The Temple Church, a ‘Royal Peculiar’ off Fleet Street, is the ‘motherchurch of Common Law’

The Temple Church … a royal peculiar between Fleet Street and the Embankment in London (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2024)

Patrick Comerford

The Temple Church, like Saint Dunstan-in-the-West, is one of the churches in the Fleet Street area that I failed to visit until last week, despite my many working visits as a journalist to Fleet Street over the decades.

Many people only know of the Temple Church because of its appearance in both The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown and the film based on the book. Having visited the Church of Saint-Sulpice in Paris earlier this month, which also features in The Da Vinci Code, how could I not visit the Temple Church in London when I had the opportunity last month?

But there were other reasons for wanting to visit the Temple Church too. There is a local tradition – but without any historical foundation – that Saint Mary’s Church in Askeaton, Co Limerick, where I was the priest-in-charge for five years (2017-2022), was a Templar foundation.

In addition, I have visited and written about many of the Royal Peculiars in London, including Westminster Abbey, the Royal Foundation of Saint Katharine, Limehouse, the Queen’s Chapel at Saint James’s Palace, and the royal chapels at the Tower of London. But I had yet to visit the Temple Church, despite having passed it on many occasions.

The Temple Church is known as ‘the mother-church of the Common Law’ (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2024)

The Temple Church is also known as ‘the mother-church of the Common Law’. It played a central role in the gestation of Magna Carta, and in the spread of the Charter’s principles to America and throughout the world. William Marshal, 1st Earl of Pembroke, son-in-law of Strongbow and Aoife Mac Murrough, and hero of Runnymede, is buried in the church, as is his son the 2nd earl, one of Magna Carta’s surety barons.

The Temple Church is jointly owned by the Inner Temple and the Middle Temple Inns of Court, two of the Inns of Court that hold the exclusive right to call barristers to practise law at the Bar of England and Wales. Temple Bar was a gateway that once stood in the middle of Fleet Street. The area around the Temple Church is still known as the Temple, and the nearby Underground station is called Temple.

More recently, the Temple Church has had an important role in Christian-Muslim dialogue, hosting the public discussions on Islam and English Law that began in 2008 with Archbishop Rowan William’s famous lecture on sharia law in the UK.

The burials in the Temple Church include William Marshal, 1st Earl of Pembroke, son-in-law of Strongbow and the hero of Runnymede (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2024)

The Temple Church is one of the beautiful and historically significant great churches in London. Its round church is modelled on the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, and it is one of only four mediaeval round churches still in use in England: the Temple Church, London; the Round Church or Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Cambridge; the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Northampton; and Saint John the Baptist, Little Maplestead, Essex.

Before the church was built, the Knights Templar in London had met at a site in High Holborn that had been the location of a Roman temple in Londinium. After the Crusaders captured Jerusalem in 1099, the Knights Templar set up their headquarters in the Al-Aqsa Mosque adjacent to the Dome of the Rock or Templum Domini, the site of the Temple of Solomon. The Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem became the model for the round churches built by the Templars, including the Round Church in London.

The order expanded rapidly in England, and by the 1160s their site in London had become too confined. They bought the site of the Temple Church to establish a larger monastic complex as their headquarters in England. The Temple Church was consecrated by Heraclius, the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, on 10 February 1185. It is believed that King Henry II (1154-1189) was present at the consecration.

The Temple Church is one of only four mediaeval round churches still in use in England (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2024)

The church has two separate sections: the original circular church, which is 17 metres (55 ft) in diameter, and a later rectangular section at the east side, built about half a century later. The new complex included the church, residences, military training facilities and recreational grounds for the brothers and novices, who were not permitted to go into the City without the permission of the Master of the Temple.

The Knights Templar were powerful in England, and the Master of the Temple sat in Parliament as primus baro (the first baron of the realm). The Temple complex was regularly used as a residence by kings and by legates of the Pope.

The Temple also served as an early bank, sometimes in defiance of Crown attempts to seize the funds of nobles who had entrusted their wealth there. During the reign of King John (1199-1216), the church was also a royal treasury, with the Knights Templar in the role of international bankers.

