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Soz for the lateness this week, bin busy.
Right, seeing as how religion has bin a bit of a popular topic recently, how about an AA dedicated to religious buildings?
Not interest in your onions of religion, just examples of religious architecture. Religion has undoubtedly given the World some of it's greatest and most iconic buildings, many of which have existed for bloody ages, and have bin built propply. Also, they can be some of the most ostentatious and flamboyant buildings around, as well as sometimes very modest and unassuming.
Obviously I'm going to start off with my local village, aren't I?
St Mary + St Josephs, Poplar:
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Westminster Cathedral; Stripy!
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Wrenny weren't mucking about, were he?
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Fabulous city...
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Amazing building. When I went to Barcelona I wished I'd been studying architecture and still do, great inspiration.
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Peel Tower
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Wren should really have a thread to himself
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St Stephen Walbrook
[url= http://farm1.static.flickr.com/243/455715714_ba42cd4a0c.jp g" target="_blank">
[url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/stevecadman/455715714/ ]St Bride[/url] by [url= http://www.flickr.com/people/stevecadman/ ]stevecadman[/url], on Flickr
St Brides
A couple local to me:
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Beaten to it by Sagrada Familia! It really is an incredible sight. Massively wasteful and OTT yet there's something about it...
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Actually I was more interested in the cranes around it than the building itself...
Oh and that photo above was used in an online tourist guide to Barcelona. 🙂
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Where is this wondrous, mystical place, I hear you ask? India, the Far East?
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No, it's in NEASDEN!!!!!
Yes, Neasden. I know, I know.
Sagrada Familia looks like it was poured out of a bucket.
Top tip - more is not necessarily better.
Anyone ever been to Roslyn Chapel?
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Unfortunately when I went it was in the middle of renovation works so a lot of it was hidden behind scaffolding. It wasn't long after The DaVinci Code had come out so the place was heaving. 🙁 Very impressive though. Quite a small place but there's not an inch of it that isn't ornately carved.
My mum likes this one.
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[url= http://citynoise.org/article/732 ]http://citynoise.org/article/732[/url]
Would it be crass to post a picture of *insert sports stadium here*?
Religion! I read it as regional hence Peel Tower. 🙄
St Mary's Prestwich as seen on Coronation Street.
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The ship of the Fens.
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Someone post a picture of Durham Cathedral please!
You should like this one Fred. My favourite building in the world. Truly Majestic. Even if it is in..... no, can't even bring myself to say it 😀
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Designed by a 22 year old and incorporating revolutionary engineering. The largest unsupported bell tower in the world. He never saw it finished. Does what a cathedral should do. Makes you feel tiny and insignificant. If you've never been there, you should. People rave about sagrada familia (and it is impressive), but he never got close to finishing it. This on the other hand is a polished masterpiece
the problem with Durham Cathedral is it's hard to get a decent shot of it
best shot from the water IMO
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That's amazing, Don Simon. Fascinating story. Top stuff!
Those Scandinavians are good with churches:
Octagonal stone church, Ringebu, Norway:
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Wooden church in Kongsvinger, Norway (unusual spire for a North Yerpean church I thought):
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Those Icelandics are a bit odd I think, look at that Bjørk frinstance:
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Round this way they mostly look like this:
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But we also have one of these:
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Helsinki has three cathedrals:
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Inside, although this doesn't show the fantastic ceiling
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And they also have this cool rock church
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the outside of St Peter's Basilica is pretty damn impressive, but the inside is just, woah!
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Cheers Brakes, I know what you mean about Durham. The best view is from the train when you arrive from the south, completely stunning.
If you have to listen to someone telling fairy stories then you just have to do it in the Crystal Cathedral
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Binners; one day, I must steel myself for a trip up to Where There Be Dragons (North), to see such delights, and I'd love to have someone like yerself and Harry Spider as guides, as youse are clearly passionate about buildings and stuff like meself.
Oh, and those Muslamicals, you've got to watch out for them lot:
Isfahan, Persia:
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Istanbul:
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Mazer e Sharif, Afghanistan:
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A few of my favourites:
Tadao Ando, Church of Light
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Tadao Ando, Church on the water
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And of course, Chapel of Nôtre Dame du Haut, Ronchamp
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Look, they're building mosques all over the place here! 😯 Thin end of the wedge...
Bradford:
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Dalston:
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Even bloody Regents Park for God's sake! Is nothing sacred??
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(Pic from Daily Mail. 😀 )
Prague Cathedral is very impressive too:
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The whole complex of castle, cathedral and surrounding buildings all perched on that massive rock which dominates the skyline is just incredible, the size and scale and grandeur of it all.
I'm quite fond of [url= http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/daysout/properties/langley-chapel/history-and-research/ ]Langley Chapel[/url], although I admit it's not quite as grand as some.
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Mont St Michel has a certain je ne sais quoi
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Nick - MemberI'm quite fond of Langley Chapel, although I admit it's not quite as grand as some.
For the Architectually appreciated aspect of the thread, it fits.
