What you need to know about St. Basil's Cathedral. Legends of Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris Where did the name “St. Basil’s Cathedral” come from?

When the Cologne Cathedral was finally completed in 1880 after centuries of construction, for the next four years it remained the tallest building in the world. The construction of the third largest Gothic church in the world took an incredible six-plus centuries. And if we take into account that after the Second World War the temple had to be restored and restoration work has continued incessantly since then, then, perhaps, you will not find a second such long-term construction...

On the 1922 banknote, on the left is the architect, on the right is the devil himself.

Few people know that along with the first black and white images of this structure on postcards, its outlines also appeared on money. For example, the German 500,000 mark inflation banknote from 1923 shows a view of Cologne Cathedral.

Cathedral in exchange for a soul

There were plenty of problems with the construction of the temple. Work often stopped due to lack of money. And a lot of them were required. Until about 1530, financial problems were difficult to cope with, but they were managed. But since 1530, the surprising apathy of the authorities began to mix with the shortage of funds. In the end, people completely lost interest in the cathedral and the desire to complete it. From then until the middle of the 19th century, it stood “in the woods.” All this is confirmed by historical documents. But the legends that have reached us explain this long-term construction in their own way. And they blame the devil for everything...

According to legends, it was the devil who placed a curse on Cologne Cathedral. There is even a belief that work on it will never stop. Because if this happens, the Apocalypse will immediately come...

In 1164, the Cologne Archbishop Rainald von Dassel secretly transported the relics of the Three Magi from Milan to Cologne. After magnificent celebrations in their honor, the city turned into a place of mass pilgrimage for Christians. It was then that the idea was born to build a new one on the site of the old dilapidated cathedral.

They began to look for an architect who would take on such a grandiose and very responsible undertaking. The choice fell on Gerhard von Riehle, who studied his skills in France. The city authorities gave him exactly one year to develop the drawings. But, despite his enviable hard work, the master could not put his brilliant ideas on paper. Every time he brought the drawing to its logical conclusion, some error was discovered that threatened to nullify all his efforts. And then one day, walking thoughtfully along the banks of the Rhine, he stopped at a huge stone, which popular rumor dubbed the devil. Suddenly, out of nowhere, a stranger appeared in front of him, dressed in the fashion of French builders. The stranger began to quickly draw something with a cane (in another version, with a sword) in the dust at the very feet of Gerhard. When the master took a closer look, he was seriously surprised - on the ground in front of him was the completed plan of the new cathedral. The architect asked the stranger what he would like to receive for his drawing. To which the stranger, and this was none other than the owner of the underworld himself, replied: “Your soul! And if you also promise me the souls of your wife and child, I will build it myself new church for three years. If I fail, then you will continue to enjoy life in the human world. But if the cathedral is ready with the first roosters signaling the beginning of the first day in the fourth year, you and your family are mine!”

This scene was captured on the Cologne notgeld of 50 pfennigs in 1922. On the left, with drawings in hand, is a short-sighted architect. On the right is the devil.

Under the rooster's crow

Master Gerhard decided that even the devil would be unable to erect such a grandiose structure in such a short period of time. Therefore, he agreed to the devil’s bet with a light hand. Satan and his brothers worked worse than the Stakhanovites. And every day the walls God's temple were getting higher and higher. But Gerhard von Riehle's mood barometer dropped lower and lower. This did not escape the attentive eyes of his wife, and one day she finally asked him what was stopping him from enjoying life. And when I found out about the terms of the deal, I was first scared, and then thoughtful.

One fine day, the architect's wife and her son went to the market. There the boy drew her attention to a stately capon, who was crowing at the top of his lungs to the amusement of the crowd. And when the boy began to imitate the rooster, a saving idea suddenly dawned on the woman. Now she knew how to outwit the soul buyer. Since then, the master’s wife practiced every day in imitation of the vocal bird. And as soon as the neighboring roosters began to respond to her crowing, she regained peace of mind.

Meanwhile, the construction of Cologne Cathedral was nearing completion. And now the day of reckoning has come. That morning the woman got up very early and went to the construction site. The demons were just installing the domes of the towers. It was here that Gerhard's wife demonstrated her skill in imitation. She crowed so skillfully that real roosters began to respond to her cries from all over Cologne. The devil did not suspect a trick, but, emitting a wild cry, began to destroy the newly built church. But, as they say, an agreement is worth more than money. And the ruler of darkness had to go home with nothing. But the cathedral remained unfinished...

