*** Mini-Challenge #501 *** Houses of Worship

nannyg

Senior Member
Messages
1,888
Solutions
1
Reaction score
660
Location
Minneapolis, US
I'm about as non-religious as a person can get. But houses of worship often inspire stunning architecture and/or evocative images. For this mini-challenge, please submit photos of any part of churches, cathedrals, mosques, or any place of worship. If a location in nature is a spiritual place for you, go ahead and include that, but add some words as to why that place is where you find a spiritual connection.

This Mini-Challenge will end in 5 days - at 10pm Sunday, April 29, 2018.

Examples below.

The guidelines....

1. Photos must have been taken by you but can be from any camera, including cell phones, and may have been taken at any time.
2. There are no restrictions on brand of equipment used, processing or the like - it's all good. It's the image that counts, not how it was created.
3. Please state in the header of your post, or in the comments bar below each image, whether they are "Entry" or "Exhibit". Non-labelled submissions will be assumed to be Exhibits.
4. Please post all images using the "Reply to thread" button below this first post.
5. At the end of this challenge, I will announce First, Second and Third places from the Entries and I might select some other entries or exhibits for Honorable Mentions.
The First Place winner earns the "privilege" of being the host of the next challenge and has 3 days to begin it. The winner can respond to the challenge setter with a forum post or PM. If that individual doesn't respond in 3 days, or has to decline to serve, the Second Place winner becomes the next host. If that individual declines to serve, the Third Place winner becomes the next host.



Examples;



St Mary's cathedral, Sydney, Australia
St Mary's cathedral, Sydney, Australia



Private chapel on the grounds of Kylemore Abbey, Ireland
Private chapel on the grounds of Kylemore Abbey, Ireland



Church steeple, Savannah, Georgia
Church steeple, Savannah, Georgia



The washing of feet in the courtyard of a mosque in Istanbul, Turkey
The washing of feet in the courtyard of a mosque in Istanbul, Turkey



Stone circle near Keswick, England
Stone circle near Keswick, England



Kings College chapel, Cambridge, England
Kings College chapel, Cambridge, England



93e7c4c4a26045af9403b3cb423007c3.jpg



--
 
Lovely examples of high baroque architecture! I was at the abbey in Melk as well, in 2010. It was quite an extraordinary place.

Shall I consider those images entries or exhibits?

Thank you for contributing!
 
Last edited:
Two views of Misión San Javier, one of the oldest and most well preserved of the Jesuit missions in the Californias.



64022d68c5974bfb81aad7e36dfc24fb.jpg



d824d696f9c44daabd6a929924184b62.jpg



--
Harvey
I stop for photo ops.
 
Entry: The Sultan Ahmed Mosque (aka the Blue Mosque) in Istanbul, Turkey



255de1dae69d4fd38c2e1b3a1eb1b188.jpg

Entry: Local Buddhist Temple, Tai Kok Tsui, Hong Kong



9c9b1b1e17764824946122cff30c590c.jpg

Entry: St Barbara's Church, Kutna Hora, Czech Republic (an hour by train from Prague)

4661e653a19a42c1b6a5c9c870bf950b.jpg

Exhibit: Sankt Sebaldus Kirche (Saint Sebaldus Church), Nuremberg, Germany



b5428b29eb544cd4bdc3d0b22b34e00f.jpg

Exhibit: Sainte-Chapelle. Paris, France ( A stitch gone bad but looks too psychedelic)

6c7fd1f91b584f14a418156a00c11523.jpg

Exhibit: Notre Dame, Paris

f83d73b589a049c7b9932371b27cc5b1.jpg

Aloha,

Val
 
Synagogue, St. Petersburg
Synagogue, St. Petersburg



Praying, Rome Italy
Praying, Rome Italy



Church, San Miguel de Allende, Mexico
Church, San Miguel de Allende, Mexico



--
Sony R1, NEX C3 & 5R ,Sony A7.
Lenses: 24mm, f/1.8, FE 24-70, f/4, & FE 70-200, f/4.
Nikon V1 + 10-30 & 30-110 lenses.
 
Thanks for the photos! I know missions were very common in California, but I don't know any of the backstory there. What was their role when they were established? To what extent do they still function in that role? I suspect it's an interesting story and I suppose I could Google it. But if you know some of the story, perhaps you could enlighten us?
 
Here's a few from me.



