tall. The rivalry was finally restrained when the local council ordained that no tower was to be taller than that adjacent to the Palazzo Comunale.

While the official patron is Saint Geminianus, the town also honours Saint Fina, known also as Seraphina and Serafina, who was born in San Gimignano 1238 and whose feast day is 12 March. The Chapel of Santa Fina in the Collegiate Church houses her shrine and frescos by Ghirlandaio. The house said to be her home still stands in the town.

On 8 May 1300, San Gimignano hosted Dante Alighieri in his role as ambassador of the Guelph League in Tuscany.

The city flourished until 1348, when it was struck by the Black Death that affected all of Europe, and about half the townsfolk died. The town submitted to the rule of Florence. Initially, some Gothic palazzi were built in the Florentine style, and many of the towers were reduced to the height of the houses. There was little subsequent development, and San Gimignano remained preserved in its medieval state until the 19th century, when its status as a touristic and artistic resort began to be recognised.

Description

The city is on the ridge of a hill with its main axis being north/south. It is encircled by three walls and has at its highest point, to the west, the ruins of a fortress dismantled in the 16th century. There are eight entrances into the city, set into the second wall, which dates from the 12th and 13th centuries. The main gates are Porta San Giovanni on the ridge extending south, Porta San Matteo to the north west and Porta S. Jacopo to the north east. The main streets are Via San Matteo and Via San Giovanni, which cross the city from north to south. At the heart of the town are four squares: the Piazza Duomo, on which stands the Collegiate Church; the Piazza della Cisterna, the Piazza Pecori and the Piazza delle Erbe. To the north of the town is another significant square, Piazza Agostino, on which stands the Church of Sant' Agostino. The locations of the Collegiate Church and Sant' Agostino's and their piazzas effectively divide the town into two regions.

Main sights

The town of San Gimignano has many examples of Romanesque and Gothic architecture. As well as churches and medieval fortifications, there are examples of Romanesque secular and domestic architecture which may be distinguished from each other by their round and pointed arches, respectively. A particular feature which is typical of the region of Siena is that the arches of openings are depressed, with doorways often having a second low arch set beneath a semi-circular or pointed arch. Both Romanesque and Gothic windows sometimes have a bifurcate form, with two openings divided by a stone mullion under a single arch.

Culture

San Gimignano is the birthplace of the poet Folgore da San Gimignano (1270–1332).

A fictionalised version of San Gimignano is featured in E. M. Forster's 1905 novel, Where Angels Fear to Tread as Monteriano.

M. C. Escher's 1923 woodcut San Gimignano depicts the celebrated towers.

Franco Zeffirelli used San Gimignano as a stand-in for the town of Assisi in his 1972 Saint Francis of Assisi biopic Brother Sun, Sister Moon. Most of the "Assisi" scenes were filmed here

Tea with Mussolini, a 1999 drama about the plight of English and American expatriate women in Italy during World War II, was filmed in part in San Gimignano. The frescoes that the women save from being destroyed during the German Army's withdrawal are inside the Duomo, the town's main church. The account of this episode is, to a large extent, fictional, because, although there are reports of intended retribution against the town, there is no evidence of a plan to destroy the churches. However, the reference to risk of cultural destruction is historic, as the Allies bombed the area for ten days.

In the 2005 novel The Broker by John Grisham, Joel Backman takes his second of three wives on vacation in Italy to keep her from divorcing him. They rent a 14th-century monastery near San Gimignano for a month.

A 15th-century version of the town is featured in the 2009 video game Assassin's Creed II.

(Wikpedia)

Piazza della Cisterna is a piazza in San Gimignano, Italy. It has a triangular shape with a slight natural slope and is connected to the nearby Piazza del Duomo by an open passage. The pavement is brick and the piazza is surrounded by houses and medieval towers. There are presently 5 towers onto the square or very near it and the bases of other five are visible on the facade of the various palaces, plus one, the Ridolfi tower, which is no longer in existence having collapsed in 1646 onto the family palace, thus making this relatively small area a concentrate of medieval architecture. In the south-west corner, the piazza meets the Arc of Becci, (l'arco dei Becci), an ancient city gate. The arc is flanked by the massive rectangular towers of Becci (torri dei Becci) on the left and Cugnanesi (torri dei Cugnanesi) on the right.

Past the access to via di Castello, which led down to the original Bishop’s castle, the northern side is characterized by the renaissance Cortesi Palace, which includes la torre del Diavolo, and extends along the north side of the square including the old houses of the Cattani family. There remains of two pre-existing towers are clearly visible onto the facade of the Cortesi Palace.

The west side is adorned with various towers, like the twin towers of Ardinghelli and the tower of palazzo Pellari visible over the roofs.

History

The piazza is located at the intersection of two main streets of the village of San Gimignano: la via Francigena that run north to south and la via Pisa - [[Siena]that runs east to west]. The piazza was used as a market and a stage for festivals and tournaments. Originally the area was divided in two squares by the palace and tall tower of the Ridolfi family, the Piazza dell’ Olmo in the inferior and western part and the Piazza delle Taverne in the eastern side and with the cisterna in the middle. In 1646 the tall Ridolfi tower suddenly collapsed, destroying the palace and thus the two squares were merged into one, the Piazza della Cisterna.

The piazza is named after the underground cistern (Cisterna) built in 1287. The cistern is capped by a travertine octagonal pedestal, which was built in 1346 under the mayor Guccio Malavolti whose coat of arms with the ladder is carved onto the stones, and is close to the center of the square.

(Wikipedia)

San Gimignano ist eine italienische Kleinstadt in der Toskana mit einem mittelalterlichen Stadtkern. San Gimignano wird auch „Mittelalterliches Manhattan“ oder die „Stadt der Türme“ genannt. Die Stadt liegt in der Provinz Siena und hat 7717 Einwohner (Stand 31. Dezember 2019). Sie gehört neben Florenz, Siena und Pisa zu den von Touristen meistbesuchten Zielen in der Toskana.

Allgemeines

Der historische Stadtkern ist seit dem Jahr 1990 Teil des Weltkulturerbes der UNESCO. San Gimignano besitzt noch einige der mittelalterlichen Geschlechtertürme, die in anderen Städten nur als Stümpfe erhalten blieben. Im Mittelalter versuchten die Patrizierfamilien, sich in der Höhe ihres Geschlechterturmes zu übertreffen, obwohl ein luxuriöses Leben darin nicht möglich war. Von den einst 72 Geschlechtertürmen existieren in San Gimignano heute noch 15. Die beiden höchsten, der Torre Grossa aus dem Jahr 1311 und der Torre della Rognosa, weisen eine Höhe von 54 bzw. 51 Metern auf. Die Zisterne auf der Piazza della Cisterna entstand 1287 und wurde 1346 durch den Podestà Guccio Malavolti erweitert.

Geografie

Die Stadt liegt ca. 40 km südwestlich der Regionalhauptstadt Florenz und ca. 28 km nordwestlich der Provinzhauptstadt Siena an der Via Francigena und im Elsatal. San Gimignano liegt in der klimatischen Einordnung italienischer Gemeinden in der Zone D, 2 085 GR/G.

Zu den Ortsteilen gehören Badia a Elmi (94 m, gehört teilweise zu Certaldo), Castel San Gimignano (377 m, gehört teilweise zu Colle di Val d’Elsa), Pancole (272 m), Santa Lucia (268 m) und Ulignano. Weitere wichtige Orte im Gemeindegebiet sind Montauto (277 m), Monteoliveto (275 m) Ranza und San Donato (357 m). Größter Ortsteil ist Ulignano mit ca. 690 Einwohnern.

Die wichtigsten Flüsse im Gemeindegebiet sind der Elsa (4 von 81 km im Gemeindegebiet) sowie die Torrenti Foci (4 von 15 km im Gemeindegebiet) und Riguardi (7 von 7 km im Gemeindegebiet).

Die Nachbargemeinden sind Barberino Tavarnelle (FI), Certaldo (FI), Colle di Val d’Elsa, Gambassi Terme (FI), Poggibonsi und Volterra (PI).

Geschichte

San Gimignano soll bereits um 300 bis 200 v. Chr. von den Etruskern besiedelt worden sein. Erstmals dokumentiert wurde der Ort 929. Den Namen erhielt die Stadt von dem heiligen Bischof von Modena, San Gimignano. Es heißt, er habe das Dorf vor den barbarischen Horden des Totila geschützt.

Diese Stadt verdankt ihre Existenz der Via Francigena (Frankenstraße). Auf diesem Hauptverkehrsweg des mittelalterlichen Italiens zogen Händler und Pilger vom Norden nach Rom. Der Ort bildete sich als Marktstätte zwischen dem frühmittelalterlichen Castello und der Pieve, dem Vorgängerbau der Collegiata. Ein erster Stadtmauerring wurde im 10. Jahrhundert angelegt. Dessen Verlauf markieren zwei noch erhaltene Stadttore, im Norden der Arco della Cancelleria und im Süden der Arco dei Becci.

