Impressive cathedrals and churches

[John Barry]

Vienna & Prague:

But the views of Salisbury cathedral across the meadows on a misty morning are just sublime

 

[ff1d1l]

Seems the big stuff is well covered....here are some small gems.
Patrishow, lonely and only just accessible by car in the hills behind Abergavenny

A fine 15th century rood screen, too

And remote, high above the Conwy valley, with foot access only is Llangelynin, which has a saints well, upon the water surface of which clothes of sick children were cast to see if they would live(float) or die(sink). Beside a drove road, it has a separate side aisle at a right angle where the smelly uncouth drovers were allowed to sit. Has ancient Welsh texts painted on the walls inside.

 

[alanbeeb]

But the views of Salisbury cathedral across the meadows on a misty morning are just sublime

Salisbury cathedral over the water meadow 1 by mr.noisy, on Flickr

Inside:
salisbury cathedral inside 8 by mr.noisy, on Flickr

 

[blossomchris]

They keep reminding me of House of Hammer film sets.

Bloss

 

[Stunsworth]

Albi in south-western France. Huge, brick built, and originally a ‘f*** you’ to the Cathars. The interior is equally impressive. The river has pigeon eating catfish - as featured on Planet Earth II.

 

[kendo]

The Magnificent Interior of St Mary's Chapel, Grandtully -

- looks like a cow shed from outside.

 

[Seeker_UK]

Albi in south-western France. Huge, brick built, and originally a ‘f*** you’ to the Cathars. The interior is equally impressive. The river has pigeon eating catfish - as featured on Planet Earth II.

I like the use of cannonball-deflecting round edges. Says a lot about the local reactions when built.

 

[Joe Hutch]

An unidentified, neglected church in mid-Wales, photographed about 1978:

Volterra cathedral and surrounding roofs:

 

[ff1d1l]

The Magnificent Interior of St Mary's Chapel, Grandtully -

- looks like a cow shed from outside.

Oh, I do like that. Definately one to visit. Might well be up at Blairgowrie this christmas, a good break from the "Christmas Fun".

 

[Patrick Dixon]

One little church I liked was at Hrastovlje in Solvenia. It's a tiny fortified church in pretty much the middle of nowhere, which unexpectedly has the inside walls covered in amazing 500+ year old Frescos.

I liked the Sistine Chapel too, and we were lucky enough to see it when it had just been re-opened and was relatively quiet.

 

[Marchbanks]

The Lazarica church in the Birmingham suburbs is virtually unknown even to Brummies. It has a modest exterior but is gloriously exotic inside.

 

[merlin]

Glorious buildings one and all.

it does leave one wondering though just which parts of the scriptures the self righteous money grabbing goblin followers bothered to read and digest.

 

[tones]

The Stiftskirche (abbey church) of St. Gallen in NE Swizzieland is a favourite of mine:

Not, I hasten to add, because of the Irish connection (the original monastic settlement was founded by an Irish monk, Gallus, in the 9th century). The wonderful richness of baroque decoration is offset by pure white walls. The Stiftsbibliothek (abbey library) is equally stunning:

Yes, they'll let you walk on that floor - but only after you've donned felt overshoes. The library is one of the great treasuries of mediaeval and pre-mediaeval literature, going all the way back to the writings of those Irish monks over a millennium ago.

 

[tones]

Strasbourg is epic.

Completely over the top in everything, footprint, height, detail inside and out.

It feels like a skycraper even today, dwarfing everything around it.

They actually intended to build another spire, but never quite around to it, hence the unique asymmetric appearance.

 

[Sue Pertwee-Tyr]

The Stiftsbibliothek (abbey library) is equally stunning:

Anybody else think that ceiling looks rather sinister? A bit like something by HR Giger.

 

[tones]

Glorious buildings one and all.

it does leave one wondering though just which parts of the scriptures the self righteous money grabbing goblin followers bothered to read and digest.

Well they can be seen as a follow-on from the Jewish Temple, which God commanded Solomon to build. Admittedly, Solomon's Temple was relatively small, compared to Herod's monstrosity, which was so enormous that the Temple Mount had to be extended to accomodate it (the only bit of the Jerusalem of Biblical times that remains is that extension, known as the Wailing Wall). In addition, labour was relatively cheap in those days - the cost of building a Gothic cathedral today (in which every individual stone has its assigned place) would be horrendous, even with modern machinery.

In addition, their sheer size tends to induce a feeling of respectful awe, appropriate for a house of worship.

 

[tones]

Anybody else think that ceiling looks rather sinister? A bit like something by HR Giger.

It's actually not that gloomy:

https://img.myswitzerland.com/mys/n26323/images/buehne/ksp-7816.jpg

 

[Still]

Anybody else think that ceiling looks rather sinister? A bit like something by HR Giger.

Gaping maw came to mind. Did we just fail a Rorschach test?

 

[kendo]

They actually intended to build another spire, but never quite around to it, hence the unique asymmetric appearance.

When god-botherers say "f*ck it, that'll do."

 

[TheDecameron]

An unidentified, neglected church in mid-Wales, photographed about 1978:

Volterra cathedral and surrounding roofs:

Do have a deep seated, justifiable fear that should you cross the threshold of any such building, you would burst into flames?