This is the first post in a series of posts I am going to do about common themes in my travels. No matter where I go there is always something that I can link to a past trip. The world is a huge but no matter where you go you can find things that we all have things in common, things that draw us together.
This first post is going to focus on religion. I’ll be honest with you, I am not very religious. In fact, I don’t know what religion I would put myself in based on my personal beliefs. Regardless of that I always find myself drawn to religious grounds. Sometimes they are the most beautiful part of the city I’m visiting. The amount of work that goes into them is incredible. I think that any place of worship has these amazing feelings that go along with them. They encapsulate so much history and tell so many stories. The fact that so many people share common belief is very intriguing to me.
I am going to start with The Vatican City. The Vatican City is the smallest internationally recognized country in the world. The city is home to two main churches; St. Peter’s Basilica and The Sistine Chapel.
St. Peter’s Basilica is last stop on the tour through The Vatican City. This church possesses incredible beauty and some deceased Popes. Not kidding about that last part. There are so many things to look at. The ceiling is constantly changing as you move through arches. The base of almost every wall is covered in statues and alters.
The Sistine Chapel is home to one of the most famous and most beautiful paintings in the world. It’s so beautiful that nobody is supposed to take pictures inside. Like a good traveler (and seeing other people get kicked out) I decided not to risk taking a picture. After all it is a very sacred place so I feel like it deserves that kind of respect.
Next we head to Rome which is home to many beautiful churches. These are two of my favorites and I think that they fact that they don’t look like a conventional church really helps. Their uniqueness is part of what makes them special. The first is Sant’Agnese in Agone which is located in Piazza Navona. The second is The Basilica of St. Paul Outside the walls. The inside of the church is simply breathtaking. There are paintings of every pope lining the walls above the columns.
Paris is home to arguably the most famous church in France. Norte Dame de Paris has been made popular by many movies including The Hunch of Notre Dame. French for “Our Lady of Paris,” it is also known as Norte Dame Cathedral or just Notre-Dame. The architecture is exactly what people think of when they think of gothic style churches. It deserves all that fame when you think about the fact that it took 182 years from ground breaking to completion.
Paris is also home to The Sacre Coeur. It is also known as The Basilica of the Sacred Heart of Paris. It only took 39 years to build this church but it wasn’t consecrated until five years later. The view of Paris from the top is stunning.
In London there is the Westminster Abbey and St. Paul’s Cathedral. Westminster is one of the most well known churches in the U.K. It has held 16 royal wedding. It is no longer considered a church or a cathedral, though. Instead it is a royal peculiar which is a church that is subject to the direct jurisdiction of the monarch. St. Paul’s Cathedral has a dome that is among the tallest in the world. It still holds hourly prayers and daily services. It was the tallest building in London until 1962 and sits atop the highest hill in London.
While I was in Bermuda I found two churches that starkly contrasted each other. The first is one is the Unfinished Church. It was being built when a storm struck it and it was thought be be ruined beyond repair. The other is The Ethiopian Orthodox Church. Built in the 1970s, it recently celebrated its 40th anniversary.
This mission in Arizona was being restored when I visited it in 2011. San Xavier del Bac is the oldest European structure in Arizona. It was also known as “place where the water appears” because there used to be a natural spring that ran through the area. This mission is very cool because they allow all of God’s creatures to attend church, including dogs.
This next mission is called the Presidio of San Diego. It was the first permeant European settlement on the Pacific Coast of the present-day United States. It was the base of operations for the Spanish colonizers in California.
When I visited Ecuador I was amazed at how many churches there were. They came in all shapes, sizes, and colors. They were all uniquely beautiful both inside and out. Most of them were extravagant while others were small and served their purpose. Some of the interiors were covered in gold while others had bright colors on the walls or in the stained glass.
For the final church I am coming back to Italy, specifically Florence. For me the Duomo will always represent the first time that I was overcome with such amazement that nothing else seemed to matter. The first time I saw it I became speechless. I have no idea what I was talking about during the moments before I first laid eyes on it. I think it hit me in that moment just how lucky I was to be there. I will never forget how it made me feel. It was incredibly inspiring.
I know that this probably seems like an outrageous comparison, but if people feel that way about their religion or the forces that guide them, then I can start to understand what it means to be so connected to force that is greater than yourself. It’s crazy to think that a symbol of something that brings so many people together can do that. But that just goes to show how something like religion can bring groups of people all over the world together. Something as simple as believing in something greater than yourself means that you can always find people that hold the same faith as you. And something like that shows that we aren’t all that different from each other.
taylortravelbug 