Unique Churches - Chapel of St. Gildas, Brittany, France

Chapel of St. Gildas, Brittany, France

Statue of Saint-Gildas

The Chapel marks the site where St. Gildas, an Irish monk, preached Christianity to a local, mainly pagan population during the 6th century.  St. Gildas and his fellow monk Bieuzy, are said to have lived in a cave at the base of the rock where the chapel now stands. It is believed they had miraculous healing powers. Chapel of St. Gildas is locatedupon the bank of the Canal du Blavet in Brittany, France. This was once a holy place of the Druids and has been built like a stone barn over the base of a bare rocky cliff. St. Gildas appears to have travelled widely throughout the Celtic world of Corwall, Wales, Ireland and Scotland. He arrived in Brittany in about AD 540 and is said to have preached Christianity to the people from a rough pulpit, now contained within the chapel. According to Legend, after healing the daughter of a local Count who had been seriously injured by her husband, St. Gildas was under death threat and it was no longer safe for him to remain in the area.  Bieuzy, however, continued to preach and was famous for his ability to cure rabies. Bieuzy met an unpleasant demise when he refused to interrupt one of his sermons to cure the rabid dog of a local pagan chief who later returned and attacked Bieuzy with an axe. Statue of Bieuzy with an axe lodged in his head can be seen inside the chapel today.

Unique Churches - The Las Lajas Cathedral, Southern Colombia

Virgin of Rosary in las Lajas Cathedral (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The Legend
The Las Lajas Cathedral is located in Southern Colombia and built in 1916 inside the canyon of the Guaitara River . According to the legend, this was the place where an Indian woman named Mari­a Mueses was carrying her deaf-mute daughter Rosa on her back near Las Lajas (”The Rocks”). Weary of the climb, the María sat down on a rock when Rosa spoke (for the first time) about an apparition in a cave. A few days later, the child Rosa disappeared from her home. After looking everywhere, the anguished Maria guessed that her daughter must have gone to the cave. The child had often said that the Lady was calling her. Maria ran to Las Lajas and found her daughter in front of a noble Lady and playing affectionately with a Child who had come down from His mother’s arms to let the girl enjoy His divine tenderness.Fearful of ridicule, Maria kept quiet about the episode. But she and Rosa frequently went to the cave to place wild flowers and candles in the cracks of the rocks.

The Las Lajas Cathedral, Southern Colombia

Months went by, with Maria and Rosa keeping their secret. Finally, one day the girl fell gravely ill and died. A distraught Maria decided to take her daughter’s body to Las Lajas to ask the Lady to restore Rosa to life. Moved by the sadness of Maria’s unrelenting supplications, the Blessed Virgin obtained Rosa’s resurrection from her Divine Son. Overflowing with joy, Maria returned home. It was not long before a crowd had gathered to hear what had happened. Early the next morning everyone went to Las Lajas, each one wanting to check the details for themselves. Studies of the painting showed no proof of paint or pigments on the rock – instead, when a core sample was taken, it was found that the colors were impregnated in the rock itself to a depth of several feet. The legend spurred the building of this Amazing Church.
The Cathedral
The Church is of Gothic Revival Architecture and was built from January 1, 1916 to August 20, 1949, with donations from local churchgoers, replacing an old nineteenth-century chapel. The name Laja comes from the name of a type of flat sedimentary rock similar to floor tiles found in the Andes Mountains. There was a claim that an apparition of the Virgin Mary was seen. The image on the stone is still visible today.

Unique Churches - Santuario della Madonna delle Lacrime"Our Lady of Tears" in Siracusa, Sicily

Santuario della Madonna delle Lacrime in Siracusa, Sicily

The Legend
On 29 August 1953, a small plaster image of the Virgin Mary in the house of Angelo Iannuso and Antonina Giusto suddenly began to shed tears. The following days, on 30 and 31 August and on 1 September, tears were seen again on the Virgin’s face.
The cavernous space was designed to house the image which reportedly bestowed 300+ miraculous cures over a few months after the tears.
The Church

Modeled on the shape of a tear drop, Syracuse's newest landmark building, it opened in 1994 and reaches a height of 102m.  The "Our Lady of Tears" sanctuary is one of the most peculiar monuments or churches in all of Sicily. Designed to evoke a gigantic teardrop, the structure was created by two Frenchmen, Michel Arnault and Pierre Parat, in 1994. It houses a statue of the Madonna that supposedly wept for 5 days in 1953. So-called chemical tests showed that the liquid was similar to that of human tears. Pilgrims still flock here.