The original circular church is 17 metres in diameter (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2024)

King Henry III (1216-1272) wanted to be buried in the church. To accommodate his wishes, the original chancel was pulled down in the early 13th century and a new larger chancel was built. It was consecrated on Ascension Day 1240 and has a central aisle and two side aisles. The height of the vault is 11.05 metres (36 ft 3 in). However, Henry III changed his mind, and was buried in Westminster Abbey.

The wealth and independence of the Templars created jealousy and envy throughout Europe, and eventually was their downfall. After the Knights Templar were suppressed in 1307-1314, Edward II took control of the Temple Church as a crown possession.

The church and the compound were later given to the Knights Hospitaller, who leased the Temple to two colleges of lawyers. One college moved into the part of the Temple previously used by the knights, and the other into the part previously used by its clergy, and both shared the use of the church. The colleges evolved into the Inner Temple and the Middle Temple, two of the four Inns of Court in London.

Shakespeare sets the church and garden as the location in Henry VI, part 1 for the fictional scene of the plucking of two roses of York and Lancaster and the start of the Wars of the Roses.

The church became the property of the Crown once again in 1540, when Henry VIII abolished the Knights Hospitaller in England and confiscated their property. Henry VIII provided a priest for the church under the former title Master of the Temple.

When the Knights Templar were suppressed in 1307-1314, the Temple Church became a crown possession (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2024)

Judge Gerald Comerford entered the Inner Temple in London in 1578 to study law. He was later MP for Callan, the Queen’s Attorney for Connacht, Chief Justice of Munster and a Baron of the Court of Exchequer. His contemporary, Philip Comberford (or Comerford) from Waterford, matriculated at Oxford in 1581, and later studied law at the Inner Temple (1586) and Clifford’s Inn.

The church was the venue of the Battle of the Pulpits in the 1580s, a theological conflict between the Puritans and supporters of the Elizabethan Compromise. Richard Hooker, one of the definitive Anglican theologians and the author of The Laws of Ecclesiastical Polity, was Master of the Temple in 1585-1591; his theological opponent, Walter Travers, was the Reader (lecturer) at the Temple.

King James I granted use of the church in perpetuity to the two Inns in 1608 on condition that they supported and maintained it. Some decades later, Humphrey Comberford of the Moat House, Tamworth, was admitted as fellow commoner to the Inner Temple in 1632 and to Clare College, Cambridge.

The Temple Church escaped damage in the Great Fire of London of 1666. Nevertheless, it was refurbished by Sir Christopher Wren, who made extensive modifications to the interior, including the addition of an altar screen and the installation of an organ.

The Temple Church was the venue of the Battle of the Pulpits in the 1580s (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2024)

Many prominent people were buried in the church, including the Irish-born poet, novelist and playwright Oliver Goldsmith (1728-1774), who lived in Wine Office Court, off Fleet Street, who wrote part of ‘The Vicar of Wakefield’ in his lodgings at No 6. His statue stands in front of Trinity College Dublin, facing College Green.

The church underwent a Victorian restoration in 1841 by Smirke and Burton, who decorated the walls and ceiling in high Victorian Gothic style. Further restoration work was carried out by James Piers St Aubyn in 1862.

During World War II, German incendiary bombs set the roof of the Round Church on fire on 10 May 1941. The fire quickly spread to the nave and chapel. The organ and all the wooden parts of the church, including the Victorian renovations, were destroyed and the Purbeck marble columns in the chancel cracked in the intense heat. The Master’s House was burned down on the same night.

The church was designated a Grade I listed building in 1950, and the renovated church was rededicated in November 1958.

A memorial to Richard Hooker in the Temple Church (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2024)

The church is the venue for regular choral music performances and organ recitals, and the choir is in the English cathedral tradition. The Temple Choir under George Thalben-Ball became famous for its recording in 1927 of Mendelssohn’s ‘Hear My Prayer’, including the solo ‘O for the Wings of a Dove’ by Ernest Lough. It became one of the most popular recordings of all time by a church choir.

Many musicians value the acoustics in the church. Sir John Barbirolli recorded a performance there of the ‘Fantasia on a Theme’ by Thomas Tallis by Ralph Vaughan Williams in 1962, and Paul Tortelier recorded the complete Bach Cello Suites there in 1982.

The church was the venue of the world premiere of Sir John Tavener’s ‘The Veil of the Temple’, performed by the choir over seven hours during an overnight vigil in in 2003. The boys’ choir appears on the 2016 recording of John Rutter’s violin concerto ‘Visions’.

