Monday, June 2, 2008

Cluny the once great, now mostly a ruin




One day at Taize I went to Cluny, what was once the head of a great Benedictine order of monsasteries. This is just a small village but at one point it had the largest church in all of Christendom. After the anti-clericalism of the French Revolution, most of it was destroyed. The one picture shows the ruins of the great columns that were in the church. And the big tower in the other picture is the only remaining of three great towers that once stood there. The church in Europe became very powerful and used much of that power to gain even more power and money. In that sense I can understand the revolution. But I can't help but think that the French themselves wish that the church was still there. What a tourist attraction they would have!

No comments: