Melrose and it's Abbey

Fall 2012 - Melrose and Melrose Abbey

By the time we got to Melrose Abbey it was shut - though we knew that would be the case ahead of time. Luckily, you can get a pretty good view around two sides of the Abbey from outside the gates. So, I climbed up on the gates to get a better view - despite the wary looks from my father.

Dryburgh Abbey

Fall 2012 - Dryburgh Abbey 

This was the last Abbey we got to go in to. It is unique compared to the others because it's not in the middle of a town, but was actually incorporated into a Romantic garden in the 18th century. It's a shame I don't have more photos, (not very many of them stood out to me...) but I really like the ones I have! 

Jedburgh Abbey - Architecture

Fall 2012 - Jedburgh Abbey, The Borders

For some reasons, I have more photos of Jedburgh Abbey than the others. Perhaps it was the afternoon sunlight, or perhaps it was the way the architecture layers in photos. 

Jedburgh Abbey - Room, of Uncertain Function

Fall 2012 - Jedburgh Abbey, The Borders

Jedburgh Abbey is considerably more intact than Kelso Abbey. I really love how the whole shell of the church is still standing - it makes for some great photos.

Kelso Abbey

Fall 2012 - Kelso Abbey, The Borders

The Border Abbeys. Let's see if I can explain this in a way that makes sense. The Abbeys, I believe, were all built in the 1100s, and from about the time they were built, they were being attacked by the English. And then Henry V became King, and the monasteries and abbeys were disbanded. 

This is Kelso Abbey. Apologies for the lack of general shot of the Abbey - there's so little of it actually left that there's not a lot of space around it. In fact, it takes up about a block of a the town of Kelso, where it seems as though no one really notices the abbey in the middle of their town. 

Stirling - Around the Castle

Fall 2012 - Stirling Castle

These are some of my other photos from around Stirling:

The statue of Robert the Bruce on the castle Esplanade, a view out of a no longer used window, the town of Stirling from the Castle, and this church we passed on our walk home. 

 

The Castle

Fall 2012 - Edinburgh Castle

The photo at the top is one of the only good photos of the castle without a bunch of people in it. People are distracting. For instance, there is this other photo I like, but there's a couple kissing in it. So distracting!

The second photo is from St. Margaret's Chapel, which was built around the 12th century, and is the oldest surviving building in Edinburgh. The stained glass image, then is of St. Margaret, looking very Saintly with the light from behind. 

The Castle - Memorial

Fall 2012 - Edinburgh Castle

Edinburgh. When I was here last, I didn't make it up to the Castle, so when my parents were here, we most certainly went. All of these photos are of the Scottish National War Memorial, which was opened in 1927. 

Naarden's Great Church

Summer 2012 - Naarden

Once again the Grote Kerk. Apparently, it's one of the older churches in The Netherlands, having been built in the 15th century, and not having been destroyed by the 16th century Spanish invasion. You can hardly tell from theses photos, but the ceiling is beautifully painted with scenes from the Bible.

When we visited, there was an exhibition of a photography contest in the church. Though the photos were really interesting, many of them were quite violent. This combination of something so very modern and dissonant to the atmosphere of the church is something I notice the Dutch do a lot - and I actually quite love it. They are reverent towards their past, but willing to integrate the past into the modern world.

I Spire

Summer 2012 - Naarden

The Grote Kerk (Great Church) in Naarden has some great spires on it's steeples. My favourite is the two headed eagle, which is on the town's flag. 

Utrecht

Summer 2012 - Utrecht

Even though I've called Holland my home base for a little over seven years, before this summer I had never been to Utrecht. Luckily, my friend Chris lived in Utrecht, and he is a Medieval historian, so he knew quite a few interesting places to visit. 

One of the most famous sights in Utrecht is the Dom Tower. The tower is the tallest church tower in Holland, but it's not actually connected to the church. The construction for the church and tower began in the 1300s, but the church was never completed. A few hundred years later, a tornado (seriously) swept through Utrecht, and through the church, separating the tower from the nave. Eventually the nave was reconstructed but not reconnected to the tower. If you visit now, look at the church - there are still pieces of the broken wall visible on the outside. Also look at the ground in the square between the church and the tower - there are gravestones, like one would normally see on the floor in a church.

Just peeking out from behind the building on the left in the second photo is the Catholic Cathedral. 

And in the bottom photo is what looks like another church - but also a bar. Yup. It is an old church converted into a pub! It looks like just a normal restaurant from outside, and that is because it was a hidden Catholic church - built inside a normal house but hidden from the Protestant officials.

The Cloisters

Spring 2012 - The Bronx

Last Spring I was taking a class called Art and the Sacred in Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages. Or Art and the Sacred for short(er). Seeing as though I went to school just outside of New York, we were lucky enough to go on a field trip to The Cloisters. If you ever have the opportunity to go, go. 

These photos are from the largest cloister - I couldn't get enough of the capitals, but I suppose that's the point!

Churches and Walls

Spring 2012 - Istanbul

The first photo is of the Hagia Eirene, one of the first, if not the very first church built in Constantinople. Unlike the Hagia Sophia and the Little Hagia Sophia, the Hagia Eirene was never converted into a mosque even though it eventually ended up within the walls of the Topaki Palace (wall pictured in the second photo...). However, the church was shut both days I went by, so I was only able to enjoy it's beauty from the out side. 

The final photo is from a church on the 'modern' side of Istanbul.

The Little Sister

Spring 2012 - Istanbul

There is no where you can go in this city that is not beautiful. The first photo was taken walking towards the Little Hagia Sophia, which you can see in the back of the shot, the second from the outside, and the third from inside the mosque. I've included that third, not so fancy photo predominantly because of how cool this church-now-mosque is. Originally know as the Church of the Saints Sergius and Bacchus, (a mouthful, to say the least) the church was literally a miniature version of the Hagia Sofia, though it was built first. Like the Hagia Sofia it was converted into a mosque, but it still has the bones of a Byzantine church for sure. Check out the resemblance between these columns and those of it's larger sister church, and oh wait, does the dome seem to be floating to you?

The fourth photo is of the ubiquitous Hagia Sophia at night time. One of the reasons I love this photo of it so much is because of the lack of minarets. Nothing against minarets in general, but they weren't part of the original structure, and so it's always interesting to see it that way. 

And then there's the lock. I love the locks. I have a feeling most people do, but hey, they always look good in a photo. This one is on the fence that surrounds the Obelisk of Theodosius - the base of the obelisk in the background, contributed by Theodosius, while the obelisk was clearly just relocated by him. From what I can tell, the lock reads, "Groetjes van: Marlie & Thijs oktober 2009" or "Greetings from: Marlie & Tijs October 2009". That was the pretty obvious translation in Dutch, there. 

The Hagia Sophia

Spring 2012 - Istanbul 

Where do I start? The Hagia Sophia was built in the 6th century by the Roman/Byzantine (depends on who you ask) Emperor Justinian. The Church was built very soon after riots had destroyed the previous church on the site. There are many things about the design of this church that made it groundbreaking for it's time, but perhaps the one that hits you the most upon entering (and is most clear from the photos) is the way the central dome seems to float without visible support. 

The third photo is of the Blue Mosque (seen in my last post) from a window of the Hagia Sophia. The Hagia Sophia is actually cited for being a major influence on the design of the Blue Mosque, as well as many other mosques throughout the Ottoman Empire. 

The whole thing is absolutely breathtaking - I would go so far as to say the most beautiful church I have ever been in, and I have been in many.