Cathedrals

MASTERPIECES OF ARCHITECTURE, FEATS OF ENGINEERING, ICONS OF FAITH

SIMON JENKINS

Beautifully illustrated with color photographs throughout, this joyous exploration of the history of Western civilization showcases the cathedral’s central role in the European imagination. A masterful writer, Simon Jenkins tells the stories behind these stone wonders: the architects that made them possible, the triumphs of engineering, the artists who enriched their décor, and the inevitable human follies of those who were involved in their building, from the artisans and workers to the wealthy donors and the faithful who worshipped beneath their soaring spires and majestic domes.

Jenkins is the critically acclaimed, award-winning author of best-selling works that make history accessible. Blending insight and authority with personal reflections and experiences, he deftly reveals the history, design, and significance of each of these enduring monuments to the human spirit from popular favorites like St. Paul’s in London and the Duomo in Florence to less well-known masterpieces well worth a trip. Europe’s cathedrals are treasure troves of art and repositories of history that attract hundreds of thousands of visitors every year.

Simon Jenkins is author of many bestsellers including A Short History of England, A Short History of Europe, A Short History of London, England’s Thousand Best Churches, and England’s Cathedrals. He is a columnist for the Guardian.

368 pages, 7K x 9O” 250 color photographs HC w/jacket: 978-0-8478-7140-7 $39.95 Can: $53.95 February 15, 2022 Rights: US/Canada + Open Market RIZZOLI

europe , s 100 Greatest cathedrals

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europe , s 100 Greatest cathedrals decline, the restoration of churches and of other historic buildings has mostly been successful. I sense these churches of the east are now safe for all time.

Though in what was termed eastern Europe, the churches of Poland and former Bohemia were always Roman Catholic. The evolution of their architecture is similar to that of churches of the western Gothic tradition.

ISTANBUL HAGIA SOPHIA

I am in favour of holy wisdom. To a classicist the idea of a church dedicated not to a supernatural spirit or Trinity but to wisdom is appealing. Indeed hagia sophia was sometimes translated not as ‘holy wisdom’ but as ‘sublime explanation’. As such it was an attempt at an intellectual bridge to Christian theology from the Greek philosophy of Plato and Aristotle, uniting the two great streams of European thought and perhaps appealing to those of a more agnostic persuasion.

Whether the emperor Constantine (r.306–37) himself built a first church on the site of Hagia Sophia is unknown but is thought probable. The present building was begun two centuries later in 537 by the emperor Justinian (r.527–65). Since then it has survived earthquakes, rebellions, sieges, partial collapse and conversion to a mosque and museum. Today it is again a mosque.

Despite its name, Hagia Sophia’s early relics had little to do with wisdom. They were mostly an assortment of souvenirs brought back from Palestine by Constantine’s enterprising mother Helen, though which bits of the True Cross, Noah’s axe and the dish that fed the 5,000 came here rather than to Helen’s

↗ Hagia Sophia: wisdom in a church, mosque, museum

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