St. John's Church

                                          Hyde Park Crescent

                                            Tybernia, London

St. John's Church

London, England

 "...Charles Fowler (1792 - 1867) .... dr(e)w up ... plans which he did expeditiously by 1829.  Fowler was a founder-member of the Institute of British Architects. His plan for St John’s -- a 13th Century style Gothic church --

St.John's Church

 "It took three years to build and on the 26th January 1832 the Lord Bishop of London, the Right Reverend and Right Honourable Dr Charles James Blomfield, consecrated St John’s Chapel, also known as the Connaught Chapel.  It was designed to seat 1500, with 700 free seats and the rest rented – the pews in all churches used to be rented for annual charges.  The total pew rentals in St John’s, which were paid to the wardens to cover expenses, were valued at £681 a year.

  "The church as we know it today is not the one we would have seen in 1832 or even at the turn of the 20th Century. The interior was darker; it was lit with candles, then gas lamps, and finally electric lighting in the late 1800s. There was a triforium, or balcony over each of the side aisles as well as over the entrance. Between the wooden pews, there was a row of paired chairs going down the nave leading up to the chancel. St John’s had a capacity of 2,200 people with 1,500 subscription seats and 700 free seats in the triforium. The pulpit, with its spiral staircase, was in front of the left row of pews attached to the rood screen, now at the entrance of the church. The baptismal font was located at the northwest corner.  The high altar, from St Michael’s Star Street was originally in the north transept in front of the organ, which was The Lady Chapel until the reordering in 2011. 

"In 2011 the old Victorian heating system was replaced and the pine pews (which came from America) were sold or auctioned off to raise funds for the beautiful new floor. The rood screen was relocated to the area behind the seating to create a narthex. Additional changes include the installation of toilets on the south side of the porch, while a much-needed kitchen was re-fitted on the north side.

St. John's Parish Hall

"St John’s has long had a strong association with music in London.  It employs eight choral scholars and an organ scholar per year, drawn from the best London conservatories." (Linc 2)

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Photos: Taken  in August 2020 by Lina while living and working in London England.

Linc 1:  https://www.google.com/search?q=St.John%27s%20Church%2C%20London%20England

Linc 2: https://www.stjohns-hydepark.com/moreaboutus/2016/7/21/history-of-st-johns-hyde-park

Esglesia de Sant Pere Church
Catonia, Spain

2020

SUMMARY

England

London- "Westminster Cathedral", 3/8/20.

Stepney[London Borough of Tower Hamlets Province of Canterbury-"Parish Church of 
                                      St.   Dustan and All Saints",
                                     2/2/20.

Spain 

 Girona Catonia- " Esglesia de Sant Pere  Church 
                                     Figures", 1/19/20.
Catonia, Province of Barcelona-" Esglesia de Santa 
                                      Susanna", 3/29/20.

Italy

   Milan-" San Fedele of Como  Catholic Church",

                                                       2/6/20. 

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Esglesia de Santa Susanna

Esglesia de Santa Susanna

Catonia, Province of Barcelona, Spain

"Santa Susanna is a municipality in the comarca of the Maresme in Catalonia, Spain. It is situated on the coast between Malgrat de Mar and Pineda de Mar. The main N-II road runs through the town.

"There is a train link direct from Sants station in Barcelona." (Link 2.)

Town Plaque

"On December 6th, 7th and 8th, (2018)Santa Susanna hosted the oldest equestrian race of resistance in Europe. The 65th edition of the International Raid Barcelona-Santa Susanna (the last big test of the raid calendar) brought together 156 binomials (rider / horse) from 16 different nationalities." (Liink 3.)

ChurchEntrance

Church Entrance, Rose Window & Tower

Interior/ Sanctuary

Altar & Ceiling Detail

Side Altar

Crucifix/Side Altar

Side Altar

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Photos: Taken in 2018 by RW with his iPhone while travelling in

                 Spain from his home in Switzerland.

Link 1: https://www.google.com/search?rlz=1C1KYPB_enCA770CA770&q=Inglasia+Malgrat+de+Mar&npsic=0&rflfq=

Link 2: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santa_Susanna,_Catalonia

Link 3: http://www.stasusanna.cat/

                                                                    Prayer

God, be with persecuted Christians throughout the world. Amen (SW.)

Westminster Cathedral

Westminster Cathedral

London, England

Exterior Sign

"Westminster Cathedral, or the Metropolitan Cathedral of the Precious Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ, in London is the mother church of the Catholic Church in England and Wales.

The site on which the cathedral stands in the City of Westminster was purchased by the Diocese of Westminster in 1885.^[2] Westminster Cathedral is the largest Catholic church building in England and Wales and the seat of the Archbishop of Westminster.

