Make real the glory*

Magnet #730 - Salisbury Cathedral

Salisbury, England, is a sister city of Salisbury, NC. I haven't a clue if that's official or not, but I do remember a high school choral group going over there to sing in at Salisbury Cathedral, and them calling it a sister city, so let's go with yes, official.

I've not been to Salisbury, England - I think this magnet came from my sister. The cathedral was built in the 1200s - dudes, that's 750 years ago! It never ceases to amaze me that these giant structures were built so long ago, and they're still standing. Yet, I don't ever have that feeling about today's new builds that they'll last out the century. Hmmm.

What makes this cathedral different from most religious structures of this size, is that it was fully built within a century, that is 1220-1258, and without any major additions afterward. It was built in one style - Early English Gothic - and one style only...rather than other cathedrals built over several centuries that end up having several architectural styles incorporated into the buildings - depending on the time and the architect in charge.

The Cathedral has the tallest spire in Britain, coming in at just over 400 feet. Plus, it has the country's oldest working clock, from the 1300s. And, it has one of the four existing copies of the Magna Carta from 1215. Lots of stuff to see and do here.

I picked it for today, because I'm watching BBC-America's airing of the BAFTAs - the English Oscars, which are always fun to watch, but also because I've been thinking about Salisbury, NC, these last couple of days, as I watch the statuses and comments on my home Facebook account fly by.

It just amazes me how people that I grew up with high school and college know each other - even if they were from different parts of my life, from different areas of Salisbury. And yet, they all go to the same games, meetings and churches, not always realizing that they have me in common.

It's weird, that. But, I guess that's what happens when you grow up in a town as small as ours.

* From the cathedral's mission statement: Salisbury Cathedral exists to make real the glory and presence of God in the world.