History . . .

St Sulpicus is the patron of St Sulpice Paris, and was a seventh century bishop that was known for his staunch faith and the resistance he offered to the tyrannical Merovingian Kings. The church was established by the society of St Sulpice who wanted to replace a small Gothic church. The church took close to a hundred years to build, and was built in a number of phases. There were a number of architects that contributed to the design.

It was constructed in sixteen forty six, and was subject to large scale expansions in sixteen seventy. This was stopped from sixteen seventy eight to seventeen nineteen and then resumed under the supervision of Gilles Marie Oppenordt. The church was finally complete by seventeen forty five.

Specfications and Information . . .

Site Info

• Names – Saint – Sulpice Church Èglise Saint-Sulpice; St – Sulpice;
• Located in – Paris, Ile – de – France, France
• Religion – Christianity
• Denomination – Catholic
• Status – active
• Dedicated to -  St. Sulpicius
• Category – Churches
• Architecture – Late Baroque
• Date – 1646 – 1745
• Size – Length – 115 m
• Width – 57 m
• Height ( interior ) – 33 m
• North tower ht – 73 m

Visitor Info . . .

• Official tours – Sun 3 p m
• Cost – Free
• Opening hours – Daily 8 : 30 a m – 8 p m
• Address – Rue St-Sulpice, 6e, Paris, France
• Phone – 0 1 – 4 6 – 3 3 – 2 1 – 7 8
• Website – www.paroisse-saint-sulpice-paris.org
• Public transport – Metro – St Sulpice Paris

San Francisco church was built originally on the site of the present one. The building for the church began in the year fifteen forty eight. Just about one year before the La Paz would be founded. However, the original church building got destroyed in sixteen ten, when the weight of the snow atop the building proved too much for it. The church was rebuilt in seventeen eighty four.

Iglesia de San Francisco has a unique mix of architecture. The church has a blend of both Catholic Church art as well as native influences. The façade is Baroque, but it sports rich decorations and engravings of tropical birds, dragons, snakes and masked figures.

The interiors are no less impressive, with a neoclassical influence. The altars are small and in cedar, featuring ornate gold designs. The views on offer from the roof here, which can be climbed, are heavenly.

The interior is Neoclassical in style, featuring small cedar altars decorated with gold leaf designs. The roof can be climbed for fine views of the church rooftops and the city of La Paz.

A similar blending of traditions can be seen on the Plaza de San Francisco in front of the church: a modern sculpture of rock pillars and stone faces honors Bolivia’s three great cultures: the ancient people of Tiwanaku; the Incas; and modern Bolivians.

Quick Facts

Site Information

• Names - Iglesia de San Francisco, Church of St. Francis, San Francisco Church, St. Francisco Church
• Status - active
• Date – Founded 1548; rebuilt 1784
• Architecture - Baroque
• Category - Churches
• Located at - La Paz, Bolivia

Visitor Information

• Address - Plaza San Francisco at Av. Mariscal Santa Cruz, La Paz, Bolivia
• Faith - Christianity
• Denomination - Catholic
• Dedication - St. Francis
• Opening hours - Mon – Sat 4 – 6 p m
• Lodging – View hotels near this location
• Cost - Free

Things to see in Bode Museum:

The Museum Building

The main building of this museum was designed by Ernst von Ihne. He was the government building officer. The Bode Museum is constructed in  “Wilhelminian Baroque” form of architecture. The museum building is a majestic, splendid building, also the outer wings of the structure directly overlooks the River Spree. The river flows on both sides of this Museum Island. Also, the northwestern corner of this museum occupies the end of the museum island. It is topped by means of a huge Baroque dome. Later, a smaller dome was constructed at the other end of the structure. It overlooks the train tracks, which run across the museum island. The interior of the Bode museum is bright and spacious, moreover is decorated with superior architectural details.

Bode Museum – Collections

The Bode Museum includes three most important collections of the prominent Staatliche Museum (commonly known as National Museum): the Museum of Byzantine Art, the Numismatic Collection, and the Sculpture Collection.

Bode Museum – Sculpture Collection

The wide-ranging Sculpture Collection, which is displayed in the Bode Museum, includes many works that belongs to the Early Middle Ages up to the late eighteenth century. The sculpture collection is mostly brought here from the German-speaking world, the Netherlands, France, Spain, and Italy. Italian sculptures are specially well-represented.

The Museum of Byzantine Art

The Museum of Byzantine Art is only one of its kinds in Germany. This museum is located inside the Bode Museum and displays art and artifacts that belongs to Late Antiquity and also the Byzantine era. The art and artifacts are typically from the Mediterranean region, which includes Turkey, Italy, Greece, Egypt, North Africa, and the Balkans.

Bode Museum is the leading museum that has the sculptures of eastern roman empire, but only after Archaeological Museum, which is located in Istanbul. The art and artifacts that are on display include tombstones, Early Christian sarcophagi, inscriptions, mosaics, ivory relief’s, icons, items from every day life for example belt buckles, and different liturgical objects.

The collection of Bode museum also includes medieval seals, paper money, and various forms of money, which was used by the primitive people. In conclusion, there are around 15,000 minting tools along with that it has a huge collection of casts.

The township of Esquipulas is located in southeastern regions of Guatemala close to the borders of El Salvador and Honduras, at an altitude of almost 3,018 ft (around 920 m). An attractive Baroque structure, which is painted in a glossy white color, this basilica dominates the skyline of Esquipulas. Extraordinarily, this basilica has survived numerous earthquakes over many centuries with small damages.