Vom 11. Jahrhundert an dehnte sich das Stadtgebiet entlang der Frankenstraße in nördlicher und südlicher Richtung aus. An die Existenz des früheren Castello erinnern die Via di Castello, eine der ältesten Straßen, und die Kirche von San Lorenzo, die bei der Zugbrücke lag. Mindestens seit dem Jahr 929 gehörte das Kastell den Bischöfen von Volterra. Diese Bischöfe waren es auch, die die Herrschaft über die sich ausdehnende Stadt ausübten. Erst 1199 gelang es den von den Bürgern gewählten Konsuln, Verträge ohne die Zustimmung des Bischofs zu unterzeichnen. San Gimignano war nie Bischofssitz, sondern gehörte zum kirchlichen Verwaltungsbezirk (Diözese) Volterra und erlangte somit auch keine Stadtrechte. Trotzdem verlief die politische Entwicklung der Landkommune in ähnlichen Schritten wie die der großen Städte. Die Regierung der Konsuln wurde durch den Podestà (einem gewählten Administrator) abgelöst. Diesem standen ein kleiner und ein großer Rat zur Seite. Dem großen Rat gehörte eine bemerkenswert hohe Zahl von 1200 Mitgliedern an, obwohl San Gimignano nur 6000 Einwohner hatte.

Die freie Kommune stritt bis ins 14. Jahrhundert mit den Bischöfen von Volterra in langjährigen Kriegen um Besitzrechte. Sie musste gegen die Nachbarorte Castelfiorentino, gegen Colle und Poggibonsi zu Felde ziehen und nahm auf der Seite des guelfischen Florenz an den großen Machtkämpfen des 13. Jahrhunderts teil. Auch innerhalb der Stadtmauern setzten sich die Kämpfe zwischen Guelfen (Welfen) und Ghibellinen (Waiblinger) fort. Es kam zu blutigen Familienfehden zwischen den Familien der Salvucci (Ghibellinen) und der Ardinghelli (Guelfen).

Ab Mai 1300 hielt sich Dante Alighieri in diplomatischer Mission in San Gimignano auf. Vom 15. Juni bis 15. August 1300 amtierte er als eines von sechs Mitgliedern des Priorats, des höchsten Gremiums der Stadt. Im Jahre 1319 versuchte er in seiner Funktion als führender Florentiner Politiker vergeblich, die verfeindeten Parteien zu versöhnen. Eine Kommune wie San Gimignano konnte sich im 14. Jahrhundert nicht mehr neben den Großmächten behaupten. Im Jahre 1348 wurde die Stadt neben Kriegsverlusten und Familienfehden durch die Pest stark geschwächt. Vier Jahre später, im Jahre 1352, begab sich die Stadt unter den Schutz von Florenz.

Die Blütezeit der Stadt dauerte 160 Jahre an, ihr Wohlstand beruhte auf Handel und dem Anbau von Safran, mit dem man Seidenstoffe färbte. Die Frankenstraße verlor im Spätmittelalter allmählich an Bedeutung, weil der Handel die bequemeren Wege durch die weitgehend trockengelegten Sümpfe der Ebenen vorzog. Die Stadt, die einst Gesetze gegen übertriebenen Luxus erlassen hatte, verarmte.

Hochrenaissance (ca. 1500 bis 1530) und Barock (1575 bis 1770) hinterließen in San Gimignano so gut wie keine Spuren. Die Stadt war niemals ein eigenständiges Kunstzentrum. Künstler aus Siena und Florenz malten die Fresken und Altartafeln. Die Paläste und Kirchen zeigen pisanische, sienesische, lucchesische und florentinische Stilmerkmale. In San Gimignano ist die Zeit scheinbar im Jahr 1563 stehengeblieben. Der erste der toskanischen Großherzöge, Cosimo I. de’ Medici, entschied, es dürfen „auch keine geringen Summen“ mehr in diese Stadt investiert werden. Das musste akzeptiert werden, und so ist San Gimignano geblieben, wie es damals war.

(Wikipedia)

Stratford upon Avon possesses two outstanding medieval churches, best known being the parish church where Shakespeare was laid to rest, but perhaps more central to his life was the Guild Chapel of the Holy Cross, closer not only to the town centre but also to the grammar school where he spent his formative years and the site of his former home New Place, both neighbouring this fine Perpendicular church.

The Guild Chapel has been owned by the corporation since 1553, but originally served the 13th century Guild of the Holy Cross whose members included several men of high status. This late medieval two-cell church without aisles thus had considerable expense thrown at it, as witnessed by the impressive late 15th century nave with its tall Perpendicular windows. The handsome north porch and west tower belong to the same phase, while the chancel is an earlier and much more humble structure. Most of the external stonework of the nave, tower and porch was renewed during mid 20th century restoration.

The interior is the showpiece here, basking in the light from the tall nave windows and culminating in a fragmentary painting of the Last Judgement over the chancel arch (the flat 18th century plaster ceiling cuts off the topmost part, but heads of Christ and angels have been found above it). Originally the whole interior was richly painted, many more fragments were uncovered in 1804 in the chancel and elsewhere, these sadly since lost or re-covered (most were recorded in detail).

The nave was formerly adorned with adorned on the north side with a cycle of the Dance of Death (a stark reminder of human mortality, whatever one’s status!) and on the south with the Life of Adam. Fragments remain today of these schemes though most is hidden by the present collegiate style seating and panelling, a couple of panels have been opened recently to give a glimpse of what remains behind them. The best preserved painting was only uncovered as recently as 2016 behind panelling at the west end and depicts the popular medieval poem ‘Erthe upon Erthe’, an allegory of death, with an angel above and a grisly body in a grave below.

The Guild Chapel is normally kept open and welcoming to visitors during the day.

Toledo Cathedral

The Palazzo dell'Università has been the main building of university since the 1690's.

Catania, Sicily, Italy.

The nave (west) of Paisley Abbey provides an example of original Medieval architecture dating from the 12th century. The earliest surviving architecture is the south-east doorway in the nave from the cloister, which has a round arched doorway typical of Romanesque or Norman architecture which was the prevalent architectural style before the adoption of Gothic. The choir (east end) and tower date from the late 19th and early 20th centuries and are examples of Gothic Revival architecture. They were reconstructed in three main phases of restorations with the tower and choir conforming to the designs of Dr Peter MacGregor Chalmers. The roof in the nave is the most recent of restorations with the plaster ceiling by Dr Rev. Boog which was added in the 1790s being replaced by a timber roof in 1981.

Nave of c.1240 with Aisles of Perpendicular date. The roof and clerestory of 1851.

St Margaret's at Wolston is a fine cruciform village church close to Coventry with a squat central tower (a previous one fell c1760, taking the chancel roof with it) and a good Norman south doorway (moved when the church was expanded in the 14th century).

The interior is light and spacious and dominated by the surviving Norman crossing arches (with some carved capitals). The font is a fine piece of rustic Decorated with small masks amidst the low relief canopies. The transepts are now screened off but still accessible, that on the south with fine cusped tomb recesses of c1300 sheltering very poorly preserved effigies (on the floor and difficult to see in the gloom). Opposite is an early 16th century monument whose brasses and inscriptions have long since vanished. In the chancel is an attractive sedilia and an unusually painted roof, dating from the 1760s after the fall of the tower.

This was my first visit since a major internal re-ordering swept away the pews and pulpit (all still in place on my previous visit in 2013) and opened up the nave for more flexible use. The 14th century font was also relocated to the south aisle from its place at the west end of the nave where the footings of its Norman predecessor have now been exposed beneath a glass floor.

www.wolston.org/221798121929.htm

Situated on the northern edge of Northamptonshire very close to the Leicestershire border, Marston Trussell is most noticeable to the traveller for the handsome tower of its medieval church, a building of mainly 13th - 14th century date. This tower has greater height than the nave has length, and the chancel being only fractionally shorter than the nave makes the building appear slightly oddly proportioned. The north porch is notable for its timber-framed outer structure, including a strangely-shaped arch partially cut through the wooden lintel.

Sadly despite being heritage weekend we arrived too early to see inside on this occasion. This church is normally kept locked outside of service times; I did once manage to track down a keyholder and get inside in the early 1990s though have no decent photos to show for the interior and its glass.

britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/101216629-church-of-st-nicho...

So much has been said in praise of St Mary's church in the Redcliffe area of Bristol that it seems rather pointless trying to go into further detail here beyond saying that its repute is truly well deserved, this being the church that Elizabeth I called "the fairest, goodliest, and most famous parish church in England."

St Mary Redcliffe is a wonderfully complete vision of English late Decorated / early Perpendicular Gothic architecture which is broadly unified stylistically. The present building mainly dates from 1292-1370 and has a cathedral-like form and scale, fully cruciform with nave, choir and transepts flanked by aisles in each case and the church culminating in a Lady Chapel at the east end. The tower is at the north west corner and crowned by a tapering spire (truncated by a lightning strike in 1446 and only rebuilt in 1872) and a landmark for the surrounding area (visible as one arrives in Bristol by train as I did, being so close to the station). However the most dramatic architectural feature of the exterior is the unique two-storied hexagonal porch on the north side which is the main entrance to the church. This porch has much unusual ornament in its carved doorways and details and within is a joy to behold with its vaulted ceiling, a beautiful introduction to the church beyond.

Inside the nave the glory of the interior becomes clear, flooded with light from the many great aisle and clerestorey windows and crowned throughout by vaulted ceilings of a variety of beautiful designs, all studded with gilded roof bosses. It is a breathtaking interior to behold and a feast for the eyes. As one progresses further down the church through the aisles and transepts one encounters tombs and effigies to various medieval worthies of Bristol and whilst most of the medieval glass has disappeared beyond a few collected fragments (located in the chapel at the north west corner under the tower) there are some huge swathes of Victorian glass and some rather more rewarding postwar glass in the Lady Chapel adding a rich splash of colour at the far end of the building.

