Churches, churches, churches...

Churches are places of worship where people gather for prayer, rituals, and community. There are many types of churches. Two of the famous ones are cathedrals and basilicas.
Where the first are often large churches that server as the seat of a bishop and the latter have been granted a special status from the pope.
This post is my entry for the #qurator photo quest; a weekly photography challenge that has the subject churches this week.
The first photo is my entry for the contest.

Visiting churches

I was not raised religious. My mother was raised Catholic and my father was raised with a bit more unknown religion. My parents didn’t do much with religion and didn’t raise us religiously. My sisters and I were sent to Catholic schools. Because we attended Catholic schools, we still learned a lot about Catholicism and faith.
I've always found the bible stories interesting and I agree with the most of where the Catholic faith stands for. Church communities are often involved in charity projects and come up for the poor and vulnerable in society.

Although I don't believe in a god myself, I can imagine that people do. I have a lot of friends that are religious too. It is beautiful to see that people find support in their faith.
So despite not believing myself, I also don't have anything against it. In fact, I even really enjoy visiting churches.
I really like the atmosphere. The silence, the peacefullness, the calmth, all contribute to a sense of spirituality.
And apart from that I'm often impressed by the structures itself. Most old churches breathe history. They have been built hundreds of years ago and building them also took many years. And that without the modern equipment we have now.
I can also enjoy the richly decorated interiours. Stained-glass windows, mosaic floors and many large paintings.

It's wonderful that most churches are open for public. Whenever I visit a city I always love to visit a church. Over the years I have visited a whole lot of churches. From small chapels to giant cathedrals and basilics.

In this post I will share you a couple of photos and stories from some of the most beautiful churches I've visited.

Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore, Florence

During a holiday in Tuscany, Italy we visited the lovely city of Florence. In the middle of the city you can find the beautiful cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore (also called the Duomo). It is one of the largest churches in Italy. It was designed by Arnolfo di Cambio in the 13th century and completed in the 15th century. When you ride towards the city from the surrounding Tuscan hills, you can clearly see this massive structure stand out. And although it doesn't look that big on a photo it is a massive 114.5 meters tall and the dome has a diameter of 55 meters!

The cathedral is such an iconic one that you see it on many of the post cards you can buy in Florence. This photo is my entry for the #qurator photo quest.

Cattedrale di Santa Maria Assunta, Siena

During our holiday in Italy we also visited Siena, another large city. The city is know for its giant central square where the palio (a famous horse race) is held every year, but in this post I will focus on the cathedral.
The Cattedrale di Santa Maria Assunta is a very special one and is very different than other cathedrals. It stands out because of its black and white stripes. I've asked Gemini why the cathedral has these stripes and it came up with the following:
The colors black and white are the colors of the coat of arms of Siena, the so-called 'balzana'. This color combination represents the two founders of the city, Senius and Aschius, the sons of Remus." An interesting fact I didn't know when we visited the cathedral back then.

Apart from the combination of colors, the beautiful details on the cathedral's facade are absolutely stunning.

Cathédrale Saint-Jean-Baptiste de Lyon

This cathedral is a Roman catholic church located in the heart of Lyon, France. This beautiful church was built from 1180 on the ruins of a 6th-century church and completed in 1476 after a long period of construction. The cathedral is the seat of the Archbishop of Lyon.
The remarkable white structure is built on a hill and located in the historic old town of Lyon.

Basilica of Our Lady of the Rosary in Lourdes, France

Last year we visited Lourdes in France. This visited this place because it is a well known pilgrimage site. People come from far to visit this sacred place.
The story goes that in 1858, a young girl named Bernadette Soubirousm at the age of 14 years old, reported that she had seen a vision of a beautiful lady in a cave in Lourdes. These visions reappeared 17 times over the next few months.
The lady identified herself as the "Immaculate Conception," a Catholic doctrine that states Mary, the mother of Jesus, was conceived without original sin.
The Catholic Church investigated the apparitions and in 1862, the Bishop of Nevers declared the apparitions "worthy of belief." In 1879, Pope Leo XIII officially approved the apparitions.

Over the years a large complex of churches, chapels, and other buildings has been built around the cave (grotto) to accommodate the millions of pilgrims annually.
Many people report experiencing miraculous healings after visiting Lourdes and drinking the spring water.

You can actually feel it is a very special place. Although I personally don't believe in the miracles of the water, we did get some from the special taps that are on the square alongside the church.
We also visited the cave and the beautiful church you can see below. The entire complex is really huge.

The Duomo di Milano, Italy

Two years ago during a holiday in Italy (Italy is one of our favorite holiday destinations) we visited the lovely city of Milan. The city is known for its fasion, the two great football clubs (Inter and AC Milan), but also the majestic Duomo.
The Duomo is the largest gothic Cathedral in Italy. The construction began in 1386 and continued for over five centuries. But the building is truly enormous.
It has a length of over 157 meters, a width of around 92 meters, and a central spire reaching 108.5 meters. The building is impressive both from the outside as from the inside. The giant pilars inside cathedral that support the roof reach upto 25 meters have a circumference of several meters.

St. Peter's Basilica, Vatican City, Rome

The St. Peter's Basilica is the largest church in the world. With a length of 220 meters (722 feet), a width of 150 meters (492 feet) and a height: 136.6 meters (448 feet) this church is massive. It's so impressive to walk inside this church.
The church is beautifully decorated and has a lot of great pieces of art. One of the most interesting pieces is Michelangelo's Pietà. This iconic sculpture depicts the Virgin Mary cradling the body of Jesus.

The dome's interior showcases a breathtaking display of religious imagery, including figures of saints, angels, and biblical scenes.

We were also able to climb the dome. From the top of the dome we had a beautiful view over the square in front of the Basilica which is often used for religious processions and the "Urbi et Orbi" speeches from the pope. Urbi et Orbi is Latin for "to the city (of Rome) and to the world.
The pople holds these speeches at Christmas day, Easter and other special events.
It was very special that we could visit this remarkable sacred place.

This was only a handful of churches we have visited in the past few years. We have visited many more. Most of them were a lot smaller than the ones I showcased here, but many of them were beautiful as well. And there are still more churches to visit in the coming years.
And when I do I will inform you about it in a blog.

I hope these images encourage you to seek out the beauty and wonder of churches wherever your travels may lead you!

Until next time!

About FriendlyMoose

I'm an amateur photographer with a love for indoor gardening, craft beer, and cycling. As the owner of the Cycling Community and the creator of the Topcomment initiative, I focus on fostering engagement and bringing like-minded people together.
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