Fantastic Norman cathedral

A cathedral at last! Durham cathedral is magnificent. It was constructed between 1093 and 1133 in the Romanesque style. It was founded as a monastic cathedral built to house the shrine of St Cuthbert, replacing an earlier church constructed in his honour. It is the oldest surviving building with a stone vaulted ceiling of such a large scale. Building the stone vaulted ceiling at that time was remarkable. Developing the know-how to roof large buildings with stone rather than wood apparently shaped the course of European architecture from then on.