abbeys

Originally an abbey church, Peterborough Cathedral is a Norman and Gothic building featuring an unusual triple facade, a rare medieval painted ceiling, magnificent fan vaulting, and the tomb of Catherine of Aragon.

Nestled in the hills of southwest France, the picturesque village of Conques is home to a magnificent Romanesque abbey church, rich with sculpture. There is also a medieval treasury.

According to tradition, Selby Abbey was the earliest Benedictine monastery in the north of England, founded in 1069. Today it is a Grade-I listed parish church featuring Norman and Decorated Gothic architecture and 14C stained glass.

This Cistercian abbey south of Edinburgh was founded in 1136 and is now in picturesque ruins. It is said to enshrine the heart of Robert the Bruce.

Formerly a monastery and a cathedral, the spectacular cream-colored Bath Abbey (c. 1500) now serves as the parish church of Bath. The interior is especially famed for its fan vaulting.

This fine 12th-century church, part of an active Benedictine abbey, houses the relics of St. Matthias, the apostle who was chosen to replace Judas Iscariot. It is still visited by many pilgrims.

Founded by St. Bernard of Clairvaux in 1132, Rievaulx Abbey now lies in picturesque ruins in a North Yorkshire valley.

Now an Anglican parish church, Dorchester Abbey was originally a cathedral founded by St. Birinus (in 635 CE) and later became an Augustinian abbey.