Cathedrals: passing the baton through the generations (Part 3)
Siena Cathedral, Italy Siena Cathedral (Duomo di Siena) construction was begun sometime after 1196 when the Cathedral Masons Guild was placed in charge of the build. The construction was led by artist and architect Giovanni Pisano and continued on and off for years. Masses were being said in the Cathedral in 1215, but records (of the transport of black and white stone) from 1226 onwards suggest that construction was still continuing at that time.
A second massive addition of the main body of the cathedral was planned in 1339. It would have more than doubled the size of the structure by means of an entirely new nave and two aisles ranged perpendicular to the existing nave and centered on the high altar. The construction was begun under the direction of Giovanni di Agostino, better known as a sculptor. Construction was stopped due to devastation of the Black Death in 1348. Basic errors in the construction of the extension became evident and the work was never resumed. The outer walls, are all that remains of the extension.
The construction of Cologne Cathedral (Kölner Dom) began in 1248. Over 600 years later the cathedral was completed in 1880. The building of this magnificent structure was not continuous throughout this time however, and funding issues affected the process for roughly half of the total build time. There was a halt in construction between 1560 and 1814, and between 1814 and 1840 the build lacked proper funding.
In 1856, Bishop Harper became the first Bishop of Christchurch and the long-held desire to construct a Cathedral in the city continued in earnest. The Christ Church Cathedral construction began in 1864 and was completed in 1904.
In 1862 Bishop Harper received the plans for a stone Cathedral with an internal timber structure from British gothic revival architect Sir George Gilbert Scott.
The Christ Church Cathedral construction began in 1864 under the supervision of British architect Robert Speechly. With construction barely out of the ground, a lack of funding caused a halt to the work in 1865 and didn’t recommence until 1873. The continuing construction, plus a few changes was directed by the gothic revival architect Benjamin Woolfield Mountfort. Mountfort died in 1898 and his son Cyril became the supervising architect until the cathedral completion in 1904.
Additional work was carried out with the addition of Vestries in 1960-62, and the Visitors’ Centre in 1995. As with many cathedrals, the use of the church for worship was eagerly sought, and when the main body of the church was functional, Christ Church Cathedral was consecrated (1881).