It’s been a while since I was in this beautiful cathedral. The last few times I tried it was locked up, which is fine. I don’t break anything (doors, locks, etc..) when I go to a location. I wonder about its current condition after some time has gone by…..
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I’ve been absent from my website and social media the last 10 days. It just didn’t make sense to post my silly photos with everything significant going on in the world. We’re far from any real new or better “normal”, but I’m going to try to get back into my routine of posting photos.
So tonight, I’m sharing a photo from one of the many Naves (this one in the basement) in the National Cathedral in Washington D.C.
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I took this photo a couple years ago in the abandoned Holy Family Church. This massive church and attached school was a great explore. I went by it a year later and it had signs all over it stating it was going to be destroyed. I’m honestly not sure if they torn it down or now.
By the way, I’m sure there is a technical name for this room off the back of the altar. This room holds all the clothing, gowns, and religious items needed for the priest and the services. I think it would be called a Sacristy or Vestry, but I’m not sure. If you know what this room is called, let me know. I loved the hand made cabinets in this space….
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This isn’t my typical photo. First, I don’t normally include people especially tourist. Secondarily, it isn’t technically a good photo. But I liked how you get to see the entire scene with St. Peter’s Square in the foreground and St. Peter’s Basilica in the background. I loved the amazing architecture in Rome, especially in Vatican City.
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This little beautiful church is surrounded on three sides by a huge mall in downtown San Antonio Texas. The only side not blocked by the mall from the street. From the outside, this church looks like any other around the country. But when you go inside, you find this exceptionally decorated temple. Just beautiful.
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Happy Friday. I hope you enjoy your weekend. The last 8 work days have been extremely tough for me. I’m ready for a nap now and some relaxing this weekend. I’ll probably do some yard work as well, but some down time is on my agenda.
Today’s photo is one I took within the St. Agnes Catholic Church during our Detroit Urbex Adventure. We had an interesting time at this site.
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This wonderful church is the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Palermo Sicily in southern Italy. They dedicated it to the Assumption of the Virgin Mary. The last restoration took place in the 18th century. It was built in 1185 and was founded by Pope Gregory I. Later, the Saracens turned it into a mosque after their conquest of the city in the 9th century. There are a few sarcophagi inside the cathedral’s crypt. If you ever make it to Sicily, this would be a great stop as part of a walking tour around the city.
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I took this photo last May during our Europe trip. Towards the end of the trip, we spent some time in Marseille France, which is a lovely city. While in Marseille, we went to the Notre-Dame da le Garde, which is the Catholic basilica in this part of France. It opened in June 1864 and is the most visited site in Marseille. Maybe in a future post, I’ll share a photo of the outside, which is just as great.
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As we go into the weekend, how about a photo of some religious architecture? I took this photo during our trip to Peru. This is the Puno Cathedral Basilica Menor in Puno, Peru down on Lake Titicaca. This church was built in 1757 in an Andean Baroque architectural style. I love the architecture in these old churches, which is why I’ve visited more churches around the world then most religious people. I’m no world record holder or anything, but my total number of churches visited is pretty high.
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Today’s photo is from the Basilica of National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington DC. I took this photo during my last visit to Washington DC. I’d love to go back, but they now have a renovation projection going on that will take a few years. So it will be a while before the scaffolding comes down. Maybe I’ll go back in a few years.
Beyond the scaffolding, this is an amazing facility. It is the largest Roman Catholic Church in all of North America and is one of the largest churches in the world (its in the top ten). It has so many great sanctuary locations inside with over 70 chapels and oratories. Every chapel has a different style and design. You could spend days in this facility and not catch all the little details.
Anyway, this photo is of one of the many dome ceilings looking straight up at it. Have a great weekend.
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During our trip to Vatican City, we visited St. Peter’s Basilica. What an amazing visit!! I don’t know if our guide bribed the Vatican official or not (hard to believe), but we got to skip the entire line. There were thousands of people in line (at least it seemed like it) and they said the wait was about 2 hours long. Regardless, the guide got us inside in less then 10 minutes. It was an outstanding experience and I tried to capture as many photos as possible. This is of the ceiling just inside the front doors. I couldn’t use a tripod, so I did the best I could hand holding the camera.
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Ceiling inside St. Peter's Basilica
Otherwise know as the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Flore in Florence Italy. It is the main church of Florence. They started construction in 1296 in a Gothic style. It was a quick construction project, only taking them 140 years to complete the structural construction it in 1436. Then the decoration of the exterior began in the 14th century and was completed in 1887. It is a huge structure with over 89,000 square feet inside and the height of the dome is 375.5 feet tall.
