Durham Cathedral, Great Britain (138/418)

Built in the late 11th and early 12th centuries to house the relics of St. Cuthbert, the evangelist of Northumbria, and the Venerable Bede, the Cathedral attests to the importance of the early Benedictine monastic community and is the largest and best example of Norman-style architecture in England. The innovative audacity of its vaulting foreshadowed Gothic architecture. Behind the Cathedral is the Castle, an ancient Norman fortress which was the residence of the prince-bishops of Durham.