If you've ever traveled in Europe, odds are you visited at least one major cathedral.

These massive religious buildings were, and still are, the architectural centerpieces of most cities.

Yet most visitors to a cathedral will usually walk around gawking at lofty ceilings

in old art without ever really knowing what they're looking at.

And by the way, what exactly is a cathedral?

Learn more about cathedrals on this episode of sponsored by audible.

My audio book recommendation today is Notre Dame, The Soul of France by Agnes Portier.

The profound emotion felt around the world upon seeing images of Notre Dame in flames opens up

the question, why was everyone so deeply moved? In answer, Agnes Portier turns to the defining

moments in Notre Dame's history. Beginning with the laying of the Cornerstone in 1163,

the coronation of Napoleon,

Victor Hugo's 19th century campaign to preserve the cathedral,

the 1950s film The Hunchback of Notre Dame

starring Gina Lola Bridgeta and Anthony Quinn,

and the state funeral of Charles de Gaulle before returning to the present.

You can get a free one month trial to Audible and two free audio books by going to Audible Trial

dot com slash Everything Everywhere or by clicking on the link in the show notes.

To start any conversation about cathedrals, we first have to define what a cathedral is.

A cathedral has nothing to do with any architectural style, size, or level of ostentatiousness.

A cathedral is nothing more than the home church for a bishop in a diocese.

In theory, a cathedral could be a mobile home if it were the church of a bishop.

The name cathedral comes from the Latin word Cathedral, which means chair.

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