Churches, Cucuron

The Church of Lourmarin (eleventh century), part of the diocese of Avignon, was first linked to the history of the famous priory of Saint-André-de Villeneuve les Avignon. It was then without a chapel choir made ​​up of two bays only. https://www.maisonnettesenprovence.com/en/lourmarin/

Near The Rosier agency and Gordes Castle, in the village center towards the theater terraces and the 'belvedère', a monumental church is found devoted to San Fermin, a bishop of the sixth century. http://uk.rosier.pro/details-saint+firmin+church+in+gordes+walking+distance+from+rosier+real+estate-2723.html

Dating from the 17th century, bought by the municipality in 1993, this listed monument is one of the most visited historical and cultural sites in the Var. This monument is composed of a hexagonal dungeon, an entrance with adjoining curtain and bastions. http://www.sainttropeztourisme.com/fr/explorer/musees-lieux-remarquables/la-citadelle-de-saint-tropez/

When one gets to place Sainte-Anne (Sainte Anne square), one is surprised by the majestic Sainte-Anne Church (whose bell tower can be seen from anywhere in the city). http://www.montpellier-france.com/offre/fiche/place-sainte-anne/PCULAR034V50LMS4

Situated on the island of Saint Honorat off the coast of Cannes, the Notre Dame de Lérins Abbey is a Cistercian monastery. The abbey was founded around 410AD when Saint Honorat came here with the intention of living as a hermit but was soon joined by his disciples. Together they formed a community that became “an immense monastery” around the year 427. According to legend, Saint Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland, studied here in the 5th century. Today, open or guided tours are offered. The visitor can discover the fortified monastery with the main church dedicated to Saint Honorat in its centre and the Sainte-Marie church to the north. Also the 11th/12th century cloisters that border the common rooms such as the chapter room and refectory. The chapels, numbering seven, are distributed over the island. Finally, the hot shot furnaces remind us that the island and even the monastery had the role of defending the French coast. http://www.avignon-et-provence.com/en/monuments/notre-dame-de-lerins-abbey

The Cathedral Saint-Apollinaire is a monument in the municipality of Valence (Drôme, Auvergne-Rhône-Alps). It is an attraction for holidaymakers staying in the region. https://www.france-voyage.com/cities-towns/valence-7592/cathedral-saint-apollinaire-14577.htm

Inspired by the Muscovite style, it has a very richly decorated interior with many icons, murals and carved woodwork as well as an iconostasis of embossed metal. The primary vocation of this site being a place of worship, certain rules must be respected. http://en.nicetourisme.com/nice/80-cathedrale-orthodoxe-russe-patriarcat-de-moscou

Built with the stark white stones from La Turbie in 1875, this Roman-Byzantine-style building houses the burial places of past sovereigns, including Prince Rainier and Princess Grace. http://www.visitmonaco.com/us/Places-to-visit/Top-Attractions

The World Heritage Committee included on its list the Basilica and other sites important to the Franciscan Order, due to the fact that they represent an amalgamation of masterpieces stemming from creative human genius http://www.italia.it/en/travel-ideas/religion-and-spirituality/st-francis-and-the-basilica-in-assisi.html?h=assisi

The Puy-en-Velay Cathedral, listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1998, ranks as the 2nd favorite monument of the French in the show presented on France 2 by Stéphane Bern in 2015. After a first church built in the fifth century, the cathedral was built on Mount Anis. In the twelfth century, the influx of pilgrims led to sit four spans above a vaulted porch, to compensate for the slope of Mount Anis. The entrance was made by a staircase which opened in the middle of the central nave. In the nineteenth century, the building was considerably transformed, but the six cupolas and beautiful painted decorations were preserved. From 1994 to 1999, an overall restoration allowed the restoration of the central staircase closed in the eighteenth century, the repair of interior facing and the winding of the organ with its double-sided buffet of the seventeenth century. A new altar was placed at the crossing of the transept, while the altar of the "pilgrims", against the wall, carries the "Black Virgin" who replaced the primitive statue, burned to the Revolution. https://www.lepuyenvelay-tourisme.fr/monuments-puy-en-velay/cathedrale-notre-dame/

