Votivkirche

a view from the side at night

Votivkirche (The Votive Church in Vienna) is a neo-Gothic church located on the Ringstraße in Vienna, Austria.

Note a couple exhibiting affection close to the entrance...

Construction on the second-tallest church in Vienna began in 1856 as a symbol of gratitude for an unsuccessful assassination attempt on Emperor Franz Joseph by Hungarian nationalist János Libényi on 18 February 1853. Franz Joseph I reigned for 68 years as an Emperor of Austria, King of Hungary, King of Bohemia, and many others. He was the longest-reigning Emperor of Austria and King of Hungary, as well as the third longest-reigning monarch of any country in European history, after Louis XIV of France and Johann II of Liechtenstein.

Emperor's brother Archduke Ferdinand Maximilian I inaugurated a campaign to create a church to thank God for saving the Emperor's lifeThe Neo-Gothic church was consecrated in 1879 on the occasion of the imperial couple's silver wedding.

Main altar

The marble altar is decorated with panels with glass mosaic inlay work. and is supported by six alabaster columns.

When I visited there, the church was, in part, under construction...

St. Mary's Basilica In Kraków

St. Mary's Basilica in Kraków (also known as Church of Our Lady Assumed into Heaven; Polish Bazylika Mariacka w Krakowie) is a black gothic church located at the heart of Krakow. The history of the Church dated back to the late 13th century on the foundations of a former Romanesque church and the new temple was consecrated around 1320. The church underwent numerous reconstructions over centuries.

St. Mary's Altar

The church is particularly famous for its wooden altarpiece. The altarpiece was carved between 1477 and 1484 by German sculptor, Veit Stoss. 

Overview of St. Mary's Altar

In addition, a trumpet signal—called the St. Mary's Trumpet Call; Polish Hejnał mariacki—is played from the top of the taller of Saint Mary's two towers. It is played every hour on the hour, four times in succession in each of the four cardinal directions, by a trumpeter on the highest tower. 

Image from Wiki

When I first heard it, I thought it was played by a machine/player, programmed to play a song every hour but it is played by a real human being! The noon performance is broadcast via radio to all of Poland and the world.

The church is familiar to many English-speaking readers from the 1929 book The Trumpeter of Krakow by Eric P. Kelly.

The Baro­que altar of the Holy Cross was built in 1735 from black mar­ble incrusted with pink mar­ble. It holds a Gothic sculp­tu­ral master­pie­ce – the sto­ne cross sculp­ted by Veit Stoss in the late 15th cen­tu­ry.

The façade of St. Mary’s Basilica has two characteristic towers of various heights and architecture. The tal­ler south tower is 82 m high and is also cal­led the Bugle Call Tower or the Excu­bia­rum Watch­to­wer. The shor­ter south tower called "bell tower" where Polish Miles Davis plays every hour is 69 m high. 

Tourist information can be found here. The admission of pres­by­te­ry and its main altar costs 10 PLN. Personally, it's worth it. The ticket office is located adjacent to the church. 

Katedra Wawelska

Wawel Cathedral, Katedra Wawelska in Polish, is a Roman Catholic Church located on Wawel Hill in Kraków.

it is the Polish national sanctuary and traditionally has served as the coronation site of the Polish monarchs as well as the Cathedral of the Archdiocese of Kraków. The Wawel Cathedral has been the main burial site for Polish monarchs since the 14th century. As such, it has been significantly extended and altered over time as individual rulers have added multiple burial chapels.

ADMISSION TO THE CATHEDRAL IS FREE. Admission to Sigismund Bell, Royal Tombs, Cathedral Museum Regular Concession cost 12,00 zł for Individual tourists and 7,00 zł for Group.

Opening hours:

9:00 - 17:00 (Mon- Sat)

12:30 - 17:00 (Sun)

Szent István Bazilika

St. Stephen's Basilica is a Roman Catholic basilica in Budapest. Equal to the Hungarian Parliament building at 96 meters high, it is one of the tallest buildings in Budapest. It has a width of 55 meters, and a length of 87.4 meters. The building was completed in 1905 after 54 years of construction, according to the plans of Miklós Ybl, and was completed by József Kauser. Much of this delay can be attributed to the collapse of the dome in 1868 which required complete demolition of the completed works and rebuilding from the ground up!!!

It is named in honor of Stephen, the first Christian King of Hungary (975–1038), whose mummified body is buried in the undercroft. The Holy Dexter is kept as a relic in the Basilica's chapel. 

The Saint Stephen Basilica has played an active role in the musical community since its consecration in 1905. The head organists of the church have always been very highly regarded musicians. In the past century, the Basilica has been home to choral music, classical music as well as contemporary musical performances (see the program here). 

This is definitely one of the must-go-places in Budapest!

Katholische Hofkirche

Katholische Hofkirche, Dresden Cathedral, is the Roman Catholic Cathedral of Dresden, which is probably the most important Catholic church in Dresden that is located by the Elbe River.

The Church, designed by Gaetano Chiaveri (AD 1738-51), was commissioned by Augustus III, Elector of Saxony and King of Poland.

As you already know, the church was heavily damaged during the bombing of Dresden in WWII (13-14th of February 1945). East German authorities had left it untouched as a memorial to the destruction of the war but the pressure for its reconstruction and fund-raising gained momentum after the fall of Communism and Germany's reunification in 1990. The church was rebuilt 60 years after the bombing. 

One of the uniqueness of the church is its round structure, the pews fanning out from the altar in a circle like the waves of a stone thrown into the water. The upper galleries also hold pews.

