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Rilievo a nord di Ascoli, isolato rispetto alle colline circostanti, l'Ascensione si caratterizza per la presenza di alti strati marini di conglomerato di breccia e sabbia che poggiano su argille e su tufi arenacei. La tradizione popolare accredita al luogo una sacralità persistente; nel medioevo era meta di pellegrinaggi religiosi e, anche adesso, ogni anno a maggio, migliaia di persone salgono sul monte per la festa dell'Ascensione, quando la statua della Madonna, proveniente da Polesio, viene trasferita nella chiesa costruita sulla vetta. Il nome della rupe di Santa Polisia è legato alla leggenda della sfortunata figlia del Prefetto di Ascoli, battezzata da S. Emidio e scomparsa prodigiosamente mentre cercava di sfuggire ai pretoriani.
Die Glass Church in Milbrook bei Saint Lawrence. Der offizielle Name der Kirche lautet St. Mathews. Der Art Deco Architekt A.B. Grayson und der Pariser Glasdesigner Rene Lalique. haben diese Kreuze und andere Sakralgegenstände in den 30iger Jahren des 20. Jahrhunderts geschaffen.
The Glass Church in Milbrook at Saint Lawrence. The official name of the church is St. Mathews. The Art Deco Architect A.B. Grayson and the Parisian glass designer Rene Lalique. created these crosses and other sacral objects in the 30s of the 20th century.
L'église de verre à Milbrook à Saint-Laurent. Le nom officiel de l'église est St. Mathews. L'architecte Art déco A.B. Grayson et le créateur de verre parisien René Lalique. créé ces croix et d'autres objets sacrés dans les années 30 du 20ème siècle.
La iglesia de cristal en Milbrook en San Lorenzo. El nombre oficial de la iglesia es St. Mathews. El arquitecto Art Deco A.B. Grayson y el diseñador de vidrio parisino Rene Lalique. creó estas cruces y otros objetos sagrados en los años 30 del siglo XX.
Artwork ©jackiecrossley
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Plešivec is an ancient seat of the Bubek family. The Ákoš family, the ancestors of the Bubeks, received it from King Belo IV. in 1243, after the battle on the Slaná River, where the ancestor of the Bubeks, Detrik, allegedly saved the king’s life. After stabilizing his position in 1320, Dominik Bubek built a water castle in Plešivec. In its vicinity, he built a monumental church, which also served as a burial place for the representatives of the family. It was constructed on the site of an older church built by his ancestors. The church, originally nearly twice as long as it is now, was a two-nave Gothic building with a polygonal ending of the chancel, originally vaulted on the central pillars.
From 1349, we have a record of the request of Juraj Bubek to the Pope for the possibility of collecting the indulgences to finance its construction. In the middle of the 14th century, the interior of the church was completed with fresco paintings of very high quality, carried out by Italian masters. In the first quarter of the 15th century, the church was completed with the north-facing funeral chapel of the Bubeks, built according to the pattern of the Spiš funeral chapels. We enter into the chapel through an impressive portal, the architecture of which is associated with the works of the Cathedral of St. Elizabeth in Košice. In its interior, we find three three-part late Gothic windows with an original tracery in the ogive arch shape and corbels of the former vaults.
In 1558, at the time of the Turkish threat, the church was severely damaged, the vault collapsed and the building remained as a ruin until its reconstruction in 1617. By that time, the church was taken over by the reformed believers who reduced its layout to its current length of 19 meters; they covered the nave with a flat ceiling and closed the entrance to the unused chapel. At that stage, the entrance to the church was established from the south and three window openings were made on the south wall. From that period comes a valuable matroneum with painted decorations from 1627. In 1807, a bell-tower was built, a beautiful example of the so-called Gemer classicism.
Plešivec is an ancient seat of the Bubek family. The Ákoš family, the ancestors of the Bubeks, received it from King Belo IV. in 1243, after the battle on the Slaná River, where the ancestor of the Bubeks, Detrik, allegedly saved the king’s life. After stabilizing his position in 1320, Dominik Bubek built a water castle in Plešivec. In its vicinity, he built a monumental church, which also served as a burial place for the representatives of the family. It was constructed on the site of an older church built by his ancestors. The church, originally nearly twice as long as it is now, was a two-nave Gothic building with a polygonal ending of the chancel, originally vaulted on the central pillars.
