White Island - New Zealand

gérard from Nouméa, (Nouvelle-Calédonie) [CC BY-SA 2.0], via Wikimedia Commons

After the recent horrific tragedy, the best way to visit White Island is virtually, through Google Street View.

White Island is an active volcano located off the north east  coast of New Zealand:

 
White Island is located on the notorious Ring of Fire that has more than 75% of the world's active and dormant volcanoes:

Google Street View follows a circular trail from the island pier up to the center of the crater and back:

You begin your trek at the island pier:

The Great Cathedrals: Gargoyles

Gargoyles of Amiens Cathedral, Amiens, France

Gargoyles are the unsung heroes of the great cathedrals, protecting them in a very practical way, as I became uncomfortably aware one rainy day, when a gargoyle drooled down the back of my neck!

Shadiversity sets us straight on the difference between Grotesques and Gargoyles:

The Historical Origin of Gargoyles

Photographer Lee Kane has a great page devoted to...

The Origin of Gargoyles in Europe 

A chilled out looking gargoyle - Cathedrale de Moulins

The Westologist also has an interesting gargoyle bestiary in his post entitled...

Imagination in the Gutter

Dragon Gargoyle, Saint Vitus Cathedral (built 1344 – 1929), Prague — Photo by Richard Seaman

DocSpot provides a fascinating if somewhat sensational documentary video on gargoyles, with music by Carl Orff (Carmina Burana):

Gargoyles:  Guardians of the Gate

One of the most interesting and extensive galleries of gargoyles is at the website of Dolores Herrero, art historian and gargoyle specialist.  She breaks her galleries down by country and the photography is excellent.  She also writes an informative blog on all aspects of gargoyles:

Dolores Herrero:  Passionate about Gargoyles 

Wikipedia provides a good and varied...

Gallery of Gargoyles

A good place for Google Gargoyle Gazing is on the roof, and Milan Cathedral allows you to ascend and clamber about on...

The Roof of the Cathedral

The American Architect and Artist John Taylor Arms did an intriguing series of gargoyle etchings.  Here are some samples from his Gargoyle Series:

John Taylor Arms - Guardians of the Spire

John Taylor Arms - Sentinels

John Taylor Arms - Watching the People Below, Amiens Cathedral

John Taylor Arms - Through Wind and Rain

 

John Taylor Arms - Gargoyle and Quarry

John Taylor Arms - Gargoyle of Amiens (Number 20 of Gargoyle Series)

Further Gargoyle Galleries:

Ghastly Gargoyles Around the Globe 

Creepy Gargoyle Gallery at HowStuffWorks 

Field Guide to Gargoyles Part 1
  Field Guide to Gargoyles Part 2  

Field Guide to Gargoyles Part 3

Field Guide to Gargoyles Part 4

Field Guide to Gargoyles Part 5

The Great Cathedrals: Prague

St. Vitus Cathedral in Prague, capital of the Czech Republic.  Construction began in 1344 and continued sporadically until it was finally completed in 1929.

St. Vitus Cathedral is within the grounds of the famous Prague Castle:

Guide to Prague provides a good introduction to the cathedral:

The Creative Adventurer provides...

A Guided Tour of St. Vitus Cathedral's Incredible Stained Glass

 One of the cathedral's stained glass windows was designed by the famous Czech Art Nouveau artist Alphonse Mucha (1860 - 1939).  There is a wonderful museum in Prague devoted to his work:

MUCHA MUSEUM PRAGUE

As you walk around the cathedral, you reach a golden gate and are suddenly confronted by 

The Last Judgment Mosaic (1371)

Gigapan provides an excellent viewing of the mosaic, allowing you to pan right in at any point until you can see the individual squares that make up the work:

The Golden Gate Mosaic

The St. Vitus Cathedral website provides a spectacular and very detailed interactive virtual tour:

St. Vitus Cathedral Virtual Tour

Explore the cathedral with Google Street View

 

The Great Cathedrals: Cologne, Germany

Cologne Cathedral is the largest Gothic church in Northern Europe and took a mere 600 years to complete.  A history of the cathedral, including its first master mason Meister Gerhard and the construction principles that were used:

 The construction phases of Cologne Cathedral:

A stunning drone view of the cathedral's exterior:

  One of the best full length documentaries on Cologne Cathedral:

A marvelously meticulous model in LEGO of the Cologne Cathedral that required only 5,000,000 bricks to build:

Now it is time to...

