The beautiful stained windows of Canterbury Cathedral, England

Hello friends,

Today I will show you the beautiful interior of the Canterbury Cathedral. I have reduced the resolution of these pictures to make it possible for people browsing on smartphones to load my post quicker. I hope this works without reducing too much my image quality.

There are a lot of impressive tombs in the cathedral, as a lot of famous people are buried inside its walls. Among them, Thomas Becket the assassinated archbishop of Canterbury, King Henry IV of England, Edward of Woodstock aka the Black Prince, Queen of England Joan of Navarre, and many others (1).

Tomb of the Black Prince

Tomb of archbishop Henry Chichele

Tomb of archbishop William Courtenay

Tombs inside the Canterbury Cathedral

The Trinity Chapel at the east end of Canterbury Cathedral was built as a shrine for the relics of St. Thomas Becket. The shrine became one of the most popular pilgrimage sites in England, inspiring Geoffrey Chaucer to write The Canterbury Tales in 1387. There were routes converging on the cathedral for pilgrims, such as the Chaucer's route (from Southwark) and the Pilgrim's Way from Winchester.

Becket's shrine stood until it was destroyed in 1540. This was done on orders from King Henry VIII, as vengeance for his ancestor, Henry II. The king also destroyed Becket's bones and ordered that all mention of his name be obliterated. History of course proved him wrong (2).

Views from the Trinity Chapel

The awe inspiring vaulted ceiling and the high columns throughout the cathedral make this a perfect place for meditating and praying.

Views of the interior of the Canterbury Cathedral

It seems to me that here in this cathedral the stained glass windows play the same role as the golden mosaics of the orthodox churches or the paintings and frescoes of the catholic churches. A role didactic as well as decorative. They tell stories about saints and Jesus in the most beautiful possible way.

So lets have a close look at these dazzling windows.

The beautiful stained glass windows of Canterbury Cathedral

By the time I finished my perusal of the cathedral the sun was starting to set and I was starving. On my way back I came across this quaint timber framed pub/restaurant, where I had a nice chicken curry with a pint of lager.

A timber framed English Pub

And that was the end of my trip to Canterbury. A nice train journey to a historic medieval city with a stunning cathedral.

I hope you liked my post. Have a great week and speak to you soon! Cheerio!

1.Text from http://www.ranker.com/list/famous-people-buried-in-canterbury-cathedral/reference.
2.Text from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trinity_Chapel.