Saturday, 4 October 2008

Church in the rock


Church built into the rock wall, Elafonisi, Hania.

11 comments:

  1. The church is lovely in its simplicity and in its position.
    It brings to mind our built-into-the-side-of-a-gorge St. George Monastery in Wadi Kelt. Greek Orthodox hermit monks started it in the 5th century. A good photo and summary here: http://www.bibleplaces.com/wadiqilt.htm
    I hiked there once. Its isolation in the desert and spartan living conditions really make you admire the dedication of the monks.

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  2. Is the rock inside as well - I imagine it is.
    Jams said in his comment how cummuting in dark winter is soul destroyng. At one time I too seemed to live in a tunnel driving to and from work inwinter. But it was living with candle light from 1700 to 0830 that brought on the gloom in more ways than one.

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  3. What is so amazing, the rock seems to actually overhang the roofline!

    This reminds me of images I have seen of churches in Lalibela, Ethiopia, built between the 12th and 14th centuries. No one really knows exactly how they were carved out of rock!

    Love the stark whiteness of the church against the rocks greys! Beautiful!

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  4. wow, this is such a cool church, I've never seen a church built in rocks..

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  5. Though beautiful, its a little bit scaring...

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  6. Hi Kiwi! Beautiful picture; Elafonisi, one good reason why I have to get back to Crete!
    Have a great weekend!
    Thanks for your coments on Blogtrotter, now Deep in Crete!

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  7. greece and india sure have a lot of things in common. here we have temples in caves or cut into the mountains. you can check my pictures of elephanta caves earlier in my blog.
    or you may visit my travel blog at http://magictravels.blogspot.com/2007/11/karla-and-bhaja-caves.html

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  8. Amazing church. I wonder how old it is. Seems fitting to build a church in the rock. Psalms 18:2 says The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer; My God, my strength, in whom I will trust;

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  9. Great idea. They need a MCdonalds next door!

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  10. I guess it cut down on the cost of building materials! I love it!

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