Something there is that doesn't love a wall

April 3, 2022 1:30 PM

Photographer Roman Robroek takes gorgeous photographs of Italy's abandoned churches in the process of being reclaimed by nature, tracing both the decline of Christianity and of rural villages. (via Colossal)
posted by Eyebrows McGee (4 comments total)

It's particularly fascinating to see so many eras of construction -- from the medieval to the late 20th century -- and so many eras of decoration. In a lot of the pictures, you can see whether the church was abandoned before Vatican II (ca. 1965) -- in which case the altar rail is still there (/partially collapsed) and the altar faces the rear wall -- or after, in which case the altar has been moved and the altar rail was removed on purpose.
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 1:36 PM on April 3, 2022 [4 favorites]

I love Robert Frost
posted by BlunderingArtist at 2:05 PM on April 3, 2022 [2 favorites]

I wonder how many of these are in the middle of nowhere. Seems like in cities of any size you could convert the space into something more productive.
posted by leotrotsky at 7:12 AM on April 4, 2022

It's sad to see spaces like these (once places where people gathered to share a communal and hopefully uplifting experience) fall into ruins due to lack of attention.

Entropy is a thing, but that doesn't mean I have to like it.
posted by Lexica at 2:16 PM on April 4, 2022 [1 favorite]