Around 2,000 pieces from the altar were salvaged. Each was carefully cleaned and then incorporated into the structures based upon photographs and plans for the original church!

At last I would like to acknowledge Pavlina for the guide. Thanks!

Have a wonderful weekend.

Crkva Svetog Marka Part Two

This is a part 2 entry of Crkva Svetog Marka (St. Mark's Church, Belgrade).

At night

Daytime

Inside view in color

There is a Russian Orthodox Church behind it. It's small but pretty!

A black dog in the church kept barking at me while taking photos at night....

Cattedrale estiva di Santa Maria Assunta

Cattedrale estiva di Santa Maria Assunta (Summer Cathedraw) is a new Cathedral in Brescia, Italy. It is the largest Roman Catholic church in Brescia. The dome is 91 meter tall and was designed by Milan-born architect, Luigi Cagnola (1762-1883). 

The New Cathedral was built over the ruins of the ancient early Christian church of Saint Peter de Dom (San Pietro de Dom). The construction was launched in 1604 and took around two centuries.

During the Second World War, on 13th July 1944, the copper cover and the wooden structure of the cupola burst into flames...

The Presbytery and the Chancel

The present dome was rebuilt after its destruction during the Second World War.

The Statue of Pope Paul VI

The monument of Pope Paul VI, born Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini (1897-1978), is placed in front of the altar of the Blessed Sacrament. 

I would like to acknowledge Francesca for guiding me through the town under dehydrating and sizzling weather! Thank you very much.

Detailed info can be found here.

Crkva Svetog Marka

Photos taken in Belgrade continue but no more NATO bombing building photos...

Crkva svetog Marka (St. Mark's Church in Belgrade) is a Serbian Orthodox church located in the Tašmajdan park in Belgrade, Serbia. Actually, it's very close to Serbia TV/Radio tower building that was bombed.

It was built in the Serbo-Byzantine style by the Krstić brothers, and completed in 1940, on the site of a previous church dating to 1835, however, its interior is still not fully restored. 

St. Mark's Church is one of the largest churches in Serbia.

Have a wonderful weekend.

To be continued...

St. James Church Ossuary In Brno - SPOOKY!

This is an R-rating entry! Parental advisory is required if you're a young child!!!

You may disagree with my notion of Brno but to me, Brno is a place to see Mummies in The Capuchin Crypt and "skulls and bones" in St. James Church.

The Church of St. James Church located in current Jakubské náměstí (= James' square) started its history at the beginning of the 13th century. One of the main Brno city cemeteries are founded by the church, which was surrounded by a wall that restricted its expansion. As the city grew the capacity of the cemetery soon became insufficient. That's why an exchange burial system was adopted. After a lapse of 10- 12 years from the burial the grave was opened, the remains of the deceased person were exhumed and a recently deceased was buried in the same place. The contents of the original graves were then place in the special underground structures - ossuaries.

A three-chamber crypt was established under the paved floor of St. James' Church in the 17th century. In the beginning, the crypt was filled up with stacks made up of remains from disinterred church graves, however, it was quickly filled in the mid-18th century due to plague and cholera epidemics, which literally decimated the inhabitants of the city.

The permanent lack of space for storing bones led to the extension of the ossuary in 1741. The best solution from the construction point of view was the expansion of the new ossuary below the cemetery and its connection to the church crypt. The new ossuary was filled within 6 years and the city leadership began negotiation regarding its further extension through connection to the Chapel of the Dead, which stood nearby the church. However, the connecting corridor was prematurely terminated halfway and the plan was never implemented...

When both the crypt and the ossuary under the cemetery were full, the entrance staircase from the main nave of the church was sealed with a Latin-inscribed stone slab, Josephine reforms in 1784 led to abolishing the church cemetery for hygiene reasons. The remains from the graves were placed in the crypt, the cemetery walls were pulled down, and the area around the church was paved with unnecessary tombstones.


The ossuary in Brno was forgotten for over 200 years until it was stumbled upon in 2001 when reconstruction work was done!!!

An archaeological and underground survey resulted in the finding of the existence of a large burial complex that the individual rooms were piled up with human bones with an estimation of buried people there over 50,000!!! As described earlier, the survey confirmed the bones of the victims of medieval plague and cholera epidemics, as well as casualties during the Thirty Years' War, ranking Brno Ossuary in the second largest ossuary in Europe. The biggest one is the Catacombs of Paris, holding the remains of an estimated 6 million people!!!

The accumulated humidity and mold, if left untreated, would cause the gradual decomposition of bones and the collapse of the vault less than two meters under the busy roadway of the Jakubské square. That is why the only way to preserve this unique monument was to renovate the ossuary and open it to the public. 

During the refurbishment, all remains were collected, cleaned, and returned to their last resting place. Together with other archaeological finds, the exhibition shows the way of burying in one of the largest city cemeteries in Brno.

Entrance fee: 140 CZK (adult)
Open from 9"30 to 18"00 (closed on Monday)
Of course, taking photographs is allowed.
Detailed info can be found here.

Kostel svatého Tomáše

The Church of Saint Thomas and the Annunciation is a historic church located in the city center of Brno. The church was founded in the middle of the 14th century by John Henry of Luxembourg, and Margrave of Moravia. 

 Recently the statue of a knight holding a spear sitting on a long-legged horse appeared.

The knight is named Jobst of Moravia, a son of John Henry, is buried here together with his father.

Gallery and cafe are located at the right arm of the church building.

Have a wonderful weekend.