From 1349, we have a record of the request of Juraj Bubek to the Pope for the possibility of collecting the indulgences to finance its construction. In the middle of the 14th century, the interior of the church was completed with fresco paintings of very high quality, carried out by Italian masters. In the first quarter of the 15th century, the church was completed with the north-facing funeral chapel of the Bubeks, built according to the pattern of the Spiš funeral chapels. We enter into the chapel through an impressive portal, the architecture of which is associated with the works of the Cathedral of St. Elizabeth in Košice. In its interior, we find three three-part late Gothic windows with an original tracery in the ogive arch shape and corbels of the former vaults.
In 1558, at the time of the Turkish threat, the church was severely damaged, the vault collapsed and the building remained as a ruin until its reconstruction in 1617. By that time, the church was taken over by the reformed believers who reduced its layout to its current length of 19 meters; they covered the nave with a flat ceiling and closed the entrance to the unused chapel. At that stage, the entrance to the church was established from the south and three window openings were made on the south wall. From that period comes a valuable matroneum with painted decorations from 1627. In 1807, a bell-tower was built, a beautiful example of the so-called Gemer classicism.
Art of Nature
On this huge beach of the Venetian Region, in the Delta Po Valley situated in the Interregional Park of the "Polesine" bordering with the Adriatic Sea & shared by the Region Veneto & the Region Emilia-Romagna, it is forbidden to throw out or take with the wood pieces restituted by the water along the sea shore as they aliment the eco-system hosting natural nests for birds & insects & screening the sand of the dunes, strenghtening them and refraining the sea to bite pieces of land.
Through the erosion effect of salty water & time passing, some pieces of wood become amazing natural sculptures.
The amazing people attending this areas, in sign of respect, appreciation & love for the wild nature, build some structures & sculptures with branches & trunks that will stay forever on the beach & the dunes as a sign of merging between human beings & nature.
Many people wondering along the seashore & walking on the dunes refrain to bring with them any watches nor smartphones to be able to abstract themselves from the frantic daily routine & loose themselves mystically in perfect harmony with the sacrality of this special wild & savage environment.
Ref.Winter Sea 011
©WhiteAngel #AtmosphericPhotography. All rights reserved.
There's a feeling I get when I look to the west
And my spirit is crying for leaving
(Led Zeppelin)
Stairway to Heaven's Photographs
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Background by Sacral
In the district of Sigmaringen there is the town Meßkirch with its parish church St. Martin.
The church was built in the year 1526 and between 1769 – 1773 restyled in terms of rococo.
Architect was Meinrad von Ow, himself painted the frescos in Meßkirch. The stucco plasterer was Johann georg Schwarzmann. Johann Nepomuk Holzhey from Ottobeuren made the orgue, but 1901 this instrument was replaced.
Prince Froben Ferdinand zu Fürstenberg – Meßkirch added a chappel between 1733 - 1734. Egid Quirin Asam was the sculpor and his bother Cosmas Damian Asam painted the frescos.
The Monastery at Lébény was established between 1199 and 1203, by a nobleman, for private worship. The complex was dedicated to the Apostle Saint James the Great. Though the existing charter for approving the donations and construction was signed by Andreas II (1208), one of the walls of the church had “1206” engraved in them, which may indicate that the church was already built at that time. It is also mentioned in the RegestrumVaradiense (an important language memorial), which was made in the late cathedral chapter of the present Oradea (Nagyvárad) in the 13th century. The monastery of Lébény was attacked and burnt down several times; the first by Mongols, then the second by King Ottokar I of Bohemia; and thereafter by the Turks, which was probably in 1529 and definitely in 1683. The monastery was taken back from the Turks by the arch-abbot of Pannonhalma in 1540. He named a new abbot, though the title only existed on paper for a little bit longer than two decades. In 1563 the monastery was burnt down again for the third time and was left devoured. Presently, the only part of the complex that is still standing is the iconic three-nave Romanesque church in the middle of Lébény village. This church is one of the most important Romanesque style buildings of Hungary, which was most probably restored in the 17th century by the Jesuits, and it was the first ever Hungarian monument that was restored in the second half of the 19th century. In addition, the Romanesque church is also operating as a parish of the village.
Thiksey Monastery látképe Stakna kolostorából. Közöttük az Indus folyó. / Thiksey Monastery from Stakna Gompa, with Indus river
Ladakh - India (West-Tibet)
Croix de chemin are simply part of the rural landscape.
