Saturday, September 9, 2017

Salisbury

Just a 10 minute walk from the hotel, down streets like this:



is the Cathedral and one of the 4 surviving copies of the original 1215 Magna Carta.

That second part was a bit anti-dramatic. It's kept in a case in a special room where they let only 2 or 3 people in at a time. No photographs are allowed, considering it's 800 years old and they don't want any flash to degrade it. It's not really special looking – a light brown page jammed full of writing. It's all in Latin, so I couldn't read it.

The cathedral, though, is dramatic:



It was mostly built in the 1200's in less than 50 years. Most cathedrals took centuries, so that, in and of itself, is amazing. It also means it's of one architectual style. Most others changed as parts were added.

The interior is also dramatic:



The spire makes it over 400 feet tall. For centuries, it was the tallest building in Britain. It was added about 100 years after the cathedral was completed. With over 6000 tons of weight, the structure needed bracing to hold it. Still, some of the stone columns bent under the weight:





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