North of the town of Le Puy-en-Velay, Aiguilhe is famous for its rock (a dormant volcanic pipe) with an astonishing and magnificent chapel dedicated to St Michael built in the 10th century. This is one of the most important pre-Romanesque and Romanesque monuments in Auvergne. Prosper Mérimée included the building in the first list of Historic Monuments drawn up in 1840. More recently, it came fourth in the list of French people’s favourite monuments in 2014. Godescalc, the Bishop of Puy, and Truannus, the dean of the chapter of Puy Cathedral, commissioned work on a chapel devoted to St Michael in 961. Godescalc was also the first French pilgrim to follow the Way of St James in about 950, inaugurating the "Via Podiensis" trail to Santiago de Compostela. The original oratory in this imposing structure was limited to today’s choir area. It was enveloped in a larger monument in the 12th century, built to follow the outlines of the rock’s summit. The extended chapel was built without foundations, and contains a nave, an ambulatory and a tribune, along with a remarkable polychrome and trefoil-shaped facade. https://www.lepuyenvelay-tourisme.co.uk/monuments-puy-en-velay/rocher-et-chapelle-saint-michel-daiguilhe/

The Basilica of Notre-Dame de Fourvière is a vital part of the Lyon cityscape and you’d be a fool not to go up there. Mr Mayor, Gérard Collomb, even calls it a “treasure of humanity”. With one of the best views over the entire city, it understandably draws in busloads, who all load off to celebrate Mary and the paraphernalia of Christianity. Then you have those who hike up there for a brisk morning walk to lord it over the panoramic view and feel regal. The beautiful white Basilica of Notre-Dame de Fourviere, known by locals as the upside-down elephant, sits on the top of Fourvière hill, aka the ‘praying hill’, in Lyon’s 5th district, where the world of Catholics rubs shoulders with vestiges of Ancient Rome. From its dominant position, looming over the city below with vantage points aplenty, Fourvière has become a symbol of Lyon, attracting over 2 million visitors annually. Designed by Pierre Bossan, Fourvière basilica draws from both Romanesque and Byzantine architecture, two non-Gothic models that were unusual choices at the time. It’s actually one church on top of another. https://thisislyon.fr/things-to-do/historical-monuments/basilica-notre-dame-de-fourviere-treasure-lyon/

Built between 1922 and 1930, the Basilique de la Visitation is the chapel at the Visitation monastery and the place housing the tombs of Francois de Sales (1567-1622) and Jeanne de Chantal (1572-1641), co-founders of the religious order. https://en.lac-annecy.com/cutlural-heritage/1/154705-basilique-de-la-visitation.html

A fine example of Languedoc Gothic with a wide nave (20.25 m) and an imposing vault (23,5m). A square-based, 54 m high octagonal tower houses a 47 bell carillon. Public access is free (232 steps), and offers a breathtaking view of the entire town of Carcassonne. http://www.tourism-carcassonne.co.uk/detail/007a1d2be4f167c8e8cdfe8407287873/358021

The archaeological dig carried out in several batches between 1976 and 1999, allowed for the building’s constructive stages to be rediscovered. The digs involved an area which used to be part of a large extra-urban necropolis, where, at the beginning of the 5th century, there was an early-Christian complex which also included the cruciform church of S. Lorenzo. At the centre of the south nave, the basement of a funeral building was found, it may be dated to some time between the 4th and 5th centuries A.D.; the primitive church, which was erected to the north of this mausoleum, consisted of a simple apsidal hall surrounded by a portico destined for use as privileged burial grounds. In the 9th century, the church was completely rebuilt and enlarged, moving the general axis of the building southwards, the eastern extremity has three apses, while the facade was rebuilt to the west of the early-Christian one. In the year 989, a bell tower was added to the facade, the remains of which are still visible up to a height of approximately 15 m. The archeological dig of the choir of the church of S. Orso allowed for a square-shaped floor mosaic to be brought back to the surface, it was unknown and not mentioned by the sources, it was made with black and white tiles with some inserts of light brown coloured tiles. A series of six circles inscribed in the square, acts as a frame for the central decorations. In the central medallion there is an elegant representation of Samson killing the lion. http://www.lovevda.it/en/database/8/churches-and-sanctuaries/aosta/collegiate-church-and-cloister-of-sant-orso/720

The church of Sant’Evasio was founded in the first half of the 8th century, at the time of the Lombard King Liutprand, who wished to honour the saint by erecting a great basilica over the little church of San Lorenzo, built by Evasius himself. http://www.cittaecattedrali.it/en/bces/46-cathedral-of-sant-evasio

The majestic gothic cathedral soars skywards. It crowns the hill in Clermont’s historical centre.Work began on current-day Notre-Dame-de-l’Assomption Cathedral in 1248, under the supervision of architect Jean Deschamps and of the episcopacy of Hughes de la Tour. http://www.clermontferrandtourism.com/discovery/main-sites/the-gothic-cathedral/

