Collections — Cathedrals, chapels & the holy-ish
Hallowed Ground
Abbeys, cathedrals, temples and at least one Satanic one. Wherever the sacred turns up on the show it tends to drag a very unsacred fact along behind it.
24 places in this collection
- 1Westminster Abbeyhistoric site · United Kingdom
In 1950, four Scottish students managed to break into Westminster Abbey on Christmas Day and steal it back, but it sounds hilarious.
Open this place → - 2Lincoln Cathedralhistoric site · United Kingdom
The windows of Lincoln Cathedral, the stained glass windows, they took them apart piece by piece and then labelled them all and then wanted to put them back as a jigsaw.
Open this place → - 3St Paul'sUnited Kingdom
Paul's Cathedral — it was a Thanksgiving ceremony after the war of the Spanish Succession.
Open this place → - 4Canterbury CathedralUnited Kingdom
There's a cock and balls in Canterbury Cathedral stained glass that you've got to do tours of Canterbury Cathedral to tell the school children that.
Open this place → - 5Russian Orthodox ChurchRussia
The Russian Orthodox Church basically said you shouldn't be playing any instruments, and so what they would do is, if they caught you playing a Balalaika, they'd basically steal it off you and then crush it…
Open this place → - 6Church of ScientologyUnited States
Cartwright was awarded in 2023 the status of Patron Excalibur with Honors by the Church of Scientology, which she called 'the most beautiful acknowledgement I've ever received in my life.' The reason she's got…
Open this place → - 7Mount AthosGreece
Mount Athos in Greece was known as a place of 6,000 beards because there were monasteries on there and monks were allowed, but women were not allowed in there.
Open this place → - 8Sistine ChapelVatican City
In 1565, Pope Pius the Fourth commissioned artist Daniele da Volterra to add to Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel fresco by painting underwear on all the naked people.
Open this place → - 9WestminsterUnited Kingdom
Because people are so spread out, division bells are all over Westminster — some local pubs will have division bells, or there will be a direct phone call to a landlord to ring a particular bell, or it will be in cafes.
Open this place → - 10Westminster BridgeUnited Kingdom
In 1791, three men swam from Westminster Bridge to London Bridge for an eight guinea wager.
Open this place → - 11Palace of WestminsterUnited Kingdom
There are 24 fire patrol officers who go around the Palace of Westminster.
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- 14Church of ScotlandUnited Kingdom
He had tried to interfere with the Church of Scotland and he'd tried to impose his own prayer books on the Kirk in 1637.
Open this place → - 15Longquan TempleChina
The Longquan Temple is famously tech savvy and has been for years.
Open this place → - 16Cologne CathedralGermany
Then when Frederick sort of won, beat them down, he had the skulls removed and moved to Cologne Cathedral, and they're still there today.
Open this place → - 17Abbey TheatreIreland
He worked in the Abbey Theatre with Sharon Yates as well so more.
Open this place → - 18Satanic TempleUnited States
It's set up by the Satanic Temple, who are a non-theistic organization.
Open this place → - 19Union ChapelUnited Kingdom
Welcome to another episode of No Such Thing as a Fish, a weekly podcast this week coming to you from our Book of the Year 2018 tour, live from the Union Chapel in London!
Open this place → - 20Poets CornerUnited Kingdom
They struck a deal whereby he went to Poets Corner and his heart went to Stensford, and they both had a funeral at 2pm on the 16th of January 1928.
Open this place → - 21Whitechapel Bell FoundryUnited Kingdom
The Whitechapel Bell Foundry, which has been going since the 1500s, has shut down because it looks like a hotel is going to be moved in in its place, a sort of hipster kind of hotel.
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- 23Holy SeeVatican City
It's this tribunal — it's the oldest established body of the Holy See.
Open this place → - 24WhitechapelUnited Kingdom
The Whitechapel bell foundry, which, as you say, has been going since the 1500s, is completely shut down now — it looks like a hotel is going to be moved in in its place, a sort of hipster kind of hotel.
Open this place →