It is impossible to really do this architectural gem justice with words so I'll let the photos do the rest of the talking. All I can add is that this is one of the loveliest buildings in the country and a masterpiece of English medieval art and architecture. It shouldn't be missed and is happily normally open to visitors on a daily basis.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_Mary_Redcliffe

St Andrew's at Foxton, Leicestershire, the first church of a crawl on Heritage Saturday (the best time to visit Leicestershire as many churches are normally locked, though this one is normally open).

Highlights here include a fine Norman font, a striking Millennium window and a few roof carvings (for those with a longer lens).

Eltham Palace in south east London is the place where high medieval architecture and the art deco styling of the 1930s collide.

www.flickr.com/photos/barryslemmings/sets/72157594230012929/ for the full set.

The site had belonged to Bishop Odo, half brother of William the Conqueror in 1086. Anthony Bek, Bishop of Durham, certainly built a defensive wall around the site in the 1290s. Edward I, Edward II and Edward III all visited or lived here, Bek having given the site to young Edward II. Edward III spent most of his youth here.

The Order of the Garter, Europe's oldest surviving order of chivalry may have been founded here by Edward III in 1348. Later kings added to the site but it was Edward IV who built the magnificent Great Hall in 1470s which can still be seen. It has the third largest hammer beam ceiling in England.

Tudor kings Henry VII and Henry VIII favoured the site for many years as it was one of only six palaces which could house the entire royal court of 800 people. However Eltham was largely replaced by the now lost Greenwich Palace which was nearer the river but still had access to the good hunting around Eltham.

It later became a farm and the Great Hall narrowly avoided demolition in the 19th century.

In the 1930s the lease was acquired by the wealthy Courtauld family who proposed a radical rebuild of the site, which was still owned by the Crown. After some controversy architects John Seely and Paul Paget go the go-ahead in 1933 and work started.

The interior is furnished in the art-deco style and modern features of the new house included a centralised vacuum cleaner system in the basement with outlets in every room, heated towel rails and radios in the staff bedrooms.

The Courtaulds lived in the house from 1936 until 1944. Conservative minister Rab Butler lived at Eltham with the Courtaulds and much of the 1944 Education Act is thought to have been written here.

Although the family still had 88 years left on the lease the Second World War prompted the Courtaulds to leave and the building became the headquarters for the Army Educational Corps from 1945 until 1992. English Heritage had already cared for the Great Hall but took over the whole site in 1995 and began a restoration of the main house which, fortunately, had retained many of its art deco features and interiors.

More fittings and furniture have since been returned to the house - including a table and chairs which were found in the board room and the props department of Pinewood film studios. Stephen Courtauld had been on the board of Ealing Film Studios for 20 years.

Ljubljana is the capital and largest city of Slovenia. it has been the cultural, educational, economic, political, and administrative center of independent Slovenia since 1991. Its central geographic location within Slovenia, transport connections, concentration of industry, scientific and research institutions, and cultural tradition are contributing factors to its leading position.

Märcani Mosque, Kazan, Russia.

After several decades of persecution of the Muslims in Imperial Russia the Märcani Mosque was the first mosque, built in Kazan. It is the oldest acting mosque in Tatarstan and it was the only mosque in Kazan that escaped closure during the Soviet period. The mosque was built in traditions of the Tatar medieval architecture combined with provincial baroque style, and it represents a typical Tatar mosque. The mosque is situated in the Old Tatar Quarter of Kazan at the bank of the lake Qaban.

A majestic example of medieval architecture, the Castle of the Princes of Acaja towers over Fossano’s historic center with its corner towers and inner courtyard. Built in the 14th century as a fortress, it was later transformed into a noble residence, preserving its grandeur and timeless charm.

St Lawrence's in Ludlow could easily claim to be the grandest parish church in Shropshire but also one of the very finest and most rewarding medieval churches in the country. It is a very large cruciform building dating mostly to the 14th & 15th centuries crowned by a soaring central tower that is a major landmark of the town. The red sandstone exterior however is otherwise somewhat elusive, being hemmed in by buildings in close proximity and thus difficult to get an overall shot of as a complete building.

The church is entered via an unusual hexagonal porch on the south side which admits access to the spacious nave and aisles. The crossing beyond is tall and narrow and adds a cathedral-like dimension to the interior, with views into the lower lantern-stage of the tower above. The chancel beyond is similarly impressive in scale and adornment with a fine 15th century wooden roof and much more.

St Lawrence's is especially famous for its interior fittings, most of all the superb preadmedieval choir stalls with one of the best collections of misericord carvings anywhere. Less well known but equally important is the extensive collection of medieval stained glass in the eastern half of the church. Most of the glass in the chancel has either been very heavily restored or replaced entirely in replica by early 19th century restorers, but the glass in the north chapel is much more complete and despite some restoration largely retains its original appearance.

There are several notable tombs and monuments here also, including the heart burial of Henry VIII's older brother Prince Arthur (whose untimely death in Ludlow dramatically changed our history forever).

St Lawrence's is normally open to visitors on a daily basis and shouldn't be missed. The tower may also be ascended for some fine views over the town of Ludlow and beyond.

De Moriaan, located in the vibrant heart of 's-Hertogenbosch's Markt, stands as a testament to medieval architecture and the enduring legacy of brick construction in the Netherlands. Built in the 13th century, it is celebrated as one of the oldest brick houses in the country. Its historical significance is further accentuated by the 13th-century beams that still adorn its basement, offering a tangible connection to the past. Originally constructed by Hendrik I of Brabant for his friend Beckerlijn, De Moriaan features a distinctive Gothic brick hall and a round tower, elements that were characteristic of the era's architectural style. Despite facing demolition in 1956 to make way for traffic, it was saved by a ministerial refusal to grant a demolition permit, leading to its restoration in 1963. Today, De Moriaan not only serves as a national monument but also houses the local tourist office and a café, blending its rich history with modern-day hospitality.

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A local landmark and perhaps my favourite of the Gloucester city churches, St Nicholas's is instantly recognisable for its truncated spire, the top part having been damaged during the siege of the city in 1643 and left with its distinctive cap ever since.

The church dates back to Norman times though what we see today is mostly the result of later modifications and enlargements throughout the Middle Ages, with the handsome tower a fine example of 15th century design. The rest of the exterior is a little difficult to appreciate owing to being hemmed in by surrounding trees and buildings, aside from the south side that faces the street.

Inside the greater antiquity of the building is more readily apparent in the Norman arches on the north side. There is much else of interest here, the church having several good monuments, the largest a tomb with effigies in the south aisle. It does have the feel of a church in retirement, having been made redundant some years ago and is now happily cared for by the Churches Conservation Trust.

St Nicholas's is a rewarding church well worth a visit. It is only open at certain times though a key is available from the museum opposite during reasonable hours for those who find it locked.

www.visitchurches.org.uk/visit/church-listing/st-nicholas...

Bryggen is a historic harbour district in Bergen, one of North Europe’s oldest port cities on the west coast of Norway which was established as a centre for trade by the 12th century.

In 1350 the Hanseatic League established a “Hanseatic Office” in Bergen. They gradually acquired ownership of Bryggen and controlled the trade in stockfish from Northern Norway through privileges granted by the Crown. The Hanseatic League established a total of four overseas Hanseatic Offices, Bryggen being the only one preserved today.

whc.unesco.org/en/list/59

Built by Sancho Garces III El Mayor (The Great), King of Pamplona and Count of Aragon, Sobrarbe, Ribagorza, Alava and Castile (b. 970 - r. 1004 - d. 1035), then by Ramiro I and Sancho Ramirez

Divinity School - Bodleian Library

Visit to Castle Rising, Norfolk.

The stone may be new, but the design is vintage 1338, when the imagination was given free rein, and curves flowed freely in window tracery and other stonework like never before. The York tracery "flows," to be sure, but it is also balanced and kept firmly under control (cf. windows at Sleaford, Lincolnshire (www.flickr.com/photos/hunky_punk/7686624146) and Snettisham, Norfolk (www.flickr.com/photos/hunky_punk/7511302668), for example, that seem almost alive and struggling to free themselves from the confines of the arch).

The chantry chapel of King Henry V (d.1422) encloses the eastern end of the Confessor's chapel and the lower part of the apse, forming an upper and lower structure that curiously straddles the ambulatory behind. The lower part contains the tomb of the King (his wooden effigy long since stripped of its original silver adornments around the time of the Reformation and had to wait till 1971 to recieve a new head) while above is a chapel (inaccessible to visitors) which retains most of its original medieval statuary (which again is frustratingly difficult to see in detail).

www.westminster-abbey.org/abbey-commemorations/royals/hen...

Westminster Abbey is perhaps the most significant church in English History, site of the coronation of monarchs since it was founded by Edward the Confessor, and burial place of the majority of them, along with many other historical figures of note. It is first and foremost a superlative work of medieval architecture, from its soaring 13th-14th century nave, transepts and choir (all in a curiously French inspired version of Decorated Gothic) to the masterpiece of English Perpendicular, the incredibly lacy fan-vaulted Henry VII's chapel at the east end.

The Abbey is also a treasure house of ecclesiastical art, most of it monumental sculpture on the numerous tombs and effigies of almost every date ranging from the entire medieval period through to the 20th century; a somewhat cluttered interior, crammed full of interest, there is simply nothing else quite like it, no other church contains so many monuments.