Entry #1  Small chapel, Agua Calienties,Peru
Entry #1 Small chapel, Agua Calienties,Peru



Exhibit #1  Washing of the feet before prayer - Turkey
Exhibit #1 Washing of the feet before prayer - Turkey



Entry #2   Yesil Mosque - Turkey
Entry #2 Yesil Mosque - Turkey



Entry #3     Small synagogue in Costa Del Sol
Entry #3 Small synagogue in Costa Del Sol



Exhibit #2    Church in Madrid
Exhibit #2 Church in Madrid



Exhibit # 3    Fatima
Exhibit # 3 Fatima



Exhibit # 4  Church in Toledo
Exhibit # 4 Church in Toledo



Exhibit # 5    Temple of Heaven, Beijing
Exhibit # 5 Temple of Heaven, Beijing



--
Jerry
 
Entry: The Sultan Ahmed Mosque (aka the Blue Mosque) in Istanbul, Turkey

255de1dae69d4fd38c2e1b3a1eb1b188.jpg
That is an awe-inspiring place! I was there in 2014. Nice shot with the sun just peeking over the dome.
Entry: Local Buddhist Temple, Tai Kok Tsui, Hong Kong

9c9b1b1e17764824946122cff30c590c.jpg
Makes me wonder if the temple was there before all of the pre-fab apartments, and if so, what that shot might have looked like in say, 1950 or so.

Entry: St Barbara's Church, Kutna Hora, Czech Republic (an hour by train from Prague)

4661e653a19a42c1b6a5c9c870bf950b.jpg
Quite evocative with the dark interior and the person looking up toward the cross on the wall. One could apply lots of meaning to that image.

Exhibit: Sankt Sebaldus Kirche (Saint Sebaldus Church), Nuremberg, Germany

b5428b29eb544cd4bdc3d0b22b34e00f.jpg

Exhibit: Sainte-Chapelle. Paris, France ( A stitch gone bad but looks too psychedelic)

6c7fd1f91b584f14a418156a00c11523.jpg
Psychedelic indeed!! I assume that's the same stitching process that creates your "marble" Earth photos?

Exhibit: Notre Dame, Paris

f83d73b589a049c7b9932371b27cc5b1.jpg

Aloha,

Val
I like this back view of Notre Dame better than the facade. The facade, though very iconic, is rather bland unless you are close enough to see the details in the stone carving. But the rear is more delicate. I like the black and white, as it makes it look timeless.

--
 
Synagogue, St. Petersburg
Synagogue, St. Petersburg

Praying, Rome Italy
Praying, Rome Italy

Church, San Miguel de Allende, Mexico
Church, San Miguel de Allende, Mexico

--
Sony R1, NEX C3 & 5R ,Sony A7.
Lenses: 24mm, f/1.8, FE 24-70, f/4, & FE 70-200, f/4.
Nikon V1 + 10-30 & 30-110 lenses.
Lovely synagogue in the top photo. Most I have seen have a somewhat unique character on the interior that contrasts what I'm used to in both the ornate cathedrals and mosques and the austerity of many protestant branches of Christianity.

Is there a long nave hidden behind what we see in the tower in the San Miguel image, or is that tower the entire church?

Thanks for sharing. I like the variety and contrasts.

--
 
That's an impressive variety you have on display there! You must be fond of visiting houses of worship wherever you travel.

Thank you for sharing.
 
Thanks for the photos! I know missions were very common in California, but I don't know any of the backstory there. What was their role when they were established? To what extent do they still function in that role? I suspect it's an interesting story and I suppose I could Google it. But if you know some of the story, perhaps you could enlighten us?
 
That's an impressive variety you have on display there! You must be fond of visiting houses of worship wherever you travel.

Thank you for sharing.
 
9c6a620a8213482c94d4e2eda46e57f1.jpg

KIEV Churches and tourists

236b88913fdf478fbb2831ca27c11d53.jpg

Buddha in contemplation

12158ea619ab46ad84931671dfc05681.jpg

Ganeesh the revered Hindu elephant god posing with Hercules the Greek
strong man with his club and lion skin coat.
 
If anyone wants to see the best example of Decorated Gothic architecture, there is only one choice - Rouen Cathedral which might nearly be described with the idea of The Cathedral as a chocolate cake. The poor old dear took a severe pounding in WWII and, as a result, is always being renovated - the French State has poured countless millions into the project over decades and I don't remember ever seeing it without scaffolding.

