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Church Architecture and God
Some of the most incredible architecture can be found among churches. Two of my favorite books are about the construction of churches: The Pillars of the Earth
Wikipedia notes that church architecture (a.k.a. ecclesiastical architecture) “has evolved over the two thousand years of the Christian religion, partly by innovation and partly by imitating other architectural styles as well as responding to changing beliefs, practices and local traditions. Christian architecture encompasses a wide range of both secular and religious styles from the foundation of Christianity to the present day, influencing the design and construction of buildings and structures in Christian culture. From the birth of Christianity to the present, the most significant period of transformation for Christian architecture and design was the Gothic cathedral.”
Architects can get pretty creative when designing churches. Here is one of my faves from the post 10 Most Unique Churches in the World by Holly Sendy.
The Chapel of Saint Gildas is found upon the bank of the Canal du Blavet in Brittany, France. It is built into the base of a rocky cliff. This was once a holy place for the Druids in AD 540 where Gildas preached Christianity to the people. There are some cool pictures of the exterior and interior of this church at the blog Breizh Bretagne Llydaw Brittany including the one below.
I love how this chapel is tucked right into the earth. It speaks to me of the incarnation, of faith being born right out of the stuff of God’s good creation.
Where have you come across stunning or unusual church architecture? What does it say to you about God?
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How beautiful! I love that the church is really part of the rock, which God made as well – what a unique blending of “what earth has given and human hands have made” – wonderful. Thanks for the book suggestions and for the lovely pictures Sister Julie. It also gives new meaning to the church being built upon the rock of Peter – so many great nuances here!
Salisbury Cathedral, the Cloisters, mystical in their majesty. In June of 1983 the first place I realized (or perhaps remembered), as an adult, that God may have something in mind for me.
Salisbury has the tallest spire in England and amazingly enough (for those who have read Ken Follet’s books, in only 38 years. And an original Magna Carta. It is an amazing place.
Like so many places in England, to touch Salisbury stone is to touch history.
Last Sunday a friend took me to a Catholic church dominated by this icon. http://www.amothersplea.org/ Apparently it was built about a decade ago, on a platform which entirely hides the original high altar and the altar steps. It certainly creates a unique focus for parish prayer.
I just *love* church architecture! On a recent visit to the NJ/NY area, I went to see The Cloisters museum (with THE best docent, “nun” other that one of my sisters, an art professor and a vistor to A Nun’s Life [Hi, Anne Therese!]) So much history preserved in one space! That trip was after attending Sunday Liturgy at Fordham University where another of my sisters is a professor. She played the organ, beautifully, I might add.
I find an interesting trend in modern churches, at least the five that went up in the last 15 years near my home town in So. California. They are all “big box” churches where the assembly sits in a sloped, fan-shaped area. The ceiling is high above the main aisle, but it slopes dramatically down to the sides. The side chapel is visible through a large glass window (which may be stained glass, etched glass or plain). Said Day Chapel is also used as a cry room on Sundays and an Adoration Chapel. There is a gallery outside the main seating area where there are bas-relief Stations of the Cross that are low and touch-able so that the physically and visually may interact with them. The seating is relational, meaning that people are able to see each others’ faces as they are gathered around the table. I really like that. It makes the Mass a real celebration of the people as the Body of Christ instead of a “Jesus and me” moment.
My home parish’s church was built before this trend, back in 1978, My sisters tease me and call it “the mosque” bc it is round with a high dome in the middle. Inside, the assembly’s area is 3/4 round, with the remaining 1/4 given to the Day Chapel, a separate 24hr. Adoration Chapel, and the sacristy.
I hear that some priests think that the sanctuary looks like the bridge of the Starship Enterprise, but I don’t. The Enterprise’s bridge had red doors! X^D
Uh, that’s “Physically and visually disabled.”
My all-time favourite is Mont Saint Michel. The Benedictine monastery is at the summit of a medieval town built on a spit of land jutting into the ocean. From the cloister you look out over sea, sand and sky. The church is Gothic. Also marvelous is the Romanesque church near Orleans, France, St Benoit-sur-Loire. The carvings in the capitals of the columns are quite beautiful. They claim that the bones of Benedict and Scholastica are interred in church, having been transported there centuries ago by monks who did not consider Italy a stable enough environment for the saints to rest in peace. It is also a Benedictine abbey church. And there is always Notre Dame in Paris with its accessible, i.e. visible from ground level, gargoyles. Because of the church tax levied on all who claim to be Catholic in Germany, there is a very high level of modern church art in ordinary German churches. I prefer the spare modern churches of Protestant-dominated Northern Germany to the Baroque of the South, but each has a certain beauty.
I love looking at different architectural styles in churches but I also prefer more new aged style architecture without too many distracting decorations (sometimes big, fancy cathedrals and basilicas are too much for me). I love the Chapel of St. Ignatius in Seattle, WA. It is in some books listing architectural wonders (churches) and it is very unusual. It was built off of the idea of 7 bottles of light in different colors. Depending on which time of the day and the season there will be different rays of light shining into the chapel and bathing sections with beautiful colored light. I especially like in the fall and spring when yellow light comes in across the crucifix and makes a perfect reflection of the crucifix on the wall opposite! The ceilings are curved and the light fixtures are all hand blown glass. The aisle turns halfway through so when you are walking the first section you are heading straight towards the tabernacle chapel (which has beeswax covered walls with inspiring quotes) and then when you turn you are heading straight towards the altar (made out of beautiful hand-carved alaskan cedar and the legs form the greek letters alpha and omega). The mary is also really interesting, There is a gold bowl with milk flowing down rocks that forms the shape of a woman and that is the mary statue. The whole place is full of symbolism and is just a great visit.
Sister Julie! This is an incredible post (since I love so much architecture), but at the same time, ugh!… my mind started to palpitate /hurt, since I wasn’t able to choose which church design, I believe is the most impressive for me…(ha… funny I’ve never thought about it).
I guess, there are many internationally renown churches such as the Vatican’s Saint Peter, Gaudi’s Sagrada Familia Church (this is like WOW, such a marvelous combination of nature and artistic elements, too bad he didn’t quite finish it) and Niemeyer’s Brasilia Cathedral, but I guess I’ll stick with Guatemala’s wonders, so maybe you’ll get to know them someday.
Due to the spanish conquest, and a vast religious domination established by the most important orders during those years (Dominicans, Jesuits, Franciscans, Mercedarios) over Guatemalan territory, many of the temples became incredible demonstrations of artistic expressions. Among my favorite churches in Antigua, is the one called La Merced, and its front facade is beautiful. I also like the convent, placed lateral to the church building, which possesses a beautiful fountain in the middle of the patio. It’s a peaceful and comfortable place to spend a whole evening reading a book or just watching time passing by.
After the city transfered its location from Antigua to where it actually is, the Mercedarios also moved their possessions to the new city, and what I enjoy of Guatemala’s City La Merced, located in the Historic Center, are the amazing altarpieces or “retablos” located in the interior of the building (originally placed in la Antigua’s La Merced) that usually tell the story of a saint, the figures made of wood and painted magnificently, and the altarpieces made with gold sheets.
I can also mention one that I like, a modern one made with brick and glass, constructed by an architect that had entered a religious order: named María Auxiliadora (don’t know how to translate it to english) this church amazes me, because the architect managed to represent the elevation of the soul of those who pursue happiness by getting closer to God. He worked creating very low walls and pilars at the entrance of the building and consequently as you approach the altar, the height increases and you encounter a huge bronze Christ suspended in the air, with his arms opened. The light that bathes the sculpture from above, enphasizes the dramatic effect of it. An always breath-taking experience for me.