Durham Cathedral
The Norman cathedral high above the River Wear is one of the most powerful Romanesque interiors in Europe. The massive piers are incised with zigzags, spirals and flutes, and the vaults have ribs of a kind that became one of the steps towards Gothic.
The Normans conquered England in 1066 and marked their grip on the country with castles and cathedrals. In Durham, where the relics of St Cuthbert were kept, construction began in 1093 and the nave was completed around 1133. The bishop was also prince of the region, and together the castle and the cathedral form one of the most dramatic townscapes in Europe.
Durham was an early pioneer of rib vaults over a large nave, several decades before Saint-Denis. The ribs made it possible to build the vaults in sections and channel the thrust down at specific points, and the pointed transverse arches in the nave anticipate Gothic. Yet the interior is Romanesque in its weight: the walls are thick, the windows small, and the stone patterns of the piers convey strength rather than lightness. The cathedral and castle have been a World Heritage Site since 1986.