200 Churches in Paris and elsewhere

  196 Dumfries, Scotland, Ruthwell Church and its eighth century cross. The most famous thing about this church is that it holds the Ruthwell cross, a stone Anglo-Saxon cross thought to date from the 8th century. The decoration of the cross includes a very old runic inscription. At that time this part of Scotland belonged to the Kingdom of Northumbria. It has had an exciting history. It was damaged in 1642 during presbyterian rebellions. The largest panel on the cross seems to show “ Christ as Judge recognised by the beasts in the desert ” Below it we have Saint Paul and Saint Anthony breaking bread. On the other side, Mary Magdalene is drying Jesus’s feet and there are a number of other biblical scenes. There are inscriptions in Latin, and a runic poem which may date from the time, but may have been added a couple of hundred years later. The church is still today at the centre of a small active parish.

195 Metz, France, Sainte Ségolène This church is much attended by the Polish community in Metz, and you can see signs of this by texts in Polish, and the concentration on Saint John Paul, who was Pope John Paul the second, and was born Karol Józef Wojtyła . Parts of the building go back to the 13th century, and we have a 15th century porch. Some of the stained glass is over 500 years old.