The Cathedral city of Durham are dedicated to Jesus Christ, the virgin Mary and St. Cuthbert, and is a masterpiece of Anglo-Norman architecture.

Durham Cathedral towers over the river wear. Located close to a castle, where until the nineteenth century lived a Prince-bishops of Durham. It should be noted that in the hierarchy of the Anglican Church the bishops of Durham the honorable fourth place.

According to local legend, runaway monks, survived the RAID of the Vikings, led in Durham brown cow, in whose honor and named one of the streets leading to the Cathedral – KAU Dan lane. In fact, Durham has been better protected from the raids of the Vikings. The first building on the site of the present Cathedral was a wooden chapel, which housed the tomb of St. Cuthbert, Bishop of Lindisfarne Gospels in 685-687, and patron of the city of Durham. Since the construction of the White Church is more robust, but also timber buildings in Durham brought a flood of pilgrims, among whom was the king of England Canute I, which led to the rise of the city.

The construction of Durham Cathedral began in 1093, 1096 choirs were finished, in 1128, the walls of the nave, and in 1135 the vaults. The of the Chapter house was built between 1133 and 1140 for years, but was destroyed in the eighteenth century. In it are buried the first Prince-bishops of Durham – William de Saint-Calais and ranulf Flambard.

In 1170 years the Cathedral was built the Galilee chapel, which served as a chapel in honour of the virgin Mary. Contains the tomb of Bede. In 1228, during the restoration of the Cathedral was completed chapel of the Nine Altars. At the same time were completed tower of the Cathedral, but the Central tower, which was destroyed by lightning, was rebuilt in the XV century.

The tomb of St. Cuthbert, located in the Eastern apse, is very modest – it's just a plate engraved with the name. However, according to the records of the seventeenth century, earlier this place was lavishly decorated with precious stones and donations of numerous pilgrims. The tomb of St Cuthbert was destroyed in the dissolution of the monasteries by king Henry VIII, but incorrupt relics of the Saint were subsequently reburied.

In the XVII century, after the battle of Dunbar on 3 September 1650 Durham Cathedral was used by Oliver Cromwell as a temporary jail for prisoners of Scots. The prisoners were kept in appalling conditions, 3 thousand more than half died in the Cathedral, they were buried in a common grave, which was discovered in 1946. In 2007, in the Cathedral was a memorial plaque in memory of Garbarski the martyrs.

It is known that Scottish prisoners destroyed nearly all the interior of the Cathedral, not only suffered astronomical clock Priory of Castel – they were saved only by the image of the Scottish Thistle.

At the end of the eighteenth century Durham Cathedral was in poor condition. In 1773 began the restoration of the Cathedral, during which it was re-erected the old building of a Chapter house. Planned restructuring and Galilee chapel, but the architects were able to avoid unnecessary damage. They also restored the window-the rose of the thirteenth century. A little less than a century was the restoration of the towers and courtyard of the Cathedral.

In 1986, the castle and the Cathedral city of Durham entered the list of world heritage of UNESCO. It is worth noting that despite numerous restoration works, the Cathedral has all the hallmarks of the Romanesque architectural style.

In Durham Cathedral was filming the movie "Elizabeth" in 1998, the Cathedral was made by the prototype school building Hogwarts for Harry Potter. In 2009, 2011 and 2013 were held in the Cathedral colorful festivals of light.