Christ Church - gruppe 7

Introduction

Christ church is located in the former heart of the medieval Dublin in the end of Dame Street. It is Dublin’s oldest medieval cathedral and it is bigger than St. Patrick’s Cathedral. It is a church for Protestants.

Architecture

The church was built in the Middle Ages in Gothic Revival style. This is evident because of the curves, vaults and columns. It has been renovated, because some structures were destroyed, so it is difficult to tell which parts actually come from the Middle Ages.

The crypt

In the church you can see the largest cathedral crypt, which is like a room underneath the church, and it has been preserved since the eleven hundreds. In 2000 it was renovated and it is now open for visitors. The crypt contains the oldest known carvings in Ireland. You can also see some stocks, which were used for the punishment of the criminals before the Court of the Dean’s Liberty decided, what kind of punishment they should have. The crypt also contains historic books and altar goods of the Cathedral. Something you have to see when you visit the crypt is the framed cat and rat, and the story behind is that the rat ran into the famous bells in the cathedral. A cat followed the rat and both ended up mummified and displayed in the crypt.

History

The cathedral was built in 1038 by King Sigtrygg Silkbeard, Viking king of Dublin,

The church was built on the high ground overlooking the Viking settlement at Wood Quay.

This cathedral had a large number of crypts that would be used as building blocks, implying instability to the building and eventually collapses and constant repairs.

The original tomb was destroyed centuries ago, and other medieval tomb was soon transfer from Drogheda to the cathedral, located at the site of the original and marked like the real one.

It contains several historical objects, a sculpture that before the late eighteenth century was outside the Tholsel (Dublin's medieval town hall, which no longer exists) and a set of candles that were used on the last occasion on which the cathedral was used under the Roman Catholic rite, when King James II of England, after run away from England in 1690, went to Ireland to fight for the throne, and attended to a High Mass at the Cathedral

The cathedral contains the largest cathedral crypt in Britain and Ireland, which has recently been renovated and is now open to the public.

Nowadays, the Vatican recognizes the Cathedral as from the Holy Trinity as the official cathedral of the city.

It was exciting to see the church in reality, because by reading about it, you may have an idea about, what it really looks like, and the church was very big. The architecture was more beautiful than we expected, and it made you believe that you were in one of scenes in the Harry Potter film. It was also interesting to experience a Christian ceremony together with the choir and the priest. Furthermore it was funny that when we talking about the famous bells of the church, they suddenly started to ring.

Bells and music
Christ Church Cathedral is known for its bells. Since 1038 the church have had at least one ringing bell. In 1440 there were known to be three great bells in the church, but in 1597 an accidental gunpowder explosion in a nearby quays, made the bells crack. In 1670 the church got six new bells of cannon metal. The numbers of bells were in 1738 extended to eight and in 1878 to twelve. In 1999 seven bells were added, and the church has now 19 bells, which is a world record. Christ Church has a long musical history. It has a well-known Cathedral Choir and a Girls Choir. Christ Church has had many great organists during time.

Access
The church receives no regular support from the state. It has a chapel for those who want to pray, but if you want to see the church you must pay a charge. You can pay the charge by buying a ticket for the neighbouring Dublinia exhibition.

Hilsner fra Lærke, Maria, Dominique og Louise :)