Beautiful Churches and Their Meaning

[seashale76]

You posted the northernmost church, so here is the southernmost (Holy Trinity at the South Pole):

 

[seashale76]

The Chapel of St. Ananias in Damascus, Syria. It's directly off Straight Street and below ground- on the original level of the Old City street. It is believed to have been the home of Ananias (as in the book of Acts)- and is a World Heritage site.

 

[James Is Back]

The Chapel of St. Ananias in Damascus, Syria. It's directly off Straight Street and below ground- on the original level of the Old City street. It is believed to have been the home of Ananias (as in the book of Acts)- and is a World Heritage site.

Nice. Wonder how far underground it is?

 

[bbbbbbb]

Nice. Wonder how far underground it is?

Although it might be well underground now, it is possible that originally it was actually higher. Cities have a habit of rising over time as new streets, etc. are built on top of older ones. Thus, archaeology is frequently a matter of peeling back the layers ot detritus to reveal significant artifacts.

 

[GratiaCorpusChristi]

Although it might be well underground now, it is possible that originally it was actually higher. Cities have a habit of rising over time as new streets, etc. are built on top of older ones. Thus, archaeology is frequently a matter of peeling back the layers ot detritus to reveal significant artifacts.

Great point.

A really wonderful example of this is the Last Supper's Upper Room according to the Syriac tradition, where it is in the basement on the Syriac church of St. Mark in Jerusalem's Old City. This is almost certainly a better tradition than the Catholic Cenacle, which is a literal upper room on the second story of a Crusading-era structure.

The rather obscure doors into the Church of St. Mark:

The interior of St. Mark's (ground floor, main sanctuary):

The basement upper room:

Compare that to the Cenacle, with it's Muslim prayer niche:

 

[Ada Lovelace]

I love this thread. The pictures were a lovely way to begin my early day with meaningful beauty.

I haven't read the whole thread yet so I don't know if photos of the the Washington National Cathedral have already been shared. It's very significant to me because I attended the National Cathedral School when we lived in DC, and it was my 7th grade Religious Studies class that gave me such an appreciation for cathedrals. The class was actually titled Christianity and Cathedrals, and the cathedral was like our textbook in a way. It served as a visual aid to explore how the Cathedral teaches the Christian story and gives night into the role of religion in America. I have to jet in a minute so I'm keeping this short and will explain more later.

For now I'll just share some pics! The ones of the front of the cathedral are massive, so I'm not including them for now.

The space window!

The Darth Vadar gargoyle:

 

[WirSindBettler]

I love this thread. The pictures were a lovely way to begin my early day with meaningful beauty.

I haven't read the whole thread yet so I don't know if photos of the the Washington National Cathedral have already been shared. It's very significant to me because I attended the National Cathedral School when we lived in DC, and it was my 7th grade Religious Studies class that gave me such an appreciation for cathedrals. The class was actually titled Christianity and Cathedrals, and the cathedral was like our textbook in a way. It served as a visual aid to explore how the Cathedral teaches the Christian story and gives night into the role of religion in America. I have to jet in a minute so I'm keeping this short and will explain more later.

For now I'll just share some pics! The ones of the front of the cathedral are massive, so I'm not including them for now.

We've had pictures posted before, and people call out especially the space window and Darth Vader gargoyle. Not to worry, although some of us are boycotting the Cathedral.

 

[WirSindBettler]

Some more Russian Orthodox Churches:

St. Isaac's Cathedral, St. Petersburg

Exterior

Interior

Dome Interior

Iconostasis

Interior

View through Iconostasis of Altar

Iconostasis in Side Chapel

Shrine of the Wonderworking Тихвинская икона Божией Матери (Theotokos of Tikhvin), though the original is held in a monastery in Tikhvin.

Cathedral of Christ the Savior, Moscow

Exterior

Dome Interior

Iconostasis

Peter and Paul Cathedral, St. Petersburg

Exterior

Iconostasis

Stained Glass

Holy Virgin Cathedral, San Francisco

Exterior

Interior

Interior

Holy Trinity Cathedral, Chicago

Exterior

Interior

 

[Gnarwhal]

You posted the northernmost church, so here is the southernmost (Holy Trinity at the South Pole):

I think my sister's been to that one, she's gone on two expeditions down to McMurdo and I think she passed by it at some point..?

 

[seashale76]

It always irritates me to see the non-icon icons and statuary in some of those Russian churches.

 

[seashale76]

I think my sister's been to that one, she's gone on two expeditions down to McMurdo and I think she passed by it at some point..?

Very cool. Literally.

 

[WirSindBettler]

It always irritates me to see the non-icon icons and statuary in some of those Russian churches.

You mean the ones that look like German paintings? I like those churches better, if only because I'm a Western Christian.

I had to go hunting for this one, but it's one of the worst examples of trying to mix non-icon icons with statuary, creating neither a good statue, a good icon, or even a good non-icon icon.

From St. Isaac's in St. Petersburg:

 

[bbbbbbb]

You mean the ones that look like German paintings? I like those churches better, if only because I'm a Western Christian.

I had to go hunting for this one, but it's one of the worst examples of trying to mix non-icon icons with statuary, creating neither a good statue, a good icon, or even a good non-icon icon.

From St. Isaac's in St. Petersburg:

I think a basic understanding of Russian history and the history of the Russian Orthodox church would help to explain what you consider to be strange and bizarre.

 

[WirSindBettler]

I think a basic understanding of Russian history and the history of the Russian Orthodox church would help to explain what you consider to be strange and bizarre.

