Originally published at: http://boingboing.net/2017/04/07/abandoned-churches-in-all-thei.html
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My reaction to these photos is blasphemously pleasant. Bordering on erotic.
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It seems there could be some use for these buildings.
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Members of the European nobility, having accumulated more personal wealth than they knew what to do with, would sometimes build beautiful fake ruins as follies on their estates. They served no other purpose than to provide aesthetic pleasure for people who’d been fortunate (and often ruthless) enough to transcend material poverty and want that was humanity’s lot for millennia.
These abandoned churches in a way are more democratic expression of that idea: beautiful ruins that provide aesthetic pleasure for a society that’s been fortunate (and often ruthless) enough to transcend the intellectual poverty and superstition that was humanity’s lot for millennia.
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These would make great settings for devil movies to scare people back into the church.
The Yucatan peninsula of Mexico has abandoned hacienda (plantations) galore. Mostly henequen but some sugar. They all had chapels / churches. Many of these are being restored and made into resorts, spas, restaurants, etc but there are plenty left in ruin. Shout out to my grandfather who took me all over this area from one coast to the other and top to bottom. He loved road trips – I got to see a lot of really cool places thanks to him.
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The reason why many European churches are abandoned is not necessarily because Europe is more secular, but because of the massive exodus from the countryside to always larger cities. I am not sure it is such a positive development.
Many rural areas in Europe, especially in Spain, France and in the Eastern parts of Europe are depopulating. It is not only churches which are abandoned, but all sorts of building: industrial buildings, houses, sometimes whole villages.
Edit: I have no idea how to post pictures here, so I just to started a quick blog to show you a few pictures. This is the first one:
That is a house in France which the nearby village received. The mayor is looking for people to use it, but that is difficult. There are huge industrial buildings, a few pieces of land, a water mill (fully functional), etc… That is one I know, because it is large and close to where I live, but there are dozens like it.
Other edit: I’ll add a picture of a local ruined church from the 12th century, to be in the subject…
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Holey, holey, hooooleey…
Seriously, though. Some of these are screaming to be beautiful homes.
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These are beautiful… I propose we abandon all churches…
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I don’t know how easily they can be converted into living space, but something must be done with them.
The BEST kind of churches! Yes very aesthetically and morally pleasing.
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It happens fairly often. I want to say in my hometown someone put up a rock climbing wall in an old church.
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Shall we avoid them as unlucky places?
You can go with that, but I was thinking how much I’d like to live in one.
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Smelled like… victory.
What about Their parchment, plate and pyx in locked cases?
And what remains when disbelief has gone?
Cut-throat developers can do anything. Although now an atheist, it saddens me that my old church in Bklyn’ (I was an altar boy there), one of the oldest in NYC, got turned into an apartment building a year or so ago. Our eight classroom parochial school just next door to it also got converted.
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Not sure what you’re asking.
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I’m only Larkin’ around
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