"John Betjeman called it "a masterpiece in striped brick and stone in an intricate pattern of bonding, the domes being all-brick in order to prove that the good craftsman has no need of steel or concrete.

Sanctuary

"The whole building, in the neo-Byzantine style, covers a floor area of about 5,017 square metres (54,000 sq ft); the dominating factor of the scheme, apart from the campanile, being a spacious and uninterrupted nave, 18 metres (59 ft) wide and 70 metres (230 ft) long from the narthex to the sanctuary steps,^[9]covered with domical vaulting.

"The main structural parts of the building are of brick and concrete,

"The central feature of the decoration in the cathedral is the baldacchino over the high altar. This is one of the largest structures of its kind, the total width being 9.5 metres (31 ft), and the height 11.5 metres (38 ft). The upper part of white marble is richly inlaid with coloured marbles, lapis lazuli, pearl, and gold. Eight columns of yellow marble, from Verona, support the baldacchino over the high altar, and others, white and pink, from Norway, support the organ galleries." (Link.)

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Photos: Taken by RW  in Oct. 2018 with Iphone while travelling in London. 

Link :  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Westminster_Cathedral

                                                                                                                    

                                                                        Prayer

God, be with persecuted Christians throughout the world. Amen (SW.)

San Fedele of Como

San Fedele of Como  Catholic Church

Milan, Italy

Church Plaque

"San Fedele is a Jesuit church in Milan, northern Italy. It is entitled to St. Fidelis of Como, patron of the Catholic diocese of Como.

"Located in Saint Fedele Square in the centre of the city, near the Palazzo Marino, the Teatro alla Scala and the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II, the church was commissioned by Charles Borromeo from Pellegrino Tibaldi (1559).

"The interior is on a single nave, with tall columns in granite. The presbytery was prolonged in the 17th century by Francesco Maria Richino, who also designed the notable sacristy. The façade was completed by Pietro Pestagalli from Tibaldi's designs in 1835. It features a group of Gaetano Matteo Monti's statues representing the Assumption.

"The interior is decorated with artworks that include a Pietà by Simone Peterzano, a St. Ignatius by Giovanni Battista Crespi (il Cerano) a Transfiguration by Bernardino Campi, and a "Sacred Heart" by Lucio Fontana. A Madonna of the Snake by Ambrogio Figino, once found in the church, is now in the church of Sant'Antonio Abate of the city. " (Link.)

Nave

Altar featuring a Pieta

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Photos: Taken in March 2019 with an iPhone by RW while traveling to Milan from his home in

             Basel Switzerland.

Link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Fedele_(Milan)

                                                                           Prayer

God, be with persecuted Christians throughout the world. Amen (SW.)

Parish Church of St. Dunstan and All Saints

Parish Church of St. Dunstan and All Saints
Stepney, London Borough of Tower Hamlets
Province of Canterbury

Church Poster

"St Dunstan's, Stepney is an Anglican Church which stands on a site that has been used for Christian worship for over a thousand years. It is located in Stepney High Street, in Stepney, London Borough of Tower Hamlets.

Bell Tower

"In about AD 952 the Bishop of London — who is also Lord of the Manor of Stepney — replaced the existing wooden structure with a stone church dedicated to All the Saints. In 1029, when Dunstan was canonised, the church was rededicated to St Dunstan and All Saints, a dedication it has retained.

"Up until the early fourteenth century the church served the whole of Middlesexeast of the City of London. Then new churches were built at Whitechapel and Bow. The existing building is the third on the site and was built of Kentish ragstone mainly in the fifteenth century (although the chancel dates from 200 years earlier). A porch and octagonal parish room were added in 1872.

"The church was restored extensively in 1899, at a cost of £5,600. The vestries and some of the main building were destroyed by fire on 12 October 1901, including the organ which had carvings by Grinling Gibbons. The restoration cost £7,084,^[1] and the church was re-opened in June 1902 by the Bishop of Stepney (at that time Cosmo Gordon Lang.

Church Bell Tower

"The ring of ten bells, the heaviest weighing 28¾ hundredweight, which hang in the belfry, were cast at the local Whitechapel Bell Foundry and are tuned to C#. The seven oldest bells were cast by Thomas Mears and Son, Whitechapel, in 1806. The bells were re-hung in 1899.^[1] Three were recast in 1952 when repairs were made to the tower.^[3] The bells are mentioned in the nursery rhyme Oranges and Lemons: "When will that be, say the bells of Stepney."

Parish Church of St. Dunstan and All Saints

"A fine triple Sedilia is found in the chancel.The rood is late Anglo Saxon. Of note amongst the plate is a cup and patten dated 1559 and a beadles's staff and vergers wand of 1752.

