Ireland is a unique country: religious people live here, respecting traditions and living in a centuries-old paradigm of values. Despite the fact that almost the entire history of this people is woven from wars and battles, they managed to build cathedrals and build temples. And even those peoples who came and captured the Irish left a worthy mark on their lands. One of these traces was the Cathedral of Christ in Dublin, which was built in the XI century by the leader of the Vikings. This place is unique, it had to go through a lot: destruction and restoration, the struggle with another cathedral for primacy, belonging to different religions - all this makes it an invaluable monument of culture, religion and architecture.
Cathedral History
The temple was built in 1031 by order of the Viking King Sitrig Silkberda, nicknamed "Silk Beard." Sitrig wanted this place to be the first chair of the Dublin Archbishop Donatus. It was a wooden structure, located in the very center of the old city on a hilltop.
In 1171, King Henry II attended the church service, after which the almost twenty-year period of rebuilding the temple from stone began. Funds were donated by local tycoons. In addition to the stone church, it was possible to build choirs, transepts, chapels of St. Edmund, St. Lawrence and the Virgin Mary.
In the 13th century, another large-scale reconstruction was made. After that, the cathedral was repaired as necessary: there was no means for a complete restructuring, despite the fact that it belonged to the state.
Confrontation of two temples
In 1191, in Dublin, in the place where St. Patrick’s well was once located, a cathedral was built in his honor. Two important religious buildings were in eternal confrontation: the authorities could not decide which of them would be cathedral. For a long time Dublin was a unique place: two cathedrals were built within the same diocese.
In 1370, when the contradictions reached a particular intensity, a decision was made on the distribution of powers: the cross, the miter and the ring of the bishop should have been preserved in the Cathedral of Christ, and the bishops should be buried alternately in the Cathedral of Christ, then in the Cathedral of St. Patrick. In this situation, the cathedrals lasted until the 19th century, until in 1870 the Cathedral of Christ was officially recognized as cathedral, and St. Patrick's Cathedral - nationwide.
What to see?
When visiting this cathedral, you should definitely pay attention to:
- The surviving Norman and Early English structures that remained intact in the reconstruction of the 91th century
- 13th-century transept, nerf, and choirs
- Henry Sidney Monument Mounted North
- Graves of Count Kildare and Henry Cire
- The crypt of the cathedral is the oldest building in Dublin, where the treasures and relics of the cathedral are stored
- In 1875, a covered bridge was built across the street connecting the cathedral and the old assembly hall of the diocesan clergy. Now on the bridge is an exhibition Dublinia.
Interesting Facts
- In the center of the chapel of St. Lawrence there is an iron reliquary in the shape of a heart, which stores the real embalmed heart of the saint. It is amazing that this greatest shrine managed to remain untouched during the Reformation.
- In 1860, during the cleaning of the cathedral organ, an interesting exhibit was discovered: a naturally mummified rat and a cat chasing after it.
- Anyone who is interested in the knightly era should pay attention to the tomb of the knight Strongbu located inside the cathedral: on its walls there is full knightly armament.
- Today, the cathedral belongs to two religions - Catholicism and Anglicanism.
The object belongs to the cathedrals.