The main historic site is the Baroque church of the village which has a tall square bell tower and inside there are some frescos and paintings by Paul Mathieu Novellini in a style which is typically Corsican. http://www.corsicatravelguide.com/places/piana.php

At the heart of the old town, the majestic Lausanne Cathedral overlooks the city. Seen as one of the most beautiful gothic art monuments in Europe, it attracts more than 400,000 visitors every year. https://www.lausanne-tourisme.ch/en/P10661/lausanne-cathedral

The largest church (115 metres in length), a jewel of Roman art begun in 1075 and consecrated in 1096. Pilgrimage church, designed to receive the crowds of pilgrims walking towards Compostela, and to shelter a religious community. One of the symbols of Toulouse, this basilica of brick and stone is certainly imposing. Majestic and luminous, it was built between the XI and XIV Centuries in honour of St Saturnin (or Sernin), the first bishop of the city. An important stop along the pilgrimage route to Santiago de Compostela, it inspires reverence and its vast proportions are ideal for strolling past the numerous reliquaries. https://www.toulouse-visit.com/la-basilique-saint-sernin/toulouse/pcumid031fs000a1

Clinging to a sheer rock overhanging one of the deepest parts of Lake Maggiore, the hermitage is a monastery made up of three buildings dating back to the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. It offers a wonderful blend of art and history set against one of the most charming natural canvases on Lake Maggiore, in which the rock appears to almost form a balcony leaning out towards the Borromean Islands. The hermitage can be easily accessed via a short walk from the lake or a picturesque staircase with 268 steps from a large square above, and a lift has recently been installed. http://www.vareseturismo.it/en/blog/hermitage-santa-caterina-del-sasso

The construction of the Duomo di Milano initiated in 1386 on the site of the ancient basilicas of Santa Tecla and Santa Maria Maggiore, which were then demolished at a later date. Dedicated to Maria Nascente, the cathedral was commissioned by Gian Galeazzo Visconti and had a dual purpose: the plan was to replace the sites of worship in the heart of Milan with an imposing edifice and it was also intended to celebrate the Visconti Signoria and its ambitious expansion policy. It is the largest and most complex Gothic building in Italy, made of pink-veined white marble from the Candoglia quarries, in the Val d'Ossola. It is 157 metres in length and covers an area of 11,700 m2. The highest spire measures 108.5 and, in October 1774, the golden 4,16 metre-high statue of the Madonna by the sculptor Giuseppe Perego was placed on its pinnacle. The construction works were prolonged over five centuries and, during this extensive period, local and European architects, sculptors, artists and workers all proceeded in turn to work in the Fabbrica del Duomo. The result of all their labour is a unique style of architecture, a fusion of European Gothic style and Lombard tradition. http://www.turismo.milano.it/wps/portal/tur/en/arteecultura/architetturaemonumenti/abbaziechieseebasiliche/Duomo_Milano

The San Gemolo Abbey in Ganna is an architectural complex formed by the church (consecrated in 1160), the bell tower, the cloister and the monks' homes. The abbey is located in the municipality of Valganna and is a place of worship dedicated to the memory of San Gemolo. According to the legend, the Saint walked to the abbey to be buried, bringing his own head in the hand. The cloister hosts the Museum of the Abbey with heterogeneous material, from prehistoric finds to nineteenth-century laces and embroideries. http://www.vareseturismo.it/en/blog/badia-di-ganna-0

Como, the Duomo (Cathedral) seen from the eastern side of the piazza, where in only a single block, the Duomo, the Broletto and the city tower are located. Como's Duomo is the last of the Gothic cathedrals built in Lombardy: it was begun in 1396, ten years after the foundation of Milan 's Duomo. http://www.comoanditslake.com/comocathedral.htm

Not to be missed is a place which preserve the memory of the ancient State of the Pallavicini and precious architectures of the 15th century,Church of the Sant’Annunziata. http://www.italia.it/en/discover-italy/emilia-romagna/piacenza.html

Castle Church Spiez (St. Laurentius) is evangelical-reformed First church: 7/8th century (762 first mentioned) Refurbished: 1949/50 http://www.thunersee.ch/en/activities-excursions-events-lake-thun/culture-tradition-lake-thun/thousand-year-old-churches.html

