VERONA 2017: The Santo Stefano Church

So, after the Santa Maria in Organo church, followed by the Roman theater (remember?), we next stopped at the Santo Stefano church right next door.

That would be the green dot.

It was consecrated in 421 and was the burial site for the bishops of Verona for 4 centuries.

For a period of time it was the duomo/cathedral of the city.

It is one of the city's oldest churches.

We had seen the octagonal bell tower first before seeing the church.

This drawing (from Google images) helps.  

As usually happens, we're "short of eyes" when we first enter a church.  Where to start?

In this case, we entered the "lower church"...

where we were met by a volunteer who made it clear she would guide/assist us.

While we prefer to wander about on our  own, we later discovered that this church

has locked parts that can only be seen through guides.

And there were guides there that day because of the Verona Minor Hierusalem project,

a "small Jerusalem" experience for those who can't travel to the Holy Land.

She (our guide) immediately started with the amazing frescoes everywhere.

These are the Musical Angels by Domenico Brusasorzi, circa 1552.

She then took us down to the crypt...

where we saw a 14th century statue of St. Peter in his chair.
(Hmmm.  Where was St. Stefano?)

[I'm not sure I took any other photos in the crypt???  See why we don't usually like guides?]

To be honest, this church, along with the sequence of my images, is totally confusing to me.

 "The interior of the church has three naves, but with a single ceiling,

which has a cross, crypt and raised presbytery."

It took me awhile to figure out that this image (above)

is the main altar of the presbytery, which is raised from the lower church.

Here's a view from the lower church (from Google images), by Willem-Jan vander Zanden.

Walking down from the main altar...our guide then took us to the locked apse.

At least I think this is the locked apse, apparently something not everyone gets to see.

The definition of an apse is "a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical vault or semi-dome."

It looks more like a crypt to me...but I believe this was indeed the part under lock and key?
And I believe it's behind the main floor, under the raised altar (are you following this?). 

It looks like it fits the description of an apse, right?!

I have a feeling we were very lucky to see it that day.

Back to the main/lower church (with the stairs to the altar), we were left on our own...

to view the side chapels...

and to light a candle for someone.

No, I'm not a Roman Catholic but I'm loving the sentiment behind "lighting a candle" for someone.

It's the meditative action in that moment that is becoming special for me.

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

On that note, as we left the church, these three keystones showed their faces to us.

What more is there to say??!!

VERONA 2017: The Three Basilicas

By now you know how much Astrid and I LOVE LOVE LOVE the interiors of European churches.  Verona was an absolute gold mine, perhaps more than any other city thus far, and today's post is a feel for it's three basilicas.

You may recall earlier that I've made a distinction between churches, cathedrals and basilicas, which you can freshen up on here.  The main thing about basilicas is that the Pope is the one who designates them as such.

Then you have the difference between major and minor basilicas.  There are only four major basilicas in the world, all of which are in Rome.  So the three basilicas here in this post are, naturally, all minor.

The order in which we visited the three are the same order of the red dots, left to right.

1.  The San Zeno Maggiore Basilica

This was the basilica we visited our first afternoon in Verona, after passing the Castelvecchio.

It was built between 1120 and 1138 as Northern Italy's most ornate Romanesque church.

The striped brickwork is typical of Romanesque buildings in Verona.

The nave is...heavenly!

Frescoes are everywhere.

You climb a few steps up to enter the altar area.

You climb a few steps down to the crypt below the main floor.

The inside bronze door panels at the front of the church are alone worth the visit,

depicting Biblical stories and scenes from the life of San Zeno, Verona's patron saint, 

who died in 380.

2.  The San Lorenzo Basilica

The next day, on the way to the Castelvecchio museum and bridge, 
we walked past this church and decided to see if it was open, not knowing it was a basilica.
Present since the 4th century, it was rebuilt after an earthquake in the 12th century.

It was the smallest church of all the ones we visited in Verona.
Small and cozy.

Not knowing how important it was, we only popped in and out.

While it was on the city map we used throughout our trip,
it had no number referenced as a major landmark to see.
Imagine my surprise to find out the Pope had designated it a basilica.

