Cathedral

Digging into Paris’ past

Excavations on the Île de la Cité are uncovering thousands of years of Parisian history. Amy Brunskill spoke to Julien Avinain and Lucie Altenburg to find out more.

Burials and the Black Death: the New Library excavation, Hereford Cathedral

Excavation reports often have a long gestation, and the publication of the City of Hereford Archaeology Unit’s 1993 excavations on the site of Hereford Cathedral’s new Mappa Mundi museum has been eagerly awaited. Yet any frustration at the delay quickly…

Discovering the secrets of Gloucester Cathedral

Work has begun on conserving Gloucester Cathedral’s Great Cloister, an intricate and important undertaking as this structure features the earliest surviving fully developed fan vault. The project was undertaken after a trial had found that the cloister was under significant…

Viterbo: Early conclaves and a papal palace

During the 13th century, a series of popes made use of the palace at Viterbo in Italy. During this period, the city hosted five conclaves, while the palace grew increasingly impressive. Tim Tatton-Brown examines the evolution of this complex and the events that unfolded there.

St Magnus’ reliquary is contemporary with Orkney earl

A nalysis of a reliquary box long believed to house the remains of Magnus Erlendsson, Earl of Orkney in 1106-1117, has confirmed that the container is contemporary with the saint. The story of Magnus’ execution (following a power struggle with…

Cathedral dig reveals traces of early medieval and Roman Exeter

Excavations close to Exeter Cathedral have uncovered echoes of the city’s medieval and Roman past. Archaeologists from Devon-based AC Archaeology were excavating in Cathedral Close ahead of the installation of a replacement substation and associated infrastructure by the National Grid,…

Rock to the rescue

The sounds that one associates with places of worship are those of an angelic choir or the intricate patterns of a Bach fugue. Some churches have, however, been enjoying success with the rather more unexpected pairing of doom metal bands and church organs.

Discovering Medieval Ferns, Co. Wexford

REVIEW BY MARIE THERESE FLANAGAN Discovering Medieval Ferns, Co. Wexford, focuses on the town as a regional religious and royal centre in the Kingdom of Leinster during the medieval period. It provides reports on surveys and excavations at three sites.…

Right The Cathedral of Our Lady in the monastery complex of Gelati near Kutaisi, in the Imereti region of Georgia. It was founded by King Davit IV in 1106 and was consecrated in 1130 by King Demetre I. The monastery was also an academy of science. A 16th century mural in the cathedral shows various recognisable historical figures (above). These are, from right to left, the founder King Davit IV (r. 1089 1125), with a model church; Catholicos Yevdemon Chkhetidze; King Bagrat III of Imereti (r. 1510 1565), his wife Elena, and their son King Giorgi II of Imereti (r. 1565 1585), and Prince Bagrat.

The Golden Age of the Kingdom of Georgia

The Caucasus is a region where nations have often found themselves sandwiched between competing great powers. Christoph Baumer examines the political intrigues and military struggles that led to the rise and fall of the Kingdom of Georgia, while taking in some of the key monuments from the era.

Uncovering the origins of Exeter Cathedral

Recent excavations within the cloister of Exeter Cathedral have unearthed significant structures and artefacts spanning the Roman, medieval, and post-medieval periods, including traces of a legionary fortress. The project has been carried out by AC Archaeology, led by Simon Hughes…

Above The Roman altar stone discovered in a sunken room in the gardens of Leicester Cathedral. below A sherd of pottery found at the Leicester site. The letters IIVST identify a potter called Justus who worked at La Graufesenque in the late 1st century AD.

Beneath the cathedrals: discoveries at Notre-Dame and Leicester Cathedral

At another English cathedral, that of Exeter, excavations have revealed Roman remains

Opposite Canterbury Cathedral’s Trinity and Corona chapels both of which once housed relics of St Thomas Becket seen from the south. right Looking east across the interior of the Trinity Chapel. The site of St Thomas’ shrine destroyed during the Dissolution of the Monasteries is marked by the rectangular infilling in the pavement.

Standing in the presence of a saint: reconstructing the shrine of Thomas Becket

Last month, Warwick Rodwell guided us through recent research in Canterbury Cathedral, focusing on the virtuosic mosaic that once lay before the shrine of Thomas Becket. As a sequel, he now reveals what was learned about the shrine itself, and the chapel in which it stood before the Dissolution of the Monasteries.

The Past

New exhibition at Notre-Dame tells the story of its reconstruction

Among the objects on show are the pipes from the cathedral’s great organ and a stained-glass panel from the cloister of the sacristy

Above The two coffins found last year beneath the floor of Notre Dame cathedral were sent to Toulouse University Hospital for further analysis.

Burials in Notre-Dame undergo analysis

Following their discovery by a team from Inrap last year, the coffins were sent to the forensic institute of Toulouse University Hospital for further investigation.

Medieval coin hoard found near Dumfries, and other archaeology stories from around the UK

A round-up of some of the latest news; includes the discovery of one of Scotland's largest medieval coin hoards.

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The Past

Major progress made in restoring Notre-Dame de Paris for reopening in 2024

Reconstruction of the collapsed stone vault in the north transept of the cathedral has now been completed.