The Shrine of the Black Christ has got its name from the dark wood, which it was used for the carving of the shrine. The statue of Christ is housed within a glass case placed on the altar in the easternmost end of this basilica. A huge statue that portrays Christ suffering over the cross, this is a fraction of the Crucifixion group along with St. John and Mary Magdalene.

Pilgrims are made to stand in a line by the side of the western wall of this church for seeing El Cristo Negro that too from a close distance. Many times people stand in the line for more than one hour for getting a close up of El Cristo Negro. After taking glimpse of the statue and then saying the prayers, all pilgrims move away from the statue and make their way out from the church from the other side. Majority of the pilgrims believe that turning their back to the holy figure is an offense.

Festivals and Events

Several special processions along with services are organized on the Festival of the Black Christ, which takes place on 15 January, 21-27 July, and all through Holy Week every year. This basilica is completely jam-packed on these days with Guatemalan pilgrims.

Esquipulas Basilica – Getting There

Esquipulas Basilica is located at a distance of 80 miles in the eastern region of Guatemala City in Esquipulas and is easily reached through air or car transportation.

Esquipulas Basilica – Opening hours

On a daily basis the opening hours of Esquipulas Basilica is from 6am to 8pm.

Esquipulas Basilica – Entrance fees

Pilgrims are required to pay no entrance fees for entering Esquipulas Basilica.

Esquipulas Basilica – Services

The timings of services in Esquipulas Basilica are given below:

Monday to Saturday at 6:30 a.m., 11 a.m., 5 p.m.

Sunday at 6:30 a.m., 8 a.m., 9:30 a.m., 11 a.m., 12:30 p.m., 5 p.m.

The pipe organ is one of the most interesting features of Berliner Dom, Berlin. It was reconstructed by a renowned architect Wilhelm Sauer. The pipe organ was first built in the year 1905 and has around 7000 pipes.

Several members from the Hohenzollern family are resting in peace in this church. Few of them are Friedrich I along with his wife. Both of them are entombed within marvelously sculpted sarcophagi. The oldest tomb in Berliner Dom is the tomb of Johann Cicero. He was an elector of Brandenburg. The tomb was constructed in the year 1530. The main altar of the cathedral was originally built in the year 1850. Anton von Werner has originally created the nativity scenes on the stained glass windows in the year 1905.

Berliner Dom was damaged heavily, during the war-time. Numerous restoration programs were then carried out on the cathedral, till the year 2006. The restoration programs include the inauguration of 8 mosaics which beautify the ceiling of the dome. The outer structure of the dome was reconstructed with simplified spires and cupola from 1975 – 1982. The parishioners were allowed to celebrate Mass once again in the year 1980 and after that Funerals and Baptism were carried out.

A number of readings and concerts are organized in the dome of this cathedral. Also, numerous guided tours are offered and are very useful to know the history of Berliner Dom. The entrance fees to this cathedral include the auto-guides that are available in several languages.

Berliner Dom opening hours:

The opening hours of Berliner Dom are as follows:

Monday – Saturday: from morning 9am to evening 8pm.
Sundays and holidays: from noon 12 pm to evening 8pm.

Berliner Dom is closed down for public visits by evening 7pm during winter months from October to March.

Berliner Dom entrance fees:

€5 is charged for the students and the retirees and €8 is charged to the adults with audio guide as the Berliner Dom entrance fees.

Berliner Dom Official tours:

Officially guided tours of Berliner Dom are provided at this site.

The imposing Baroque assembly at Melk was constructed in between 1702-1736 by a renowned architect Jakob Prandtauer. In particular remarkable is the church with wonderful frescoes that are made by Johann Michael Rottmayr as well as the library, which contains countless manuscripts from medieval times.

The monastic community in Melk is more than 900 yrs old as well as black-robed Benedictine monks even today stroll amidst the frescoed walls as marble sculptures. It is in the present, a high-status coed monastery school that has more than 700 students.

Things to see in Melk Abbey:

The drawing of this current abbey ensemble (constructed 1702-1736) is principally the work of the renowned architect Jakob Prandtauer. In addition, the Marmorsaal (commonly the Marble Hall) encloses pilasters coated by red marble as well as a ceiling that is allegorical painted through Paul Troger.

The library rises at the height of two floors as well as has the Troger ceiling, with almost around 80,000 volumes of the priceless works. Furthermore, the Kaisergang (commonly the Emperors’ Gallery) widens for almost 198 meters (650 feet.), decorated by means of portraits of the Austrian royalty.

The best part of the abbey, however, is without doubt the Stiftskirche (commonly Abbey Church). This church has a surprising number of windows as well as is luxuriously embellished by means of marble as well as frescoes, which are composed by Johann Michael Rottmayr and he was been assisted by Troger.

From the terrace of abbey you will come across fine views of the adjacent river, which Napoleon perhaps used as a watch out while he had appointed Melk as his command center for the campaign in opposition to Austria.

Furthermore, the abbey restaurant (locally known as Stifts restaurant Melk) is located in close proximity to the entrance and serves hot meals along with monastery wine within gorgeous Baroque as well as outdoor surroundings.

Melk Abbey Opening hours:

May to September: morning 9 am to 5:30 pm in the evening (final admission is made at 5pm)

April and October: morning 9 am to 4:30 pm in the evening (final admission is made at 4pm)

November to March: only kept open on the guided tours

Melk Abbey Entrance fees:

If you are visiting this site with the guided tour, in that case €9.50 for adults and €6.30 for students is been charged, also if you are visiting without tour, in that case €7.70 for adults and €4.50 for students is been charged.

Melk Abbey Facilities:

The only facility that is available at the site of Melk Abbey is the restaurant.