The church has had a number of famous organists and has two organs: a chamber organ built by Robin Jennings in 2001, and a four manual Harrison & Harrison organ, built in 1924 and installed at the Temple Church in 1954.

The Temple Church has a significant role in The Da Vinci Code, the novel by Dan Brown and its film adaptation, and key scene was filmed inside the church.

The regular Sunday services in the Temple Church include said Holy Communion, Choral Mattins and Choral Eucharist (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2024)

The Temple Church serves both the Inner Temple and the Middle Temple as a private chapel. It is a royal peculiar, leaving it outside the Diocese of London and the diocesan structures of the Church of England, although the Bishop of London is also ex officio Dean of the Chapel Royal.

The Temple Church has two priests: the Master of the Temple, or ‘the Reverend and Valiant Master of the Temple’, whose official residence is the Master’s House, a Georgian townhouse built in 1764; and the Reader of the Temple.

The title of the Master of the Temple recalls the head of the former order of the Knights Templar. The Master is appointed by the Crown, a right of appointment that was reserved when the church was granted to the two inns by James I in 1608. The present Master of the Temple is the Revd Robin Griffith-Jones, who was appointed in 1999; the present Reader of the Temple is the Revd Mark Hatcher.

• The regular Sunday services in the Temple Church are: 8:30 am, Holy Communion (BCP said), 11:15 am Choral Mattins (1st and 3rd Sundays), Choral Eucharist (2nd, 4th and 5th Sundays). Weekday services include: Choral Evensong, Wednesdays, 6 pm; Holy Communion (BCP said), 1:15 pm, Thursdays.

The Cloisters beside the Temple Church (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2024)

The Church of Saint Louis-en-l’Île took 80 years to build and is in one of the smallest parishes in Paris

The Church of Saint Louis-en-l’Île in Paris, with its unusual spire, designed to allow the wind to pass through (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2024)

Patrick Comerford

During our visit to Paris last week, as I walked from Notre Dame to Marais, I strolled through Île Saint-Louis, one of two natural islands in the River Seine – the other natural island is the Île de la Cité, on which Notre-Dame de Paris is built.

Île Saint-Louis is in the 4th arrondissement and is 11 ha (27 acres) in size with a population of 4,453, making it one of the smallest parishes in Paris. It is connected to the rest of Paris by four bridges to both banks of the river and to the Île de la Cité by the Pont Saint-Louis.

I was there to see the house on rue Saint Louis-en-l’Île that had been home in the 1940s and 1850s of the exiled Russian theologian, Nicholas Lossky, discussed in my reflections in my prayer diary on this blog this morning (13 February 2024). On the same street, I also visited the Church of Saint Louis-en-l’Île (Saint Louis on the Island), built between 1647 and 1725 and is dedicated to King Louis IX of France, or Saint Louis.

A statue of Saint Louis in the Church of Saint Louis-en-l’Île … the king came to pray on the uninhabited island (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2024)

The island was originally owned by the chapter of Notre-Dame Cathedral, and Louis IX (1226-1270) would come and pray on the island, which was uninhabited at the time.

Although Louis is revered as a saint, he is remembered for overseeing the Disputation of Paris in 1240, when the Jewish leaders in Paris were imprisoned and forced to admit to anti-Christian passages in the Talmud. As a result, Pope Gregory IX declared that all copies of the Talmud to be seized and destroyed. Louis ordered the burning of 12,000 Talmudim in 1242, along with other important Jewish books and manuscripts. The edict against the Talmud was eventually overturned by Gregory IX’s successor, Innocent IV.

It is said Louis IX proclaimed the Eighth Crusade from Île Saint-Louis in 1267. He died in 1270 and was canonised by Pope Boniface VIII in 1297, the only king of France to be proclaimed a saint.

Inside the Church of Saint Louis-en-l’Île, built between 1647 and 1726 (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2024)

The Church of Saint Louis-en-l’Île dates from 1623, and was dedicated to Saint Louis in 1634. The island of Île Saint-Louis had remained uninhabited until the early 17th century. In 1614, Christophé Marie, the general contractor of the bridges of France, was asked by the king to build a bridge and to subdivide into lots the Ile Notre-Dame that had been connected to the Ile aux Vaches.