The Abbey's monastic ranges partially survive, most notably the cloisters and superb chapter house; a short summary of the Abbey's riches is simply impossible. The monastery itself was shut down during the Dissolution, after which the Abbey briefly became a cathedral until its diocesan rank was revoked merely a decade later. Today it is designated a 'Royal Peculiar' owing to its unique status.

The Abbey is a textbook in stone of British history, and thus a hugely popular tourist attraction. It currently has more limited opening hours in the post-Covid recovery period and entry is not cheap, but happily after decades of a strict prohibition against photographers the rules have now been relaxed at last and visitors are now welcome to fully enjoy this marvellous building with their cameras!

For further details (and restrictions) see below:-

www.westminster-abbey.org/visit-us/photography-in-the-abbey

Detail of the rich painted decoration in St Andrew's chapel, created in 1868 by Thomas Gambier Parry.

Gloucester Cathedral is one of England's finest churches, a masterpiece of medieval architecture consisting of a uniquely beautiful fusion of Norman Romanesque and Perpendicular Gothic from the mid 14th century onwards. Until the Reformation this was merely Gloucester's Abbey of St Peter, under Henry VIII it became one of six former monastic churches to be promoted to cathedral status, thus saving the great church from the ravages of the Dissolution.

The most obviously Norman part is the nave, immediately apparent on entering the building with it's round arches and thick columns (the exterior is the result of Gothic remodelling). Much of the remainder of the building is substantially the Norman structure also, but almost entirely modified in the later Middle Ages inside and out, the result of the great revenue brought to the abbey by pilgrims to the tomb of the murdered King Edward II in the choir. It was this transformation of the Norman church that is credited with launching the late gothic Perpendicular style in England.

The gothic choir is a unique and spectacular work, the walls so heavily panelled as to suggest a huge stone cage (disguising the Norman arches behind) crowned by a glorious net-like vault adorned with numerous bosses (those over the Altar with superb figures of Christ and angels) whilst the east wall is entirely glazing in delicate stone tracery, and still preserving most of it's original 14th century stained glass. The soaring central tower, also richly panelled with delicate pinnacles, is another testament to the abbey's increasing wealth at this time.

The latest medieval additions to the church are equally glorious, the Lady Chapel is entered through the enormous east window and is itself a largely glazed structure, though the original glass has been reduced to a few fragments in the east window, the remainder now contains beautiful Arts & Crafts stained glass by Christopher and Veronica Whall.

The early 16th century cloisters to the north of the nave are some of the most beautiful anywhere, being completely covered by exquisite fan vaulting, with a separate lavatorium (washing room) attached to the north walk as a miniature version of the main passages.

There is much more of interest, from 14th century choir stalls with misericords to the comprehensive collection of tombs and monuments of various dates, including the elaborate tomb of Edward II and that of Robert Duke of Normandy, eldest son of William the Conqueror. The stained glass also represents all ages, from the 14th century to the striking contemporary windows by Tom Denny.

Further areas of the cathedral can be accessed at certain times, such as the Norman crypt under the choir and the triforium gallery above.

Brugge, Belgium

View over the Narva River, which is also the international border between Estonia / EU and Russia. I was standing at the edge of Estonian territory beside the Hermann Castle in Narva, looking over at the medieval fortress of Ivangorod just over the border in Russia. (I was deeply nervous about trying to photograph this castle, knowing there could be sensitivites about border areas, especially in Russia which we were about to enter).

The two castles have stood staring at each other across the Narva River for centuries, bearing witness to ancient hostilities that sadly continue to this day.

Wells Cathedral is a magical place to me, having cast a spell over me from the very first time I laid eyes on it as a seven-year old when it started to be a regular break on our journeys south west for childhood holidays. Although it wasn't the first cathedral I'd encountered it was the first I'd seen after developing a more conscious interest in church art and architecture and it seemed to me like something from another world (which in many ways it is). I never forgot the impression it made, its beauties inside and out, and having not visited for nearly three decades I decided getting reacquainted was long overdue.

Described as England's 'Queen amongst cathedrals' it is not as huge as some but it is as beautiful as any, and its setting within the enclosure of a charming cathedral close that constitutes a large part of this modestly-sized but picturesque cathedral-city just adds to its qualities. Its three towers beckon the visitor through the turreted gates that connect the close to the market place and to walk through these and behold the west facade for the first time is an unforgettable experience. The central tower is a beautiful example of Somerset's pinnacled late Gothic masterpieces, and yet it almost disappears, practically forgotten, when one encounters the rich display between the two western towers with their curiously flat parapets. These towers are also mainly 15th century work, but below them, and built two centuries earlier, the facade unfolds like a huge screen covered with niches, most of which remarkably retain their original statues, the largest display of medieval sculpture surviving in England.

Currently visitors are directed to enter via the cloisters on the south side rather than through the surprisingly small, almost apologetic doorways burrowed through the base of this astonishing facade, so it is important to spend some time absorbing it before entering the building. Once inside the effect is rather calmer than the riot of ornamentation on the west front, and the scale a little more intimate and inviting than many cathedral interiors. Most of it is early 13th century and harmonious in style, but it is a later addition that draws the eye looking down the nave, the unique 'scissor arches' installed to brace the crossing in order to stabilise the central tower following signs of movement. The transepts beyond are of the same date and design as the nave, whilst further east the more ornate choir is a little later, being completed in the early 14th century. Beyond this the retrochoir and polygonal Lady Chapel with their delicate pillars and vaults form one of the most delightful and visually satisfying of English medieval interiors.

Furnishings and features of interest are plentiful as one explores the church admiring the beauty of its architecture, with much medieval glass surviving at the east end, the east window and the adjoining clerestories having survived almost intact (more survives in the choir aisles and lady chapel though aside from the traceries most is in a fragmentary state). Many medieval bishops effigies are to be seen (many forming a posthumous 13th century commemoration of earlier Saxon bishops) along with three chantry chapels. In the north transept is the famous medieval astronomical clock with its painted dials and jousting knights marking the quarter hours.

One of the most exquisite features is the chapter house also on the north side, approached via a delightfully timeworn staircase and covered by a particularly attractive vaulted ceiling. It is one of the highlights of the building and shouldn't be missed. The cloisters on the south side are also a delight to wander through and were one of the last major additions to the cathedral.

Wells Cathedral is without a doubt one of the country's greatest treasures and in my mind one of the most beautiful churches anywhere and even its surroundings are a joy to explore. It is sad to think of it closed at present owing to the current lockdown, it deserves to be visited and enjoyed again by all once the present crisis is over.

www.wellscathedral.org.uk/

St Peter, Ketteringham, Norfolk

In 2006, I wrote: Ketteringham is just south of the main A11 road, but clever planning policies have left it feeling remote; more remote than it felt before the new road was built, probably. The village straggles along a mile or so of street, and the church is about half a mile to the south. My OS map showed a road leading up to it, but when we looked for this road it turned out to be the private drive of Ketteringham Hall, and was very firmly locked off. Instead, we had to go out into the country on the road to East Carleton and then come back northwards towards the church. It sits immediately beside another entrance to the Hall grounds, and you can see at once that it was a park church, the main churchyard entrances pointing towards gates into the grounds, the public lychgate in the corner added almost as an afterthought.

Another sign that this was a park church is that it was patently given a good going over in the late 18th century. The antiquarian-minded squirearchy of the times didn't know much about medieval architecture, but it knew what it liked. Hence, the fortress-like pinnacle to the tower stairway, and the guardian angels at the other three corners. The residents of the Hall at the time were the Atkyns; their successors were the Boileaus, whose famous mausoleum is to the east of the church. It was built under very traumatic circumstances, one of the central incidents in Owen Chadwick's masterly Victorian Miniature, a book I only read after my visit here, but which will send me back there as soon as possible.

There have been four main families that have left their impression here - the Grays, the Heveninghams, the Atkyns and the Boileaus. The atmosphere of the interior, at once rustic and grand, tells you that the Boileaus had more say in the 19th century than the ecclesiologists of Oxford and Cambridge ever did. Sir John Boileau, the hot-tempered, paternalistic Squire, was responsible for the elegant west gallery; he spent thirty years in dispute with the vain, egotistical, Calvinist Rector William Andrew, and his appalling wife Ellen, a tale recounted in Chadwick's book.

The key lets you in through the vestry, and you step into a chancel which is quite overwhelming in the quantity of its memorials. There are over 500 years worth of them from all four families, and the best thing is that they are almost all both interesting and quirky - few of them are merely pompous or run of the mill.

There are, broadly speaking, four groups. On the south side of the chancel is a large table tomb which might once have formed an Easter sepulchre. Set in its recess are two late 15th century brasses to Sir Henry and Lady Gray. An older brass to Jane Gray is set on the wall to the west of it. Moving west, the massive tomb by Robert Page for Edward Atkyns, who died in 1750, looks like nothing so much as a bath tub with lion's feet.

Directly opposite is the family pew of the Atkyns, later that of the Boileaus - memorials of both families tower above it, most prominently the weeping woman and urn on the Richard Westmacott memorial to father and son Edward and Wright Atkyns; the array of weapons stacked beside the urn recall that the son died in battle.

