Tonight, I'm going to do the hop-skip-and jump thing, because I can!!!
I'd like to talk a little (and I know only the basics, I can tell you right now) about 3 very different churches. I'm talking about the buildings themselves, and their backgrounds in terms of history. Because the buildings are enormously interesting as structures. I could include a 4th one, and I may, but the first 3 are straight ahead below (that didn't look right, I know).
San Xavier del Bac (Sahn Haveer del Bach {like the composer)) stands just outside of Tucson, on Tohono O'odham land. It is also called by many The White Dove of the Desert. (la paloma blanca del desierto). There have been, actually, two churches. The first was established a little away from the current church in 1700 by Father Eusebio Kino. The current building (I am REALLY fond of the concept of this building being current...) was built between 1783 and 1797 by two other priests. There are a number of unanswered questions about the building: who did the wonderful decorations on the inside, why was one tower never finished? It was a long time ago and at that time, artisans working on the interior would have been as anonymous as were the folks who did the carvings on the great cathedrals of medieval Europe.
Oh - Bac was the original name and means "where the water appears". The Santa Cruz River (which I have seen with any water at all in it only one time in 20 years) runs near the church. The water is there, but well below the surface until rains fill the substrate and the river fills itself. Remember that bridge in Oak Creek Canyon? Same thing for the bridge over the Santa Cruz. It's sturdier than you migfht think it needs to be, but there are reasons.
The church's exterior is white, and it's well maintained. In addition, there was a complete and very well done restoration of the interior at the end of the 20th century. The dry air of Arizona and the fact that the frescos and other art are inside in an un airconditioned space help to maintain the art for a long time, but the restoration was needed...
Here are some pictures. The black and white one is the mission church as it appeared in 1935. I looked at this pretty closely and I believe the road leading to San Xavier is dirt at that time.
The second picture shows San Xavier at dawn.
And the third picture shows the interior of the church. This is a style of art that is utterly different than what we might expect to see in such an austere building, but it's beautiful and unique and very much typical of the times in which the church was built.
There is also a school and a cemetery on the mission grounds. And every week there is a small farmer's market in the courtyard of the church. It's a working church to this day as well as being an historic building.
The second church is in (hold on to your maps and travelling shoes!) St. Louis, Missouri (the place with the arch). It's the Basilica Cathedral of St. Louis.
And it knocked me over, it just plain every day knocked me over. (I walked around with my head pitched back to see everything on the upper walls and ceilings and lost my balance...thank goodness for pews (which is the only time I shall EVER say that about a wooden bench, believe me).
The Basilica Cathedral isn't all that old. It's built in the pretty heavy Romanesque style: here's the mandatory picture. The smaller building to the left of the church is the rectory,
The Basilica was begun in 1907 and took 80 years to complete. Yup, 80. And there's a good reason why. It happens to be on the inside of the church. But before we go there, between the rectory and the church are lovely gardens that are peaceful for the weary traveler (me), and the entire street on which the basilica sits seems to be churches. We're down near the older and oldest parts of town, as well.
It's the interior, oh goodness, the interior. As far as the eye can see, on every feasible surface (walls, pillars, the lecturns, the ceiling) everywhere there are mosaics. The church IS mosaic. It's the largest collection of mosaic in the world.
And it's subtle and very much a product of centuries of mosaic tradition combined with artwork that reminded me of Eastern Orthodox icons.
The topics of the mosaics span the centuries and include everything from traditional subjects to the images of more modern individuals, folks who were important to the church's history in the area...I only have a couple of images...there is an online tour at the home site of the Basilica Cathedral of St. Louis - just google it and please, if you have a minute, take a look at the wonder of it... With the exception of the floor and the pews, everything you're looking at below is mosaic. It's glass backed with gold leaf, if I remember correctly. There's not a garish piece in the place.
The picture below shows you just a tiny portion of the ceiling. I should have left it larger - every little or bright sparkle you see (and we know how much I love sparklies!) is a tessera (cross word puzzle lovers know that word! It's almost as much fun as "ort". We crossword puzzle solvers are a strange group.)
I'm leaving the last picture full size so you can see the mosaic work more clearly - this is one of the 4 small side chapels off the basilica proper. Yup, the floor is mosaic as well.
Back into our travelling shoes we are going. I'm pretty worn out with all of the quiet, warmth of the basilica (never judge a book by its cover or a church by its exterior, eh?) so I'm heading back to Albuquerque, to Old Town.
To the church of San Felipe de Neri (St. Philip Neri), which has been a working church since 1706 - yup, that would be 303 years. It's a working church today, and sits quietly off the square in old town. Here are a couple of pictures to give you an idea. At the front are two signs: The first says Church of St. Philip of Neri, founded in 1706.
The second explains the history of the church very succinctly (another crossword puzzle word!) and requests that the visitor enter with respect.
The picture below shows the front exterior of the church and a little glimpse of more of oldtown (we'll look there another time, probably when we look at OldTown SantaFe). This is not a huge structure: the shot is taken from near the ground, I think. But, then, it doesn't have to be, you know?
The last picture is the interior of St. Philip Neri. Although it's almost a contemporary of SanXavier, the style of the interior is completely different.
People ask me sometimes which I like better...puhleeze. It's like asking me which of my favorite books I like better. I love these buildings because they're each beautiful and they definitely serve the purpose for which they were built. Each does it in a unique way.
And the really NEAT thing is that I get to wonder at them all!!! Not a bad thing to do on a vacation!!!!
Until next time (yes, there IS a Continental Divide)...off I go!
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