It definitely fits. Don't matter how small or modest it is. It's still significant.
Temple of Mithras in the City; bit broken, but still important:
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St Paul's church, Bow; don't look too grand, but gets architects all excited:
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hard to appreciate its architecture though eh?
especially when you're distracted by the hideous stripey blamanche that is One Poultry
Thing I love about English churches is the real sense of antiquity that you get from them. Very little remains of the Norman world apart from these. My very most favouritist is Torbryan chuch in South Devon. No longer used as a working church which is a shame but you can hire it for weddings.
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Sadly I can't find any picturs of the south entrance. It bears the scars of the reformation as the heads of the cherubs have all been hacked off except one. I often wonder how that one survived. Were the soldiers interupted by the priest who recieved the treatment instead of the last cherub ?
Most unususal is the surviving rood screen. There can'yt be many places were medieaval art is unguarded and on show like this. Sorry that there's not more detail in the image.
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Miyojima Shrine.
Me and the missus went there a couple of years ago. Dusk ferry ride from mainland Japan across to the island, then a walk with the wild deer to see the shrine. One of the most peaceful places I've ever been.
Great flying buttresses on the cathedral at Prague.
My mum grew up in Neasden elf. Last year she asked me to show her where the mosque was on google earth on my laptop. I think that's the only time she's ever looked at a computer. She was fascinated looking around the area she hadn't been to for over fifty years.
Vienna. I like the roof:
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not too good from the outside
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but I love the inside
Lille Cathedral
F'in love churches me
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heres me outside my family temple in India. I love it there.
Tell you what Fred. Put this one in your diary. The best time to ride up at Rivi is late summer. The sunsets you get from the pike let you see everything silhouetted at this time of year. You look across the Cheshire plain and all you see on a clear evening, as its so flat, is the Cathedral. I like that.
Get your sorry southern arse up here, look at the view of it from there, then go and check it out the following day. I'll venture into enemy territory and give you the tour of your adoptive city. Much that it grieves me to do so. And they say united fans are all from darn sarf. Tsk 🙄
Binners, it shall be so. Sounds reet good that.
Does WCA have your email? Can I contact you via him?
I would love to see both the Anglican Cathedral you posted pics of, and this creation:
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Somewhere, I have an MP3 of YNWA sung by the choir of one of the Cathedrals, not sure which one, but it's brilliant.
Paddy's wig-wam looks far more impressive from the inside fella. Get your sorry cokerney/scouse self up here. I;ll bung my email in my profile now. Give us a shout.
A day in 'the pool' is in order. not been over there in a while. Do the cathedral then the Tate. They have the best collection of abstract expressionism, in fact Pop Art as well. Lots of Rothko, Barnett Newman, Blake, Jackson Pollock. bit o culcha never goes amiss.
We'll have a ceremonial reception of whippets, racing pigeons, black puddings and suchlike for your arrival 😀
Monasterboice, co. Louth, Ireland
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Wroclaw, Poland
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Skull Chapel, Czermna, Poland
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Oh and that photo above was used in an online tourist guide to Barcelona.
It's my photo as well 🙂 They also used one of mine from Park Guell. Funny that the only two photos of mine that have had any interest were quick holiday photos rather than anything "proper" I've tried to achieve 😆
St Niicholas' Church, Slaughterford, where my Great-grandparents are buried. Wrecked by Cromwell's men on their way to Bristol.[img] 
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A small detail of the circle yossarian posted an aerial view of:
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and the other main feature of the same religious complex:
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As always, a great thread. Some wonderful examples as always, and rooting about to find stuff is really fascinating.
Canterbury Cathedral is just truly amazing, and awe-inspiring. Takes my breath away.
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Incredible.
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the grand mosque in djenne, the largest mud building on earth.
Chartres:
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Loving that, Mrmo! 🙂
Rouen:
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some proper Good Stuff made in the name of gods or whatevaaa, just goes to show how brilliant humans are at making stuff, given a bit of inspiration! We are cool! Us.
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La Mezquita in Cordoba, a church inside an older Mosque,simply a stunning building, not perfect but amazing
Rievaulx abbey
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You are right about canterbury elfin, it's on my ride into work and stands high as you come down into the stour valley.
It's interesting that this edition of AA has engaged people so much. I'm guessing that the driving factor in the construction of these buildings was faith, something that seems to be fading in the western world these days.
Red Mosque, Lahore.
I was there 10 years ago. Epic.
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The view out of it's front door isn't too bad either.
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Crazy legs, that Prague cathedral looks like it's about to get up onto 6 huge legs and start stomping all over the city firing laser beams at people running away screaming.
Anyone done this yet?
Coventry Cathedral (well, part of it)
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the Italian Chapel, built by Italian prisoners of war on Lamb Holm, Orkney
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and guess what?
it's a nissen hut
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also, the temple of Hapshetsut near Luxor
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My parents' local (not my pics)
[url= http://farm1.static.flickr.com/154/424157739_46baa94536.jp g" target="_blank">
[url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/zak_woodman/424157739/ ]Javea Church (In Port Area)[/url] by [url= http://www.flickr.com/people/zak_woodman/ ]Zak Woodman[/url], on Flickr
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This is quite special
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And I cant believe we've nit had this
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It's interesting that this edition of AA has engaged people so much.
