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 Hallgrïmskirkja:
Iceland
's Most Amazing Church
The Hallgrïmskirkja (literally,
the
church of
Hallgrïmur )
is a Lutheran parish church located in
Reykjavïk ,
Iceland
. At 74.5 metres (244 ft), it is the fourth tallest
architectural structure in
Iceland
. The church is named after the Icelandic poet and
clergyman Hallgrïmur Pïtursson (1614 to 1674), author of
the Passion Hymns. State Architect Guïjïn Samïelsson's
design of the church was commissioned in 1937; it took
38 years to build it.
 Temppeliaukio
Kirkko: The Rock Church
The Temppeliaukio
Kirkko ( Rock Church ) is a thrilling work of
modern architecture in
Helsinki
.
It is
built entirely underground and has a ceiling made of
copper wire.
It's final design
was by architecture brothers
Timo and Tuomo Suomalainen and completed in 1969. They
chose a rocky outcrop rising about 40 feet above street
level, and blasted out the walls from the inside. It is
one of the most popular tourist attractions in
Helsinki
and frequently full of visitors.
 Cathedral
of Brasïlia: The Modern Church of architect Oscar
Niemeyer
The Catedral
Metropolitana Nossa Senhora Aparecida in the capital
of
Brazil
is an expression of the architect Oscar Niemeyer.
This concrete-framed hyperboloid structure, seems with
its glass roof to be reaching up,
open, to heaven.
On 31 May 1970, the Cathedral's structure was
finished, and only the 70 m diameter of the circular
area was visible. Niemeyer's project of Cathedral of
Brasilia is based on the hyperboloid of revolution. The
hyperboloid structure itself is a result of 16 identical
assembled concrete columns. These columns, designed as
hyperbolic sections and weighing 90 t, represent two
hands moving upwards to heaven.
The Cathedral was dedicated
on 31 May 1970.
 Borgund
Church
: Best Preserved Stave Church
The Borgund
Stave Church in Laerdal is
the best preserved of
Norway
's 28 extant stave churches. This wooden church,
probably built in the end of the 12th century, has not
changed structure or had a major reconstruction since
the date it was built.
The
church is also featured as a Wonder for the Viking
civilization in the video game Age of Empires II: The
Age of Kings.
 Las
Lajas Cathedral: A Gothic Church Worthy of a
Fairy Tale
The Las
Lajas Cathedral is located in southern
Colombia
and built in 1916 inside the canyon of the Guaitara
River .
According
to the legend, this was the place where an Indian woman
named Marïa Mueses de Quiïones was
carrying her deaf-mute daughter Rosa on her back near
Las Lajas ("The Rocks"). Weary of the climb, Marïa sat
down on a rock where
Rosa spoke (for the
first time) about an apparition in a cave.
Later on, a mysterious painting of the Virgin Mary
carrying a baby was discovered on the wall of the
cave. Supposedly, studies of the painting showed no
proof of paint or pigments on the rock. Instead,
When a core sample was taken, it was found that the
colors were impregnated in the rock itself to a depth of
several feet. Whether true or not, the legend spurred
the building of this amazing church.
 St.
Joseph Church:
Known for its Thirteen Gold Domed Roof
The St.
Joseph The Betrothed is an Ukrainian Greek-CatholicChurch in
Chicago .
Built in 1956, it is most known for its ultra-modern
thirteen gold domed roof symbolizing the twelve Apostles
and Jesus Christ as the largest center dome. The
interior of the church is completely adorned with
Byzantine style icons (frescoes).
Unfortunately the iconographer was deported back to his
homeland before he was able to write the names of all
the saints as prescribed by iconographic traditions.
 Ruïica
Church: Where
Chandeliers are made of Bullet Shells
Located over the Kalemegdan Fortress in Belgrade,
Serbia, the Ruïica
Church is a small chapel decorated with... with
trench art! Its chandeliers are entirely made of spent
bullet casing, swords, and cannon parts.
The space the church now occupies was used by the Turks
as gunpowder storage for over 100 years and it had to be
largely rebuilt in 1920 after WWI. Though damaged by
bombings there was an upshot to the terrible carnage of
The Great War. While fighting alongside
England
and the
US
, Serbian soldiers on the
Thessaloniki
front took the time to put together these amazing
chandeliers. It is one of the world's finest examples of
trench art.
 Chapel
of St-Gildas: Built into the base of a bare rocky
cliff
The Chapel
of St-Gildas sits upon the bank of the Canal du
Blavet in Brittany,
France
. Built like a stone barn into the base of a bare rocky
cliff, this was once a holy place of the Druids.
Gildas appears to have traveled widely throughout the
Celtic world of Cornwall,
Wales ,
Ireland
and
Scotland
. He
arrived in
Brittany
in about AD 540 and is said to have preached
Christianity to
the people from a rough pulpit, now contained within the
chapel.
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