Saturday, July 24, 2010

Saturday July 10 - Weis

Next stop, Wies (pronounced like geese but with a V.......Veese). A most beautiful church in the middle of nowhere! A hidden tresure that my mother found. How? I have NO clue. My mutter, full of surprises!

It's not a well-known touristy spot, however, there were some tourists so it isn't a complete secret.



The following is from Wikepedia:
The Pilgrimage Church of Wies (German: Wieskirche) is an oval rococo church, designed in the late 1740s by Dominikus Zimmermann, who for the last eleven years of his life lived nearby. It is located in the foothills of the Alps, in the municipality of Steingaden in the Weilheim-Schongau district, Bavaria, Germany. In 1738, tears were seen on a dilapidated wooden figure of the Scourged Saviour. This miracle resulted in a pilgrimage rush to see the sculpture. In 1740, a small chapel was built to house the statue but it was soon realized that the building would be too small for the number of pilgrims it attracted, and so Steingaden Abbey decided to commission a separate shrine. Many who have prayed in front of the statue of Jesus on the altar, have claimed that people have been miraculously cured of their diseases, which has made this church even more of a pilgrimage site. Construction took place between 1745 and 1754, and the interior was decorated with frescoes and with stuccowork in the tradition of the Wessobrunner School. "Everything was done throughout the church to make the supernatural visible. Sculpture and murals combined to unleash the divine in visible form."

Check this out: http://www.wieskirche.de/eframset.htm

On the day of our visit, a wedding was being held and it was quite interesting and beautiful. It kinda made the visit more poignant.


I sat in the back, quietly. I just looked around in awe, wonder and delight. I took pictures, shot some video clips, and pondered. I pondered the who, what, where, why, etc.,...............of this church.