Goths, Gargoyles and God: The Building of The Magnificent Medieval Cathedrals with Dr. Richard Benfield

The Avon Free Public Library presents Goths, Gargoyles and God: The Building of The Magnificent Medieval Cathedrals with Dr. Richard Benfield on Wednesday, April 7, 2021 at 2:00 PM.

At the turn of the 1000 AD millennium in Europe, churches were small, dark, thick-walled, and dingy. Less than two hundred years later, churches were large, spectacular architectural wonders, rising over two hundred feet in the nave, airy and lit by glorious colored glass windows the size of tennis courts.  Today, a thousand years later, these glorious medieval cathedrals and churches soar above the European cities for which they are the center of the community and the focus of tourism, architectural renown, and Christian worship. What happened to make this frenzy of church building so marked and spectacular?

We will look at the early antecedents of medieval church building, travel to Great Britain and France to examine how these churches were built to such grandeur, see the finest examples of these Cathedrals in Wells, Salisbury and Gloucester in England and in France, Paris, Amiens, Rouen and Chartres (and even look at one that collapsed!) We will conclude with a revelation of a Catholic Church secret, hidden in plain sight for one thousand years, but that has governed church life for two thousand years! Splendor and Secrets revealed … all in one hour.   

Presented by Dr. Richard Benfield, Professor Emeritus of Geography, Central Connecticut State College.

Please register and a Zoom link will be sent out before the program. Zoom events offer live transcription capability. For more information, please visit www.avonctlibrary.info or call the library at 860.673.9712.