Ghost of the Master

And what about Master Gerhard!? Unfortunately, this story has a sad ending. After some time, Satan again appeared before the architect. And he bet with him that he would quickly bring water from the Eifel (a region in western Germany) to Cologne through an underground canal than he would complete the construction of his church. The master immediately agreed, because he knew something that the devil could not know. Namely, that if special vents are not made throughout the entire underground channel, then problems with draft will arise and water will not flow through the pipe. He hastened to inform his wife about this in order to enlist her moral support.

But if in the case of the first bet the woman helped her husband, then this time the cunning demon managed to find out the secret of traction from her, and he carried the water through an underground channel. They say that Master Gerhard was on the roof of an unfinished tower when he saw a devilish spring gushing from the ground below. Realizing what this threatened him with, he rushed down to save his soul. But I didn’t have time. Having turned into a hellish dog, Satan jumped after him. And before the architect reached the ground, the devil grabbed him and dragged him into the underworld.

One saga about the Cologne Cathedral says that no one could complete the construction of the Gothic temple because the ghost of the unfortunate builder prevented it. He suddenly appeared on the scaffolding and frightened the workers, or even pushed the most stubborn ones down. They say that the ghost of Master Gerhard wandered around the church at night for hundreds of years after his death, guarding his unfinished creation...

Cologne Cathedral is one of the greatest and most beautiful Gothic churches in Europe. Despite its beauty, this cathedral is strongly associated with dark legends and the name of Satan. The fact that the cathedral, the construction of which began in the 13th century, is still not completed speaks volumes - and some believe that the evil spirit actually had a hand in the “endless” construction.

The first stone for the foundation of the future cathedral was laid in 1248 by the Bishop of Cologne, Conrad von Hochstaden, at the numerous requests of the townspeople. Initially, it was assumed that the cathedral would be built in a fairly short time, despite grandiose plans to “eclipse other cities with the beauty of the cathedral.” And, of course, no one could have imagined that the construction of the temple would take hundreds of years.

As it turned out during excavations already in the 20th century, Cologne Cathedral was not founded out of nowhere. At the beginning of the 1st century AD. on the site of the future cathedral there was a pagan temple of the Romans, which was replaced by an Episcopal church in the 4th century.

The Cologne Cathedral was modeled after the well-known Amiens Cathedral in France. Gerhard von Riehle was appointed chief architect of the new temple. Legend claims that even before laying the first stone in the foundation of the cathedral, the Archbishop of Milan brought the relics of the Magi to Cologne from Milan. The place where these relics were kept began to attract more and more pilgrims, after which it was decided to build a cathedral that could accommodate everyone who wanted to attend the service.

Complete mysticism

Already at the stage of creating the drawing of the new cathedral, mysterious things began to happen. Legends tell different things. According to one, the new architect could not create the final plan for the cathedral, although the city authorities gave him a whole year to do this. And one day, while walking through the streets of Cologne, he met a man who was finishing a sketch of a plan. Looking over his shoulder, the architect realized with amazement that the plan was the blueprint for the future cathedral. Gerhard von Riehle began to persuade the man to sell him the drawing, and he agreed - asking for the architect's soul as the price. The man was none other than the Devil himself, who, moreover, promised to build the cathedral himself in three years if the architect agreed to give him the souls of his wife and child in addition.

Confident that the arrogant Devil would not be able to fulfill his promise, the architect agreed. As time passed and the cathedral grew rapidly, Gerhard von Riehle began to have doubts. Seeing his dejected state, his wife began to ask what was the matter. In the end, the architect confessed to her. Horrified at first, the woman eventually began to look for a way to deceive the Devil. And I found it.

According to the agreement, Satan had to complete the construction before the rooster crowed on the first morning of the fourth year. Having approached the cathedral at the appointed time, von Riehle's wife crowed the rooster - but the cathedral was not ready at that time. Satan, who did not have time to erect the last turret, began to destroy the building in a rage. And since then, everyone who tried to continue construction suffered punishment, because Satan cursed both the cathedral itself and the entire city, commanding that the moment the last stone was laid in the walls of the structure, the Apocalypse would come.

