Must-visit destinations – Discover 4 Imposing Natural Stone Churches

One living with the only purpose of earning more money can only be balanced by faith, serving as an incentive for moving forward. Despite having religion in our souls, we feel the urge to bring it to the spotlight as a symbol for future generations.

Churches that were built to symbolize our strong connection with God later turned into landmarks for architecture lovers. Of course, churches are made of natural stone, as a symbol of eternity. These days, with all the developments in the building industry, stone remains the material of choice for building churches, whether it involves marble, travertine, granite, sandstone, or limestone.

#generatinginspiration and faithful to our slogan, we recommend 4 travel destinations, that include imposing churches and decoration projects with natural stone.

1. Sacré-Coeur Basilica, Paris – travertine

A project designed and initiated by French architect Paul Abadie, Sacré-Coeur needed 6 more architects for completion. Overlooking Paris Montmartre Hill, the works on Sacré-Coeur extended over 39 years (between 1875 and 1914), using travertine quarried from Souppes-sur-Loing, known as "Château-Landon". This is a very rough travertine with fine texture and high content of calcite, which leads to a white color stone when subjected to water (rain, etc.), hence the name "white stone”.

photo source: frenchmoments.eu

Other interesting details that make Sacré-Coeur fascinating:

• an architecture inspired by famous churches (Saint Sophia – Constantinople or St. Mark's Basilica – Venice)
• Paris’ second highest point (83 m), only surpassed by Eiffel tower.
• 11.5 million visitors / year – 2nd most visited Parisian landmark, behind Notre-Dame cathedral. 
• a church designed to expiate the crimes that hapenned during the Franco-Prussian War (July 1870 – January 1871), a war that ended with Paris under Prussian domination. Such an outcome is reportedly due to a “sinful” Paris, hence the inspiration for having Sacré-Coeur.
• a magnificent view over Paris, reaching out a 50 km range area.
• the biggest & heaviest bell in France, Savoyarde with a 3 m diameter and approx. 19 tonnes in weight.

2. Sagrada Familía Basilica, Barcelona – sandstone and partially granite

Gaudí's masterpiece belongs to Art Nouveau (called Modernisme in Catalan), with a foundation established in 1882 and still not completed. In fact, the initial architect Francisco de Paula del Villar resigned in 1883, when the project was assumed by Antoni Gaudi, who designed the amazing shapes we all know today. Gaudí always deem Sagrada Familía as a spiritual project, and strive to complete it until his tragic death in 1926, with a basilica at 15 – 25% completion phase.

photo source: tiqets.com

Built with sandstone quarried from the Magic Mountain of Montjuic, Sagrada Familía features a couple of interesting details:

• built with granite quarried from Galicia.
• the 18 towers that serve as religious symbolism, depicting the 12 Apostles, the Four Evangelists, the Virgin Mary, and Jesus Christ (the tallest tower). Currently, only 8 of the 18 towers are completed, corresponding to 8 Apostles.
• 3 facades: Nativity façade – facing East and dedicated to the birth of Jesus, Passion façade –facing West and dedicated to the Passion of Christ during crucifixion and Glory façade – the main façade facing South, dedicated to Jesus’s death and Resurrection, apart from the present and future glory.
• exterior Gallery with 7 columns – symbolizing the 7 gifts of the Holy Spirit.
• funding obtained exclusively from donations and entry tickets, which explains the delays on deadlines.
• projected height of 170 m, with 1 m below Montjuic, because Gaudí always felt that his work should not exceed any Lord's creation.

Often compared to a sand castle and filled with symbolism, Sagrada Familia Basilica was best described by architecture critic Paul Goldberger as "the most extraordinary and personal interpretation of Gothic architecture since the Middle Ages".

3. Blue Mosque, Istanbul – marble

Built from marble during the reign of Sultan Ahmed I by architect Mehmet Aga, Blue Mosque appeared from sultan's desire to eclipse the major mosque at that time, Hagia Sophia. Turkey’s National Mosque and nation’s symbol, Blue Mosque was built between 1609 and 1616.

photo source: surahotels.com

A controversial construction at the time, Blue Mosque’s details include:

• 5 main domes, 6 minarets and 8 secondary domes.
• 20,000 Iznik Blue tiles, hand-painted for interior decoration, hence the name (the exterior of the Mosque is NOT blue!).
• impressive interior columns, plus painted ceiling with Islamic motifs and austere space (the Islamic religion forbids the veneration of images).
• §  heavy iron chain hanging at the Western entrance, so that the Sultan (the only person allowed to enter the Blue Mosque on horseback) would need to lower his head for avoiding to be hit and thus as a remembrance to remain humble.
• a hospital, a caravanserai, a religious school and a free cafeteria accommodated by the mosque.
• 6 minarets controversy (the first mosque to feature 6 minarets). As the legend mentions, in the design phase the architect understood that the great Sultan ordered 6 minarets because of the word “alti”, which means “six" in Turkish. However, the Sultan wanted gold minarets ("altin" is "gold" in Turkish). As a result, the Muslims felt offended by a mosque with a similar design to Mecca’s Holy Mosque, and 6 minarets also. So, the improper situation was solved by adding a 7th minaret to the Mecca’s Mosque.

4. Kukulkan Pyramid, Chichen Itza, Mexico – limestone

A temple dedicated to Kukulkan – the Feathered Serpent, a Mesoamerican serpent deity – also called El Castillo ("castle" in Spanish); built from limestone by the pre-Colombian Maya civilization, between the 9th and the 12th century AD. El Castillo is a reference of the pre-Columbian Mexican civilization, shaped as a pyramid with a series of square terraces and stairs along its 4 sides.

photo source: elpais.com

Details of such a unique construction:

• number 365 corresponding to Haab' (days in a Mayan solar calendar). This is obtained by adding the 91 steps from every side of the pyramid and adding 1 for the top platform, as the last "step".
• throughout the spring and autumn equinox, afternoon sun produces a series of triangular shadows, when touching the Northwest corner of the pyramid, creating the feeling of a "snake" "dripping“ down the pyramid.
• feathered snakes sculptures going down the sides of the Northern railing of the pyramid.
• a theory that places El Castillo as axis mundi at the crossroads of 4 cenotes (freshwater filled cavities from steppe regions, positioned over loess): the Sacred, Xtoloc, Kanjuyum and Holtún.
• ancient pyramid found below El Castillo, dating back to 800 AD and built by Mayans, before Toltecs and Quetzalcoatl (the Feathered Serpent – their supreme deity).
• "The Voice" of Quetzal bird, heard while clapping hands over pyramid’s northern steps.

Regardless of your holiday plans for this summer, we recommend you these 4 places of worship – spiritual "journeys" into fascinating universes. To find inspiration for your decoration projects with natural stone, we invite you to visit our website and get in touch with our sales team at export@piatraonline.com or by phone at +40318.222.333