Bas-Saint-Laurent, Quebec, Canada.
This image is one in a series of croix de chemin (roadside crosses). There are between 2,500 and 3,000 croix de chemin scattered all over rural Québec, the historic centre of North American Catholicism. Croix de chemin are large (15 to 20 feet tall) and were “erected to fulfill a vow, to sacralize the land, or to ward off calamities” (Kaell, “Marking Memory”, p. 135). Croix de chemin are most often made of wood and are decorated with iconography of the Passion. There are three main types: (1) the simple croix de chemin which may have some decorative elements at the end or centre, (2) the croix de chemin featuring instruments of the Passion which are decorated with a lance, nails, hammer, whip, ladder, crown of thorns, and/or rooster and (3) the calvaire, which depicts the crucifixion scene.
I wrote a blog post about my December 2022 photographic trip to the rural areas of Chaudière-Appalaches (Beauce) and Bas-Saint-Laurent, south and east of Québec City. If you'd like to see some behind the scene shots, video and read some stories about how I shot these images, take a look.
If you'd like to see the rest of the images from this trip, take a look at my Québec album and if you'd like to see the series within the series - the croix de chemin - there's an album for croix, as well.
From the official website of Panagurishte Municipality
THE PANAGYURISHTE TREASURE
(C. 4-3 B.S.)
It was found near the Mramor hillock in 1949 during agricultural work. It consists of nine richly adorned vessels - an amphora, seven rhytons and a phial. It weighs 6.164 kg. The largest vessel is the amphora, which has a centaur-shaped handle. Three of the seven rhytons are shaped as animals' heads, one is the front part of a goat, three have women's (Amazon) heads. The set most probably served for the drinking of wine in a religious, celebratory or domestic atmosphere. There is also an opinion that its purpose was the ritual purification of a liquid, which could be wine. It is supposed that another two rhytons with the front part of animals, an amphora and one or two phials are missing, with a view of the sacral importance of the number three in the Thracian religion.
There exist two basic hypotheses about the origin of the Panagyurishte Treasure. They are based on the carved letters on some of the vessels, which are considered to signify the measure units of the gold. According to a widespread thesis, the signs belong to the metric system used in the Asia Minor town Lampsak. Other scholars however have discovered that a similar system was used in the interior of Thrace, so there is a possibility of the treasure's local origin.
The great sacristy has a shallow cruciform plan, surmounted by a dome. Originally designed by Diego de Riaño ca. 1530, work carried on after his death in 1534 under Martín de Gainza and was completed ca. 1544. Designed in the Plateresque style, it houses the treasury. Among the displays are silver reliquaries and monstrances, and artworks by Goya, Murillo, and Zurbarán.
The vertical section of the Main Sacristy consists of pillars to which half columns and pilasters are attached, the profile of which is richly decorated in the Plateresque style. Above the capitals there is an elegant decoration of grotesques and garlands. The arms of the cross are roofed with fan vaults rest on chamfers decorated with scallops.
In 1768, more precisely on July 23rd, the monastery building complex including the church fell victim to a major fire.
Prince Abbot Martin II Gerbert decides to rebuild immediately. The prince abbot recruited the French architect Pierre Michel d'Ixnard for the new planning.
Ludovico Bossi, choir, and Johann Caspar Gigl, dome rotunda, stucco the church. The dome fresco is painted by Johann Christian Wentzinger. Johann Andreas Silbermann, organ builder from Strasbourg, built the large organ, his main work, between 1772 and 1775.
The church was inaugurated in 1783.
The prince abbot had a crypt built in the new building for the ancestors of the Habsburgs. He had various Habsburg bones transferred from various crypts to St. Blasien.
In 1806, after secularization, the monastery came to the Baden house. The monks have to leave St. Blasien.
In 1809, a Zurich entrepreneur bought the monastery buildings and set up a spinning mill and machine factory in the eastern part.
The domed rotunda is empty and is to be demolished. The Silbermann organ was sold to Karlsruhe as early as 1806 and fell victim to a hail of bombs there in 1944. Today's organ comes from the master organ builder Friedrich Wilhelm Schwarz, who installed it in the church in 1912. The brochure comes from Gebr. Metzger from Überlingen.
