Wednesday, March 21, 2012

Dec 2011: The Extraordinary St. George’s Chapel at Windsor #3

This is the third photo essay of our visit to Windsor Castle where the Queen lives. This is the place of worship inside the Castle. First of all, I was totally pissed because I was not allowed to take any photographs inside. Dammit. Just because they want to sell books on the chapel. I am very unhappy and shot off a letter to the queen. Disgusting. But thankfully, this building has some fantastic bits outside, so that’s all I can show here.

But inside, there are wonderful sculptures, beautiful carvings, great tombs, great architecture, beautiful place, really really lovely. So if you wanted to know more about this lovely place, see here.

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From the outside and when walking down from the Middle Ward to the Lower Ward, it looks like a common church. But the outside is full of very impressive detail.

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This is the royal crown. With the portcullis.

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Some very delicate stone tracery on the top.

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Some of the stone mason faces.

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More royal crown carvings.

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The panels with the crowns are all over the building. With some of the fascinating stone faces.

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This is how it looks like, With the crown at the bottom, then the stained glass window and then the top level with the stone carvings, and faces.

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The buttresses have a niche on the top and a statue inside the niche.

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The corners of the buttresses and the walls on the top have these fantastical carvings.

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A monkey with a human baby? A pig?

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A gorilla playing bagpipes?

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A gargoyle? With a squatting man? Fascinating. What is the story behind these statues? They have worn away

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I wonder who this chap is. Nice carving.

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More close ups of the funny faces on the top of the wall.

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On the top of the pillars, you have these various heraldic creatures holding the crests of various royalty I guess.

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The chapel has some interesting nooks and crannies. This is one example of a little room with miniature windows and highly decorated roof. Some kind of a tomb?

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A corner of the building, full of complex and beautifully detailed carvings.

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Coming to the corner..

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Another face of a lion with a crown.

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This looks like some priestly fellow. But he is holding a sceptre. Oh! heck, what do I know, but check out how the stone has been carved into the outer robe, complex or what?

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A pig on the left? A monkey wrestling with a lion? The right hand side is all worn away

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A startlingly different architecturally based building of brick. This is the Horseshoe Cloister.

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You can see the lower ward opening up..

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After the nave, the structure continues.

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With the tall windows

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And the buttresses, statues, faces on the top, pillars and statues on the top as well.

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The sun popped out and the stone gleamed in a golden manner…

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The statues look lovely, but the drain pipes are strange..look weird..

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A frog playing a harp?

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A gargoyle wanting to puke?

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A giggling gargoyle behind another statue.

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He needs a face lift.

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Nice beard…

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Here are the soldiers who guard the queen. Those are actual bear fur hats. Very smart, eh? We popped inside the chapel and spent an hour gawping at the wonderful sights……..Too bad I wasn't allowed to take photographs…dammit.

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