According to another legend, the architect successfully completed both the project and the construction of the cathedral - but just before the completion of construction, Satan appeared to him and said that he would not allow the construction to be completed unless von Riehle agreed to make a bet. According to the terms of the dispute, Satan took upon himself the obligation to build an underground canal to the cathedral itself. And, if he can do this, Gerhard will have to give his soul in return. Confident that only he alone knew the secret of laying the canal (namely, the creation of vents, without which water would not flow through the canal), the architect agreed. But he shared the secret with his wife, and Satan overheard their conversation. The canal was built, and the architect, seeing this, threw himself down from the scaffolding in horror.

It is unknown which of this is true. The architect really died mysteriously, and a strange underground canal was laid not far from the cathedral. Many claim to have seen a “white shadow” - supposedly the ghost of a dead architect, who guards his creation to this day and does not allow it to be completed. Cologne Cathedral is still not completed. Construction work continued until the middle of the 15th century, after which it was stopped - either due to the curse, or because of the plague epidemics that decimated the population of Europe. But even in those days the cathedral looked impressive.

In the 19th century, it was decided to complete the construction of the cathedral. But these plans were not destined to come true. Despite the magnificent celebrations held at the end of the century to mark the completion of the building, just a few years later one of the towers collapsed, followed by others. The glazing and flooring in the cathedral were never completed. Moreover, serious problems with the foundation were discovered.

During the Second World War, the cathedral was practically not damaged, but only because the pilots used its towers as a landmark. After the end of the war, restoration was resumed - and continues to this day.

The path to the famous Gothic Quarter of Barcelona begins from here, from Cathedral Square. But today we will not wander through the labyrinth of its narrow stone streets, but here, in the square, we will stop, because our conversation will be about it, the main cathedral of Barcelona - the Cathedral. The cathedral, seemingly weightless, with a pointed spire pointing into the sky, has always attracted the attention of historians and simply curious people. He is all a complete mystery and mystery. Over countless years, the cathedral has accumulated so many legends and traditions that telling about them would take more than one hour. I will have to limit myself to the most interesting of them.

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So, the most ancient legend connected with the place where the cathedral is located: according to legend, none other than the Apostle James himself, visiting Barcelona at the beginning of the Christian era, pointed to the place where the first stone was subsequently laid in the foundation of the basilica. From that small basilica the adventure-rich history of the Cathedral began. It has had to experience a lot over the past centuries: it passed from hand to hand, from Christians to Muslims, turning into a mosque and back, and was destroyed to the ground, and was reborn again, like a Phoenix from the ashes. By the way, its revival became possible thanks to amazing story love between the Count of Barcelona Ramon Berenguer I and the beautiful Almodis de la Marche (we'll talk about this story a little later). The very name of the cathedral - St. Eulalia Cathedral - is also associated with a legend, enchanting and creepy at the same time; it would be simply unforgivable not to introduce you to it.

However, everything is in order. Let's start with the fact that the Gothic cathedral that we see now began to be built in 1298. They built it and built it, but never completed it - for one banal reason: lack of funds. It took him more than six centuries to take his current form. Although the building itself was built in just one hundred and fifty years, the facade (the beauty and pride of the cathedral) was born in its current form relatively recently: at the end of the 19th century, and the spire - generally in 1913. True, they built the façade based on medieval drawings French architect Carl Galtes in the same Gothic style as the building itself.

The main shrine of the Barcelona Cathedral is the crypt, located under the main altar. Here, in a marble sarcophagus, rest the relics of Saint Eulalia, who gave her name to the cathedral. For a long time she was the patroness of the city.
Now the time has come to listen to the legend about this young Christian martyr.

The Legend of Saint Eulalia.

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At the very beginning of the 4th century, in Barcino (as Barcelona was then called), a girl named Eulalia grew up in a family of wealthy merchants. Her parents, people of progressive views, as a protest against the arbitrariness and corruption of the Roman authorities, chose Christian faith. Times were troubled: the Roman Emperor Diocletian began persecuting the first Christians. Governor Barsino accused Eulalia's parents of acquiring their wealth through magic, allegedly inherent in Christian rituals. Outraged by such an unfair accusation, Eulalia rushed to the temple of Augustus. There, with the ardor and uncompromisingness of youth (she was barely thirteen years old), she delivered an indictment speech against the ruler.