Well, all to often, some people on here get all steamed up over religion, and seem to need to attack it all the time. This was all about simply appreciating architecture inspired by and built because of religion. Just to show that maybe religion isn't [i]all[/i] bad, you know. Religion has, as is plainly evident here, at least given Humanity some wonderful buildings and structures. Thanks to everyone for their input.
Regardless of your views, I think this sums it up perfectly really:
some proper Good Stuff made in the name of gods or whatevaaa, just goes to show how brilliant humans are at making stuff, given a bit of inspiration! We are cool! Us.
Thats what this AA series is all about. A celebration of Humanity's endeavours. Forget the reasons, admire the results.
I was really hoping somone would post a pic of that little chapel in Orkney, nice one BBSB. 🙂
One day I would love to see stuff like this:
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A nice bit of interior detail:
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Wells Cathedral, Somerset.
Elfin'll recognise this edifice:
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(Is a little bit too emotional. Sobs uncontrollably at the sheer beauty of it all)
can we have a 'local to you' A&A next week ?
be interesting to see what people see around them and to find out what some of that stuff means to people.
Religion has, as is plainly evident here, at least given Humanity some wonderful buildings and structures
The only problem with this, is in some parts of Africa where the missionary has persuaded the locals to spend their hard earned on building an ornate (relatively speaking) church for them to visit on a Sunday, when their own houses are in need of significant repair.
Some could argue that the opulence of somewhere like St Peters in Rome is grotesque. I wouldn't go that far though.
That sounds like a very nice idea actually TM. My very first pic on this thread is of a church just half a mile away. I am a bit spoilt for stuff where I live though! 😀
Yeah, we can do that. Any suggestions for future threads week by week are welcome. The stations one came about because of the Trains thread, and this one was inspired by the big religion thread.
I think we should specify a certain radius, of a couple of miles if you live in a big city, maybe bigger if you live in a quieter place.
Bit of Hawksmoor near me; St Anne's, Limehouse:
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For an atheist I've been to a few nice ones
Duomo Amalfi
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Mosta Dome, Malta.
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During WW2 this fell through the roof, bounced and skidded out the door.
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And my favourite. The Pantheon, Rome.
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I think we should specify a certain radius, of a couple of miles if you live in a big city, maybe bigger if you live in a quieter place.
Sounds good, I'll keep my camera with me this week 8)
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Oldest surviving church in the uk apparently.
countzero beat me to it
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one of the most amazing shapes ever in architecture, and extra amazing in that it was built in in a hurry as the tower above was beginning to collapse into the nave. The simplicity is because they didn't have time to decorate what is in essence a giant stone acro prop.
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Good choice Elf!
Got nothing to add cos my preference is for 13th century churches in hamlets/villages. Love going inside, looking at stained glass windows etc and reading about the history. You do find the odd one that isn't locked or, indeed, proudly has a Whistler on display. 8)
Personally, I think this has bin the best AA thread so far. Religion has helped create some of the most stunning and awe-inspiring buildings ever. Sure, a skyscraper might be taller, an industrial complex larger, but very little has ever really compared to religious buildings in terms of design, craftsmanship and social significance. They really are very often the pinnacle of architectural design. Indeed, many construction techniques still in use today were pioneered during the creation of religious buildings.
I love the fact that you can go through a sleepy little village, and there will be a nice little church or chapel or something, which as CG says, may have beautiful stained glass windows, or intricate carvings, or some lovely quadripartite vaulting and that.
My aunt is a priest in Cornwall, near Bude, and there's loads of little churches round there. Like this one, St Gennys, on top of a cliff overlooking the Atlantic.
It's proper bleak up there in winter. Makes you think about the lives of those who lived there hundreds of years ago, who wooduv seen the church as the centre of their community.
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Tipidabo in Barcelona
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Giza Pyramids, Egypt
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Teotihuacan, Mexico
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Kev
I was really hoping somone would post a pic of that little chapel in Orkney, nice one BBSB.
Welcome, here's the builders
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Furthest left hand side back row, is Domenico Chiocchetti the architect of the chapel. looks scarily like Anthony Hopkins
Makes you think about the lives of those who lived there
That's the facination in architecture for me.
For the most part I can take or leave the great and the superlative, they often have troublesome or dark histories.
Pass this on my way to work.
Set amoungst the Victorian Architechure around it, it stands out as a oddity in a northern city.
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Just to show that maybe religion isn't all bad, you know. Religion has, as is plainly evident here, at least given Humanity some wonderful buildings and structures.
Hear hear Elfin, in fact this image demonstrates your point really well. See all those beautiful building built in the name of religion. Then look at this by someone who destroys such things.
Coventry Cathedral
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It just goes to show that people who don't like religion are like Hitler, and the love him too.