.All Trips / Europe / Spain

Doors of La Sagrada Familia, Barcelona

00 Doors, La Sagrada Familia

One of my favorite buildings in the world is La Sagrada Familia.  In today’s post I thought I’d share photos of some of the doors and entrances to this beautiful (still unfinished) cathedral.
The photo above features what will be the cathedral’s main entry when the building is completed, and is known as the Doorway of Majesty.
The first completed entrance to the cathedral was themed after the Nativity, and the doors at this entrance show some imaginative details:



Even this more traditional cathedral entrance has an interesting skylight feature….

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.All Trips / Europe / Spain

The Critters of La Sagrada Familia, Barcelona

00 La Sagrada Familila

Gaudi’s fabulous La Sagrada Familia cathedral is well known for its innovative architecture.  Gaudi was a fan of nature and tried to incorporate elements of it in his buildings.
While visiting La Sagrada Familia, I notice a veritable zoo’s worth of animal designs incorporated into the structure.  Some, like a turtle bearing a pillar or reptiles crawling the exterior of the building are quite obvious.  Most subtle and interesting were the insects and other small creatures incorporated into some of the metalwork around the doors.

(Exterior detail of lizard, La Sagrada Familia)


Look carefully at the images below and see how many different types of critters you can see in and on the great

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“Pic of the Week”, April 2, 2021: St. Mary’s Catholic Church, Red Deer

03 St. Mary’s Catholic Church, Red Deer (7)

The small prairie city of Red Deer is not a place one would expect to find great architecture, but St. Mary’s Catholic Church is a notable and interesting exception.
The design of this church was the first project of Canadian architect, Douglas Cardinal Born and raised in Red Deer, Mr. Cardinal is Metis.  Today Cardinal is best known for designing the memorable Museum of Civilization in Ottawa and the Museum of the American Indian in Washington DC.
Planning for the church’s construction began in 1964 and it was completed in 1968. The entire structure is curved — the walls, roofline, even the roof.   There are no windows — light enters …

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.All Trips / North America / South Carolina / Southeastern USA

South of Broad, Charleston

03 Charleston South of Broad (8)

South of Broad is a novel by Pat Conroy, which I read years ago.  The book is set in Charleston, in the popular and historic part of the city situated south of Broad Street.  Like all of Conroy’s books it focuses on an interesting cast of characters, but the title of the book stuck with me.
The area south of Broad is located between the Ashley and Cooper Rivers and is a residential neighborhood filled with beautiful antebellum homes dating back as far as 1721.  The real estate of the neighborhood is pricy, it being unlikely you could purchase a home here for under a million dollars (repeated beatings by future hurricanes are thrown in for free).  It’s a charming area …

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“Pic of the Week”, May 29, 2020: Circular Congregational Church, Charleston

02 Circular Congrational Church of Charleston

Circular Congregational Church is one of the many interesting and historic churches in Charleston, and is home to one of the oldest community of worshippers in the USA.  The church was originally founded in 1681.  It is located on Meeting Street, the street named for the gatherings at this church.
The church you visit today is  the fourth building housing this congregation.  Records of the early churches have largely been destroyed by past hurricanes.  The third church was the first circular structure the congregation used, and it was destroyed by fire in 1861.  As the area was devastated by the Civil War and it took some time for rebuilding.  Bricks from the burned down church were used in constructing the present …

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.All Trips / Eastern Canada / North America / Ontario

“Pic of the Week”, May 15, 2020: Reflections of Toronto

01 Reflections of Toronto

While I admire buildings made of stone and brick more than those made of cement and glass, there are features to be enjoyed in modern architecture.  Toronto is filled with dozens of gleaming skyscrapers, many of which reflect the city.
(Click on thumbnails to enlarge, right arrow to advance slideshow)


 

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.All Trips / Europe / Italy

A visit to the fascinating Frari Church, Venice

05 Frari Church, Venice (8)

One of the great places to explore when visiting Venice is the Franciscan church of Santa Maria dei Frari (St. Mary of the Friars, commonly known as the Frari Church).  
As with many things in Venice, the Frari Church is an old building.  The church was originally constructed between 1236 and 1338, then rebuilt in Gothic style two centuries later.   It’s considered a minor basilica and is dedicated to the Assumption of St. Mary, Mother of Jesus.

Exterior, Frari Church, Venice

Exterior, Frari Church, Venice


While the church is well known for its spacious architecture, it is best known for the many fine monuments and terrific works of Venetian Renaissance art it displays.  This beautiful art is still situated exactly where the artists knew it would be placed and where it …

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.All Trips / Central USA / Colorado / North America

Homes of Leadville, Colorado

00 Homes in Leadville

A great day-trip destination in the Colorado Rockies is the town of Leadville, at 10,430 feet (3180 m) above sea level the highest incorporated city in North America.  Leadville is a Victorian-era boomtown which in its gold and silver mining heyday was home to 30,000 residents.  Today, less than 10% of that number still lives here, but there’s a lot to see in Leadville that makes it well worth a stop.  Also, all the roads leading to the town make for a beautiful day’s drive.

Overview of Leadville, Colorado

Overview of Leadville, Colorado

70 square blocks of Leadville were designated a National Historic Landmark in 1966.  We’ve featured some of the buildings from the downtown area in a prior post. Today I’d like to focus on …

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