Martin M. Miles' photos with the keyword: rhino

There were at least two earlier churches on or near the site of the present one, of which fragments remain in the exterior walls or elsewhere in the building. The church which we see today was begun around 1380, almost certainly to the designs of celebrated architects Henry Yeveley and William Wynford, whose work may be seen in the naves of Canterbury and Winchester Cathedrals. Built in flint and local stone, the church consists of two separate though integral parts, a chancel and nave. The church's chancel was originally used by a small College of Canons. However, at the Reformation it was seized along with the Priory buildings by the 12th Duke of Arundel, Henry Fitzalan, and subsequently became the private property of the Earl and his descendants. Today it serves as the burial place for the Dukes of Norfolk. Over the years the fabric of the church has suffered little alteration, but the interior arrangements have been frequently altered following religious upheavals and changes in architectural and liturgical fashion. I've seen a lot of elephants and even crocodiles in churches. This is the very first time I've seen a rhino and a hippo. Unfortunately, I don't know the story behind this carving.

In Laon, placed on a ridge and overlooking the flat Picardy plain, St. Remi founded a bishopric in 487. Laon was a very important place in the kingdom of the Franks. A Carolingian cathedral, consecrated in 800 in the presence of Charlemagne, existed here. The Carolingian structure got replaced two centuries later by a Romanesque structure, consecrated in 1071. This cathedral was torched by the citizens during the Easter Insurrection on 25 April 1112. Bishop Waldric (aka "Gaudry"), who had served as Lord Chancellor and Lord Keeper of England, from 1103 to 1107 (and described as greedy and very violent) was killed during the uproar. The cathedral got repaired, but in the end demolished to give room for the present cathedral. The construction began about 1160. The nave was completed after 1205. The "Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Laon", towering over the town, is a wonderful, early example of the Gothic style that developed in Northern France. Strange animals can often be found on Gothic cathedral. While on the facade´s right side seems to be a winged hippopotamus, the right side has a beast that looks like a rhino with wings.

"Notre-Dame de Reims" replaced an older church, burnt down in 1211. That church had been built on the site of the basilica where Clovis was baptized by Saint Remi, bishop of Reims, in 496. The erection of the the large Gotihc cathedral, the place,where the kings of France were crowned, started before 1220. In 1233 a dispute between the cathedral´s chapter and the population regarding taxation and jurisdication ended in a revolt. After several clerics were killed during the uproar, the chapter fled the town and work on the new cathedral was suspended for three years. By 1241 the choir was already used, the nave got roofed in 1299. Work on the western facade was slow. It was completed within the 14th century, a hundred years after the work started. During the Hundred Years' War the English held Reims after a long siege, but it got reconquered by Jeanne d'Arc´s army in 1429, so that Charles VII of France (aka "le Bien-Servi") was crowned here on 17 July 1429. In the first weeks of WWI German shellfire burned, damaged and destroyed important parts of the cathedral. Restoration work began in 1919 - and is been steadily going on since. There are a couple of strange, metal gargoyles on the facade of the cathedral. This one could be a rhino - and I suppose it is new.