From Vienna to Rome Via Zagreb

Author: Joseph

  • Italy: Ravenna

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    Joseph
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    One of Italy’s more remarkable cities is Ravenna, last home of the Roman Empire in the West after the fall of Rome. Ravenna, especially in its churches, has an eastern church feel with its splendid mosaics, among the world’s best. When Charlemagne visited San Vitale at the beginning of the 9th century, he declared it…

  • Italy: Bologna

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    Joseph
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    In 2016 I passed through Bologna for the first time and fell in love with this stylish city, its churches and museums and its superb food. The food is good everywhere in Italy, but Bologna is undoubtedly the best. This trip Bologna was a base for trips to Ravenna and Modena. We arrived in Bologna…

  • England, Lincoln

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    Joseph
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    Certainly one of the most vertical of English cathedral towns, Lincoln’s cathedral sits atop a very steep hill, so steep I took a taxi from the train station. The cathedral is among the best of the English gothic and I enjoyed wandering around the cathedral, although it struck me as a bit too clean, as…

  • England, Walsingham

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    Joseph
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    For years I have wanted to visit the medieval Marian shrine at Walsingham, which according to a few predates the Norman Conquest. The Anglican shrine was rebuilt on the edge of the village in the early 20th century. With its many chapels the shrine church was a snapshot of high church life in England immediately…

  • England, Norwich

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    Joseph
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    At first I thought Norwich would be a convenient staging point for my journey to Walsingham, but upon arrival from London I was immediately enchanted with the town. The streets lined with medieval houses twist around the village center where there is an arcade and an enormous open air market. The Norman cathedral is one…

  • Romania: Danube Delta

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    Joseph
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    The Danube Delta is one of Europe’s largest wildlife refuges, a vast, confusing watery expanse of at least four navigable river channels, a number of lakes, a few small towns and villages. In the Black Sea, hovering near the entrance to the Danube, were scores of freighters no longer able to dock in Ukraine. As…

  • Romania: Churches 1

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    Joseph
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    Even though Romania is largely Orthodox Christian, it is a complicated religious landscape. In the heart of Saxon Transylvania clustered around Brasov and Sighisoara are large fortress churches (mostly Protestant), designed to offer shelter to entire villages during the periodic raids the people suffered. A few of these fortress churches are on hills, but most…

  • Romania: Viscri

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    Joseph
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    The small village of Viscri is typical of countless small villages and cities across Romania: picturesque with an air of “almost unchanged.” Viscri is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site that benefits from its proximity to Bucharest. Many of the village houses have become vacation homes; perhaps the most distinguished is a blue stuccoed house…

  • Romania: Churches 2

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    Joseph
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    At the top of the list of places I wanted to see in Romania were the painted monasteries of the Bukovina. These stone buildings are painted with images of saints, last judgments and biblical scenes both inside and outside. Most of these monasteries date from the 16th century, although most are built upon much earlier…

  • Romania: Icons

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    Joseph
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    Icons are everywhere in Romania, especially in the Orthodox and Uniate churches. Many are of what might be called a naïve, primitive style, but closer inspection reveals considerable sophistication. Unique to Romania are icons painted in reverse on glass (églomise), a process that produces particularly luminous icons. A museum in the village of Sibiel exhibits…