The Power of Christianity

After reading about it, one of the things I really wanted to do on this trip was visit the city of Bamberg, whose old centre has been designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site.  So, on our final day in northern Bavaria, we headed north with the intent of visiting this historic city.  First, we decided to trek a little further north and visit the Wallfahrtsbasilika Vierzehnheiligen (Pilgrimage Church of the 14 Saints) - an ornate Baroque-Rococo church in the middle of the countryside.

A Cross along the road.

The altar of Vierzehnheiligen.

A balcony in the church.

 Unfortunately, both of the church's towers were ensconced in scaffolding for refurbishment work, so the exterior wasn't as spectacular as we had hoped.  The inside made up for it, though.  I am always fascinated by the ornate colour and detail in the Rococo style.  You can look for a long time and still see something new - a church service here could not be boring.

The front with its two towers covered in scaffolding.

The back of the church in the sunlight shows the beautiful warmth of the stone the church was built with.

And, of course, like any self-respecting Bavarian countryside church, it has its own brewery and Biergarten.  How else were they to fun the construction and upkeep of such an incredible building?

The beer garden at Vierzehnheiligen.

Empty Vierzehenheiligen Beer bottles are lined up against a wall waiting to be washed and reused.

It wasn't on our list of things to do today but as we approached Vierzehnheiligen, we saw this immense building up on a hill top across the valley.  The map indicated it was a monastery called Kloster Banz and we decided to take a small detour and check it out.

Kloster Banz glowing in the sunlight.

 Once again, the Kloster had its requisite Biergarten.  So, we decided to make a stop for lunch before exploring the Kloster more closely.  The service was a little slow but the setting was lovely and fortunately there was a little play area in one corner.

Waiting for lunch in the Biergarten.

 After lunch (it was schnitzel day, so guess what we ate!), we headed around the building into a lovely courtyard.  There were dozens of people in business dress with little wheely bags getting in and out of cars (Doug thinks I should specify that they were Passat Wagons), so we think that the Kloster is now used as a convention or exhibition centre of some sort.  Regardless, the courtyard was lovely with a beautiful winding staircase and small garden that Noah thoroughly enjoyed running around in.

Stairway in the entrance courtyard of Kloster Banz.

Front of the church at Kloster Banz.

Making our way around the front of the building we climbed a large set of stairs and entered the church.  It was breathtaking.  Unfortunately, we weren't allowed to take pictures so you'll have to imagine more of the Rococo beauty from some of the other churches we have visited.  Catherine was in heaven when she realized her voice echoed off the walls every time she made a little squeaking sound.  She was having so much fun we had to leave fairly quickly - although I have to admit it was pretty cute.  ;)

Doug on the stairs up to the church at Kloster Banz.

It is hard to describe how huge this building is.  I took a picture of Doug sitting on the front steps to try and give it some scale ... and this is only one small part of the building.

What appeared to be the main entrance inside the courtyard.

After visiting the church we wandered a short way along the hillside to a bench with the most incredible view over the valley below.

Catherine looks like she might walk right into town if we don't catch her!

Seeing both of these churches in one morning really gives you a sense of the awesome power Christianity had over Europe through the centuries.  It is hard to imagine the incredible wealth that was acquired to create buildings like this all for the purpose of worshiping God.

By this time the kids were more than ready for a nap, so we reluctantly decided to pass on a visit to Bamberg (we have to assume we will come back because there is never enough time to see everything we want to) and let them sleep in the car while we went on a scenic drive into a region of Bavaria called Franconian Switzerland (a forested area about 45 minutes west of Bamberg).  We didn't stop for pictures because we didn't want to risk waking the kids, so you'll have to trust me on this.

The landscape here was beautiful and so different from anything we have seen in Europe before.  The area is more rocky and hilly than the surrounding countryside and the rocky cliffs are filled with caves and interesting textures.  In some places farmers were even storing hay under outcrops and in open caves.  We drove up a few small river valleys with little castles guarding the bends on the river and ended up on the small town of Pottenstein.  Due to the time, we decided not to stop for a walk but pressed on back to our apartment to give the kids some time to play before supper.