The Sagrada Familia is definitely the most famous building in Barcelona. Considered one of Gaudi’s masterpieces, it’s a key attraction in Barcelona and one of the most striking monuments ever built in the world. In fact, there is absolutely no other building in the world featuring such a genius mixture between Gothic and Art Nouveau styles. Antoni Gaudí took over the project in 1883, a year after construction had begun, and completely reshaped the project to fit his unique style. Unfortunately, Gaudí died in 1926 when only a quarter of the project had been constructed. Sadly, most of the blueprints left were burned in a fire, therefore, all that’s been built ever since has been a wide interpretation of Gaudi’s architecture. Stopping over the Sagrada Familia should be top priority if you’re in Barcelona for the first time. Visiting the basilica it’s an enjoyable experience and a great way to be introduced into Gaudí’s architecture. Besides, it offers the best possible views of the surrounding Eixample District, Barcelona’s own Big Apple. https://barcelonando.com/sagrada-familia

“When I was small, I thought the Château and the Collégiale were the same thing. They were so close, they seemed to be interlinked. Was it a church or a château? Most of all, it was the wonderful playground of my childhood! The years passed but the two emblematic monuments remain inseparable. http://www.neuchateltourisme.ch/en/decouvertes/town-heritage/collegiale-neuchatel.4709.html

The Gothic Quarter is one of the most famous landmarks in Barcelona. Located in the heart of the old city, this neighborhood features a fusion of buildings dating from Roman times to the 20th century. The main attribute of the Gothic Quarter is the antique aspect of its buildings, narrow streets and the near absence of traffic. In fact, many areas are for pedestrians only and built like a labyrinth of winding streets and hidden squares. https://barcelonando.com/barri-gotic-gothic-quarter

Visiting this enchanting abbey, established one thousand years ago, you will experience the very same atmosphere of knights, crusades and religious mysteries. Surrounded by the lush forests of the mount Canto, this church kept its charming and austere Romanesque architecture, decorated by the fragments of ancient frescoes, which used to cover its walls http://www.visitbergamo.net/en/object-details/133-sant-egidio-in-fontanella-abbey/

The Baptistery of San Giovanni was founded on 15 August 1152. It is here that the Sacrament of Baptism is administered and the Christian embarks upon the path of Faith. The reason that such a fascinating and enigmatic building was constructed was certainly the wish to endow the cathedral with a worthy adjunct: a Baptistery that, in terms of position, size, materials and style, would be in harmony with the majestic building that already stood opposite. https://www.opapisa.it/en/square-of-miracles/baptistery/

Pisa Cathedral is a medieval Roman Catholic cathedral dedicated to the Assumption of the Virgin Mary, in the Piazza dei Miracoli. Founded in 1064 and consecrated with great pomp on September 26th 1118, the Cathedral was built in two stages, one by architect Buscheto, who created the original layout with the basilican body with four aisles and one nave, a transept with one nave and two aisles, and the dome on the cross vault, and one by Rainaldo, who extended the building and the façade. The outer facing of the Cathedral is decorated in alternating black and white shades in stripes of Arab influence and a massive use of reused materials from Roman monuments that emphasised the greatness of the city of Pisa, “altera Roma”. Inside, the nave is edged by two rows of monolithic columns made of granite from the Isle of Elba, flanked by four aisles separated by smaller colonnades with large womenís galleries on top, covered by cross vaults and looking out onto the nave through some double-lancet and four-lancet windows. The nave is covered by a wooden coffered ceiling that in the XVII century replaced the original exposed trusses. https://www.opapisa.it/en/square-of-miracles/cathedral/

The exuberant Santa Maria della Spina Church in Pisa, Italy, is a beautiful work of Gothic fantasy rendered in miniature, that sits on the banks of the Lungarno Gambacorti. The eye-catching Santa Maria della Spina was originally a simple oratory for seamen, who would come here to pray for a safe return. The church was originally closer to the river bank. The church needed to reflect the value of the relic that it contained, so the best artists of the time went to work on it. These included Lupo di Francesco, Andrea Pisano with his sons Nino and Tommaso, and Giovanni di Balduccio. The “Madonna and the child with two angels” in the tabernacle on the façade is attributed to Giovanni Pisano, an important master who also worked at the Cathedral. The sumptuous decorations on the right side and in the tabernacles were made in the workshops of the Giovanni Pisano school. In contrast with the outside, the interior is quite ostentatious. It’s essentially one open space, at one end of which stands the “Madonna of the Rose” by Andrea and Nino Pisano, one of the most notable achievements of Gothic sculpture. http://lovefromtuscany.com/where-to-go/cities-in-tuscany/pisa/santa-maria-della-spina-church/