Cathedrals of Steam - Europe's first Railway Stations
They look like scenes from a time long lost with pompous, great waiting rooms full of regal stucco. Palaces facing the city back by the soaring heights of a cathedral over the platforms and then, finally, the gates to a much wider world - that is what the rail stations built in the nineteenth century represented. Created in an era of steam-power engines with an inventiveness and optimism for the future paired with the Victorian lifestyle, these public shines to progress came to dominate an entire world and kept it in constant motion. The pageantry was intentional as the rails were largely the preserve of the wealthy a century and a half ago. Passengers waited in luxurious salons or dined in majestic restaurants like that in the fairy-tale world of the St Pancras Renaissance Hotel. It is no coincidence that it remains one of Londons most expensive hotels.
The stations from a century ago are the old, sometimes forgotten heart of the continents cities that marked the gateway to worlds waiting to be discovered. It is now our turn to discover the world that has grown up in and around these stations that remain so very fascinating.
Collection of 5 films for ARTE decouverte based on an idea, development, design and implementation of Jeremy József Pierre Fekete