Travel: 3 places to visit for religious heritage in Europe

With the late spring and summer travel season just around the corner, now is the time to plan that trip to Europe.

While almost anywhere in the Old World has a notable religious heritage, the following three places have old churches or cathedrals worth planning a visit to.

Mont Saint Michel, France

Mount Saint Michael, as its name translates in English, is an island off the coast of France on the border between Normandy and Brittany.

Centered around a medieval monastery named after Saint Michael the Archangel, this is one of the most charming places in all of France.

St. Aubert, the eighth-century bishop of Avranches, built the legend that eventually became a monastery. By the 11th century the number of pilgrims visiting had become so great that the abbey was rebuilt into what you see today, although additions continued into the 15th century.

The religious base continued until revolutionary France and Emperor Napoleon, turned Mont-Saint-Michel into a prison. The prison closed in the late 1800s as historic preservation and modern tourism became popular.

Like many other destinations, Mont Saint-Michel is a place you’ll want to spend the night as walking the cobblestone streets is a completely different experience after the day hikers.

Gloucester, England

Gloucester occasionally makes lists of places to visit in the British Isles.

Those of you who know about this town in southwest England probably know it as the gateway to the Cotswolds. Others may know that it is on the ancient border with Wales.

Crowned by St. Peter’s Cathedral and the Holy and Immaculate Trinity, Gloucester Cathedral, as it is famously called, is a destination in its own right.

The cathedral itself is a modern creation – that is, the seat of the Pope and therefore a cathedral during the Reformation when Henry VIII separated the Church of England from Rome and dissolved the entrenched monasteries. The cathedral was one of the ancestors of the old religion.

Especially from 1307 to 1327 There are several church monuments, including the mausoleum and mausoleum of Edward II, King of England until his abdication. Then there is the great east window, which is truly grand. As big as a tennis court, it was thought to be the largest window in the world when it was installed in the 1350s. Among the medieval stained glass are paintings of the Glory of Christ and the Virgin Mary.

Trier, Germany

It is difficult to find a more important place in the history of the Western Church than in Trier, Germany.

It is an ancient city on the banks of the Moselle River in southwestern Germany. Established by the Romans, this was the seat of the Emperor Constantine the Great.

The Basilica of Constantine, which served as the emperor’s throne room at the time, was restored and restored. Today, the massive brick building houses a Lutheran church.

The biggest picture is the high cathedral of St. Peter.

It is the oldest cathedral in all of Germany, having been built in the fourth century by the empress mother of Constantine and later on the palace of St. Helena. The cathedral is a collection of architectural styles – the brickwork on the north and south walls is of Roman origin – thanks to the power and wealth of the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Trier, who ruled spiritually supreme both in church and temporal matters. . Today, a bishop’s husband is simply a suffragan bishop.

Helena is credited with bringing many sacred relics to Trier. Among the artifacts is a robe that Jesus Christ is said to have worn before and on the cross.

Dennis Lennox a Travel column For Christian Post.

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