In Denmark's oldest surviving city stands Denmark's oldest surviving Cathedral. The first thing that strikes visitors is that the three towers are all different. Actually it's obvious that the Cathedral was build and renovated at several times either because of fire or because a bishop or king wanted something added in their honor. The first stone was laid in 1110 and the last major renovation was in 1904 so it has a long history of building and rebuilding. It's also the only church in Denmark with 5 ships. Inside is buried two Danish kings (Christoffer I and Erik II Emune) and a variety of nobility and VIP's. The inside is decorated by a mixture of the surviving medieval fresco paintings and modern decorations by Carl Henning Pedersen. One decoration that hit me last time I visited was a figure showing a nobleman with a peasant under his foot! I guess it just showed the people of Ribe where their place in society where.
It is a beautiful building and it seems magnificently renovated. It shows different colors in the various structures. I like the figure of the nobleman trampling the peasant...
ReplyDeleteI love the story told through all the various renovations...reminds me of a senior adult ...in spite of all the disparate effects of aging, their varied stories produce a beautiful picture! Thank you for sharing this beauty with us through your exceptional photography!
ReplyDelete"The first stone was laid in 1110..." - now that is old. I'm loving these nuggets of history around your beautiful photographs.
ReplyDeleteI really do like these old buildings. If you look carefull enough you can see a lot of history hidden in the bricks, the murals, the grave stones and the spires. Thanks for the comments.
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