It is an outstanding architectural accomplishment and a beauty to see in person. Hopefully, you’ll get a chance to see it in person. As you can see from the photo, it is a popular spot. About ten minutes after I took this shot, the sky opened up and it rained very hard. So we all ran into the Cathedral to wait out the storm and explore the interior. I loved all the small details of the exterior and interior of this amazing building.
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Florence Cathedral
This church is referred to in Polish as Kościół Matki Boskiej. It is a historic church of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh, one of the city’s oldest (dedicated 1905) and largest churches. It is located on Polish Hill and is a prime example of ‘Polish Cathedral’ style modeled on St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome.
I met Dave and Brad last Sunday in this area to photograph an abandoned school. I got there a little early and decided to go inside this beautiful church. To my surprise it was not only amazing but still had all their Christmas decorations still on display. And they welcomed me inside and let me take all the photos I wanted. On top of that, the abandoned school was a bust. So I got some great photos of a great building, just not the one I expected to get inside. I hope you like it.
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On Sunday, I went to two churches with Dave, Brad, and Blair. Of course both of the churches were abandoned buildings….but they still count in my mind….does that make me holy? I really doubt it. This photo is from the church in Duquesne PA. It was once a Roman Catholic Slavish Church before it closed.
Great time with the guys photographing and appreciating these old facilities.
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This is one of many colonial catholic churches in Lima. The Catholic religious congregations were each allotted a piece of land in the early days of the city. Most of the congregations erected monasteries, convents, or churches in honor of patron saints. MJ, my dad and I visited a bunch of them as we walked around the city.
One of the best-preserved churches, San Francisco was built in the baroque-style of the late 1600s. It has several gilded side altars and an impressive lattice dome. It has a very cool library with a collection of ancient religious texts, some of them brought over in the first wave of Spanish priests after the conquests of the Incas.
Unfortunately, the church didn’t allow any photos of the inside of the building. I really wanted to photography the library. You have no idea how hard that was to only look and not capture it with my camera.
One of the more interesting areas of the church was the catacombs. These were part of Lima’s original cemeteries built under the church. They estimate that there are 75,000 bodies buried under the church and many are exposed and stacked in strange patterns in different pits. I did sneak a photo of this area…see below.
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Human remains in the catacombs:
This is from the catacombs in the lower levels of the church
Yesterday I went on a long photo walk to numerous locations with a friend from California. He was in town for one afternoon, so we made the best of it and hit a number of popular Pittsburgh photo spots. We started with this abandoned church in the Lawrenceville area of Pittsburgh. I’ve been in this spot a few different times and I am always surprised at what changes from visit to visit.
Yesterday, we ran into a lady who was trying to clean the place up. Probably a losing battle, but she was trying to get it done. Anyway, somebody set up these chairs to create a little seating area. So, I took advantage of it.
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Tonight’s photo is the inside of St. Patrick’s Cathedral, which is located on the east side of Fifth Avenue between 50th and 51st Streets in midtown Manhattan, New York City, directly across the street from Rockefeller Center. It was completed in a Neo-Gothic style and is made with Tuckahoe marble. The cathedral is 135 years old and is currently undergoing a huge renovation. The property under the church has a very interesting history, but I’ll leave that for another day.
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Here is a 7 auto-bracket exposure HDR image I took in Sacramento California at the Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament. This is an amazing structure, which is part of the Roman Catholic Church. It is the mother church of the diocese covering the entire northern California region.
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On my last trip to Sacramento California, I scouted this
location in advance via Google Maps.
Once I found it, I knew I had to find time to visit this location on my
trip. I am a sucker for old
churches. Something about the
architecture of old churches just pulls me in regardless of the type of
religion.
This is the Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament, which is the mother church of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Sacramento. The facility is located in downtown Sacramento at the corner of 11th and K Street, about two blocks from the California Capital building. The architectural style is Italian Renaissance on the exterior and Victorian on the interior. Construction of this facility was started in 1887, during the California Gold Rush era. I’m guessing some of that gold paid for this church. Money well spent for this amazing building that has lasted over a 100 years.
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I completed a few pictures from my excursion to St. Paul Cathedral in the Oakland area of Pittsburgh recently and I didn’t like many of them using my normal HDR settings. So I experimented with this photo a little and processed it in two different ways. Which do you prefer? Option A? Or Option B? Let me know what you think.
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