As mentioned in the previous post, here are some photos from the Basilica of St. Francis Xavier in Dyersville, Iowa. I was there in late morning yesterday. This church was built in 1888 and still serves a large parish. The steeples are over 200 feet tall.
My intention was to photograph only the exterior, but then I noticed some people exiting a side door so I decided to go on in and am very glad I did. Though not a Catholic, I was certainly in awe of the beauty in this place.
It was very quiet and peaceful in the sanctuary. No one else was in there right then. Everywhere I looked was a photo opportunity!
The stained glass windows were gorgeous. Someday I hope to return and get more photos of them.
Even the ceiling overhead was beautiful:
The lighted votive candles attested to the fact that others had recently been there:
I was raised Baptist and married into a Lutheran church. Neither makes much use of religious statuary, but I enjoyed seeing the statues that were in the Basilica. I wish I could visit cathedrals in Europe, but probably never will, so this lovely church planted in the farmland of Iowa will have to do.
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8 comments:
I visited here years ago, and I agree it is just amazing architecture and artwork. Dyersville has a lot of interesting places to visit in the middle of the rural area. Great pictures!
Wow, that's beautiful, I'm glad you went inside!
Like you I will never see the other side of the world. Due to health issues I will also probably never see much outside of my own area before to long. So I depend on other bloggers to take me along vicariously on their travels.
You were a wonderful tour guide in this and the previous post. Thanks for taking me on this tour.
I have two brothers that are both Catholic priest and see a lot of churches. This one is magnificent. I am going to go look at google maps when I leave here and see how far away this town is. I get to Omaha several time a year to see my sister so I cross a corner of Iowa each time. We are always going the long way round so that we get to see more of the country. Perhaps we will make it your way one day.
Thanks for visiting my spotty barn post a while back. Afraid that I am hopelessly behind on my return visits and just now catching up to yours. It lead me to your wonderful blog so I am grateful for the visit.
I sat for a moment in that peaceful Church...by way of your photos...
I went to click your follow button so you would show upon my dashboard and I did not find one. Did I miss something? Do you not want followers? I settled for bookmarking but I do not find time to check those as often as the ones that show up on the dashboard.
Awhile back I decided to delete the followers' widget from my blog because it made the blog load slowly. Also, I decided to stop following blogs. I use Google Reader to store the blogs I frequent.
You're lucky to have such a beautiful basilica so close to hand.
Our church, here in town, though small, is quite lovely with beautiful paintings of some of the Saints on the ceiling and some very nice stained glass windows as well. I feel very at home in it, and even joined the choir earlier this year.
Kat
This is an ornate and beautiful building.
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