Santuario della Madonna delle Lacrime in Siracusa, Sicily

The contemporary conical structure dominates the skyline, rising 74m (243 ft.) with a diameter of 80m (262 ft.). The interior is amazing. You might get dizzy looking up at the vertical windows stretching skyward to the apex of the roof. As construction begun on the church, an extensive network of houses and streets from the Roman and Greek periods were discovered. Elements of these and another sanctuary to the goddess Demeter and Kore (5th-4th century BC) remain in the crypt.

Unique Churches - Grundtvigs Church, Copenhagen, Denmark

Grundtvigs Church, Copenhagen, Denmark

Known as the largest public Evangelical Lutheran Church in Scandinavia, Grundtvigs Church is located in the north-west area of the outskirts of Copenhagen and 6 km from the city centre. Grundtvigs Church was built in the period from 1921 to 1940 and as a remembrance and monument to honor the reformer,  theologian and hymn writer N. F. S. Grundtvig (1783–1872) - one of the most important and influential persons in newer Danish history. The Church was placed high on top of Bispebjerg Hill in the north-western outskirts of Copenhagen and the architecture was influenced by the national-romantic movement. The foundation stone was laid on Grundtvigs birthday – September 8th – 1921 and inaugurated on September 8th - 1940. The yellow brick church is of cathedral proportions with its impressive building construction and architectural style that is a divided and historical combination between a cathedral and ancient Danish country churches with crow-stepped gables.

Interior - Grundtvigs Church, Copenhagen

The main architect P. V. Jensen Klint - who died in 1930 - was succeeded by his son Kaare Klint and later his grandson Esben Klint. It took nearly 20 years to finalize this huge building project – which is the largest protestant and public Evangelical Lutheran church in Scandinavia. Tower of the Grundtvigs Church is 49 meters high, Total length is 76 meters and Total breadth is 35 meters.

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Unique Churches - St. Michael's Chapel(Chapel in Aiguilhe),Le Puy-en-Velay, France

 St. Michael's Chapel(Chapel in Aiguilhe),Le Puy-en-Velay, France

Saint-Michel d'Aiguilhe is a Chapel in Aiguilhe, near Le Puy-en-Velay, France, built in 962 on a volcanic formation 85 meters (279 ft) high. The chapel is reached by 268 steps carved into the rock. It was built to celebrate the return from the pilgrimage of Saint James. In 1429, the mother of Joan of Arc, Isabelle Romée, was said to have come to the site to pray.  The basalt needle of Le Puy has been regarded as sacred probably since it was first spotted by humans. Three great stones incorporated into St. Michael's Chapel are thought to be the remains of a prehistoric dolmen built at the top. Later, the Romans worshiped Mercury - the swift messenger god with winged shoes - at the site.

St. Michael's Chapel(Chapel in Aiguilhe),Le Puy-en-Velay, France

When the area was Christianized, the rock was consecrated to St. Michael the Archangel, who is the patron of many high places throughout Europe. The Chapel of St. Michael was built by Bishop Godescalc and the Deacon Trianus in 962. It was a simple shrine built on a central plan: a square sanctuary a tiny apsidal on each side. This original sanctuary and two of the apsidal still survive today. In the 12th century, the chapel was significantly enlarged by adding a short nave west of the original sanctuary, an elliptical ambulatory, two side chapels, a narthex with an upper gallery, a carved portal, and a bell tower. The 10th-century frescoes were repainted in the original style and more were added. The bell tower fell down in 1275 and was not reconstructed until the 19th century. Removal of the plaster in the chapel in about 1850 revealed the magnificent 10th and 12th-century frescoes. A century later, in 1955, archaeologists discovered a treasure trove of sacred objects in the altar, which are now displayed behind an iron grate in the wall.

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Unique Churches - The Church of Saint George, Lalibela, Ethiopia

The Legend

The Church of Saint George, Lalibela, Ethiopia

The most notable of the rulers of the Zagwe Dynasty was King Lalibela who reigned from 1167 to 1207. A brilliant achievement of his reign was the construction of a dozen Beautiful Rock-Hewn Churches. According to legend, a dense cloud of bees surrounded the Prince Lalibela at the moment of his birth. His mother, claiming that the bees represented the soldiers who would one day serve her son, chose for him the name Lalibela, meaning "the bees recognize his sovereignty". Lalibela's older brother, King Harbay, was made jealous by these prophecies about his brother and tried to poison him. While Lalibela was drugged, angels transported him to various realms of heaven where God gave him directions to build a New Jerusalem with churches in a unique style. Lalibela also learned that he need not fear for his life or his sovereignty, for God had anointed him so that he might build the churches. After three days of Divine Communication, Lalibela returned to mortal existence and accepted the throne from his brother, who had also been visited by God (and told to abdicate to Lalibela). Both brothers traveled to the city of Roha and began the construction of the churches.

