"Half the fun of the travel is the aesthetic of lostness."- Ray Bradbury
We spent a while lost, then found, then lost and finally we found the church.....mostly by accident.
It was definitely worth the effort.
St. Michael's Church and Chapel of St. James and are located at the highest point in the city of Sopron.
St. Michael's Church (Szent Mihaly-templom) is an ancient, gothic church that was built before 1278.
Two priests saved this church during the invasion of the Turks in 1534. Fearful that the church would be used by the Turks to attack their own castle (because of it's strategic location) Sopron was going to demolish it before they took it over.
Thank goodness they didn't.
St. Michael's church has been a Catholic and Protestant place of worship. Then a Lutheran house of god. Returning to a Catholic parish church as it remains today.
After a huge fire in 1676, the church was refurbished with baroque furnishings and restorations done by the Storno family (you can read about this family in a previous post on the Storno house).
Below are the impressive gargoyles that protect and guard the church from any evil or harmful spirits.
On a practical note, they are also designed to allow water to flow from the roof and away from the side of the building thus preventing the rainwater from eroding the mortar between the bricks.
A quote about the inside of this church from the City of Sopron website. Translation is not exact.
But I almost feel like I am sitting in a pew soaking up all the church shares with me when I read this.
"The tower in the main entrance, opening to the interior of the church. The surround sound is great. The colourful medieval twilight atmosphere. The noble Gothic impresses. Remarkably the rib endings carved heads, almost portrait-like."
Most churches we have visited are free to view. The doors are often open. When we arrived at St. Michael's the door was ajar and we peeked in.
This was the entrance into the main church, however there was a rod iron gate that closed the church off to visitors.
Our pictures of the inside are taken through the bars.
Statues chiselled high up on the tower. I am impressed by the conviction, dedication and talent to do that?
The middle tower of this church is about 48 meters high!
Behind St, Michael's Church is the little Romanesque-Gothic Chapel of St. James (Szent Jakab-Kapolna) the oldest building in Sopron and originally an ossuary. (Ossuary is a room in which the bones of dead people are placed)
The solemn and incredibly peaceful entrance into St. James Cemetery.
Family who visit graves of passed relatives, clean them and decorate the grave sites with lamps and flowers. These rituals date back to the pre-Christian, pagan era.
Some are quite elaborate. For me, it doesn't feel like such a sad place. It celebrates someone's life.
It also requires a commitment to the upkeep of an eternal site.
A tiny building located in the cemetery. No name or any way to identify it? But it is very impressive for such a small holy building.
Another example of the TLC shown in the care of this gravesite.
This is an ivy that has grown over the headstone. It is beautifully manicured and designed.
The picture doesn't do it justice.
The view of St. Michael's Church from St. James cemetery.
After such a trek.....you guessed it.....cappuccino and a sweet....
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