Left The River Great Stour weaves its way through the centre of Canterbury, creating a much photographed vista from the High Street, where it is overlooked by the five gables of the building known as The Weavers. It is a former Huguenot workshop, with a much restored exterior but a genuine 17th century interior frame.

Lessons from Canterbury: saving heritage with new approaches to urban development

Influential figures in the heritage world are concerned about the scale and height of new buildings proposed for the centre of Canterbury, where the primacy of the cathedral as a focal point of views and the intimacy of historic streets are under threat. Chris Catling reports on a manifesto for the city produced by SAVE Britain’s Heritage, warning against the mistakes of post-war development and recommending a new approach that has lessons for many of our towns and cities.

Test de nettoyage d’un vitrail © Christophe Deschanel Manufacture Vincent Petit

The Past

Stained-glass windows of Notre-Dame Cathedral restored following fire

Although none of the stained-glass windows were destroyed or damaged by the fire, many of them, already dusty, were exposed to smoke and soiled as a result.

Above Excavations in Notre Dame de Paris have uncovered parts of the cathedral’s lost medieval rood screen.

Medieval tombs discovered beneath Notre-Dame

Among the discoveries were a large number of fragments of Notre-Dame de Paris’ lost medieval rood screen.

Friends of Canterbury Cathedral

The Friends have raised some £15 million towards projects as diverse as the purchase of a minibus for the choristers, the conservation of rare books in the library, the restoration of the splendid Tudor gatehouse, and the creation of a new garden in the cathedral precinct.

Science versus The Arts

The heritage sector is central to the UK’s appeal as a tourist destination, which will be crucial in reopening our borders and rebuilding the economy as the COVID-19 pandemic is brought under control.

England’s oldest stained glass

The figure of Nathan possibly dates to AD 1130-1160, making it perhaps the earliest surviving stained glass in England, and among the oldest in Europe.

LEFT Work under way in the apse of a church in Old Dongola, which may be the city’s cathedral and the largest church of medieval Nubia.

An archbishop’s apse?

In the latest season of fieldwork this year, a team led by Artur Obłuski, director of the PCMA UW, cleaned the dome of a large tomb and the wall of the church’s apse, revealing paintings with two rows of monumental figures, possibly apostles.

Right The shrine of St Amphibalus in St Albans Cathedral was recently restored. It combines newly carved decoration with medieval work, and the sculptors have even included a figure wearing a face mask to commemorate the fact that the reconstruction took place during the coronavirus pandemic.

Shrines to saints and Pink Floyd

Museums and sculptors should work more closely with archaeologists and palaeontologists to recreate the appearance of our extinct ancestors.

Thomas Becket: Canterbury Tales

In 1170, Archbishop Thomas Becket was killed in his cathedral by knights linked to his former friend King Henry II. But how did Becket become a revered saint and protector of the king?

Museums and monuments

World news stories covering the restoration of the Mausoleum of Augusts (Rome), the restoration of the Ghent Altarpiece (Belgium), and a sculpture of the capital of the Kingdom of Ghana.

The riches of Ravenna

In a small city on Italy’s Adriatic coast, faces of all-powerful emperors, empresses, and bishops gaze out from glittering mosaics. But why are these magnificent decorations here? Judith Herrin explores the history of Ravenna, a well-connected city and one-time capital of the Western Roman Empire.

The king’s new clothes

Researchers had moved the best textiles, including the ‘Eagle Silk’ and a pillow with birds, deemed more fitting for a king, over to Cnut’s shrine, where they are displayed with his remains under a glass lid.

Finds tray – St Thomas Becket ampulla

This is a medieval ampulla, made of lead alloy and probably dating to the late 12th or early 13th century. Discovered by a mudlarker along the Thames foreshore in London, it was probably originally purchased during a pilgrimage to the…

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Decorated in glory: exploring later-medieval churches in Herefordshire

Churches are what archaeologists call ‘persistent sites’, places used for the same purpose for centuries, even millennia. But that does not mean the churches themselves are static: they represent the accretion of various building interventions of many different kinds and dates. None are richer in art and architecture, though, than those from the period we call ‘Decorated’, as Nigel Saul’s new survey of 14th-century Herefordshire church buildings demonstrates. Current Archaeology's Chris Catling reports.

Great Cloister: a lost Canterbury Tale

Among the 856 heraldic shields emblazoned on the ceilings of the cloister of Canterbury Cathedral is hidden a story of the social and political history of 14th- and 15th-century England. In this large and intensively researched volume, Paul A Fox…

Far left Notre Dame cathedral in Paris ablaze on 15 April 2019. left The cathedral’s 19th century spire was completely destroyed in the fire. The French authorities have now stated that it will be rebuilt exactly as it was.

Saving Notre Dame

When flames ripped through the cathedral of Notre Dame de Paris in April 2019, the world feared for its survival. Now a small team of scientists is working towards its restoration and discovering secrets along the way. Christa Lesté-Lasserre spoke to some of them about their work and its challenges.

ALL photoS: Canterbury Cathedral /Nathalie Cohen, unless otherwise stated

England in stone: recounting recent research at Canterbury Cathedral

Eight hundred and fifty years after Thomas Becket’s martyrdom within the walls of Canterbury Cathedral, major works have shed vivid light on how the religious building has been used over the centuries. Nathalie Cohen shares some of the highlights.