100 Churches in Paris and elsewhere

Be careful, there are actually two Southwark cathedrals, one for the Anglicans and the other for the Catholics. This is the Anglican one, the oldest one (though the Catholics might say that is only because the Anglicans nicked it from them a few hundred years ago). Its full name is The Cathedral and Collegiate Church of St Saviour and St Mary Overie, Southwark. Now to take these folk in order, it is first important to note that Saint Saviour (if I understand correctly) is not some saint who thought he would benefit from a holier name than your other, common or garden saints. It just means “holy saviour”, so the church is actually dedicated directly to the bearded Fellow himself. St Mary Overie, similarly, is not the patron saint of gynaecologists. The expression is simply an old one meaning “St Mary’s over the river”. The cathedral is indeed, close to the Thames, opposite the city of London more or less. Many claim the first religious building on the site was a convent...

  Very long church, built on a steep hill, and completed in 1880, with some Romanesque revival and some neo Gothic elements. Before the building was completed, it was used during the Paris Commune for political meetings. The church boasts a series of paintings of vaguely biblical scenes, including a Death of Saint Joseph, and a painting of Jesus going down into Limbo to pick up some worthy souls who were unable to be saved through your normal believing-in-Jesus route cos they had lived and died long be fore. This is what Jesus did to pass the time between being crucified and rising from the dead. In particular he made sure to accompany back up to Paradise your major prophets etc, which you can see in the painting I photographed. There is a cool pulpit, too ! Some scenes from Brian de Palma’s erotic thriller, Femme Fatale, were filmed in this church !