The sun is shining brightly and I feel good. Now I need to get at today's A to Z blog.
W is for Wieskirche or Wies church.
In 1984 my ex-wife and I spent almost 2 months in Germany visiting relatives and being tourists. Prior to driving the Romantic Road in southern Germany my aunt told us to make sure we stopped at the Wieskirche. So we did.
At first glance the church didn't look like anything out of the ordinary. It was when I walked into the church that my breath was taken away. The interior of the Wies church is a masterpiece of the Rococo-Baroque style. The white walls and ceilings are covered with ornate paintings, marbled pillars and gilt decorations. The front of the church is predominantly golden, in the center of which stands a statue that was the primary feature of the Wieskirche.
The statue is a crude image of a chained and beaten Christ. The church was built to house this statue and is known as the Pilgrimage Church of the Scourged Saviour. Miraculous healings are attributed to this statue and many people come here to pray for healing.
The history and images of the statue and church are easy to find on the Internet so I won't repeat it here (It would make for a very long blog post).
For in their hearts doth Nature stir
them so
Then people long on pilgrimage to go
And palmers to be seeking foreign strands
To distant shrines renowned in sundry lands.
Then people long on pilgrimage to go
And palmers to be seeking foreign strands
To distant shrines renowned in sundry lands.
~~Geoffrey
Chaucer, The Canterbury Tales
You're right, that is very impressive. I think you were given good advice, don't you?
ReplyDeleteBlessings Geoff.
Wow, that does look impressive!
ReplyDeleteChurches in Europe tend to be so much more ornate than anything we have here... Maybe we should make some suggestions to Gerry about our new building. :P