Ely Cathedral The relief scenes were built into the wall, so each face or statue was individually hacked off, but leaving many finely carved details, and numerous puzzles as to what the original scenes showed. After the reformation it was redeployed as the Parish Church (Holy Trinity) for the town, a situation which continued up to 1938. The central octagonal tower, with its vast internal open space and its pinnacles and lantern above, forms the most distinctive and celebrated feature of the cathedral. However, what Pevsner describes as Ely's 'greatest individual achievement of architectural genius' came about through a disaster at the
St. Donatian's Cathedral was built in the Romanesque architectural style. There was an octagonal main building, with a tower and a sixteen-sided ambulatory. The building stood on the Burg square, across from the "Stadhuis" (city hall). St Donatian's Church became a cathedral following the installation of the first Bishop of Bruges in 1562. St. Donatian's was destroyed in 1799 by occupying forces of the French First Republic. The former site of St Donatian's is now occupied by the "Crowne Plaza Brugge Hotel"; the foundations of the cathedral were uncovered in 1955 and are visible in the hotel's cellars. St. Donatian's Cathedral The St.