Explore Cologne Cathedral using Street View

The Great Cathedrals: Hagia Sophia in Istanbul, Turkey

The immense and awe-inspiring Hagia Sophia (537 AD) was a Greek Orthodox Christian Patriarchal Cathedral (537-1453 AD), then an Ottoman Imperial Mosque and is currently a secular (no religious affiliation) museum (1931). 

An excellent brief video introduction to Hagia Sophia:

Beneath the dome is an interior that was the largest enclosed building for over a thousand years:

 
Hagia Sophia is considered the greatest achievement of Byzantine architecture.  

Abhijeet Shinde, Architect at Poorna architects presents an excellent slide presentation to introduce Byzantine architecture:

Introduction to Byzantine Architecture and Hagia Sophia

The Mosaics of Hagia Sophia are amazing in their own right.  The official Hagia Sophia Website has a good page on these:

Mosaics of Hagia Sophia

Probably the best, most comprehensive video documentary on Hagia Sophia is the Nova one:

Hagia Sophia:  Istanbul's Ancient Mystery

  In an area with a long history of devastating earthquakes, the survival of Hagia Sophia for all these centuries is a miracle in itself!  Discovery Magazine explores this miracle in their video: 

Engineering Secrets of Hagia Sophia in Istanbul, Turkey

Gezen Adam provides a very comprehensive Virtual Tour of Hagia Sophia:

Now use Google Street View to explore Hagia Sophia:

Inside Hagia Sophia with Google Street View

The Great Cathedrals: Salisbury

Salisbury Cathedral from the Bishop's Grounds (1823) by John Constable

Our next great cathedral is found in England, about eight miles south of Stonehenge:  Salisbury Cathedral which was built in 38 years, from 1220 to 1258.

Ash Mills provides a brief video tour:

Luxury Fred takes an informative tour with some amazing views from high on the triforium level:

And get even higher by climbing up the spire 

with Gary Price:

C. Meyer presents an informative slide presentation (best viewed in full screen mode)

Gothic Architecture in England

Salisbury Cathedral

Here is a floor plan of the cathedral:

Explore Salisbury Cathedral with Google Street View:

Explore the inside of the cathedral

Check out the views from the roof

Salisbury Cathedral is also famous for its Peregrine Falcons which can be viewed nesting on live cam:

Peregrine Falcons of Salisbury Cathedral

Peregrines 2018: a Tale of Romance and Intrigue

The Great Cathedrals: Amiens

Many of the world's great cathedrals can be explored inside and out using Google Street View.

The first we will look at is Amiens Cathedral  (built between c.1220 and c.1270) in Amiens, France.  We explore this cathedral first because the Art Department of Columbia University uses Amiens to provide an online exploration of all aspects of the medieval gothic cathedral.

 Myles Zhang of Columbia University describes this cathedral as " the apotheosis of Gothic architecture built during the 13th century".  He provides an animated fly over of the cathedral:

 

Myles did the amazing digital modelling for the following interactive exploration:

Life of a Cathedral: Notre-Dame of Amiens

 

Myles Zhang`s video of the Amiens Cathedral construction sequence is particularly fascinating:

Amiens Cathedral Construction 

Columbia University Art History Department used Google Street View to create their...

Interactive Panoranic Tour of the Cathedral

The Civil Engineering Department of Waterloo University provides a fun and fascinating video on the construction of Medieval Gothic Cathedrals:

Now use Google Street View to...

Explore Amiens Cathedral Inside and Out

Castles of Loire

The castles of the Loire River Valley in France are fascinating places to visit and explore, and now you can do so using Google Streetview.

Explore the castles using Google Streetview
 

The ExperienceLoire website has a clickable map that gives extensive histories and other information on each chateau:

One of our favorites is Chenonceau: