The portions of the cities that remained intact were small and modest and contained a cathedral or major church ( often sumptuously decorated ) and a few public buildings and townhomes of the aristocracy.

Edith loved the town and often lived there ; at her death she was buried in the crypt of the Benedictine abbey of Saint Maurice, later rebuilt as the cathedral.

The symbolism in these cathedral structures is of the hierarchy of Earth and Heaven, and often reveals its meaning through the internal decoration of the building with frescos or mosaics.

Births, marriages and deaths are often celebrated by services at cathedrals and the cathedral often acts as a repository of local history by recording these events.

People who have served the community or the church are often buried within the cathedral with which they are associated.

The cathedral often has its own school, primarily for the education of choristers, but often including other children as well.

The cathedral, often being a large building, serves as a meeting place for many people.

Moreover, the cathedral often plays a major role in telling the story of the town, through its plaques, inscriptions, tombs, stained glass and paintings.

The school originated as a medieval cathedral school, and it is often claimed ( e. g. by the historian Arthur Leach in a letter to The Times in 1896, and in the Guinness Book of Records ) to have been founded in AD 597 by St. Augustine, therefore making it the world's oldest extant school.

A Gothic cathedral or abbey was, prior to the 20th century, generally the landmark building in its town, rising high above all the domestic structures and often surmounted by one or more towers and pinnacles and perhaps tall spires.

In England, Germany and Scandinavia this is often the arrangement, but an English cathedral may also be surmounted by an enormous tower at the crossing.

The façade of a large church or cathedral, often referred to as the West Front, is generally designed to create a powerful impression on the approaching worshipper, demonstrating both the might of God, and the might of the institution that it represents.

The Church of St Cuthbert ( which tourists often mistake for the cathedral ) has a fine Somerset stone tower and a superb carved roof.

However, well into the twentieth century it was often assumed that the presence of a cathedral was sufficient to elevate a town to city status, and that for cathedral cities the city charters were recognising its city status rather than granting it.

Local residents often call it " the abbey ", although the present cathedral represents only the church of the old Benedictine abbey.

As well as greatly increasing the cathedral's income, throughout the 12th and 13th centuries this led to regular disputes, often violent, between the bishops, the chapter and the civic authorities – particularly when serfs belonging to the counts transferred their trade ( and taxes ) to the cathedral.

The original cathedral built on the site was often plundered by the Vikings and was finally burnt and destroyed in 1087.

It is often called cathedral glass, but this has nothing to do with medieval cathedrals, where the glass used was hand-blown.

Following the English recovery, in the 10th century, surviving minsters were often refounded in accordance with the new types of collective religious bodies then becoming widespread in Western Europe, as monasteries following the reformed Benedictine rule, or as collegiate church or cathedral chapters following the rule of Chrodegang of Metz.

Royalty and high nobility often have one or more " traditional " sites of burial, generally monumental, often in a palatial chapel or cathedral ; see examples on Heraldica. org.

This neo-gothic façade in white, green and red marble forms a harmonious entity with the cathedral, Giotto's bell tower and the Baptistery, but some think it is excessively decorated.

The image appears in the Middle Ages, mostly in carvings on church or cathedral walls, often outside where it could be seen from the street ( for example at Wittenberg and Regensburg ), but also in other forms.

His tomb may still be seen in Wells Cathedral and his collection of 300 books forms the basis of the cathedral library.

This liturgical octoechos concept was the invention of monastic hymnographers at Mar Saba in Palestine and in Constantinople, and a synod held 692 in Constantinople accepted their reform which also aimed to replace the homiletic poetry of the kontakion and other forms sung during the morning service ( Orthros ) of the cathedral rite.

This forms an artistic trinity between the church of St. Saviour in Šibenik, the San Marco cathedral in Venice with its lion of San Marco, and the abbey of San Leonardo di Siponto, which ceiling is designed according the astronomical midday.

It is surrounded by plains and forests, and its magnificent cathedral, St. Stephen's, is the religious centre for Arthur's Knights of the Round Table.

This new cathedral, with its magnificent dome filled with mosaics, remained the centre of eastern Christianity for centuries.

As it approaches the city centre it divides into two branches, flowing west and east of Ostrów Tumski ( the cathedral island ) and meeting again further north.

Radiating from the centre of the city, the historic cathedral is surrounded by paved granite streets, tucked away in the old town, and separated from the newer part of the city by the largest of many parks throughout the city, Parque da Alameda.

During the second half of the fourth century, Saint Ambrose, as bishop of Milan, had a strong influence on the layout of the city, redesigning the centre ( although the cathedral and baptistery built at this time are now lost ) and building the great basilicas at the city gates: Sant ' Ambrogio, San Nazaro in Brolo, San Simpliciano and Sant ' Eustorgio, which still stand, refurbished over the centuries, as some of the finest and most important churches in Milan.

Tórshavn centre, with Tórshavn Cathedral | the cathedral and Bryggjubakki street ( left ) and Undir Bryggjubakka street ( right ).

The Ferrara Synagogue and Jewish Museum are located in the heart of the mediæval centre, close to the cathedral and the Castello Estense.

Probably this role as temporary ecclesiastical centre played a part in King William II's decision to build here his famous cathedral.

After the conversion, Canterbury, as a Roman town, was chosen by Augustine as the centre for an episcopal see in Kent, and an abbey and cathedral were built.

Carlisle has a compact historic centre, including a castle, museum, cathedral and semi-intact city walls.

The process that culminated in the foundation of the Estudi General of Barcelona can be traced back to the end of the fourteenth century, with the opening of a number of schools under the patronage of the City Hall, the cathedral schools and the Dominican convent of Santa Caterina, which established itself as a major cultural centre.

The city of Rzeszów became the administrative centre of the new Diocese and the Church of the Sacred Heart became the new city cathedral.

The attacks reached the commercial centre of the Low Countries, Antwerp, on August 20, and on August 22 Ghent, where the cathedral, eight churches, twenty-five monasteries and convents, ten hospitals and seven chapels were wrecked.

It was also thought time that the Cathedral invested in its future, by creating a visitor centre within the bell tower, enlarging the peal of bells from eight to ten, and by the ‘ re-construction ’, or completion, of the cathedral cloisters to house the cathedral choir, vestries, an education suite, rooms for parish use, and a refectory, as a reminder of the monastic beginnings.

Little is known about Leofric, as his cathedral town was not a centre of historical writing, and he took little part in events outside his diocese.

The cathedral explains that St Paul's receives little regular or significant funding from the Crown, Church or the State and claims to rely on the income generated by tourism to allow the building to continue to function as a centre for Christian worship, as well as to cover general maintenance and repair work.

The eastern side of the historic city centre ( seen from the cathedral tower )

The city centre, remarkably beautiful, is presided over by a magnificent Gothic cathedral.

* Ely ( meaning " Isle of Eels "), whose cathedral – one of the Fen Five monasteries – is known as the " Ship of the Fens "; administrative centre of the East Cambridgeshire District Council ;

* Peterborough, the largest of the many settlements along the fen edge and sometimes called the " Gateway to the Fens "; its cathedral is one of the Fen Five monasteries ; administrative centre of the Peterborough Unitary Authority ;

The most prominent buildings in the city centre are the town hall and the cathedral.

The fire destroyed the greater part of the medieval town centre and gutted the city ’ s Romanesque cathedral.

It runs along the west side of Portsea Island, roughly parallel with the M275, into the centre of the city where, after passing the Catholic cathedral, it meets with the A2030.