This is echoed in one of the later brass inscriptions set below to Charles Augustus Penryn Boileau, youngest son of Sir John Boileau. Something of a rake, he went to the Crimean War as a way of escaping his debts, and died in Malta on his way home as a result of injuries suffered at the 1855 seige of Sebastapol; a tangle of musket, sword, bugle and so on, is starkly carved from stone beneath.

A memorial of similar size to John, Charles' eldest brother, matches it; more successful in public life than his brother, he was a parliamentary private secretary to Lord John Russell. Russell's retirement coincided with the end of the Crimean War; John rushed out to see it end, but caught a fever in Austro-Hungary. He came home, but was sent to the south of France to recuperate. He got as far as Dieppe, and died there in 1861.

Between the two brasses is a central, larger one to their parents; SIr John Boileau, his movements, talents and emotions known to us today from Chadwick's book, a bull-headed yet sympathetic character who might have stepped out of the pages of Trollope, and his wife Catherine.

Catherine should have been remembered by a memorial window depicting the Saint that gave her name; but there was such an uproar in the parish, fanned by the Rector, about having an image of a Saint in the church that Sir John relented. The Rector, who was not unkind, reported to Sir John that his greatest fear was that the simple people of the parish might think it was the Virgin Mary.

Perhaps the most curious memorial is the most westerly one of this group. It is a 1910 memorial to Charlotte Atkyns, who died in Paris in 1836, and is buried in an unmarked grave; born a Walpole, she found herself caught up in the events of the French Revolution, and the inscription further recalls that she was the friend of Marie Antoinette, and made several brave attempts to rescue her from prison; and after that Queen's death strove to rescue the Dauphin of France. She bankrupted the family fortunes in her quest, mortgaging the Ketteringham estate and claiming to have spent an extraordinary eighty thousand pounds, about fifteen million in today's money.

Owen Chadwick recalls that, on her death, she requested that her body be returned to Ketteringham and a marble slab be placed on the chancel walls. Her relatives of the time, left destitute by her enthusiasms, not unreasonably failed to carry out either request. You might think that Charlotte's Francophile adventures and the French name of the Boileaus might indicate a family connection; in fact, the Boileaus were an old Huguenot family who came to Norfolk by way of Dublin, and already owned Tacolneston Hall. They bought the bankrupt Ketteringham estate after Charlotte's death.

Perhaps the best of all the memorials is in the north-east corner of the chancel, to Sir William Heveningham and his wife Mary. It is curious, the way the figures and prayerdesk at the bottom, and the ascending angel above, appear to obscure the inscription; but there may be a reason for this. Sir William was one of those who sat in judgement on Charles I, and although he did not actually sign the death warrant, he was deprived of his inheritance, and for many years his name was under a cloud.

St Peter is obviously worth the visit for the memorials alone, but there is rather more to it than that. The church has one of the best collections of medieval and Flemish glass in central Norfolk. One of the most interesting aspects of the collection, given that the Hall was in the hands of four powerful families over the centuries, is that it includes a 15th century Grey arms, and so we may perhaps assume that the families that collected the later continental glass were adding it to English medieval glass that was already in situ.

The most important glass is an English medieval Coronation of the Queen of Heaven, an extraordinarily rare pair of panels. Also English are numerous angels, a Saint Cecilia playing her psaltery, and a Bishop. Continental roundels include St Barbara, and there is also a fascinating St Christopher with a hermit looking on, which I take to be 15th century continental.

One of the striking things about the east window is that this is a collection set for display. I assume that this was the work of the late 18th century Atkyns family. Mary Parker tells me that the entire window was reset in 1908 by the King workshop of Norwich, and that some of it is now in reverse order to that given in an account of 1851. Some of the panels are in poor condition, and I fear that this may be because they were originally set back-to-front, that is to say with the painting outside, exposed to the elements. The King restoration corrected this, but not before the damage had been done.

If St Peter had none of the glass, and none of the memorials either, there would still be much to recommend it. The font is fascinating; four of the panels feature evangelistic symbols, and two others flowers; but the final two panels are very unusual. They are the only two that appear to have suffered iconoclasm; one is clearly a crucifixion scene, something like that which you find often on fonts in the seven sacraments series. The eighth panel is harder to decode. It shows a seated figure holding a staff - could it be Christ in judgement? Or the Mother of God enthroned? It is hard to say. The renewed roof, with its restored angels, is set on outstanding corbels, and there is a good view of them from up in the gallery. This is a small, narrow church, and the intimacy of the views from aloft is much to be recommended. In such a small building it even gives a good vantage point for photographing the east window if you have a decent zoom.

Sir John Boileau built the gallery as a way of providing accommodation for the Sunday School, an interference that the Rector deeply resented. There was no way that Sir John's liberal paternalism and the Rector's fundamentalist intransigence were ever likely to accommodate each other. The firm security of tenure enjoyed by both, and the further sources of friction that arose between them, not least the interference of the Rector's wife, made the situation explosive.

All around are hatchments of Atkyns and Boileaus. There is no doubt that they had their say, but strangely enough there is no sense of triumphalism; rather, they mark a church which is a real backwater, both geographically and in terms of English church furnishing and decoration. But if this was a backwater, it was a moneyed one; there is a real quality to the way everything was carried out here, and this remains today. As a good example, take the late 16th century painting on boards of the Wedding at Canaa in use as a reredos. My goodness, what a thing to find in an English country church! At the time it was painted, we were all enthusiastic protestants, stripping our churches and our lives of things of beauty. But here it is, an extraordinary Flemish survival, probably collected in the early 19th century.

As I said at the start, Norfolk is still full of surprises. This is not a church you find by accident, and so it fully repays the effort of getting here and getting in. What must it have been like to attend divine service here in the 19th century? I assume that the entire parish, pretty much, worked for the Hall. Whose side were they on in the long-running dispute between Squire and Rector? The Rector had the advantage of a three-decker pulpit. The reading light now faces north-west, but at one time he would have faced north-east, to address the Hall pew. This must have given him something of an advantage on a Sunday.

But today it is the Hall families we remember; the Grays, the Heveninghams, the Atkyns and especially the Boileaus. So, spare a glance and a thought before leaving for the cold stone memorial on the south nave wall for William Wayte Andrew, Rector through the middle years of the 19th century. In his evangelical Calvinist zeal he faced up to the Boileaus, but it must be with pursed lips that he is a silent witness to them now.

Simon Knott, 2006, updated 2016

Mid-12th century west tower with Perpendicular top.

The exploitation rights for this text are the property of the Vienna Tourist Board. This text may be reprinted free of charge until further notice, even partially and in edited form. Forward sample copy to: Vienna Tourist Board, Media Management, Invalidenstraße 6, 1030 Vienna; media.rel@wien.info. All information in this text without guarantee.

Author: Andreas Nierhaus, Curator of Architecture/Wien Museum

Last updated January 2014

Architecture in Vienna

Vienna's 2,000-year history is present in a unique density in the cityscape. The layout of the center dates back to the Roman city and medieval road network. Romanesque and Gothic churches characterize the streets and squares as well as palaces and mansions of the baroque city of residence. The ring road is an expression of the modern city of the 19th century, in the 20th century extensive housing developments set accents in the outer districts. Currently, large-scale urban development measures are implemented; distinctive buildings of international star architects complement the silhouette of the city.

Due to its function as residence of the emperor and European power center, Vienna for centuries stood in the focus of international attention, but it was well aware of that too. As a result, developed an outstanding building culture, and still today on a worldwide scale only a few cities can come up with a comparable density of high-quality architecture. For several years now, Vienna has increased its efforts to connect with its historical highlights and is drawing attention to itself with some spectacular new buildings. The fastest growing city in the German-speaking world today most of all in residential construction is setting standards. Constants of the Viennese architecture are respect for existing structures, the palpability of historical layers and the dialogue between old and new.

Culmination of medieval architecture: the Stephansdom

The oldest architectural landmark of the city is St. Stephen's Cathedral. Under the rule of the Habsburgs, defining the face of the city from the late 13th century until 1918 in a decisive way, the cathedral was upgraded into the sacral monument of the political ambitions of the ruling house. The 1433 completed, 137 meters high southern tower, by the Viennese people affectionately named "Steffl", is a masterpiece of late Gothic architecture in Europe. For decades he was the tallest stone structure in Europe, until today he is the undisputed center of the city.

The baroque residence

Vienna's ascension into the ranks of the great European capitals began in Baroque. Among the most important architects are Johann Bernhard Fischer von Erlach and Johann Lucas von Hildebrandt. Outside the city walls arose a chain of summer palaces, including the garden Palais Schwarzenberg (1697-1704) as well as the Upper and Lower Belvedere of Prince Eugene of Savoy (1714-22). Among the most important city palaces are the Winter Palace of Prince Eugene (1695-1724, now a branch of the Belvedere) and the Palais Daun-Kinsky (auction house in Kinsky 1713-19). The emperor himself the Hofburg had complemented by buildings such as the Imperial Library (1722-26) and the Winter Riding School (1729-34). More important, however, for the Habsburgs was the foundation of churches and monasteries. Thus arose before the city walls Fischer von Erlach's Karlskirche (1714-39), which with its formal and thematic complex show façade belongs to the major works of European Baroque. In colored interior rooms like that of St. Peter's Church (1701-22), the contemporary efforts for the synthesis of architecture, painting and sculpture becomes visible.

