- St Francis Xavier church
The St Francis Xavier church was built between 1660 and 1665. - Pestsäule in Leoben
Leoben had to fight plague in 1347, 1352 and 1716. In 1716 the column was erected in the town square. Maybe it helped as there has been no more plague since :-) The Holy Trinity at the top with St. Barbara, St. Xaver, St. Sebastian on the left and St. Rochus, St. Jakob and St. Florian on the right. - Leoben
A clever installation in a mining town. Glückau' - Leoben
A very intricate - almost fractalesque coat of arms. - Schwammerlturm
The tower was originally built in 1268 and rebuilt in 1615. The first time I'm seeing the tower with blue background, so far only at night and/or rain. - St Jakob
Saint James the Less with some tool, with which he had been killed. - Saint Bartholomew
Just Saint Bart carrying and knife and his skin around ... - St Francis Xavier church
The interior is basically the same since the 17th century. With an interesting contrast between black/gold/white. - Île Saint-Honorat
Areal view of Saint-Honorat. Lérins Islands are so so beautiful. - Above the clouds
Il fait toujours beau au-dessus des nuages :-) - Maritime Alps
I think Cima Ventosa is in the front left. I'd kind of like to know which mountains are in the background: Mercantour, Queyras, Ecrins in the clouds? - Maritime Alps
I think this is the border between sunny Italy and cloudy France. Towards Monte Frisson. - Fly me to the Moon
A sculpture by J. C. Farhi (2011) at Venice airport. Is it just me - but I see Pikachu :-) - Classe
My guess would be that the difference in green background also means the border between the original and restored mosaics. - Classe
More idyllic scenery. Not all of it is completely original though, but I don't know which part is and which isn't. - Classe
Saint Ursus, the bishop of Ravenna ca. 405-431. He built the Orthodox Baptistery. - Classe
One of the many 5th-8th century sarcophagi. This one, called the sarcophagus of the twelve apostles, is one of the oldest ones from the 5th century. - Classe
All around the church are images of bishops. I guess this one became a pope. - Classe
The 6th century abse depicts: - a cross on the sky with 99 stars - the hand of God - Elijah and Moses - three lambs representing Saint Peter, Saint James and Saint John. - Classe
A 7th century mosaic depicting Abraham, Abel and Melchisedek around an altar. And the Hand. Why are there hinges on the curtains? - Classe
What an idyllic scene. - Classe
Saint Elijah. - Classe
A lot of mosaics were ruined (probably by the Venetians), but the apse and arch remained. We're talking 6th century here. On the top is Christ in a medallion with the Evangelists' symbols, underneath twelve lambs and two palms on the sides. - Classe
Saint Apollinaris praying with 12 little lambs. His coat is covered with golden bees, the symbol of eloquence. Wonderful background decorations, flowers, rocks, plants, birds... - Classe
Moses in the sea of clouds. - Classe
Buffalo by Davide Rivalta. In front of the Basilica of Sant' Apollinare in Classe. - Sant’Apollinare Nuovo
The cylindrical campanile dates to the 9th-10th century. - Sant’Apollinare Nuovo
The ceiling. - Sant’Apollinare Nuovo
Let's go: bottom line: Saints Valeria, Crispina, Lucia, Caecilia, Eulalia, Agnes, Agatha, Pelagia and Euphemia. middle: unnamed saints, prophets, evangelists... carrying scrolls or codices. top: the woman at the well, the woman with the flow of blood, Jesus cures the blind, (partial) the calling of Peter and Andrew. - Sant’Apollinare Nuovo
The town of Classe (only partially original). Middle: unknown prophets and evangelists. Top: The paralytic at Bethany, The Gerasene Demoniac, The paralytic at Capernaum, The Sheep and the Goats This side shows a much younger beardless Jesus. - Sant’Apollinare Nuovo
Top row is the life of Jesus, middle row the saints, prophets and evangelists, bottom row are the famous processions. Apparently Pope Gregory ordered the mosaics to be blackened, not to distract the worshipers. - Sant’Apollinare Nuovo
Bottom: Theoderic's palace and the town of Ravenna (PALATIVM and CIVITAS RAVENN). Middle: more unnamed prophets and evangelists. Top: the way of the cross, Resurrection: the women at the tomb, The road to Emmaus, Jesus appearing to the apostles. - Sant’Apollinare Nuovo
The Three Magi, Balthasar, Melchior and Caspar. They carry the gifts (gold, frankincense and myrrh) and walk towards the Bethlehem star. - Sant’Apollinare Nuovo
The church was erected by the Ostrogothic king Theodoric as his palace chapel in early 6th century. Reconsecrated in 561 by Justinian I, suppressing the Arian church. - Domus dei Tappeti di Pietra
The Good Shepherd, depicted as a pretty well-off young man with fancy shoes and stockings. This mosaic was found on a different (older) level that the previous ones. - Domus dei Tappeti di Pietra
Dance of the Seasons (original), the musician. - Domus dei Tappeti di Pietra
Dance of the Seasons (original), Autumn. - Domus dei Tappeti di Pietra
Dance of the Seasons (original). Spring on the left, Autumn with the crown is in the front, Winter in the back and Summer is missing. A personification of Time plays a pan flute. - Domus dei Tappeti di Pietra
- Domus dei Tappeti di Pietra
What a lovely private building, dating from the 5-6th century. The villa had at least 14 rooms, this one was probably a new reception room. In the centre, there is The Dance of the Seasons. - Domus dei Tappeti di Pietra
I wonder if the red and blue were always that pale or were they more vibrant. - Domus dei Tappeti di Pietra
- Domus dei Tappeti di Pietra
What lovely mosaic floors of private villas. - Domus dei Tappeti di Pietra