3.  The Sant'Anastasia Basilica

Later that afternoon, we visited the Sant'Anastasia basilica, begun in 1290.

By now we knew the outside look could be deceiving, which it definitely was.

OMG.  And so totally different from San Zeno.

Worshiping there would be a constant invitation to Look Up.

Alcoves surrounded the nave.

Pews/benches invited you to sit and just be.

The sacristy at the side of the altar was like a chapel.

So many things to see.  We were short of eyes.

But what thrilled me most were the hunchback beggars holding up the holy water stoups.

One was carved in 1495 (this one, I think?) and the other a century later.

You've heard me say this before:  these European churches are our museums,

the ones we choose to visit when we travel.

You can see why!

Viking's Grand European River Cruise: Würzburg, Germany

Viking River Cruise, Day 6:  Rothenburg and Würzburg, Germany (Facebook collage)

(click any collage to enlarge)

Because this was a huge, chock-full day with 2 excursions, one of which was optional and at an added cost (Rothenburg), I am dividing Day 6 into 2 parts.  Part 1, today, is of the included excursion of Würzburg, which happened in the afternoon following our return from Rothenburg.

Würzburg has so many wonderful landmarks, but the one chosen for our tour was the Würzburg Residence, completed in 1744.  Though heavily damaged in WWII, it's been in restoration ever since.

From the outside, it's not what I wanted to be the Residence, once you see the other structures I show later.  But you can at least see how HUGE it is.  Too bad we didn't see it from the garden side!

Upon entering, the grand staircase greets you, one of the building's greatest attributes.

AND the ceiling frescoes, painted by a Venetian painter, Giovanni Tiepolo, and his son!

Four continents are represented in the corners of the vault, with frescoes in between.

Other embellishments make this place a huge WOW factor,

but can you imagine living there?  It's a museum!

Can you picture chandeliers like this over your dining table or in your foyer?  

What about a mirror room? Even on the ceiling?

In case you missed something important?

 It's quite something, isn't it!

Home to the Prince-Bishops of Würzburg....

...which is probably why I took great pleasure in this charming lady with the hat!

That was that...and now I know why I'm not a big museum lover.  I can appreciate all the grandeur, yes, but I just don't relate to most of it, if that makes sense.

But go outside, and suddenly I'm transformed....by architecture!

In this case, it was the Dom St. Kilian/Würzburg Cathedral, from 1040, that just didn't stop...!

With an overall length of 105 meters, it's the fourth largest Romanesque church building in Germany.

In other words, this is part of the same church!

You have no idea how long it took me to figure out that these weren't 2 separate churches!

And did we go inside?  YES, of course.

It, too, was a museum of sorts.

But that's what I feel about most European Roman Catholic churches!

 Nearby was the Collegiate Neumünster church built in 1711.

Even a peek is better than nothing.

The city's outdoor market is looked over by the Marien Chapel from the 14th century.

By now it was late afternoon and we didn't even attempt to see if it was open.

We were on our way back to the ship....

...letting it all sink in...

...impressions, impressions, impressions!

We knew we had to head for the Old Main Bridge to find our boat.
It was built in 1473 to replace the destroyed Romanesque bridge from 1133.
Starting in 1730 the statues were added.

From the bridge we could already see the Fortress Marienberg high up on the hill.  It is Würzburg's prominent landmark and symbol on the Main river and was the home of the prince-bishops for 5 centuries before the Residence was built.  Remember when at the top of this post I said I wished the Residence was here?
It was built in 704 A.D.  (Yes, you heard me.)

The building with the 2 tall spires is the Käppele, a "small" Baroque/Rococo cathedral from 1748.
The caramel-colored church below the fortress is the parish of St. Burkard.
See the close proximity of all 3 landmarks on the river!

 We passed all these fabulous archetectural delights as we walked back from the Old Main Bridge
along the river to our boat.  And there she was:  Home Sweet Home.

Before walking in to prepare for dinner, we saw this narcissistic swan at what could have been our window.
Or did she really see her soulmate and then just give up...and swim away?  poor thing.

Day 6 will be continued with Part 2, which was our optional trip to Rothenburg....