Durham Cathedral is dedicated to Jesus Christ, the Virgin Mary and St Cuthbert and is a masterpiece of Anglo-Norman architecture.

Durham Cathedral towers above the River Wear. Next to it is the castle, where up to XIX century lived princes bishops of the diocese of Durham. It is worth noting that in the hierarchy of the Church of England bishops of Durham takes pride in fourth place.

According to local legend, a runaway monks survived the raid, the Vikings led in Durham brown cow, in whose honor and named one of the streets leading to the cathedral - Dun Cow Lane. In fact, Durham was better protected against Viking raids. The first buildings on the site of the present cathedral was a wooden chapel, which housed the tomb of St Cuthbert - Lindisfarne Bishop in 685-687 years. and the patron saint of the city of Durham. Since the construction of the White Church - a strong, but also wooden structures in Durham influx of pilgrims, among whom was the king of England Canute I, which led to the rise of the city.

Durham Construction of the cathedral began in 1093, in 1096 the choir was completed in 1128 - the walls of the nave, and in 1135 - the arches. The Chapter House was built between 1133 and 1140 years, but was destroyed in the XVIII century. In it are buried the first Prince Bishop of Durham - Wilhelm de Saint-Calais and Ranulf Flambard.

In 1170-ies the cathedral was added the Galilee Chapel, which served as a chapel in honor of the Virgin Mary. It is the tomb of the Venerable Bede. In 1228, with the restoration of the cathedral was completed Chapel of the Nine Altars. At the same time, the towers of the cathedral was completed, but the central tower, destroyed by lightning was rebuilt in the XV century.

The tomb of St. Cuthbert, located in the eastern apse, looks rather modest - it's just a slab engraved with the name. However, according to the records of the XVII century, before this place was lavishly decorated with precious stones and donations of many pilgrims. The tomb of St. Cuthbert was destroyed during the dissolution of the monasteries by King Henry VIII, but the imperishable relics of the saint were later reburied.

In the XVII century, after the battle of Dunbar September 3, 1650 Durham Cathedral was used by Oliver Cromwell as a temporary prison for prisoners of the Scots. The prisoners were kept in appalling conditions, of 3 million, more than half died in the cathedral, they were buried in a mass grave, which was discovered in 1946. In 2007, the cathedral has a memorial plaque in memory of the martyrs of Dunbar.

We know that the Scottish prisoners destroyed almost all the interior of the cathedral is not only affected the astronomical clock priors Castel - they save only the image of the Scottish thistle.

At the end of the XVIII century Durham Cathedral was in poor condition. In 1773 began the restoration of the cathedral, during which it was re-erected the old building of the chapter house. Planned restructuring and Galilee chapel, but the architects managed to avoid unnecessary damage. They also restore the window, the rose of the XIII century. A little less than a century has been carried out the restoration of towers and the courtyard of the cathedral.

In 1986 the castle and the cathedral city of Durham entered the list of UNESCO World Heritage sites. It is worth noting that despite the numerous restoration works, the cathedral has retained all the characteristics of Romanesque architecture.

The Durham Cathedral was filmed "Elizabeth" 1998, also made a prototype of the Cathedral of the school Hogwarts for Harry Potter films. In 2009, 2011 and 2013 were held in the cathedral of colorful festivals of the world.