Parts were covered with mosaics and parts with marble plates. This were the foundations for the marble plates, now (pretty sure) reused elsewhere. - Domus dei Tappeti di Pietra
Accidentally discovered in the 1993/94. But what do you do when you have multiple layers of history stacked on top of each other? You decide to display the prettiest? This one certainly is worth displaying! - Ravenna
What lovely messages all over the town. - Ravenna
Well, hello there! - Museo Arcivescovile
The cathedral, the baptistry on the right, and the Museo Arcivescovile on the left. - Museo Arcivescovile
Cross of Agnellus. The silver medallions covering the cross date from the 11th century. - Museo Arcivescovile
Cross of Agnellus, details of the silver medallions. - Museo Arcivescovile
Apparently a 16th century patera. Whatever that is. - Museo Arcivescovile
- Museo Arcivescovile
- Museo Arcivescovile
Pulpit - ambo (597) shows plenty of animals as well as Saints John and Paul. Made out of a reused old sarcophagus. - Saint Andrew's Chapel
Depiction of young Christ with Saint Peter and Saint Paul. - Saint Andrew's Chapel
The dome is decorated with four angels pointing towards IX, and the four symbols of the evangelists. - Saint Andrew's Chapel
Six female martyrs: Daria, Perpetua and Felicitas. On the other side are Eufemia, Eugenia, and Cecilia. - Museo Arcivescovile
The entrance to the museum. - The Orthodox Baptistery
Hm, is this an optical illusion? Because sometimes I see birds and sometimes fish. - The Orthodox Baptistery
Another empty throne, awaiting Christ's Second Coming. - The Orthodox Baptistery
The central image depicts the Baptism of Christ, Saint John the Baptist on the left and a small Jordan on the right. The bearded heads are not original though. And the apostles are named. Funnily, some have golden tunics with white pallium and other vice versa. - The Orthodox Baptistery
What a masterpiece this is! Multiple circles of mosaic depict the central baptism, followed by the twelve (named!) apostles and the outer circle shows richly decorated thrones and altars. This mosaic is a few decades older than the Arian one. - The Orthodox Baptistery
Saint Jacob - The Orthodox Baptistery
Lush decorations - The Orthodox Baptistery
Saint Bartholomew - The Orthodox Baptistery
Saint Andrew - The Orthodox Baptistery
Quite a cool modern depiction of the Nativity by Cesare Cardinale. - Ravenna Cathedral
The belltower of the Ravenna Cathedral. - The Orthodox Baptistery
The Orthodox baptistery, also called the Neonian Baptistery. Built by bishop Ursus but decorated by bishop Neon in 470. - The Arian Baptistery
Saints Peter and Paul lead a procession of five apostles towards the cross on an empty throne (representing God the Father?). In this Arian baptistery, the Father is above the Christ, possibly indicating the Arian beliefs. Saint Paul on the left, Saint Peter on the right. The rest I don't know. - The Arian Baptistery
As always, beautiful decorations everywhere. - The Arian Baptistery
Ha, 1500-year old topological defects :-D - The Arian Baptistery
Only the ceiling remains decorated - but what decoration it is! Basically: the baptism of Jesus and twelve apostles. - The Arian Baptistery
The medallion shows the young Christ in the middle, river Jordan on the left (with red crab claws?) and John the Baptist on the right. Above Christ is a dove (the Holy Spirit). One does not often see a naked Christ. - The Arian Baptistery
More unidentified apostles. Are we supposed to tell them apart based only on their beards? Another mystery are the (greek?) letters on their coats. - The Arian Baptistery
The baptistery was built around 500 under the reign of the Ostrogothic king Theoderic. Arian Christianity was different from the Orthodox Christianity as they considered Christ as not truly divine but rather a created being. - Santo Spirito
The entrance to (now) Santo Spirito. Built by Theodoric around 500 as an Arian cathedral. Around 560 it became the Orthodox St Theodor and in 15th century Santo Spirito. - Torre civica
I would not want to live opposite this tower. - Mausoleum of Theoderic
What a monumental piece. It used to be at the sea, now multiple kilometers inland. - Mausoleum of Theoderic
- Mausoleum of Theoderic
There is a large porphyry bathtub in the top floor. - Mausoleum of Theoderic
The dome is made of a limestone monoblock, brought from Istria. With a diameter of 10.76 metres, it weights over 230 tons. Not two windows are the same. - Mausoleum of Theoderic
Another corner, another Saint. - Mausoleum of Theoderic
The bottom part of the mausoleum is decagonal in shape. The dome has a twelve-fold symmetry. - Mausoleum of Theoderic
The architecture is quite unusual, probably from Syria or Asia Minor. - Mausoleum of Theoderic
The lower floor of the mausoleum. - Mausoleum of Theoderic
- Mausoleum of Theoderic
- Ravenna
- Ravenna
- Mausoleum of Theoderic
The gigantic building is made of carefully carved stones. What an insane precision! - Serpent d'ocean
Unfortunately, there was high tide so we could not walk to the serpent. - Serpent d'ocean
... to see the Serpent d'ocean. Made by Huang Yong Ping in 2012. - Pont de Saint-Nazaire
We stopped just south of the Saint Nazaire bridge... - Pont de Saint-Nazaire
Well, it is a beautiful bridge. - Pegasus Bridge Café Gondrée
First house to be liberated in France on the 5/6th of June 1944, located in Bénouville. - Arromanches
- Longues-sur-Mer battery
More WWII bunkers with original guns on the Normandy coast. - Arromanches
We returned to Arromanches for a lovely dinner. - Arromanches
Remains of the artificial port in Arromanches.