Dean Christakos« A Final Few Bits of Rome | Main | Today in Interesting Numbers »
March 19, 2006
Finally in Southern Italy
I have made it to Brindisi, from where I will rent a car and head to the mountains of the Salentine peninsula.
Ok, it took me an entire week to get down to southern Italy. How lame am I? On March 18th, I arrived in Bari for the purpose of visiting the tomb of St. Nicholas, whose relics were stolen from the Greeks of Myra in 1087 AD. It just so happens, however, that March 18th was the day in which Elie de St. Clement was beatified in Bari at the Cathedral of Bari:
Sunday, however, I got a chance to visit both the church of San Nicola, where St. Nicholas is buried, as well as the Russian Orthodox Church of St. Nicholas (pictures after the jump).
This is the church of San Nicola where St. Nicholas is buried:
The interior is quite large, as one would expect from such a landmark church of the city:
The crypt of St. Nicholas is down below:
Interestingly, the downstairs crypt also has a small Orthodox Chapel, since the site is a pilgrimage destination for so many Orthodox Christians (such as, for example, myself). Even today, one could tell that there were many Orthodox Christians paying a visit to this church.
Also, present about half a mile south of the train station, was the Russian Orthodox Church of St. Nicholas. You know, for a vacation that was originally conceived as an opportunity to visit some Greek communities outside of Greece, I've somehow made a habit of taking pictures of various Russian Orthodox Churches throughout Europe:
Outside the church is a rather threatening statue of a sword-wielding St. Nicholas, apparently ready to unleash his righteous fury on those Catholic thieves that took him here to Italy:
Posted by Dean at March 19, 2006 2:23 PM
Comments
A week? Pretty lame. Should have taken you two weeks.
Posted by: Omri at March 19, 2006 9:58 PM
I'm saving a proper visit to northern Italy for another trip. This trip is all about the deep south of the country.
Posted by: Dean at March 20, 2006 4:52 AM
This is all fascinating - I'm so jealous! Thank you for posting so much and for making your photos available!
Posted by: Kitty at March 20, 2006 12:33 PM