There is a beautiful model of the building displayed inside...

Entry 1: Cathedral in the cathedral
Entry 1: Cathedral in the cathedral

The great front door is undergoing hugely impressive stonework restoration and refurbishment as the next shot shows.

Entry 2: How do you work stone to this level of delicacy?
Entry 2: How do you work stone to this level of delicacy?

The scale of the cathedral is enormous and the stonework everywhere simply stunning. The sets of stairs in the next image blow me away. They go up to the library and higher still to some priests' workrooms...

Entry 3: Stairway to...?
Entry 3: Stairway to...?

In the cathedral at Bury St Edmunds in Suffolk a tower was added at the recent millennium, but it is a stone-clad structural steel construction, and is much too flimsy to support a fan vault ceiling of stone, so the only wooden fan vault ever erected was commissioned. My son designed it and it was constructed and installed by his colleagues at a company called Taylormade Interiors. The area below the ceiling is a sacred space, so taking complete images of the ceiling is near impossible, but here it is...

Exhibit 1: The fan vault ceiling in Bury St Edmunds cathedral. It's oak and weighs 6 tonnes. The stone equivalent would be closer to 60 tonnes.
Exhibit 1: The fan vault ceiling in Bury St Edmunds cathedral. It's oak and weighs 6 tonnes. The stone equivalent would be closer to 60 tonnes.

Now an image of the ceiling being assembled in the Taylormade Interiors factory to check fit and finish and structural integrity...

Exhibit 2: part erected ceiling - Rob, my son took this photograph.
Exhibit 2: part erected ceiling - Rob, my son took this photograph.

And finally on this theme, a small section of the ceiling of Kings College Chapel in Cambridge to show what the decorative motif of the Bury St Edmunds ceiling was modelled after...

Exhibit 3: Fleur de Lys motif in Kings College Chapel - another of Rob's images. He did countless research trips to gothic cathedrals and churches.
Exhibit 3: Fleur de Lys motif in Kings College Chapel - another of Rob's images. He did countless research trips to gothic cathedrals and churches.

Finally, just to show that cathedrals are often places of whimsy; the baptismal font in Norwich Cathedral...

Exhibit 4: The font at Norwich - it was once a spherical copper vessel for making chocolate - Norwich was famous for chocolate manufacture. Equally whimsical, the cathedral ceiling has dozens of carved faces and groups of faces at the junctions between its ribs, all of which are known to be people involved in the building of the place - some of them are very obviously scurrilous cartoons.
Exhibit 4: The font at Norwich - it was once a spherical copper vessel for making chocolate - Norwich was famous for chocolate manufacture. Equally whimsical, the cathedral ceiling has dozens of carved faces and groups of faces at the junctions between its ribs, all of which are known to be people involved in the building of the place - some of them are very obviously scurrilous cartoons.

--
Ed Form
 
Last edited:
Synagogue, St. Petersburg
Synagogue, St. Petersburg

Praying, Rome Italy
Praying, Rome Italy

Church, San Miguel de Allende, Mexico
Church, San Miguel de Allende, Mexico

--
Sony R1, NEX C3 & 5R ,Sony A7.
Lenses: 24mm, f/1.8, FE 24-70, f/4, & FE 70-200, f/4.
Nikon V1 + 10-30 & 30-110 lenses.
Lovely synagogue in the top photo. Most I have seen have a somewhat unique character on the interior that contrasts what I'm used to in both the ornate cathedrals and mosques and the austerity of many protestant branches of Christianity.

Is there a long nave hidden behind what we see in the tower in the San Miguel image, or is that tower the entire church?

Thanks for sharing. I like the variety and contrasts.

--
https://www.flickr.com/photos/lee-reidfamilytravels/albums
Thanks nannyg

There is more to the church behind the the tower.

The synagogue's colors are similar to Matias' chapel in St Paul de Vance.

--
Sony R1, NEX C3 & 5R ,Sony A7.
Lenses: 24mm, f/1.8, FE 24-70, f/4, & FE 70-200, f/4.
Nikon V1 + 10-30 & 30-110 lenses.
 
Maybe a mini church. A roadside shrine to an accident victim typical of Baja California. Maintained and repainted by family members.

02a67b9f6bc4492882870233bfabf5ea.jpg

--
Harvey
I stop for photo ops.
 
Last edited:

Keyboard shortcuts

Back
Top