Wells Cathedral is a Church of England place of worship in Wells, Somerset, dedicated to St Andrew the Apostle, and is the seat of the Bishop of Bath and Wells. The present building dates from 1175 to 1490, an earlier church having been built on the site in 705. With its broad west front and large central tower, it is the city's dominant feature and a landmark in the Somerset countryside. Its architecture is entirely Gothic, mostly of the late 12th and early 13th centuries, differing from most other English medieval cathedrals, which have parts in the earlier Romanesque style. The historian John Harvey considers it to be the first truly Gothic structure in Europe. The Early English Gothic façade displays more than three hundred sculpted figures, and is described by Harvey as "the supreme triumph of the combined plastic arts in England". The eastern end retains much ancient stained glass, which is rare in England. Wells has an exceptional number of surviving secular buildings associated with its chapter of secular canons, such as the Bishop's Palace and the Vicars' Close, a residential street which has remained intact from the 15th century. The cathedral is a scheduled monument and is designated as a Grade I listed building.
Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wells_Cathedral
_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:
1628:
The Petition of Right, a major English constitutional document that set out specific liberties of the subject, was granted the Royal Assent by Charles I. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petition_of_Right
1788:
Citizens of Grenoble threw roof tiles onto royal soldiers, sometimes credited as the beginning of the French Revolution. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Day_of_the_Tiles
1810:
Journalist Mariano Moreno published Argentina's first newspaper, the Gazeta de Buenos Ayres. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mariano_Moreno
1917:
First World War: The British Army detonated 19 ammonal mines under the German lines, killing 10,000 in the deadliest non-nuclear man- made explosion in history. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Messines_(1917)
1982:
Graceland (pictured), Elvis Presley's mansion in Memphis, Tennessee, opened to the public as a museum of Presley's life. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graceland
_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:
trendite: (slang) A person given to following trends. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/trendite
___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:
Teaching is successful only as it causes people to think for themselves. What the teacher thinks matters little; what he makes the child think matters much. --Alice Moore Hubbard https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Alice_Moore_Hubbard