131 Ely Cathedral, England. The Pink Floyd cathedral
Catching up with an old university friend, I without difficulty talked him into a visit to Ely Cathedral, which he had seen several times and very much liked. It is twenty minutes by train from Cambridge. We were able to climb up on the roof, via rather narrow and scary winding staircases, and I was inordinately proud of myself for not chickening out. The official name of the cathedral is the Cathedral Church of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Ely, which does sound like they are trying to make a point: they were – it had previously had an ordinary saint’s name, but when the Reformation came along, they renamed it. Much of the building was built in the 11th century, but its tradition goes back to a religious community made up of both men and women, back in the seventh century. – an abbey in fact, which, according to Wikipedia, had become “one of England's most successful Benedictine abbeys, with a famous saint, treasures, library, book production of the highest order and lands exceeded only by Glastonbury”.
The octagon tower, built
when the previous tower collapsed in 1322, is a unique highlight. A lot of important architects have worked on
the building over the centuries.
Modern sculptures were also available (Mary Magdalene recognizes the risen
Jesus, among others), but mostly sweeping Romanesque and Gothic volumes stand
out, plus lego café etc. A twenty-first century Blessed Virgin Mary as powerful
woman caused some controversy when it was installed.
Up in the stairways on
the way to the roof, you can see graffiti, mostly signatures, some dated 1917. Fab
stone pulpit. The place stood in for Westminster Abbey when they filmed « The
King’s Speech », and the cathedral appears on the album cover of Pink Floyd’s
album « The Division Bell ».
