Close-up of the religious carved stone work, above the main entrance to Canterbury Cathedral


Canterbury Cathedral in Canterbury, Kent, is one of the oldest and most famous Christian structures in England and forms part of a World Heritage Site. It is the cathedral of the Archbishop of Canterbury, leader of the Church of England and symbolic leader of the worldwide Anglican Communion. Its formal title is the Cathedral and Metropolitical Church of Christ at Canterbury. Founded in 597, the cathedral was completely rebuilt from 1070 to 1077. The east end was greatly enlarged at the beginning of the twelfth century, and largely rebuilt in the Gothic style following a fire in 1174, with significant eastward extensions to accommodate the flow of pilgrims visiting the shrine of Thomas Becket, the archbishop who was murdered in the cathedral in 1170. The Norman nave and transepts survived until the late fourteenth century, when they were demolished to make way for the present structures


Size: 5616px × 3744px
Location: Canterbury Cathedral, Canterbury, Kent.
Photo credit: © John Gaffen 2 / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No

Keywords: canterbury, carved, carvings, cathedral, cathrdral, christianity, close-, detail, heritage, religious, site, statues, stone, world