I don't consider Orthodox iconography "strange and bizarre," but the example I posted is most certainly not common in Russian Orthodox churches, which tend to look more like this:

With icons that look like this:

The "non-icon icons" that were described above, on the other hand, look like much more like paintings than what are traditionally deemed icons:

The issue that you deemed "strange and bizarre" was an attempt to combine statuary (religious statues), with these "non-icon icons" pointed out above, creating neither good statues, good icons, or even good non-icon icons. I wasn't condemning Russian iconography or architecture (which the vast majority of the time looks far, far different than these more Westernized paintings), but rather what I consider a rather terrifying attempt to blend two completely different art forms. Just my opinion.

 

[seashale76]

The issue that you deemed "strange and bizarre" was an attempt to combine statuary (religious statues), with these "non-icon icons" pointed out above, creating neither good statues, good icons, or even good non-icon icons. I wasn't condemning Russian iconography or architecture (which the vast majority of the time looks far, far different than these more Westernized paintings), but rather what I consider a rather terrifying attempt to blend two completely different art forms. Just my opinion.

Exactly. Terrifying is the right word, I think. St. Isaac's in St. Petersburg looks like someone took baroque or whatever that is meant to be and then went off the deep end with it.

 

[bbbbbbb]

Exactly. Terrifying is the right word, I think. St. Isaac's in St. Petersburg looks like someone took baroque or whatever that is meant to be and then went off the deep end with it.

Actually, within its historic context it is not difficult to understand, although one might find St. Isaac's to be Unorthodox in its iconography.

Beginning with Peter the Great there was a sincere interest in taking Russia out of the medieval period and into the modern world. As a result, various reforms were enacted including the prohibition on men having beards. One of the results of these reforms was schism within Russian Orthodoxy including a group called the Old Believers who resisted to the point of death.

These reforms continued until the very end of the Russian Empire in 1917. Peter the Great laid the foundations of his "Window on the West", St. Petersburg, and, at huge cost in money and lives, turned a swamp into a modern city. Although Moscow remained the capital of Russia, St. Petersburg, for all intents and purposes, was its functional capital. Both the magnificent Winter and Summer Palaces were constructed there. Catherine the Great imported architects from Italy and England to provide designs for buildings in the most contemporary styles in the eighteenth century. Thus, St. Petersburg is a world heritage monument for its superb examples of Baroque, Roccoco, and Neo-Classical architecture.

In the nineteenth century the tsars continued the momentum. They were generally sincerely religious. They did not see any reason that Russian Orthodoxy should remain bound to a distant and dead past. As with Rome, which adopted Renaissance architecture whole-heartedly in the sixteeenth century for its churches and St. Peter's Basilica, it was decided to adopt the same style for St. Isaac's Cathedral. If I recall correctly it was probably built during the reign of Alexander II.

The fact is that St. Isaac's is an exception which did not set a trend. The trend probably would have developed into the twentieth century had the Russian Empire continued. By contrast, Rome's experiment continued to develop and evolve, and does so still to this day.

I find just as reasonable to dislike the architectural and iconographical style of St. Isaac's Cathedral as I find it reasonable to dislike the architectural and artistic style of St. Peter's Basilica.

 

[WirSindBettler]

Actually, within its historic context it is not difficult to understand, although one might find St. Isaac's to be Unorthodox in its iconography.

Beginning with Peter the Great there was a sincere interest in taking Russia out of the medieval period and into the modern world. As a result, various reforms were enacted including the prohibition on men having beards. One of the results of these reforms was schism within Russian Orthodoxy including a group called the Old Believers who resisted to the point of death.

These reforms continued until the very end of the Russian Empire in 1917. Peter the Great laid the foundations of his "Window on the West", St. Petersburg, and, at huge cost in money and lives, turned a swamp into a modern city. Although Moscow remained the capital of Russia, St. Petersburg, for all intents and purposes, was its functional capital. Both the magnificent Winter and Summer Palaces were constructed there. Catherine the Great imported architects from Italy and England to provide designs for buildings in the most contemporary styles in the eighteenth century. Thus, St. Petersburg is a world heritage monument for its superb examples of Baroque, Roccoco, and Neo-Classical architecture.

In the nineteenth century the tsars continued the momentum. They were generally sincerely religious. They did not see any reason that Russian Orthodoxy should remain bound to a distant and dead past. As with Rome, which adopted Renaissance architecture whole-heartedly in the sixteeenth century for its churches and St. Peter's Basilica, it was decided to adopt the same style for St. Isaac's Cathedral. If I recall correctly it was probably built during the reign of Alexander II.

The fact is that St. Isaac's is an exception which did not set a trend. The trend probably would have developed into the twentieth century had the Russian Empire continued. By contrast, Rome's experiment continued to develop and evolve, and does so still to this day.

I find just as reasonable to dislike the architectural and iconographical style of St. Isaac's Cathedral as I find it reasonable to dislike the architectural and artistic style of St. Peter's Basilica.

Not to get too far off topic, but Russia never really had a "renaissance" or "baroque" period. It was just Peter the Great's beginning attempts to westernize, which I think failed in regards to Russian architecture. St. Peter's is beautiful, Baroque architecture is beautiful, but St. Isaac's is not.

 

[MarkRohfrietsch]

<snip>

And finally, as a contender for the Irony Award:

A statue of John Knox, reformer of Scotland, rabid and extreme iconoclast, in the nave.

Now, that's funny!

Siberian Evangelical Lutheran log Church

 

[seashale76]

I like it. It also reminds me of how I want a log home.

 

[MoreCoffee]

There are many very beautiful churches in this thread. Thanks to all for the idea and the execution.