Growing up I've always thought that all Catholic churches, chapels etc looked so much a like.Then I realized, that was kind of the point. Another thing I came to realize was that all cathedrals were predominantly in the urban areas. Catholic schools, convents to be more precise had the chapel next door (see photo of St. Mary's girls below) while others had statues of the saints.
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| St. Mary's Girls |
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| Chapel at St. Mary's girls |
One thing that allowed you to recognize what denomination the building of worship belonged to was the architecture. The frosted glass windows with painting of the story of Jesus, the beautifully tiled floors, gargantuous wooden doors and several arches in door frames and roofing. They look very similar to those of 15th century Europe particularly of those countries that colonized Trinidad.
I'm not a fan of church architecture but I understand why tourists stop a lot whenever they see a church. The massive structures are so captivating one of the many things brought to us by Europeans and can now be considered as part of our culture.
"Rather, it is truly the centerpiece — the soul — of one of the great cities of Christendom" (Rose 2002)
I heard this and I thought it was quite interesting on church architectural theology. Hope you enjoy.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2PDWXMMgy9c
Is it urban? -- what else can you tell us about the social or the human relationships encapsulated in the architecture and design? -- how about the sense of sacred or otherwordliness in the urban? a spiritual oasis in a retail world?
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