Ten beautiful churches

Claudia Sabbagk    

Habemus Papam! It is Francisco I, from Argentina. He gave his first blessing from the window in Basilica di San Pietro (Vatican City. Winter, 7am-6:30pm; summer, 7am-7pm. vatican.va) , where the centre of the Catholic power rests. Most of the Basilica is made of marble taken from the Colosseum.

                                                                                                                                   Claudia Sabbagk       

From 1309 to 1377, the residence of the popes was the Palais de Papes (Place du Palais, Avignon. Mon to Fri, 9am-6pm; Sat, 9am-5pm; Sun, 10am-2pm. palais-des-papes.com), the biggest Gothic Palace of Europe.

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The Anglican Bath Abbey (12, Kingston Buildings, Bath. Mon, 9:30am-6pm; Tue to Sat, 9am-6pm; Sun, 1pm-2:30pm, 4:30pm-5:30pm. bathabbey.org) is the third church that occupies the site where il lays now.

                                                                              Claudia Sabbagk                                            

The Saint Patrick's Cathedral (Saint Patrick's Close, Dublin. Mon to Fri, 9am-5pm; Sat, 9am-6pm; Sun, 9am-10:30am, 12:30pm-2:30pm, 4:30pm-6pm.stpatrickscathedral.ie), the larger of Dublin's two Church of Ireland cathedrals, was founded in 1191.

                                                                                Claudia Sabbagk

In New York, the Neo-Gothic Catholic Saint Patrick's Cathedral (460 Madison Avenue, New York. Main entrance on 5th Avenue. Mon-Sun, 6:30am-8:45. pm. saintpatrickscathedral.org), takes a whole block of the Big Apple.

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About 8000 m² of the Catholic Basilica di San Marco (Piazza San Marco, Venezia. Mon to Sat, 9:45am-5pm; Sun, 2pm-4pm. basilicasanmarco.it) is decorated by mosaics made of gold, bronze, and a variety of stones.

                                                                          Claudia Sabbagk                                               

 

The Catholic Cathédrale des Sants Michel et Gudule or Sint-Michiels en Sint-Goedelekathedraal (Parvis Sainte-Gudule, 1000, Bruxelles/Sinter-Goedelevoorplein,1000, Brussel. Mon to Fri, 7am-6pm; Sat and Sun, 8am-6pm. Sat, visits from 8am-3:30pm and Sun, visits from 2pm-6pm. cathedralestmichel.be) was completed in about 300 years.

                                                                                                                                           Claudia Sabbagk    

The Basilique de Sacre Coeur de Montmartre (35 Rue du Chevalier de la Barre, Paris. Mon to Sun, 6am–10:30pm. sacre-coeur-montmartre.com) stands in the highest part of Paris. The Catholic Basilique was built in 39 years and its construction was finished in 1914.

                                                                                Claudia Sabbagk

The Kaiser Wilhelm Gedächtniskirche (Breitscheidplatz, Berlin. Mon to Sun, 9am–6pm. gedaechtniskirche-berlin.de) was bombed in 1943. The remains of the protestant temple stand as a memorial besides a modern church and a chapel.

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The Gothic Duomo di Milano (Piazza del Duomo, Milano. Mon to Sun, 7am–7pm. duomomilano.it) is the largest Italian Cathedral. It took almost six centuries to build it (1386-1965).