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She ended her angry tirade by throwing a handful of earth at the pagan altar. The angry governor ordered the rebel to be thrown into prison and, to discourage others, to beat her with whips. The night after the punishment, angels descended into the dungeon and healed the bloody wounds of the unfortunate woman. The next morning, seeing that heaven itself had come to the aid of Eulalia, the enraged Dassian (that was the name of the governor) assigned her another test. This continued thirteen times (according to the number of years the girl had lived), torture followed, one more terrible than the other. They tore her body with hooks, burned her legs on hot coals, burned her breasts, poured salt on the wounds and poured boiling oil and molten tin over them, lowered her downhill in a barrel filled with broken glass, locked her in a pen full of angry fleas. And after each torture, the angels again came to her aid. In the end, the girl was subjected to a shameful test: naked, she was put in an open cart and driven through the streets of the city. Each time the torturers asked her the same question: “Are you renouncing your religion?” In response, the girl only shook her head negatively.

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Having lost hope of breaking Eulalia’s stubbornness, the governor ordered the rebellious woman to be executed by crucifying her on a cross. As soon as the martyr gave up her ghost, an unprecedented cold descended on the ground. The Roman soldiers guarding the place of execution, numb, hid in all directions. Eulalia's parents were able to remove the martyr from the cross and bury her, as required by Christian custom. For a long time, her remains rested in the church that stood on the site of the present Santa Maria del Mar. Subsequently they were moved to the Cathedral.

This is such a beautiful and scary legend. For those who want to tickle their nerves, I suggest you look at the marble bas-reliefs in the choir, which depict scenes of torture of our heroine.

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Time passed, new songs appeared, well, or new legends, as in our case. In the Middle Ages, Saint Eulalia was replaced by another saint, Merce, who in turn became the patroness of the city. Despite this, the holy martyr was not forgotten: her name appears in the names of several streets in the old city, there is even a metro station named after her. In the Palace of Bireina (Vice Queen), on the Rambla, next to other giant figures behind glass, you can see the figure of a girl holding an unusually shaped cross in her hand. This doll is the prototype of “Saint Eulalia”. She, like other “giants”, is still worn through the city streets during city holidays. They say that Eulalia was seriously offended by the townspeople for treason. Since then, every year on September 24, the day of Saint Merce, she sends rain to Barcelona to ruin the holiday for people. Well, women always remain women, even saints. However, in Lately Eulalia has noticeably calmed down and is no longer annoying the townspeople. The thing is that her name became fashionable; the Catalans began to call their daughters Eulalia or simply Laia.

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Now we will enter the cathedral. Attached to its wall (as was customary in cathedrals) are two painted wooden sarcophagi. They contain the remains of the founders of the cathedral: Count Ramon Berenguer, later nicknamed the Old, and his wife, the beautiful Almodis de la Marche. It is with them that the love story I promised to tell you about is connected.

Count Ramon Berenguer I and Almodis.

It has everything: love at first sight, adultery, running away with a lover, the struggle for love, power, and... murder. Everything follows the rules of an adventure novel. And in ancient times they happened similar stories, and the fact that the heroes of this were two noble people gives even greater intensity to passions. It was then that Count Berenguer was nicknamed the Old One, and at the time of his meeting with Almodis he was a very attractive man in the prime of his life. Everything would be fine if both heroes were not burdened with families and children. But this did not become an obstacle for the lovers: Almodis leaves his family and leaves with his lover for his domain. He is also ready for anything: he kicks out his wife, forgets about the children and enjoys life with his beautiful mistress. But those around us clearly do not agree with this state of affairs. The Pope himself stands up for the rights of the offended. Ramon Berenguer managed to solve this problem: having allocated a significant amount for the construction of the temple (this happened in the 10th century), the count returned the location of the church. The situation was worse with Berenguer's former family; his son from his first marriage, Pedro Ramon, fearing that the Almodis children would take his place on the throne (quite rightly, by the way: the newly-made countess was ready for anything), found the easiest way to get rid of the threat: he killed rival. By the way, the killer never succeeded in ascending the throne, but the love story ended there. Centuries passed, passions died down, history was forgotten, and only two coffins hanging on the wall of the cathedral remind of it.