Friedrich Weinbrenner, Baden building director and architect, saved the domed rotunda from demolition in 1810. The copper on the roof has already been sold off.
In 1874 a fire broke out in the factory, destroying almost all parts of the building and the domed rotunda.
It remains a burnt ruin. 1911 – 1913 the church was reconstructed by Friedrich Ostendorf.
In 1977, the west wing of the abbey burned down and was renovated in an exemplary manner along with the church by 1983.
Se nella notte di San Giovanni, ad Armezzano, Saccovescio, Preci e sui colli dell’eugubino-gualdese, si accendono ancora i fuochi, forse non tutto è andato perduto. In quell’Umbria defilata sopravvivono le reliquie della tradizione, che il tempo ha scalfito, ma non cancellato. Dòmine aiutaci, non abbandonarci nella sciagurata condizione secolare degli agnostici e dei menefreghisti. Non che io sia un modello di beatitudine celeste, anzi. Ma quando si avvicina la notte di San Giovanni sono colto dalle mie saltuarie crisi di purezza. Ecco perché, tra il ventitré e il ventiquattro giugno, ho atteso il solstizio sulle rive (che si stanno miseramente impaludando) del lago Aiso, uno degli inesplicabili luoghi dell’opima pianura bevanate, virgolettata dai pioppi e solcata dai fiumi. Poi – secondo quanto impone la tradizione contadina e popolare - ho colto le spighe di grano, che conserverò gelosamente tutto l'anno come amuleto contro le sventure: trentatré per la precisione, quante gli anni di Cristo. Ma fu a Nocera, che appresi l'usanza di raccogliere fiori, facendoli macerare in una bacinella d’acqua esposta alla notte del solstizio: fiori di campo, di lavanda, di sambuco, di ginestre, di caprifoglio, di gladioli selvatici, di malva e di rose canine. Solo chi ci crede, sarà salvato. Questa società dovrà pur tornare a una socializzazione armoniosa dell’individuo nella polis, a una paideia che lo aiuti a interiorizzare di nuovo quei valori universali, che costituiscono l’ethos del popolo e che sono alla base di ogni ordinamento politico-giuridico. L’acqua di San Giovanni – e non solo questa – può essere utile al recupero di un processo educativo dimenticato, per arrivare al completamento della formazione politica nel senso più ampio del termine. I nostri figli, i figli del disordine sociale, sessuale, etilico, modaiolo; i figli della consunzione identitaria, della televisione banalizzata, della scuola secolarizzata, hanno il diritto di sentirsi spiegare il mistero del sole che tramonta per lasciar posto al fulgore del Sole che sorge. Quella del Precursore di Cristo è una delle poche feste cristiane, che non celebra la morte. L’acqua solstiziale è il suo elemento centrale, la materia remota, capace di curare, purificare e fecondare. Cancellando la tradizione orale cancelliamo la sacralità della vita, il rispetto della persona e dei suoi diritti. Non saranno mica tutti allocchi gli abitanti di Scheggino, che da secoli – considerando questa ricetta come un prezioso lascito degli antichi - mettono in infusione le foglie del noce, dell’iperico e della salvia. Né quelli di Savelli, che ci curano il bestiame ammorbato. A Trivio e a Monteleone, con il contributo di legna offerto da ciascuna famiglia, si accendeva un “focarone grande”, cui assistevano tutti gli abitanti. Fino agli anni Ottanta, dando l’esempio ai nipoti, anche i vecchi saltavano attraverso il fuoco, pronunciando l’espressione “fetàte, fitùli”, di cui già allora non ricordavano più il significato. Questa invocazione forse susciterà l’ilarità (anzi l’orgoglio del cinismo ironico) di qualche cabarettista della politica locale. Cogliere la dispersione della sapienza antica non deve far ritrovare improvvisamente il senso dell’umorismo a quanti questa sapienza dovrebbero istituzionalmente tutelarla, per mandato ricevuto e per stipendio percepito. Beata umbritudine, umbra beatitudine.
Giovanni Picuti
abcabc@cline.it
tratto dal Corriere dell'Umbria del 4.7.2010
Esztergom was the capital of Hungary from the 10th till the mid-13th century when King Béla IV of Hungary moved the royal seat to Buda. During the same period, the castle of Esztergom was built on the site of ancient Roman castrum. It served not only as the royal residence until the 1241 (the Mongol invasion), but also as the center of the Hungarian state, religion, and Esztergom county.
