Showing posts with label Church. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Church. Show all posts

Saint Patricks Cathedral

Saint Patricks Cathedral is located in Midtown Manhattan, New York, USA. It was constructed in New York in 1800 and is constructed in Gothic style. Since we had not visited many catherdrals before it the cathedrals architecture did attracted us.
We entered the cathedral and prayed at the Altar. Since, it was allowed to take snaps inside the cathedral we took some snaps and moved on to our next New York cities tourist destination.

DDLJ Church Interlaken

The DDLJ Church, Interlaken, Switzerland, is the most eternal place for Shahrukh Khan and Kajol Lover.It might sound boring but I wanted to explore Interlaken as much as Yash Chopra did for Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge. Based on the assumption that film was shot in Interlaken, I took decision that we must go and see the church which was part of that eternal movie. So we walked along streets of Interlaken and reached the church. It might sound crazy for someone, but it was dream come true for me.

Duomo

Duomo

The Duomo in Florence is the third largest cathedral in the world. Also known as The Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore. The entrance to the Duomo is free. There is queue in front of the Duomo for entrance. On your way to Dumo spot tourist information centre and grab walking day tour map. You can spend another half an hour inside the Duomo admiring its beauty. The dome of the Duomo is painted by artist Zuccari. For more information on the Duomo please refer the site. Florence Duomo From the exit you can come out and enjoy the Façade, the grand entrance of the Duomo. Bank opposite the Façade is the Main portal – three huge bronze doors adorned with scenes from life of Modonna. On the right of the Dumos entrance is the Ghitto’s Bell Tower. This completes the visit to the Duomo. It’s almost noon and we head towards Uffizi.
Recommended: On the left side of the Duomo is the entrance for the stairs which lead to the dome of the Duomo. It gives you spectacular view of Florence. We skipped that but its worth watching Florence from the top of the Duomo.
Dome

Entrance of the Duomo:

Video Clip inside the Duomo

Afternoon Lunch:


On our way to Uffizi, it was bit difficult but not impossible to find a cheap eat out. There are some cheap eat outs near the exit of the Uffizi. Or you have to search one in the near by small lanes. Ideal it should cost you around 4 to 5 Euros person in such eat outs. It was difficult to find water fountains in the area and we had to buy mineral water bottles. Therefore it’s advisable to fill up all the water bottles at the hotel early in morning.

Vactican Musuem, Sistine Chapel

Vactican Musuem, Sistine Chapel

By the time you have finished the Vactican Church it will be already 10 o clk. Without wasting to much of your time, head straight to the Vactican church Museum. One has to walk towards the Ottaviano Metro and take left turn for the Museum. You have to buy separate tickets for the musuem entry. You can skip the line if you are in big group as the Museum has separate entry for those in a group. I would suggest to buy an audio guide at after climbing the cicular steps or the escalator. Be ready with your Id to be kept as deposit. The Museums path is one way and directions are pointed on map. If you are bound by time then I would suggest you skip the initial Egyptian, rooms and head straight to the Raphels room. The 10 highlights of the museum are listed at the following site http://mv.vatican.va/3_EN/pages/x-Select/10select.html. I would personally recommend you the Raphels rooms and the Systine chapel. No photography is permited in the Systin Chapel.

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St Peters Basillica/ Vactican Church

St Peters Basillica/ Vactican Church

From the metro station Vactican church is 5 minuntes walk. Try to make it as early as possible to the Vactican church. You will save almost 1 to 2 hrs of wait time just by reaching early. The streched open arms of the vactican church gives you a warm welcomes. The photo session of the vactican church can be covered in the later part of the day. The church opens at 7 o clock and closes at 12:30 in noon. This is the biggest cathedral in world and unique piece of achitecture and connoisseur. There are several chapels in the church where preist from various parts of the world are performing rituals. You can easily spend 2 hours enjoying each chapel and the sculptures and paintings used to decorate it. Each piece of art narates story from bible or the renisance period. One of the Michelangelo's famous piece of art - Pietà resides in the St Peters Basallica. The marble statue was made for the cardinal's funeral monument. The audio guide counter starts at 9 o clk therefore we had to skip it. You can hire local guide if you want to. Each and every dome is decorated with Mosaic paintings. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mosaic. For beginer, the domes looks like one painted with colors. Once you have covered all the chapels inside the church you can come out and turn to your left to head to the Top of the Dome. There is ticket of 7 Euros for Elevator service or Ticket of 5 Euros to climb the Dome using the steps. The Evelvator takes you half way through. Once you get out of the Elevator you can enter the Dome and get close view of the Mosaic art painted on the inner wall of the Dome. Its worth spending those 7 Euros. One has to climb another 250 circular and small steps which swirl around the Dome to reach the top . There are cafeteria, restroom and dirnking water facilities before you start climbing the steps. If its not a clear day then I would recomend, its not worth climbing those steps for elderly person. You can head straight to the exit and take an elevator to the ground floor. If its clear day then you get scenic view of the Roman city. This is place for KodaK Moment :). Once you have done with it take an elevator to the ground floor. You can get change to see the Pope on Wednesday in front of the church. I think you have to register your name to get place in the auditorium in front of the church. You need to do more research about the same.

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Sant'Ignazio di Loyola a Campo Marzio

Sant'Ignazio di Loyola a Campo Marzio

In search of some important site, we happened to visit the church. Its not marked as must see at any tourist site but still its full of surpise for any visitor. There is statue made of marble on the right hand side of the chapel which is amazing. One cannot make diffrence between marble used in the statue and the curtain depicted in it.

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Pantheon

Pantheon

To reach Pantheon from Rome termine we took bus number 40. It was huge dome shaped monument. Entry is free. Its must if you are planing to see the free stuff in Rome.

The pantheon was the first Rome attraction which we saw and therefore will remain as memorable. You can walk around the pantheon to get the feel of its gigantic diameter. You can enter the monument and sit inside and enjoy the dome. There is small chapel inside the monument.
The dome has hexagonal depressions. The combination of the light coming in the Pantheon from the center dome and the hexagonal designs gives the pantheons dome an intresting character.

Since our return flight was from rome we had decided to see the stuff which is available for free on the first day. If you have only 2 days then you can skip this section. There are many other intresting locations located around pantheon at walkable distance.

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York Munster

York Munster is one of the biggest Munster in England. It is elegant building made of stone.



Guided Tours:
There are free guided tours conducted in the Munster. If you are not in hurry to complete your day trip in York then one should certainly go for guided tour. The guide will take you through the Munster and will narrate you story behind each Wall and Window in the Munster.


Escavations Site:
There is underground excavation site which shows the old Vikings remains.

The visit to Munster consumes 1 to hours. After your visit is complete you can come out you can try your luck to fit yourself and the Munster gate in the cameras frame.

Entrance Fee:
The entry fee to York Munster is 5.50 GBP and it comes free with the York Pass.

Site: http://www.yorkminster.org/

St Marks Basilica, Venice


The church St Marks Basilica stands in midst of
St Mark Square
in Venice. Entry to the church is free of charge however there is big queue to enter the church. The queue usually extends on the right hand side. On reaching the entrance you realise that the official is rejecting you for the bag packs. There is a counter on the left hand side of the church to keep the bag packs. The service is free of charge. The basilica has special fee for visiting the golden altar etc