GES164 - Antwerp Cathedral
While running around before the big party for the night, the International Drainers Meet (IDM), I bumped into GE074 and co, and they said they heard the cathedral was climbable. We went for a wander around the building, and an access point soon presented itself. A quick check for any problems, and we left knowing we had an explore post party. Of course, climbing a cathedral while inebriated isn't ideal, but it adds another dimension to it.
Post party, Fishbrain, Residues, Dicky and OllieGT and GE066 wobbled back and waited for a moment to whip up the scaff. I went last and unfortunately was spotted, so had to embarrassingly climb down. I waited a few minutes, and went for it again. Smearing my hands with plenty of grease from the lift gearing. We climbed and climbed, and reached the top of one of the towers, sadly not the main tower seen here.
Looking down below to the town square (Groenplaats) and old part of the city. Many of the buildings date back to the 16th century, but most have been rebuilt after WWII. The main City Hall sits in the top right of the photo.
A higher shot looking over the city, St. Paul's Church's spire sits high up on the right. More V1 & V2 rockets fell on Antwerp than anywhere else in WWII, so a lot of the city has been rebuilt since the war.
On opening various doors and descending and ascending, we came upon a door that led us into the main nave of the cathedral. I've done a few religious buildings, but never managed to get into the actual nave before. Most places are riddled with pirs to stop thieves.
We had actually made it into the organ housing, however as one of the group opened another door, we found out that there were indeed pirs in here, and quickly skedaddled
Most other cathedrals I've been in have lovely aged wooden beams, and Our Lady didn't disappoint. The beams dated back to the early 1500s. The various red fire boxes and detection systems on the beams above showed how much care was taken to keep them for another 500 years.
The top of one of the roof arches from the main nave. A parting shot as we skedadled out the church and dropped down the scaff. As we departed, we bumped into some of the revellers from the IDM, waddling their merry way through town.
We all headed back to the Chamber of Commerce, and got our heads down for the night. During which, other groups headed in for a nights kip.
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