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Crucifixion "Christ of Lepanto".

Another of the cathedral’s shrines, which cannot be ignored, is the wooden crucifix called “Christ of Lepanto”.

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Why "from Lepanto"? Because this crucifix was placed by John of Austria at the stern of the flagship galley of the Christian flotilla during the Battle of Lepanto in the 16th century. Victory in this battle ended almost a century of Turkish dominance in the Mediterranean. On the crucifixion, Christ is depicted in an unusual pose: his body is curved like the letter S. Some of the skeptics, foaming at the mouth, will begin to argue that in this way the author of the sculpture wanted to depict the pain of the agonizing Christ. But what do we care about skeptics if, according to legend, hundreds of witnesses saw how Christ on the crucifixion dodged an enemy cannonball flying right at him. In all likelihood, Providence decided that one miracle was enough and did not return Christ to his original position. So he froze forever.

The legend of the "Turk's Head".

Another legend is associated with Cathedral- “The Legend of the Turk’s Head.” This story began in the same bloody battle of Lepanto. As we already know, it ended with the victory of the Christians. As a symbol of victory, the Spaniards made a huge head of a Turk from cardboard with a long head and a turban. The Catalans call it "carassa". During the Christmas holidays, the head was hung over the organ, and a crowd of children gathered around it, looking at the monster in fascination. From time to time the head put on a show: suddenly its eyes began to roll wildly, it uttered terrible screams, and frightened children echoed it. But soon the horror of the children gave way to screams of delight when caramels began to fall out of the monster’s open mouth. However, not all parishioners liked what was happening; many showed dissatisfaction with the fact that christian church there is a “severed” head of an infidel.

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In 1970, the “karassa” was removed. In 1989, after a long break, they decided to return this previously popular character to his place. They made a new head, similar to the one that was in the 16th century, but gave it a more good-natured appearance. During the Christmas holidays, the "karassa" again puts on performances in the cathedral and even goes for a walk through the streets of the Gothic Quarter, to the great joy of not only children, but also adults. The expression “to look for the head of a Turk”, which has become firmly established in the everyday speech of the Spaniards, is associated with this character. During the Crusades, cutting off the head of a Turk (infidel) was considered an unusually commendable achievement. When this was successful, the severed head was hung on a mast or impaled on a spear, and the soldiers began to scold it at all costs, blaming it for all the troubles and misfortunes. Thus, when they say that they are looking for the head of a Turk, it means that they are looking for none other than a scapegoat.

Here is another celebrity of the cathedral: the stone baptismal bowl. In itself, it would not be of particular interest if it were not for the memorial plaque attached above it. The text says that six Indians brought by Columbus to Barcelona in 1493 were baptized in this cup. As you know, in Barcelona the later famous navigator was met by the Spanish Catholic kings: Fernand and Isabella.

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It is a Gothic building located in the English city of York. Is one of the largest medieval temples in northern Europe. The chair of the head of the city's ecclesiastical province is located here.

The cathedral is located on the very spot where King Edwin of Northumbria was baptized. The construction of the temple began in 1220 and lasted for 250 years. In 1472 the temple was consecrated.

The total length of the cathedral is about 160 meters, the height is about 60 meters. The nave of York Minster is the widest Gothic nave in England.

The most ancient parts of the cathedral are the southern and northern transept. The north one contains the famous windows, and the south transept is decorated with a huge round window with a figured frame in the form of a blossoming flower or a star. Its stained glass windows depict the union of the royal houses of Lancaster and York. The huge East Window, created at the beginning of the 15th century, is the largest medieval stained glass window in the world.

In the center of the cathedral there is a large and beautiful organ, which was erected in the 15th century. Next to him are statues of the fifteen kings of England, from William I to Henry VI.

The cathedral houses the Astronomical Clock, which was installed in 1955 in memory of the English pilots who died during the Second World War. The clock shows not only the time, but also the location of the sun and some stars.

In the temple building there is a sculpture of the Bishop of York Matthew Hutton, who lived in 1529–1606.

