Looking back through my travel photos I see that in many places we visited there was, on our agendas, an Abbey, Cathedral, Chapel, Church, Convent, Monastery, Mosque, Pagoda, Synagogue, Temple or other place of worship. As we travel along the road I often take snaps of God's houses we pass by. These buildings range from ordinary to ostentatious.
For the Blogging from A to Z April 2024 Blogging Challenge my theme is Gods' Houses. During April I invite you to join me for an online tour of Gods' Houses from my digital albums.
As I'm not sure about the difference between a spire and a steeple I asked Google for help. This article from a 1946 newspaper on
Trove enlightened me:
"DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A STEEPLE AND A SPIRE
Many people think that a steeple and a spire are the same thing, but they are wrong. The steeple is the tower of a church and includes any superstructure, such as a spire or lantern, erected upon it. A spire, on the other hand, is the pointed termination given to a tower or turret, and is usually car-ried up to a great height. Spires were only built after the introduction of the Norman style of architecture. At first they were not very acute, but later some very graceful spires were built."
1946 'DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A STEEPLE AND A SPIRE', The Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 - 1957), 6 March, p. 26. (The Argus Week-end Magazine), viewed 15 Apr 2024, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article22232385Steeples and Spires often dominate a city or town's skyline just as minarets do in Islamic countries. I think that most of the following images are steeples.
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| Church of the Immaculate Conception - Vicuna, Chile |
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| St Francois Xavier Church - Paea, Tahiti, French Polynesia |
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| Hamburg, Germany |
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| Bordeaux, France |
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| Hellesylt, Norway |
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| Cobh, Ireland |
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| Copenhagen, Denmark |
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| Antwerp, Belgium |
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| Bern, Switzerland |
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| Florence, Italy |
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| Montevideo, Uruguay |
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| Stóra Dalskirkja -Iceland |
I am sure I have been using the terms steeples and spires interchangeably and incorrectly.
ReplyDeleteJoin the club
DeleteJill, I just realised as I read your explanation of the differences of a steeple and a spire, that I really hadn't known that.
ReplyDeleteNeither had I.
DeleteThank you for including a photo from Broome, Australia. It is a stark reminder that this country is so young, at least in anglosaxon eyes, compared to Europe.
ReplyDeleteMy collection of Aussie church pics is small as I only seem to take photos when travelling overseas. I took plenty in Broome as that was on a holiday.
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