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Video: England's most beautiful temple has become a cult destination for Harry Potter fans: Gloucester Cathedral VS Hogwarts
2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55
The magnificent Gloucester Cathedral, built in the 11th century, is one of the most beautiful and oldest buildings in England. It is revered both as an architectural masterpiece and as a shrine, but for Harry Potter fans this place has a completely different meaning - it was within its walls that many episodes of the film about the wizard boy were filmed.
Unique monument of architecture and history
The cathedral was erected many centuries ago on the site of the old abbey of St. Peter, built in the 670s. Construction of the building that we can see today began in 1089. Initially, the idea belonged to the Abbot Cerlo long before this time, but it was in this year that the knight Robert de Losigna laid the first stone.
From an architectural point of view, the building is remarkable for many reasons. Interesting is its choir, made in the style of perpendicular Gothic, and fan vaults, and the cruciform shape of the building itself (rounded at the end with three diverging chapels). In the earlier elements, the Romanesque style can be traced.
The cathedral has changed over the centuries. For example, its main nave was erected in the XI century, the vaults in the XIII century, the choir in the XIV, the cloister in the XIV, and the western façade, the central 69-meter tower and the chapel built in honor of the Virgin Mary in the XV.
The cathedral underwent the last reconstruction in the 19th century - it was then that "Victorian notes" were introduced into its architecture.
Famous historical figures are buried in Gloucester Cathedral - for example, the son of William the Conqueror, Robert III Kurtguez (a contender for the royal throne and one of the leaders of the First Crusade) and King Edward II of England. And, by the way, it was in this cathedral that Henry III was crowned in 1216.
How the movie was made
Some parishioners of the cathedral, for obvious reasons, were against filming a film about Harry within its walls. However, the clergy nevertheless gave the go-ahead, believing that this work by J. K. Rowling is not propaganda of magic and sorcery at all, but just a children's fairy tale. True, this decision did not suit all believers. During the filming, unknown persons broke 24 stained-glass windows of the cathedral's arcade (I must say, very durable), causing the greatest damage to the cathedral in the entire history of its existence. This act of vandalism is believed to be directly related to the filming of a movie.
The interiors of the cathedral can be seen in the films based on the first two books about the famous boy - "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" and "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets." It is Gloucester Cathedral in the picture that is passed off as the Hogwarts school.
Something had to be changed during the filming in the cathedral. All modern signs, locks, electrics, switches had to be masked with shields, which were painted to match the stone walls. Also, everything that could give out signs of a church cathedral disappeared. For example, the halos on the stained-glass figures in the windows were closed, and the images of Adam and Eve had to be temporarily “dressed” so that they would not be identified in the frame.
Also, during the filming, about a hundred tombstones on the monastery floors were masked. They were covered with roofing felt, which was then painted, polished and varnished to match the stone floor slabs.
The Monk Bathing Room, located to the left of North Alley, is where Harry and Ron hide from the giant troll behind the pillars. The monster was computer generated, however, its huge legs were specially made for filming - to make the scene more realistic. And, I must say, it was not easy to drag them through the main entrance of the cathedral.
Gloucester Cathedral is extremely popular with tourists. But even if you are not a Harry Potter fan or a religious person, you should definitely visit it anyway. He's incredibly handsome. By the way, those who have already visited this historical place are advised to first examine the building from the outside, from all sides. Every detail is great in it.
Read in continuation of the topic about five wonders of London, which are not told about tourists.
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