The builders’ challenge

Secrets of Sacred Architecture

April 2022 •English

For most of America's history, sacred buildings represented our greatest feats of innovative engineering and artistic design. Unlock the elements of design that make these structures so fascinating and unveil the meaning in religious architecture, ranging from grand cathedrals and simple country churches to synagogues and mosques.

Great Peter of York

September 1927 •

A large crowd and choir, on an historic day at York Minster, greet the arrival of a replacement big bell, watching and singing as labourers manfully slide the 10 ton bell off a truck.

Hockney, The Queen and the Royal Peculiar

October 2018 •English

David Hockney undertakes a commission to design and install a stained-glass window in Westminster Abbey to commemorate the sixty-fifth year of Queen Elizabeth II's reign.

Splendour of the Heavens

September 1962 •English

A film about astronomy which also happens to show views of the ancient city of Winchester, before focussing on a particular house in the suburbs with its own observatory.

Cathedrals

July 2014 •German

The city of Ordos, in the middle of China, was build for a million people yet remains completely empty. Ordos is not so much a place but a symbol of babylonic hype. But nothing will change - as long as people believe.

Building the Great Cathedrals

October 2010 •French

These skyscrapers of stone dominated skylines for nearly a thousand years. Now, a team of scholars and builders investigates how they we went up, and why some of the tallest fell down. Embedded in stone and stained glass, they uncover a hidden mathematical code — ripped from pages of the Bible — that was used as a blueprint to build the great Gothic Cathedrals.

Sur les pas de Marie

May 2022 •French

Cologne Cathedral: The French Cathedral on the Rhine

September 2024 •German

An exploration of Cologne Cathedral, an emblematic monument and world heritage site. The towering place of worship took over 600 years to complete. Once the tallest building in the world, its ornate facade remains a masterpiece of Gothic architecture - and a reflection of the evolution of Franco-German relations.

Rebuilding Notre-Dame: The Next Chapter

April 2022 •English

Taking you back inside the world-famous Cathedral of Notre Dame de Paris in France. It’s three years since the inferno devastated the vast timber and lead roof and the 850-year-old Gothic masterpiece is now at a critical turning point. Work to rebuild the monument is being ramped up, with 200 scientists, historians, restorers and construction workers now on site. They’re racing to meet an ambitious deadline; to reopen Notre Dame to the public ahead of the 2024 Olympic Games to be held in Paris. 1,200 tons of scaffolding now fills the cathedral, giving the team unprecedented access to every inch of the structure. This not only allows them to restore Notre Dame, but also solve its architectural mysteries.

David Macaulay: Cathedral

April 1986 •English

Author David Macaulay hosts CATHEDRAL, based on his award-winning book. Using a combination of spectacular location sequences and cinema-quality animation, the program surveys France's most famous churches. Travel back to 1214 to explore the design of Notre Dame de Beaulieu, a representative Gothic cathedral. The program tells period tales revealing fascinating stories of life and death, faith and despair, prosperity, and intrigue.

Rodez

November 2017 •

An exploration of Rodez Cathedral and its stained glass windows: praying figures and scientific imagery. A study on color, repetition and flickering consisting of 292 photographs.

Au cœur de Notre-Dame

April 2011 •French

One Summer in Somerset

June 1968 •English

Hitch a ride with a glamorous blonde in a convertible sports car, and take a spin around the seaside town of Weston-Super-Mare and its surroundings.

Katedrála zázrakov

November 2023 •Slovak

Beato, el Origen del Xacobeo

November 2023 •Spanish

Rebuilding Notre-Dame: Inside the Great Cathedral Rescue

April 2020 •English

The collaboration between architects, scientists, archaeologists and engineers in their efforts to restore Notre Dame.

Pilgrim's Way

April 1956 •English

An epic ramble from Winchester to Canterbury, through Hampshire, Surrey and Kent with picnics, pints and much prettiness on the way.

St. Andrew's Wells

May 1920 •

Big fan of episcopal residences? Take a rose-tinted look at the historic city of Wells.

Andrei Rublev

December 1966 •Russian

An expansive Russian drama, this film focuses on the life of revered religious icon painter Andrei Rublev. Drifting from place to place in a tumultuous era, the peace-seeking monk eventually gains a reputation for his art. But after Rublev witnesses a brutal battle and unintentionally becomes involved, he takes a vow of silence and spends time away from his work. As he begins to ease his troubled soul, he takes steps towards becoming a painter once again.

Ladyhawke

March 1985 •English

Captain Etienne Navarre is a man on whose shoulders lies a cruel curse. Punished for loving each other, Navarre must become a wolf by night whilst his lover, Lady Isabeau, takes the form of a hawk by day. Together, with the thief Philippe Gaston, they must try to overthrow the corrupt Bishop and in doing so break the spell.