"The church is surrounded by a churchyard of nearly seven acres (28,000 m²). In 1658 William Greenhill was appointed vicar whilst retaining his position as a preacher at Stepney Meeting House. He held this post for about seven years, till he was ejected immediately after the Restoration in 1660.

"Shortly after this, the churchyard was enlarged to cope with the massive number of deaths during the Great Plague of London. In one eighteen-month period 6,583 died, with 154 being buried in one day in September 1665.

"The church has a long, traditional link with the sea and many sailors were buried here. It was once known as the 'Church of the High Seas'. The graveyard is also where Roger Crab, the 17th-century hermit who lived on a diet solely of herbs, roots, leaves, grass and water, is buried." (Link 1.)

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Photos: Taken in 2018 by RW with his iPhone while travelling in

                 London from his home in Switzerland.

Link 1" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_Dunstan%27s,_Stepney

Link 1" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_Dunstan%27s,_Stepney

                                                                    Prayer

God, be with persecuted Christians throughout the world. Amen (SW.)

Esglesia de Sant Pere Church

Esglesia de Sant Pere
Figueres, Girona Catonia, Spain

Tower Detail

"Figueres ... Catalan for fig trees) is the capital of the comarca of Alt Empordà, in the province of Girona, Catalonia, Spain. (Located in north eastern Spain.)

"The town is the birthplace of artist Salvador Dalí, and houses the Teatre-Museu Gala Salvador Dalí, a large museum designed by Dalí himself which attracts many visitors. It is also the birthplace of Narcís Monturiol, inventor of the first successful machine-powered submarine. Also born here was Mónica Naranjo, one of the best selling Spanish singers of the 1990s and 2000s. 

"The town's name derives from that of Ficaris, of Visigoth origin. In 1267, King James I of Aragon conceded it fuero rights, but four years later Count Ponç IV of Empúries set the town on fire. During the Spanish Civil War, it remained loyal to the Republican government, and was repeatedly bombed by the rebels. Figueres recovered starting from the 1950s, consolidating its economy around the tourism industry." (Link 2.)

Church Plaque

"The church of Sant Pere de Figueres is the church , parochial, mostly Gothic style that is located in the square of Sant Pere de Figueres .It is a religious building of Gothic origin. The façade is very simple with contemporary rosette and eardrum. The interior has a single nave, with chapels occupying the lateral buttresses. It has an octagonal dome and rebuilt belfry type fortification, the main apse and two sides: one is a tabernacle and the other sacristy. In the lateral right side there is a porch with three pointed arches, of later invoice. The natural lighting is achieved by two rosettes in the arms of the cruise, and that of the ship; and through the stained glass windows of the central apse.

Sant Pere Church Nave and Altar

"The first mention is 1020 and around it was built the medieval center of Figueres. It was probably built on a primitive paleo-christian church. From the early Romanesque temple (X-XI centuries) there are remains of the walls of the north face with a bush to the left of the nave, at the foot of the bell tower. In the 14th century, the Gothic temple rises over the Romanesque building. This new building reached the present cruise and was of a single ship with vaults of crevasses and buttresses, without a cruise or girola. 

Apse Windows

"In 1578 the façade was rebuilt, in a neoclassical style, where there is a great bull's eye that gives birth to the whole ship. Subsequently, it has undergone numerous extensions (in 1678 the Capella dels Dolors began on the north side) and modifications. In the eighteenth century the old gothic header is replaced by a cruiseand a polygonal apse. At the end In 1895 the dome was built according to a project by the architect Josep Azemar i Pont . 

Church Relic

"During the Civil War the church suffers from major destructions (fires and demolitions). In 1941 Amadeo Llopart, Enric Mora and Josep Maria Sagarra, from Barcelona, made the project for the restoration of the temple. Between 1941 and 1948 it was reconstructed with stone ashlars, the cruise crowned by the octagonal dome , following the gothic style of the old ship, thus achieving a unified, sober and monumental set. From the original Gothic temple the nave is conserved with the vaults of crevasse and the buttresses. 

Town Square Sculpture

"In this church Salvador Dalí was baptized"( Link 1.) 

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Photos: Taken in 2018 by RW with his iPhone while travelling in

                 Spain from his home in Switzerland.

Link 1: https://ca.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sant_Pere_de_Figueres (Translation.)

Link 2: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Figueres

                                                                    Prayer

God, be with persecuted Christians throughout the world. Amen (SW.)

.

Link 1: https://ca.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sant_Pere_de_Figueres (Translation.)
Link 2: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Figueres