After changing his residence to Budapest, Béla IV gave the palace and castle to the archbishop. Following these events, the castle was built and decorated by the bishops. The center of the king’s town, which was surrounded by walls, was still under royal authority. A number of different monasteries did return or settle in the religious center.
Meanwhile, the citizenry had been fighting to maintain and reclaim the rights of towns against the expansion of the church within the royal town. In the chaotic years after the fall of the House of Árpád, Esztergom suffered another calamity: in 1304, the forces of Wenceslaus II, the Czech king occupied and raided the castle. In the years to come, the castle was owned by several individuals: Róbert Károly and then Louis the Great patronized the town.
The Ottoman conquest of Mohács in 1526 brought a decline to the previously flourishing Esztergom as well. In the Battle of Mohács, the archbishop of Esztergom died. In the period between 1526 and 1543, when two rival kings reigned in Hungary, Esztergom was besieged six times. At times it was the forces of Ferdinand I or John Zápolya, at other times the Ottomans attacked. Finally, in 1530, Ferdinand I occupied the castle. He put foreign mercenaries in the castle, and sent the chapter and the bishopric to Nagyszombat and Pozsony.
However, in 1543 Sultan Suleiman I attacked the castle and took it. Esztergom became the centre of an Ottoman sanjak controlling several counties, and also a significant castle on the northwest border of the Ottoman Empire. In the 17th century Esztergom was besieged and conquered several times during the Ottoman-Habsburg Wars. Most of the buildings in the castle and the town that had been built in the Middle Ages were destroyed during this period, and there were only uninhabitable, smothered ruins to welcome the liberators.
In 1761 the bishopric regained control over the castle, where they started the preliminary processes of the reconstruction of the new religious center: the middle of the Várhegy (Castle Hill), the remains of Saint Stephen and Saint Adalbert churches were carried away to provide room for the new cathedral.
St. James´s Parish Church is situated in the oldest area of the town. One of the theories about its beginnings says that Losert and Palacký Streets date back to the time when Lipník was just a little settlement. Merchant came here both from Hranice and Olomouc to market their goods in the marketplace at the church. Only after the town got its walls, another route arose in the southern part: the street which led from Hranická Gate to Oseká Gate. The original church which once stood here, might have been a Roman-style building, but Lacek of Kravaře had a new church built in its place efore 1400 – this time in Gothic style. In 1596, the tower was decotated with a peristyle and a dome.
The major part of the interior is from the 60´s of the 18th century when the church was rebuilt in baroque style. The opposite building incorporated in the town walls is the Parish House.
Thann is a community in the Alsace in France. It´s proud is the gothic parish church Saint – Thiébaut.
It counts to the important masterpieces of gothic churches beside to the minsters of Strassbourg and Freiburg.
In the first half of the 14 th. century they start to built this sacral building.
One of the highlights is the west front rich of figures. The choir stalls are one of the most beautiful in Alsace. The windows of the choir are made in the years 1423 – 1430.
The church in Ochtiná was formerly dedicated to St. Nicholas and is one of the oldest and most interesting landmarks of the Gemer countryside. The name of the village is most likely derived from the old German expression for the number eight: ocht, as an evidence of the area settled by German guests in the second half of the 13th century. According to historical sources, original eight German families established here a prosperous settlement founded on mining of iron ore located in the nearby Hrádok hill.
However, the layout of the church point to an older settlement which could have been destroyed during a Mongol invasion. This is indicated by a document from the king Belo IV, from 1243, by which he donates a large part of an area of the Slaná river valley for faithful services to Detrik and Filip Bubek. In 1318, Ochtiná was mentioned as a property of the Štítnik branch of the Bubek family, that certainly supported the construction of the local church and later its murals as well.
The Gothic church, built possibly on the site of a ruined Romanesque structure is a single-nave church with a polygonal-shaped chancel including a northern sacristy. Around the mid-14th century, the interiors were painted with figural wall paintings which were done by fresco technique. Research has shown that the tower had been built later, probably in second half of 15th century. Romanesque windows on the tower are secondarily used from other church in the area. At the beginning of the 16th century, the relatively small space of the church was extended with a northern side nave having a star-shaped vault.
In the first third of the 17th century, when the church was already Lutheran, medieval frescos were hidden under a white lime paint and, during the 18th century, the church was given a new Prussian vault over the nave.