Under the cathedral building there are crypts that remain from the ancient Saxon buildings that stood on this site. It is also possible to see the foundations of an old Anglo-Saxon temple, on the site of which the modern cathedral stands. The sculptures in the crypt were created around 1100. At first they were placed outside on the western towers of the cathedral, then, due to their poor condition, they were moved inside.

Next to the cathedral there is a sculpture of the emperor Constantine the Great. At the time of Constantine’s proclamation as emperor, his regiment was in the city. And on the site where this historical event took place, York Cathedral was later built. In honor of this event, many centuries later a monument was erected.

The full name of the Milan Cathedral sounds like “Santa Maria Nascente”, but few people call it anything other than Domsky or Milanese. The cathedral is the most famous architectural monument and symbol of Milan. It is located in the city center and is a grandiose and complex structure of Gothic architecture. Lined with white marble, decorated on top with numerous turrets and spiers, carved cornices, the cathedral seems weightless, lacy.

Its construction lasted from 1386 until the middle of the 19th century, and even now the cathedral is renovated from time to time, so this “eternal construction” has become a proverb among the Italians. In addition to Italian architects, German and French masters took part in its construction.

In terms of size, the Milan Cathedral is the third largest in the world. The height of the building reaches 157 meters, and its internal area is 11,700 m2. The highest spire, on which the statue of the Madonna is installed, reaches 108.5 meters in height. In total, the Milan Cathedral has 135 spiers. There are 2245 marble statues built on the sides.

Legend claims that the cathedral was built as a token of gratitude of the Milanese to the Madonna for freeing the city's women from infertility. It wasn’t really infertility, it was just that only girls were born in Milan. There was nothing bad about it, but during the Middle Ages women were not very favored. The Milanese fell into despair.

They began to pray to the Madonna because, firstly, the Italians revere her very much, and secondly, because she gave birth to a son. Therefore, when, after long prayers addressed to the Madonna, the long-awaited sons finally began to appear, the Milanese decided, as a sign of gratitude, to build a cathedral of extraordinary beauty, placing a gilded Madonna on the top.

Collection L. Franzek

During the Second World War, the whole of Milan suffered greatly from fascist bombing. Almost 60% of the city's buildings were destroyed. But the Dome Cathedral was among the untouched buildings. Madonna helped Milan again.

Like all other Gothic churches, the Milan Cathedral is decorated with many hundreds (or rather, even thousands) of sculptures. Some of them are quite remarkable: for example, a pair of female figures placed on the central balcony of the facade are considered a prototype of the New York Statue of Liberty. Indeed, if the torch from the left sculpture is given into the hands of the right one crowned with a radiant crown, the result will be quite similar. And if you consider that Auguste Vartholdi, the author of the Statue of Liberty, definitely visited Milan, then the legend becomes quite plausible.

The cathedral also houses one of the nails with which Christ was supposedly nailed to the cross. The Church claims that Saint Helen, the mother of Constantine the Great, found the crosses on which Jesus Christ was crucified in Jerusalem. There were three nails. One was thrown into the sea to calm the storm, the second is kept in the cathedral in Monza, the third held the horseshoe of Constantine's horse.

The first to testify to the existence of the Holy Nail was Saint Ambrose of Milan. In his funeral oration dedicated to the death of Emperor Theodosius, he retold the story of finding two nails pulled out of a cross and turning one of them into a horseshoe or horse bit, and the other into a diadem, presented as a gift to Constantine, who decorated his helmet with it.

According to legend, it was Theodosius who gave the Holy Nail, converted into a bit, to Bishop Ambrose of Milan. This relic was originally kept in the Basilica of St. Thecla, which stood on this very spot before the construction of the Milan Cathedral. It is located in the very center of the cathedral, above the main altar, where the choirs are located.

It is placed in a precious tabernacle, for which a special niche was provided in the apse during the construction of the cathedral. For two days a year, the nail is on display for parishioners to see. To get it, the Milanese bishop climbs to the niche using a special device invented by Leonardo. The rest of the time, instead of a nail, only a red beam is shown on the wall.

Another legend is associated with the altar cover, which, according to legend, Leonardo da Vinci bought in a village in Crete and then donated to the Milan Cathedral.

Larisa Franzek

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