Wednesday 5 August 2009

A Week of Cathedrals: 5 - Coventry Cathedral, England


The card is unused and undated, but it must have been bought by my father during the 1980s.
Coventry Cathedral

As a complete contrast to the ornate and often ancient cathedrals I've shown so far, Coventry's cathedral was rebuilt after the medieval church that had been the cathedral was bombed during World War II. The architect of the new building insisted that the ruins remained, which reminds me of the way the old church in Truro was incorporated into the cathedral there.

A cross was made of three nails from the roof trusses of the ruins and it stands on the altar of the new cathedral.  There are 160 crosses made from the nails throughout the world, having become a symbol of peace and reconciliation.  One was given to the Kaiser Wilhelm memorial Church in Berlin, also destroyed by bombing and kept alongside a newer building.

Every Friday at noon, the Coventry Litany of Reconciliation is read out in the ruined nave:

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4 comments:

  1. all those cathedrals destroyed in WW II . In Berlin I think it is so interesting that they still have the destroyed steeple... it makes quite the impression. Thanks for sharing this!

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  2. Very nice blog of post crossing. Have a nice day from philippines.

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  3. Coventry. I have been thinking of Coventry lately. What a nice card.

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  4. @Margo, it's tragic, isn't it. There are so many examples.

    @Bradpetehoops, thank you. And I hope you have a nice day too.

    @Max, you've been thinking of Coventry? Have you been sent to Coventry? Or was it the car manufacturers you were thinking about?

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Welcome to my postcard collection! I love hearing what you think of the cards - but spam WILL be deleted.

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