La grande Abbazia di San Galgano fu realizzata tra il 1218 ed 1268.
La forma dell' abbazia è la classica croce Italiana.
E' una struttura imponente in stile gotico ed è davvero un colpo d'occhio a chi la incontra per la prima volta, sia per l'isolamento e la sacralità che emana, sia per la particolarità di non avere copertura.
L'abbazia fino al xIv secolograzie al sostegno economico di Federico II aquista una ricchezza e un rispetto notevole, tale da essere contesa tra il Papato e la Republica di Siena.
Purtroppo dopo tanto splendore avvenne una grande decadenza, che la adibi addiritura a magazino, fu venduto addirittura il tetto di piombo per farne munizioni e trasformarla nel rudere che è oggi.
Nonostante questo, o magari anche grazie a questo, mantiene oggi un'aura di unico mistero che inevitabilmente colpisce chiunque se ne avvicini.
The dominant structure in the community of Einsiedeln in the canton of Schwyz is the monastery complex with its important and impressive monastery church of Our Lady.
According to plans by Br. Caspar Moosbrugger, the construction of the new monastery church began in 1720 and was consecrated in 1735. The new church is added to the choir from 1684. Cosmas Damian Asam and his brother Egid Quirin Asam can be won over to decorate the interior of the church.
The existing choir room is now perceived as too unadorned and less splendid compared to the nave. This is how the redesign is decided, initiated by Father Bonifaz d'Anethan. Only the choir grille and the choir stalls are taken over. The painter Franz Anton Kraus presented a model for the renovation in 1745. He receives the order. The sculptor Johann Baptist Babel made 14 statues and angel groups. Kraus, who is supposed to paint the new choir, falls ill and thus fails. The Torricelli brothers from Lugano are signed up to replace Kraus.
The new high altar is the work of Milanese Carlo Domenico Pozzi and his sons. The altar is designed by Giovanni Antonio Torricelli. Instead of making the altar out of stucco marble, Pozzi has real marble come from Italy to cover the new altar. The black marble columns of the old altar are being reused.
The Monastery at Lébény was established between 1199 and 1203, by a nobleman, for private worship. The complex was dedicated to the Apostle Saint James the Great. Though the existing charter for approving the donations and construction was signed by Andreas II (1208), one of the walls of the church had “1206” engraved in them, which may indicate that the church was already built at that time. It is also mentioned in the RegestrumVaradiense (an important language memorial), which was made in the late cathedral chapter of the present Oradea (Nagyvárad) in the 13th century. The monastery of Lébény was attacked and burnt down several times; the first by Mongols, then the second by King Ottokar I of Bohemia; and thereafter by the Turks, which was probably in 1529 and definitely in 1683. The monastery was taken back from the Turks by the arch-abbot of Pannonhalma in 1540. He named a new abbot, though the title only existed on paper for a little bit longer than two decades. In 1563 the monastery was burnt down again for the third time and was left devoured. Presently, the only part of the complex that is still standing is the iconic three-nave Romanesque church in the middle of Lébény village. This church is one of the most important Romanesque style buildings of Hungary, which was most probably restored in the 17th century by the Jesuits, and it was the first ever Hungarian monument that was restored in the second half of the 19th century. In addition, the Romanesque church is also operating as a parish of the village.
14 387 big crosses there and about 41 000 small crosses (smaller than 0.5 meters).
Religious meaning
The Hill of Crosses, where people not only from Lithuania have put crosses for couple centuries, witnesses faithfulness and trust of a Christian community to Christ and his Cross. This is an expression of a spontaneous religiousness of the people, and is a symbol not of grief and death but of Faith, Love and Sacrifice. From here the Pope blessed all people of Lithuania and all of Christian Europe.
History
The crosses on the Hill were first mentioned in written chronicles in 1850, but it is believed that the first crosses were put by the relatives of the victims of the rebellion in 1831 as the tsarist government did not allow the families to honor their deads properly. Crosses of the kind became more numerous after the other rebellion in 1863.
