Church Architecture

Bordeaux Cathedral
1170 -1793 Architecture

Bordeaux Cathedral, officially known as the Primatial Cathedral of St Andrew of Bordeaux (Cathédrale-Primatiale Saint-André de Bordeaux), is a Catholic church dedicated to Saint Andrew and located in Bordeaux, France.

A church of Saint-André was first mentioned in Bordeaux in documents dating from 814, in the Carolingian period. This church was probably part of group of churches, located in the old castrum or Roman fortified town. It appears more officially in 1096 in a document from the chancellery of Duke William IX of Aquitaine. In that year it was formally consecrated by Pope Urban II.

Bourges Cathedral
1195 - - 1230 Architecture

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Bourges Cathedral is a Roman Catholic church located in Bourges, France. The cathedral is dedicated to Saint Stephen. It was built atop an earlier Romanesque church from 1195 until 1230,

Christianity was brought to the area by Saint Ursinus of Bourges in about 300 A.D. He is considered the first Bishop. a church at the site was mentioned in the 6th Century and it was rebuilt in the 9th Century. Between 1013 and 1030 a new and larger cathedral was constructed and placed against the city wall. In about 1100, King Philip I of France added Bourges and its province to his growing kingdom. In 1145 his son Louis VII of France presented his new wife, Eleanor of Aquitaine, and she was formally crowned Queen of France in the old Gothic cathedral in Bourges. The Cathedral was expanded in 1150 and again in 1181. n 1424 the cathedral was furnished with a technological novelty, the Bourges astronomical clock, still functional after many repairs

Braga Cathedral
1071 - mid 13th Century Architecture

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The Cathedral of Braga ( Sé de Braga) is a Roman Catholic church in the northern city of Braga, Portugal. Due to its long history and artistic significance, it is also one of the most important buildings in the country.

The Diocese of Braga dates from the 3rd century AD, being one of the oldest in the peninsula and the center for the Christianisation of Gallaecia (Northwestern Iberia).

Saint Peter of Rates or of Braga, is traditionally considered to be the first bishop of Braga between the years 45 and 60. Tradition says he was a Jew that had recently died when Saint James the Great was in the area. The Apostle knowing him to be a man of intelligence and good will had him resurrected from the grave and ordained him to preach the glory of Christ. The same tradition holds that Peter of Rates was martyred while attempting to make converts to the Christian faith in northern Portugal. Bishop Martin of Dumio, a great religious figure of the time, converted the population to Catholicism around 550. Around 1071 the city was back in Christian hands, and the work was started to build a cathedral. The Cathedral of Braga was the first Portuguese cathedral, erected several decades before the founding of the country when it was part of the Kingdom of León. It was concecrated and dedicated to the Virgin Mary by Bishop Pedro in a solemn session on August 28, 1089.

The cathedral was the most important religious site in Iberia (before the founding of Santiago of Compostela and the reconquest of Toledo from Muslim hands) was an extremely powerful institution at the time and enjoyed a great degree of influence in the papal court.

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When we think of Christian architecture, we may picture towering cathedrals with intricate stained-glass windows, but the roots of this style are much more humble. The earliest Christian structures were not grand, but rather simple house churches. As Christianity grew, its places of worship grew in size and intricacy.

The transition from early Christian to medieval architecture paralelled societal and religious changes. The Romanesque style, characterized by its rounded arches and massive walls, was followed by the Gothic style with its pointed archs, ribbed vaults, and flying buttresses.

Christian architecture has created some of the world’s most iconic structures. These buildings all share a common thread: they are physical manifestations of the Christian faith.

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