The Church of Saint George, Lalibela, Ethiopia

Assisted by angels and St. Gabriel, they built twelve extraordinary churches over a period of twenty-five years. The Ethiopian Orthodox Church later canonized the King and changed the name of the city of Roha to Lalibela. The most remarkable of the Lalibela churches, called Bet Giorgis, is dedicated to St. George, the patron saint of Ethiopia. According to legend, when King Lalibela had almost completed the group of churches which God had instructed him to build, Saint George appeared (in full armor and riding his white horse) and sharply reproached the king for not having constructed a house for him. Lalibela promised to build a church more beautiful than all the others for the saint.
The Church
The Church of Bet Giorgis is a nearly perfect cube, hewn in the shape of a cross, and is oriented so that the main entrance is in the west and the holy of hollies in the east. The nine windows of the bottom row are blind; the twelve windows above are functional. One of the most sophisticated details of Bet Giorgis is that the wall thickness increases step by step downwards but that the horizontal bands of molding on the exterior walls cleverly hide the increase. The roof decoration, often used today as the symbol of the Lalibela Monuments, is a relief of Three Equilateral Greek Crosses inside each other. The church is set in a deep pit with perpendicular walls and it can only be entered via a hidden tunnel carved in the stone. Inside is a fresco of Saint George slaying the dragon, and low relief sculptures of crosses and saints.

Unique Churches - The Written Stone Monastery (Manastirea Piatra Scrisa), Romania

The Written Stone Monastery (Manastirea Piatra Scrisa), Romania

The history of the Written Stone Hermitage is rooted in 1872, when a Miraculous Icon that represents the Holy Trinity is found. In 1965 specialists from Timisoara conclude that the icon dates from XVII-XVIII centuries. Above the Icon is the Caransebes-Orsova Railway, built in the 19th century, which had to be diverted from its original route in order to preserve the image. The Icon of the Trinity remained in its original form although there have been numerous attempts to erase and repainted it. The Icon shows the “New Testament” Trinity, that is, Jesus Christ holding the Cross seated opposite the Father as an old man, and between Them the Holy Spirit depicted as a dove.

Holy Trinity Icon

An Austro-Hungarian military map of 1788 labels the site as “Trinity Rock”, suggesting the icon was already painted onto the cliff-side by that date. In 1929, Vasile Dragomir and his wife, Anna, believers from Armenis, decided to build a Holy Church, the Holy Trinity Icon forming its vault, in memory of their deceased daughter; a year later the Bishop of Caransebes allowed a small house to also be built, to home a few monastic’s.

Unique Churches - The Metropolitan Cathedral of Brasilia

The Metropolitan Cathedral of Brasilia

The Metropolitan Cathedral of Brasilia

The Metropolitan Cathedral of Brasilia is surprisingly small from the outside, but once you descend through the walkway, you get into the brightest and most spacious church. The floors and walls are made of white marble, with an expanse of glass overhead. The altar is surprisingly sparse, white marble decorated with a plain Image of Christ on the cross. On 12th September 1958, the Cathedral's cornerstone was laid. The Metropolitan Cathedral of Brasilia is an expression of the geniality of the architect Oscar Niemeyer. In 1960, the Cathedral's structure was finished, and only the 70 m diameter of the circular area and the 16 concrete columns were visible. These columns, having parabolic section and weighing 90 t, represent two hands moving upwards to heaven. The Cathedral was dedicated on the 31st May, 1970. Four bronze sculptures 3 m high, representing the Evangelists, can be seen at the external square in the entrance of the Temple. These sculptures were made with the help of the sculptor Dante Croce, in 1968. Inside the nave, three sculptures of angels are suspended by steel cables. The smallest angel has 2.22 m of length and weighs 100 kg. The medium one has 3.40 m of length and weighs 200 kg. The big one has 4.25 m of length and 300 kg weighs. The sculptures were made by Alfredo Ceschiatti, with the help of Dante Croce, in 1970. Having an oval form, the Baptistery has its walls covered by a panel of ceramic tiles painted in 1977 by Athos Bulcão. The local architecture is completed by a bell tower. Its four big bells were donated by Spain.  Inside the crypt, there is a reproduction of the Shroud of Turin. The Shroud of Turin is the piece of pure linen cloth that was used to cover the body of Jesus Christ after his crucifixion and before He was laid in the Holy Sepulcher. The original one is today at Turin, Italy (that is why it is known as the Shroud of Turin). It is 4.36 M in length and 1.10 M in width. On the cloth there are stains of human blood, with the marks of Jesus of Nazareth's scourging and torment. This cloth is the biggest evidence that Jesus existed indeed and what he suffered.

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