In the beginning of the 20th century the Hill of Crosses was already widely known as a sacral place. In addition to many pilgrims visiting, it was also a place for Masses and devotions. The Hill of Crosses became of special importance during Soviet times – this was the place of anonymous but surprising persistence to the regime. The Soviet government considered the crosses and the hill a hostile and harmful symbol. In 1961 wooden crosses were broken and burnt, metal ones used as scrap metal and stone and concrete crosses were broken and buried. The hill itself was many times destroyed with bulldozers. During the 1973–1975 period about half a thousand crosses used to be demolished each year without even trying to do this secretly. Later the tactics became more subtle: crosses were demolished as having no artistic value, different “epidemics” were announced forbidding people to come into the region or the roads were blocked by police. The Hill was guarded by both the Soviet army and KGB. In 1978 and 1979 there were some attempts to flood the territory. Despite all these endeavors to stop people from visiting the Hill, crosses would reappear after each night.
After the political change in 1988 the status of the Hill of Crosses changed completely – it became both a Lithuanian and a world phenomenon. It gained a world wide fame after the visit of the Pope John Paul II on September 7, 1993. The Pope was extremely touched by the cross with the prayer for his health after the attempt upon his life in 1981. In his sermon during the Holy Mass his Eminence said: “Sons and daughters of your country have been carrying to this Hill crosses, akin to that of Golgotha, which saw our Saviour,s death. Thus people have declared their sincere belief that their deceased brothers and sisters “have found Eternity” (…). Cross is a symbol of eternal life in God”.
In 1997 the Church revived devotions on the Hill. They take place every year on the last but one Sunday of July. Nowadays the Hill of Crosses is under the patronage of Šiauliai diocese, established on the 28 th oh May, 1997, and its first bishop Eugenijus Bartulis.
Cross is a symbol of love
The Hill of Crosses is a sacred place in the Šiauliai region with especially vast spaces for meditations of faith and manifestations of one,s love to God. It is here that Lithuania has passed through Golgotha, its people have experienced so much pain and misfortunes. Namely here revives the sincerest belief in our Saviours sacrifice, love finds response in one,s heart, hopes become stronger. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life” (Jn 3, 16). Cross is a symbol of such Love.
Eugenijus Bartulis
Bishop of Šiauliai
Place
The Hill of Crosses is situated in the middle of an arable land, sixteen kilometers from Šiauliai. It is seen from Šiauliai – Ryga highway. The hill is 60 meters long and 40-50 meters wide.
Number of crosses
It is hard to imagine so many crosses in one place. But all these crosses tell us about personal and public misfortunes and catastrophes. For example one cross was put after the wreck of the ferry “Estonia”.
The crosses were first counted by Ksywicki in 1900. In historical chronicles he wrote that there were 130 crosses on the hill. Two years later there were already 155 crosses. After the Word War I, in 1922 there were 50 crosses but in 1938 – already over 400. In 1961 the Soviet government demolished over 5000 crosses, by 1975 – 1200 crosses more.
After the political change the crosses were counted by enthusiasts from Šiauliai. They found 14 387 big crosses (1 112 from them were 3-4 meters high, 130 even higher) and about 41 000 small crosses (smaller than 0.5 meters).
Each visitor tries to leave a cross or a rosary. If he has not brought any, he makes one right on the hill, from pebbles, little branches or grass.
The monastery of the Hill of Crosses
In 1994 during his visit to a Franciscan monastery of the mount of Verna (Italy), the Pope John Paul II encouraged the brothers to build a monastery by the Hill of Crosses. A hermit of the Franciscan Brothers was consecrated on July 7, 2000. It is built 300 meters away from the Hill and has sixteen cells. It serves as a novitiate of the Lithuanian Franciscan province of St. Casimir, but the monastery is also open to the pilgrims who look for silence and peace.
It was undated and unmarked. I know that my mother shot this. It must have been in the early 1960s, on the lower Meghna in what then was East Pakistan and now is Bangladesh, and it might be at the start or the end of the monsoon season, but that is all I can reconstruct.
Clearly the river determines every aspect of the villagers' lives. It provides them with all they need for a living, it is the main artery through which all goods are channeled that they cannot make by themselves, but when the cyclones barrel north through the bay of Bengal and push a mighty wall of water ahead of them, the river also brings death.
And the music is ---> here
I would like to know what that large structure is. It looks like some sacral architecture, but that region is predominantly muslim, and I think the style is different from a mosque. I wonder whether I will ever find out where this is ...
I have no idea which camera and film was used here.
in Luzern (CH), 17 mei 2009
The first large sacral Baroque church in Switzerland; constructed in 1666 by Father Christoph Vogler for the Jesuits.
