What is a cathedral?

Question

What is a cathedral?

Answer 1

A cathedral  also spelled cathedrale, is a Christian church that contains the seat of a bishop. It is a religious building for worship, specifically of a denomination with an episcopal hierarchy, such as the Roman Catholic, Anglican, Orthodox and some Lutheran churches, which serves as a bishop's seat, and thus as the central church of a diocese.

Cathedral churches may have different degrees of dignity:

A parish church that was formerly' a cathedral is known as a "proto-cathedral".

A parish church that is temporarily serving as the cathedral or co-cathedral of a diocese is known as a "pro-cathedral".

A church that serves as an additional cathedral of a diocesan bishop is known as a "co-cathedral".

The church of a diocesan bishop is known as a "cathedral".

A church to which other diocesan cathedral churches of a province are suffragan is a "metropolitan cathedral".

A church under which are ranged metropolitical churches and their provinces is a "primatial cathedral".

A church to which primatial, metropolitical, and cathedral churches alike owe allegiance is a "patriarchal cathedral".

Answer 2

Amazing how many people answer who don't know.

It's not "like a caholic church".  It's not just a "big, important church".  it's not "the most important or biggest church in any town" or the "one in some cities".  

A Cathedral is the seat of the bishop.  Under the Cathedral there are several smaller churches and parishes (each parish has a church) and chapels.  (small chapels don't have as much status as the churches, no parish, but are places that are holy to pray).  In Catholicism, where you live determines which church you attend services at.  If you live within the borders of the parish of one church, you are supposed to attend mass there.  If you choose, you can attend mass at the cathedral, because it has jurisdiction over the parishes.

There is only one Cathedral (Catholic) in any city, and usually none in smaller towns.  Thus, Sacré Coeur in Paris can NOT be a cathedral, because Notre Dame is the Cathedral.  Two in the same city would be redundant.  For some reason, a lot of people get confused on that sort of thing.

The only way you would have two Cathedrals in one city is if one is Catholic and one is from another church (often the Anglican - as this happens occasionally in Britain, where the two religions clashed and sometimes went on together for so many years).

Answer 3

A cathedral , is a christan church that holds the seat of a bishop or archbishop. It is a larger the normal church it is architecturally grand.

Their hundreds of them around the world but some of the most known are the:

Notre Dame de Paris it is is a Gothic cathedral on the eastern half of the Île de la Cité in Paris, France.

Durham Cathedral , Durham , England  Norman.

St. Paul's London, England a Classical English Baroque

Westminster Abbey Westminster, England Gothic, Perpendicular

San Marco Basilica Venice, Italy Byzantine

Canterbury Canterbury, England various

those are all the famous cathedrals i know of.

Answer 4

any large and important church

relating to or containing or issuing from a bishop's office or throne; "a cathedral church"  

Answer 5

it is a big grand holy building like a church

Answer 6

a really big (usually the "best" in town) church. mainly catholic/christian

Answer 7

A Catholic church.

Answer 8

It is a catholic church, where you get baptised

Answer 9

the main or the biggest Christian Church (Catholic or Orthodox or Protestant) in the city.

One city (e.g. Moscow) may have both the Catholic and the Orthodox Cathedrals.

Answer 10

A big church that you find in city's.