Church Ceilings, Around the World

Grandiose, Ostentatious, Awe-inspriring, Humbling …

Such is the way that religious institutions—churches, synagogues, temples, mosques—are described around the world. Their designers created physical tributes to the deities that guided many lives throughout the centuries. Even today, in an age when our attention is torn from one flashing screen to another, these monuments still stop us in our tracks.

By setting my camera on its back pointing up, I tried to capture the diversity of these structures and the sense of the awe they all convey.

 

Sagrada Familia: Barcelona, Spain (1882 – current)

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Duomo di Messina: Sicily, Italy (1197, 1908, 1947)

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Pantheon: Paris, France (1790)

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Galleria Umberto: Naples, Italy (1891)

Not a religious institution per se, but some people take shopping very seriously. Even on Sunday mornings.

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The Pantheon: Rome, Italy (126AD)

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Cathedral of Saint Mary of the See: Sevilla, Spain (1507)

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Rumbach Street Synagogue: Budapest, Hungary (1872)

In Hungarian: Rumbach utcai zsinagóga

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St Joseph T.M.L. Masjid Mosque: Port of Spain, Trinidad (1954)

 

Holy Trinity Cathedral: Port of Spain, Trinidad (1816)

Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception: Washington D.C., USA (1959)

Washington National Cathedral: Washington D.C., USA (1990)

 

Metropolitan Cathedral Catedral Metropolitana de Santiago: Santiago, Chile (1880)