The vault was redecorated in the mid-18th century. The original vestments of Brother Klaus, a famous Swiss patron, are stored in the inner chapel.
Plešivec is an ancient seat of the Bubek family. The Ákoš family, the ancestors of the Bubeks, received it from King Belo IV. in 1243, after the battle on the Slaná River, where the ancestor of the Bubeks, Detrik, allegedly saved the king’s life. After stabilizing his position in 1320, Dominik Bubek built a water castle in Plešivec. In its vicinity, he built a monumental church, which also served as a burial place for the representatives of the family. It was constructed on the site of an older church built by his ancestors. The church, originally nearly twice as long as it is now, was a two-nave Gothic building with a polygonal ending of the chancel, originally vaulted on the central pillars.
From 1349, we have a record of the request of Juraj Bubek to the Pope for the possibility of collecting the indulgences to finance its construction. In the middle of the 14th century, the interior of the church was completed with fresco paintings of very high quality, carried out by Italian masters. In the first quarter of the 15th century, the church was completed with the north-facing funeral chapel of the Bubeks, built according to the pattern of the Spiš funeral chapels. We enter into the chapel through an impressive portal, the architecture of which is associated with the works of the Cathedral of St. Elizabeth in Košice. In its interior, we find three three-part late Gothic windows with an original tracery in the ogive arch shape and corbels of the former vaults.
In 1558, at the time of the Turkish threat, the church was severely damaged, the vault collapsed and the building remained as a ruin until its reconstruction in 1617. By that time, the church was taken over by the reformed believers who reduced its layout to its current length of 19 meters; they covered the nave with a flat ceiling and closed the entrance to the unused chapel. At that stage, the entrance to the church was established from the south and three window openings were made on the south wall. From that period comes a valuable matroneum with painted decorations from 1627. In 1807, a bell-tower was built, a beautiful example of the so-called Gemer classicism.
ogni battito d' ali sembrava un ruggito silenzioso, un’onda che si propagava nell' Aria, mentre il suo sguardo predatorio scrutava la terra sottostante, vigile e inesorabile.
Il Sole colpiva le piume che riflettevano una Luce dorata, come se fosse una creatura appartenere tanto al Cielo quanto alla Terra, un simbolo di potere e sacralità!
Il Vento lo accarezzava, ma lui non aveva bisogno di spingersi, sa che ogni spostamento è calcolato, ogni volo è un atto di dominio.
Il suo corpo scolpito si disegnava nel Paesaggio circostante.
La sua potenza silenziosa, le sue enormi ali si aprivano in un abbraccio perfetto con il vento, come se il cielo stesso gli cedesse il passo...
Ogni battito è preciso, come se l' Aria non fosse altro che un elemento da domare, da piegare alla sua volontà.
Il paesaggio sottostante si srotola come un tappeto immenso, Montagne e Boschi che si perdono nell'orizzonte, Valli incassate e Fiumi che serpeggiano come fili argentati tra la Terra. Dio mio che bello tutto questo!
Ad ogni virata si avvicinava a me e il suo sguardo non sembrava indulgente.
Sguardo imperioso da sovrano che sorveglia il suo regno, deciso, ma al tempo stesso sospeso nella libertà assoluta del volo.
L' Aria fresca e rarefatta carezzava le sue piume, il suo corpo si spingeva senza sforzo, librandosi con una leggerezza che sfida le leggi della gravità.
La sensazione è di una libertà primordiale.
Il Vento accarezzava la pelle e le piume, e lui, indifferente a tutto, sembrava appartenere a un altro tempo, un’altra dimensione, dove nulla poteva fermarlo o impedirgli di Volare!
Il mondo sotto di lui appariva distante ed i suoi occhi penetranti, osservavano ogni piccolo movimento percependo anche il più impercettibile cambiamento nella Terra che sorvola...
il Cielo è suo!
AneWashi
The Church of St. Lawrence in Březina is originally a gothic sacral building standing in a cemetery on the outskirts of the village of Březina in the Mladá Boleslav region. The church is an important Gothic monument of the central Pojizera region. It is protected as a cultural monument of the Czech Republic.
The church dates from the turn of the 13th and 14th centuries, it was rebuilt in the Renaissance style in the 16th century and partly modernized.