Upgrading into metropolis: the ring road time (Ringstraßenzeit)

Since the Baroque, reflections on extension of the hopelessly overcrowed city were made, but only Emperor Franz Joseph ordered in 1857 the demolition of the fortifications and the connection of the inner city with the suburbs. 1865, the Ring Road was opened. It is as the most important boulevard of Europe an architectural and in terms of urban development achievement of the highest rank. The original building structure is almost completely preserved and thus conveys the authentic image of a metropolis of the 19th century. The public representational buildings speak, reflecting accurately the historicism, by their style: The Greek Antique forms of Theophil Hansen's Parliament (1871-83) stood for democracy, the Renaissance of the by Heinrich Ferstel built University (1873-84) for the flourishing of humanism, the Gothic of the Town Hall (1872-83) by Friedrich Schmidt for the medieval civic pride.

Dominating remained the buildings of the imperial family: Eduard van der Nüll's and August Sicardsburg's Opera House (1863-69), Gottfried Semper's and Carl Hasenauer's Burgtheater (1874-88), their Museum of Art History and Museum of Natural History (1871-91) and the Neue (New) Hofburg (1881-1918 ). At the same time the ring road was the preferred residential area of mostly Jewish haute bourgeoisie. With luxurious palaces the families Ephrussi, Epstein or Todesco made it clear that they had taken over the cultural leadership role in Viennese society. In the framework of the World Exhibition of 1873, the new Vienna presented itself an international audience. At the ring road many hotels were opened, among them the Hotel Imperial and today's Palais Hansen Kempinski.

Laboratory of modernity: Vienna around 1900

Otto Wagner's Postal Savings Bank (1903-06) was one of the last buildings in the Ring road area Otto Wagner's Postal Savings Bank (1903-06), which with it façade, liberated of ornament, and only decorated with "functional" aluminum buttons and the glass banking hall now is one of the icons of modern architecture. Like no other stood Otto Wagner for the dawn into the 20th century: His Metropolitan Railway buildings made ​​the public transport of the city a topic of architecture, the church of the Psychiatric hospital at Steinhofgründe (1904-07) is considered the first modern church.

With his consistent focus on the function of a building ("Something impractical can not be beautiful"), Wagner marked a whole generation of architects and made Vienna the laboratory of modernity: in addition to Joseph Maria Olbrich, the builder of the Secession (1897-98) and Josef Hoffmann, the architect of the at the western outskirts located Purkersdorf Sanatorium (1904) and founder of the Vienna Workshop (Wiener Werkstätte, 1903) is mainly to mention Adolf Loos, with the Loos House at the square Michaelerplatz (1909-11) making architectural history. The extravagant marble cladding of the business zone stands in maximal contrast, derived from the building function, to the unadorned facade above, whereby its "nudity" became even more obvious - a provocation, as well as his culture-critical texts ("Ornament and Crime"), with which he had greatest impact on the architecture of the 20th century. Public contracts Loos remained denied. His major works therefore include villas, apartment facilities and premises as the still in original state preserved Tailor salon Knize at Graben (1910-13) and the restored Loos Bar (1908-09) near the Kärntner Straße (passageway Kärntner Durchgang).

Between the Wars: International Modern Age and social housing

After the collapse of the monarchy in 1918, Vienna became capital of the newly formed small country of Austria. In the heart of the city, the architects Theiss & Jaksch built 1931-32 the first skyscraper in Vienna as an exclusive residential address (Herrengasse - alley 6-8). To combat the housing shortage for the general population, the social democratic city government in a globally unique building program within a few years 60,000 apartments in hundreds of apartment buildings throughout the city area had built, including the famous Karl Marx-Hof by Karl Ehn (1925-30). An alternative to the multi-storey buildings with the 1932 opened International Werkbundsiedlung was presented, which was attended by 31 architects from Austria, Germany, France, Holland and the USA and showed models for affordable housing in greenfield areas. With buildings of Adolf Loos, André Lurçat, Richard Neutra, Gerrit Rietveld, the Werkbundsiedlung, which currently is being restored at great expense, is one of the most important documents of modern architecture in Austria.

Modernism was also expressed in significant Villa buildings: The House Beer (1929-31) by Josef Frank exemplifies the refined Wiener living culture of the interwar period, while the house Stonborough-Wittgenstein (1926-28, today Bulgarian Cultural Institute), built by the philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein together with the architect Paul Engelmann for his sister Margarete, by its aesthetic radicalism and mathematical rigor represents a special case within contemporary architecture.

Expulsion, war and reconstruction

After the "Anschluss (Annexation)" to the German Reich in 1938, numerous Jewish builders, architects (female and male ones), who had been largely responsible for the high level of Viennese architecture, have been expelled from Austria. During the Nazi era, Vienna remained largely unaffected by structural transformations, apart from the six flak towers built for air defense of Friedrich Tamms (1942-45), made ​​of solid reinforced concrete which today are present as memorials in the cityscape.

The years after the end of World War II were characterized by the reconstruction of the by bombs heavily damaged city. The architecture of those times was marked by aesthetic pragmatism, but also by the attempt to connect with the period before 1938 and pick up on current international trends. Among the most important buildings of the 1950s are Roland Rainer's City Hall (1952-58), the by Oswald Haerdtl erected Wien Museum at Karlsplatz (1954-59) and the 21er Haus of Karl Schwanzer (1958-62).

The youngsters come

Since the 1960s, a young generation was looking for alternatives to the moderate modernism of the reconstruction years. With visionary designs, conceptual, experimental and above all temporary architectures, interventions and installations, Raimund Abraham, Günther Domenig, Eilfried Huth, Hans Hollein, Walter Pichler and the groups Coop Himmelb(l)au, Haus-Rucker-Co and Missing Link rapidly got international attention. Although for the time being it was more designed than built, was the influence on the postmodern and deconstructivist trends of the 1970s and 1980s also outside Austria great. Hollein's futuristic "Retti" candle shop at Charcoal Market/Kohlmarkt (1964-65) and Domenig's biomorphic building of the Central Savings Bank in Favoriten (10th district of Vienna - 1975-79) are among the earliest examples, later Hollein's Haas-Haus (1985-90), the loft conversion Falkestraße (1987/88) by Coop Himmelb(l)au or Domenig's T Center (2002-04) were added. Especially Domenig, Hollein, Coop Himmelb(l)au and the architects Ortner & Ortner (ancient members of Haus-Rucker-Co) ​​by orders from abroad the new Austrian and Viennese architecture made a fixed international concept.

MuseumQuarter and Gasometer

Since the 1980s, the focus of building in Vienna lies on the compaction of the historic urban fabric that now as urban habitat of high quality no longer is put in question. Among the internationally best known projects is the by Ortner & Ortner planned MuseumsQuartier in the former imperial stables (competition 1987, 1998-2001), which with institutions such as the MUMOK - Museum of Modern Art Foundation Ludwig, the Leopold Museum, the Kunsthalle Wien, the Architecture Center Vienna and the Zoom Children's Museum on a wordwide scale is under the largest cultural complexes. After controversies in the planning phase, here an architectural compromise between old and new has been achieved at the end, whose success as an urban stage with four million visitors (2012) is overwhelming.

The dialogue between old and new, which has to stand on the agenda of building culture of a city that is so strongly influenced by history, also features the reconstruction of the Gasometer in Simmering by Coop Himmelb(l)au, Wilhelm Holzbauer, Jean Nouvel and Manfred Wehdorn (1999-2001). Here was not only created new housing, but also a historical industrial monument reinterpreted into a signal in the urban development area.

New Neighborhood

In recent years, the major railway stations and their surroundings moved into the focus of planning. Here not only necessary infrastructural measures were taken, but at the same time opened up spacious inner-city residential areas and business districts. Among the prestigious projects are included the construction of the new Vienna Central Station, started in 2010 with the surrounding office towers of the Quartier Belvedere and the residential and school buildings of the Midsummer quarter (Sonnwendviertel). Europe's largest wooden tower invites here for a spectacular view to the construction site and the entire city. On the site of the former North Station are currently being built 10,000 homes and 20,000 jobs, on that of the Aspangbahn station is being built at Europe's greatest Passive House settlement "Euro Gate", the area of ​​the North Western Railway Station is expected to be developed from 2020 for living and working. The largest currently under construction residential project but can be found in the north-eastern outskirts, where in Seaside Town Aspern till 2028 living and working space for 40,000 people will be created.

In one of the "green lungs" of Vienna, the Prater, 2013, the WU campus was opened for the largest University of Economics of Europe. Around the central square spectacular buildings of an international architect team from Great Britain, Japan, Spain and Austria are gathered that seem to lead a sometimes very loud conversation about the status quo of contemporary architecture (Hitoshi Abe, BUSarchitektur, Peter Cook, Zaha Hadid, NO MAD Arquitectos, Carme Pinós).

Flying high

International is also the number of architects who have inscribed themselves in the last few years with high-rise buildings in the skyline of Vienna and make St. Stephen's a not always unproblematic competition. Visible from afar is Massimiliano Fuksas' 138 and 127 meters high elegant Twin Tower at Wienerberg (1999-2001). The monolithic, 75-meter-high tower of the Hotel Sofitel at the Danube Canal by Jean Nouvel (2007-10), on the other hand, reacts to the particular urban situation and stages in its top floor new perspectives to the historical center on the other side.

Also at the water stands Dominique Perrault's DC Tower (2010-13) in the Danube City - those high-rise city, in which since the start of construction in 1996, the expansion of the city north of the Danube is condensed symbolically. Even in this environment, the slim and at the same time striking vertically folded tower of Perrault is beyond all known dimensions; from its Sky Bar, from spring 2014 on you are able to enjoy the highest view of Vienna. With 250 meters, the tower is the tallest building of Austria and almost twice as high as the St. Stephen's Cathedral. Vienna, thus, has acquired a new architectural landmark which cannot be overlooked - whether it also has the potential to become a landmark of the new Vienna, only time will tell. The architectural history of Vienna, where European history is presence and new buildings enter into an exciting and not always conflict-free dialogue with a great and outstanding architectural heritage, in any case has yet to offer exciting chapters.The exploitation rights for this text are the property of the Vienna Tourist Board. This text may be reprinted free of charge until further notice, even partially and in edited form. Forward sample copy to: Vienna Tourist Board, Media Management, Invalidenstraße 6, 1030 Vienna; media.rel@wien.info. All information in this text without guarantee.

Author: Andreas Nierhaus, Curator of Architecture/Wien Museum

Last updated January 2014

Architecture in Vienna

Vienna's 2,000-year history is present in a unique density in the cityscape. The layout of the center dates back to the Roman city and medieval road network. Romanesque and Gothic churches characterize the streets and squares as well as palaces and mansions of the baroque city of residence. The ring road is an expression of the modern city of the 19th century, in the 20th century extensive housing developments set accents in the outer districts. Currently, large-scale urban development measures are implemented; distinctive buildings of international star architects complement the silhouette of the city.

Due to its function as residence of the emperor and European power center, Vienna for centuries stood in the focus of international attention, but it was well aware of that too. As a result, developed an outstanding building culture, and still today on a worldwide scale only a few cities can come up with a comparable density of high-quality architecture. For several years now, Vienna has increased its efforts to connect with its historical highlights and is drawing attention to itself with some spectacular new buildings. The fastest growing city in the German-speaking world today most of all in residential construction is setting standards. Constants of the Viennese architecture are respect for existing structures, the palpability of historical layers and the dialogue between old and new.

Culmination of medieval architecture: the Stephansdom

The oldest architectural landmark of the city is St. Stephen's Cathedral. Under the rule of the Habsburgs, defining the face of the city from the late 13th century until 1918 in a decisive way, the cathedral was upgraded into the sacral monument of the political ambitions of the ruling house. The 1433 completed, 137 meters high southern tower, by the Viennese people affectionately named "Steffl", is a masterpiece of late Gothic architecture in Europe. For decades he was the tallest stone structure in Europe, until today he is the undisputed center of the city.

The baroque residence

Vienna's ascension into the ranks of the great European capitals began in Baroque. Among the most important architects are Johann Bernhard Fischer von Erlach and Johann Lucas von Hildebrandt. Outside the city walls arose a chain of summer palaces, including the garden Palais Schwarzenberg (1697-1704) as well as the Upper and Lower Belvedere of Prince Eugene of Savoy (1714-22). Among the most important city palaces are the Winter Palace of Prince Eugene (1695-1724, now a branch of the Belvedere) and the Palais Daun-Kinsky (auction house in Kinsky 1713-19). The emperor himself the Hofburg had complemented by buildings such as the Imperial Library (1722-26) and the Winter Riding School (1729-34). More important, however, for the Habsburgs was the foundation of churches and monasteries. Thus arose before the city walls Fischer von Erlach's Karlskirche (1714-39), which with its formal and thematic complex show façade belongs to the major works of European Baroque. In colored interior rooms like that of St. Peter's Church (1701-22), the contemporary efforts for the synthesis of architecture, painting and sculpture becomes visible.

Upgrading into metropolis: the ring road time (Ringstraßenzeit)

Since the Baroque, reflections on extension of the hopelessly overcrowed city were made, but only Emperor Franz Joseph ordered in 1857 the demolition of the fortifications and the connection of the inner city with the suburbs. 1865, the Ring Road was opened. It is as the most important boulevard of Europe an architectural and in terms of urban development achievement of the highest rank. The original building structure is almost completely preserved and thus conveys the authentic image of a metropolis of the 19th century. The public representational buildings speak, reflecting accurately the historicism, by their style: The Greek Antique forms of Theophil Hansen's Parliament (1871-83) stood for democracy, the Renaissance of the by Heinrich Ferstel built University (1873-84) for the flourishing of humanism, the Gothic of the Town Hall (1872-83) by Friedrich Schmidt for the medieval civic pride.

Dominating remained the buildings of the imperial family: Eduard van der Nüll's and August Sicardsburg's Opera House (1863-69), Gottfried Semper's and Carl Hasenauer's Burgtheater (1874-88), their Museum of Art History and Museum of Natural History (1871-91) and the Neue (New) Hofburg (1881-1918 ). At the same time the ring road was the preferred residential area of mostly Jewish haute bourgeoisie. With luxurious palaces the families Ephrussi, Epstein or Todesco made it clear that they had taken over the cultural leadership role in Viennese society. In the framework of the World Exhibition of 1873, the new Vienna presented itself an international audience. At the ring road many hotels were opened, among them the Hotel Imperial and today's Palais Hansen Kempinski.

Laboratory of modernity: Vienna around 1900

Otto Wagner's Postal Savings Bank (1903-06) was one of the last buildings in the Ring road area Otto Wagner's Postal Savings Bank (1903-06), which with it façade, liberated of ornament, and only decorated with "functional" aluminum buttons and the glass banking hall now is one of the icons of modern architecture. Like no other stood Otto Wagner for the dawn into the 20th century: His Metropolitan Railway buildings made ​​the public transport of the city a topic of architecture, the church of the Psychiatric hospital at Steinhofgründe (1904-07) is considered the first modern church.

With his consistent focus on the function of a building ("Something impractical can not be beautiful"), Wagner marked a whole generation of architects and made Vienna the laboratory of modernity: in addition to Joseph Maria Olbrich, the builder of the Secession (1897-98) and Josef Hoffmann, the architect of the at the western outskirts located Purkersdorf Sanatorium (1904) and founder of the Vienna Workshop (Wiener Werkstätte, 1903) is mainly to mention Adolf Loos, with the Loos House at the square Michaelerplatz (1909-11) making architectural history. The extravagant marble cladding of the business zone stands in maximal contrast, derived from the building function, to the unadorned facade above, whereby its "nudity" became even more obvious - a provocation, as well as his culture-critical texts ("Ornament and Crime"), with which he had greatest impact on the architecture of the 20th century. Public contracts Loos remained denied. His major works therefore include villas, apartment facilities and premises as the still in original state preserved Tailor salon Knize at Graben (1910-13) and the restored Loos Bar (1908-09) near the Kärntner Straße (passageway Kärntner Durchgang).

Between the Wars: International Modern Age and social housing

After the collapse of the monarchy in 1918, Vienna became capital of the newly formed small country of Austria. In the heart of the city, the architects Theiss & Jaksch built 1931-32 the first skyscraper in Vienna as an exclusive residential address (Herrengasse - alley 6-8). To combat the housing shortage for the general population, the social democratic city government in a globally unique building program within a few years 60,000 apartments in hundreds of apartment buildings throughout the city area had built, including the famous Karl Marx-Hof by Karl Ehn (1925-30). An alternative to the multi-storey buildings with the 1932 opened International Werkbundsiedlung was presented, which was attended by 31 architects from Austria, Germany, France, Holland and the USA and showed models for affordable housing in greenfield areas. With buildings of Adolf Loos, André Lurçat, Richard Neutra, Gerrit Rietveld, the Werkbundsiedlung, which currently is being restored at great expense, is one of the most important documents of modern architecture in Austria.

Modernism was also expressed in significant Villa buildings: The House Beer (1929-31) by Josef Frank exemplifies the refined Wiener living culture of the interwar period, while the house Stonborough-Wittgenstein (1926-28, today Bulgarian Cultural Institute), built by the philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein together with the architect Paul Engelmann for his sister Margarete, by its aesthetic radicalism and mathematical rigor represents a special case within contemporary architecture.

Expulsion, war and reconstruction

After the "Anschluss (Annexation)" to the German Reich in 1938, numerous Jewish builders, architects (female and male ones), who had been largely responsible for the high level of Viennese architecture, have been expelled from Austria. During the Nazi era, Vienna remained largely unaffected by structural transformations, apart from the six flak towers built for air defense of Friedrich Tamms (1942-45), made ​​of solid reinforced concrete which today are present as memorials in the cityscape.

The years after the end of World War II were characterized by the reconstruction of the by bombs heavily damaged city. The architecture of those times was marked by aesthetic pragmatism, but also by the attempt to connect with the period before 1938 and pick up on current international trends. Among the most important buildings of the 1950s are Roland Rainer's City Hall (1952-58), the by Oswald Haerdtl erected Wien Museum at Karlsplatz (1954-59) and the 21er Haus of Karl Schwanzer (1958-62).

The youngsters come

Since the 1960s, a young generation was looking for alternatives to the moderate modernism of the reconstruction years. With visionary designs, conceptual, experimental and above all temporary architectures, interventions and installations, Raimund Abraham, Günther Domenig, Eilfried Huth, Hans Hollein, Walter Pichler and the groups Coop Himmelb(l)au, Haus-Rucker-Co and Missing Link rapidly got international attention. Although for the time being it was more designed than built, was the influence on the postmodern and deconstructivist trends of the 1970s and 1980s also outside Austria great. Hollein's futuristic "Retti" candle shop at Charcoal Market/Kohlmarkt (1964-65) and Domenig's biomorphic building of the Central Savings Bank in Favoriten (10th district of Vienna - 1975-79) are among the earliest examples, later Hollein's Haas-Haus (1985-90), the loft conversion Falkestraße (1987/88) by Coop Himmelb(l)au or Domenig's T Center (2002-04) were added. Especially Domenig, Hollein, Coop Himmelb(l)au and the architects Ortner & Ortner (ancient members of Haus-Rucker-Co) ​​by orders from abroad the new Austrian and Viennese architecture made a fixed international concept.

MuseumQuarter and Gasometer

Since the 1980s, the focus of building in Vienna lies on the compaction of the historic urban fabric that now as urban habitat of high quality no longer is put in question. Among the internationally best known projects is the by Ortner & Ortner planned MuseumsQuartier in the former imperial stables (competition 1987, 1998-2001), which with institutions such as the MUMOK - Museum of Modern Art Foundation Ludwig, the Leopold Museum, the Kunsthalle Wien, the Architecture Center Vienna and the Zoom Children's Museum on a wordwide scale is under the largest cultural complexes. After controversies in the planning phase, here an architectural compromise between old and new has been achieved at the end, whose success as an urban stage with four million visitors (2012) is overwhelming.

The dialogue between old and new, which has to stand on the agenda of building culture of a city that is so strongly influenced by history, also features the reconstruction of the Gasometer in Simmering by Coop Himmelb(l)au, Wilhelm Holzbauer, Jean Nouvel and Manfred Wehdorn (1999-2001). Here was not only created new housing, but also a historical industrial monument reinterpreted into a signal in the urban development area.

New Neighborhood

In recent years, the major railway stations and their surroundings moved into the focus of planning. Here not only necessary infrastructural measures were taken, but at the same time opened up spacious inner-city residential areas and business districts. Among the prestigious projects are included the construction of the new Vienna Central Station, started in 2010 with the surrounding office towers of the Quartier Belvedere and the residential and school buildings of the Midsummer quarter (Sonnwendviertel). Europe's largest wooden tower invites here for a spectacular view to the construction site and the entire city. On the site of the former North Station are currently being built 10,000 homes and 20,000 jobs, on that of the Aspangbahn station is being built at Europe's greatest Passive House settlement "Euro Gate", the area of ​​the North Western Railway Station is expected to be developed from 2020 for living and working. The largest currently under construction residential project but can be found in the north-eastern outskirts, where in Seaside Town Aspern till 2028 living and working space for 40,000 people will be created.

In one of the "green lungs" of Vienna, the Prater, 2013, the WU campus was opened for the largest University of Economics of Europe. Around the central square spectacular buildings of an international architect team from Great Britain, Japan, Spain and Austria are gathered that seem to lead a sometimes very loud conversation about the status quo of contemporary architecture (Hitoshi Abe, BUSarchitektur, Peter Cook, Zaha Hadid, NO MAD Arquitectos, Carme Pinós).

Flying high

International is also the number of architects who have inscribed themselves in the last few years with high-rise buildings in the skyline of Vienna and make St. Stephen's a not always unproblematic competition. Visible from afar is Massimiliano Fuksas' 138 and 127 meters high elegant Twin Tower at Wienerberg (1999-2001). The monolithic, 75-meter-high tower of the Hotel Sofitel at the Danube Canal by Jean Nouvel (2007-10), on the other hand, reacts to the particular urban situation and stages in its top floor new perspectives to the historical center on the other side.

Also at the water stands Dominique Perrault's DC Tower (2010-13) in the Danube City - those high-rise city, in which since the start of construction in 1996, the expansion of the city north of the Danube is condensed symbolically. Even in this environment, the slim and at the same time striking vertically folded tower of Perrault is beyond all known dimensions; from its Sky Bar, from spring 2014 on you are able to enjoy the highest view of Vienna. With 250 meters, the tower is the tallest building of Austria and almost twice as high as the St. Stephen's Cathedral. Vienna, thus, has acquired a new architectural landmark which cannot be overlooked - whether it also has the potential to become a landmark of the new Vienna, only time will tell. The architectural history of Vienna, where European history is presence and new buildings enter into an exciting and not always conflict-free dialogue with a great and outstanding architectural heritage, in any case has yet to offer exciting chapters.

The cloisters at Gloucester are renowned for their superb early 16th century fan-vaults, making these perhaps the most beautiful in the country.

Gloucester Cathedral is one of England's finest churches, a masterpiece of medieval architecture consisting of a uniquely beautiful fusion of Norman Romanesque and Perpendicular Gothic from the mid 14th century onwards. Until the Reformation this was merely Gloucester's Abbey of St Peter, under Henry VIII it became one of six former monastic churches to be promoted to cathedral status, thus saving the great church from the ravages of the Dissolution.

The most obviously Norman part is the nave, immediately apparent on entering the building with it's round arches and thick columns (the exterior is the result of Gothic remodelling). Much of the remainder of the building is substantially the Norman structure also, but almost entirely modified in the later Middle Ages inside and out, the result of the great revenue brought to the abbey by pilgrims to the tomb of the murdered King Edward II in the choir. It was this transformation of the Norman church that is credited with launching the late gothic Perpendicular style in England.

The gothic choir is a unique and spectacular work, the walls so heavily panelled as to suggest a huge stone cage (disguising the Norman arches behind) crowned by a glorious net-like vault adorned with numerous bosses (those over the Altar with superb figures of Christ and angels) whilst the east wall is entirely glazing in delicate stone tracery, and still preserving most of it's original 14th century stained glass. The soaring central tower, also richly panelled with delicate pinnacles, is another testament to the abbey's increasing wealth at this time.

The latest medieval additions to the church are equally glorious, the Lady Chapel is entered through the enormous east window and is itself a largely glazed structure, though the original glass has been reduced to a few fragments in the east window, the remainder now contains beautiful Arts & Crafts stained glass by Christopher and Veronica Whall.

The early 16th century cloisters to the north of the nave are some of the most beautiful anywhere, being completely covered by exquisite fan vaulting, with a seperate lavatorium (washing room) attached to the north walk as a miniature version of the main passages.

There is much more of interest, from 14th century choir stalls with misericords to the comprehensive collection of tombs and monuments of various dates, including the elaborate tomb of Edward II and that of Robert Duke of Normandy, eldest son of William the Conqueror. The stained glass also represents all ages, from the 14th century to the striking contemporary windows by Tom Denny.

Further areas of the cathedral can be accessed at certain times, such as the Norman crypt under the choir and the triforium gallery above.

My visit coincided with the major 'Crucible' exhibition of contemporary sculpture (September-October 2010), examples of which I will upload in due course.

Great Chalfield

It was starting to rain by the time I got to Great Ashfield (as a few tell-tale spots from water droplets on my lens may reveal in a few shots) so I was all the more pleased to find All Saints church open to escape the weather, I didn't loiter outside for long!

Great Ashfield church is more humble than many of its better known neighbours but is an interesting place nonetheless. The first thing one notices stepping inside is how much ancient woodwork remains here, with medieval nave pews and a handsome Jacobean pulpit with canopy. The pews have poppyheads but alas the animal carvings here are in poor condition, many broken away altogether and those that remain usually lacking their faces or heads altogether. They do not appear to have been as of high quality as the better known (and preserved) sets in the area but it is still regrettable a few did not survive the centuries in better shape.

What excited me more here was the glass. As a visitor from the Midlands I am often struck by how little stained glass many East Anglian churches have compared to those on my home patch, but here are two interesting pieces from either end of the 20th century. The east window is a handsome piece by Archibald K.Nicholson and one of the finest works I've seen by this artist (not one renowned as a colourist but here he gets it just right with a bold use of blue, white and yellow). In the north aisle is a simpler work executed purely in coloured glass and lead by local artist Surinder Warboys, installed as part of the memorial in the north aisle to the 385 Bombardment Group.

All Saints church appears to be normally normally open to visitors (and is especially appreciated by those caught in rain showers!).

www.suffolkchurches.co.uk/greatashfield.html

St. John’s Church is one of the oldest medieval architectural monuments in Latvia. Church was built in the beginning of 13th century during the Christianization of Baltic’s for the purposes of the Livonian Holy Order because residence of the order was located in Cēsis; therefore Cēsis became one of the most important German power centers in the Baltic’s from 1237 up to 1561.

from:

www.latvia.travel/en/sight/cesis-st-johns-church

----------------------------

Cēsu Svētā Jāņa evaņģēliski luteriskā baznīca ir luterāņu dievnams, kas atrodas Cēsīs. Tā ir viena no vecākajām gotiskajām mūra baznīcām Latvijā un lielākā viduslaiku bazilika Latvijā ārpus Rīgas. 16. gadsimtā tā kļuva par vienu no Ziemeļlatvijas reformācijas centriem. 1582. gadā baznīca kļuva par katoļu katedrāli, bet kopš 1629. gada tā ir luterāņu baznīca. Baznīcā ir apglabāti daudzi 15. un 16. gadsimta Livonijas valstsvīri — vairāki Livonijas ordeņa mestri — Johans Freitāgs fon Loringhofe (1494), Valters fon Pletenbergs (1535), Hermans fon Brigenejs (1549) un Cēsu bīskaps Andrejs Patrīcijs Nideckis (1587).