When the first houses were built on the island, a parish was created and the first chapel was built in 1623. That first chapel was named Our Lady of the Island, was dedicated to Saint Louis in 1634.

Several famous priests preached in the church, including Saint Francis de Sales (1567-1622), and Saint Vincent de Paul (1581-1660), who founded the first house of the Daughters of Charity nearby in rue Poulletier in 1632.

As the population of the island grew, a larger church was needed. The new church was designed by the architect François Le Vau (1613-1636), younger brother and assistant of the more famous royal architect Louis Le Vau, the architect of Versailles, the Louvre and the Institut de France. The church was the only building François Le Vau built without his brother.

Priests who preached in the church include Saint Francis de Sales and Saint Vincent de Paul (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2024)

The plans for the new and well-lit church reflected the spirit of the Counter-Reformation, and it was originally built in the French baroque style of the 17th century.

Work began in 1647, but was delayed due to problems with the foundation, and the first stone was not laid by the Archbishop of Paris until 1 October 1664. The choir and altar were consecrated in 1664, but the old chapel was still used as the nave as work was delayed again due to a shortage of funds and other mishaps: the architect died soon after the project began, and was replaced by Gabriel Le Duc, and then by two more architects in succession, Pierre Bullet and Jacques Doucet; then, in 1701, a hurricane destroyed the new roof, killing many parishioners.

Builders and developers took advantage of these long delays, and houses were built next to the church, taking the space originally intended for the traditional west front, which had to be relocated. A royal lottery was organised to raise the money needed to complete the church. But it was not completed until 1725, and the church was consecrated in 1726, almost 80 years after work first began on the site.

The original bell tower was destroyed by lightning in 1740, and was replaced by a new openwork tower in the shape of a pyramid that allowed the strong winds on the island to pass through. Another unusual feature of the tower is the clock hanging over the street like a shop sign.

During the French Revolution, the church was closed in 1791, looted and stripped of its decorations. The only statues that remained were a statue of the Virgin Mary and a statue of Saint Genevieve by François Ladatte (1741). A sculpture depicting two angels holding the royal coat of arms was smashed during the Revolution.

The church was sold in 1798 and was turned into a storehouse for books. However, the parishioner who bought it returned it to the church in 1805, and the first Mass was celebrated there on 10 March 1805 by Pope Pius VII, who had come to Paris the previous December to crown Napoleon Emperor. The Papal Tiara and Saint Peter’s keys that adorn the original High Altar are reminders of that occasion.

The City of Paris bought the building in 1817 and embellished it with numerous paintings from other churches destroyed during the Revolution. A long campaign to add new murals, paintings, sculpture and windows was led by the Abbot Louis-Auguste Bossuet, the cure of the parish in 1864-1888. He sold the large library of the church and used the proceeds and his own private fortune to buy many works of art that adorn the side chapels and to add a profusion of gilding, murals, sculptures in stucco, and the windows that are seen today.

Auguste Czartoryski (1858-1898), a prince and priest who was a parishioner of the church, was beatified in 2004. His family donated the stained-glass window of the Resurrection in one of the side chapels.

The Papal Tiara and Saint Peter’s keys that adorn the original High Altar are reminders of the visit by Pope Pius VII in 1805 (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2024)

With its rectangular plans and plain exterior, the church is hardly visible from the street. Several entrance projects were thought of but never carried out, and the church has kept its blank west wall.

A clock suspended from the side of the tower indicates the entrance of the church. The portal is decorated with a sculpture depicting two angels with their arms outstretched holding the coat of arms of France. This was a reference to the patron saint, King Louis IX or Saint Louis. The angels are still there, but the coat of arms was smashed during the French Revolution.

The large interior is a tribute to Louis IX, with the French royal coat of arms and the crown of arms in the cupola. The interior is given a more human dimension by the profusion of ornament and gilding, and detail It was decorated following drawings by Jean-Baptiste de Champaigne (1631-1681), a nephew of the famous painter.

The stained glass windows in the church mostly date to the mid 19th century (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2024)

The arcades have rounded arches and as pilasters with trompe-l’oeil channelling, joined with columns with Corinthian capitals, carved of travertine stone, and decorated with sculpted foliage and angels. Other decoration includes a variety of sculpted sceptres, the hands of justice and other royal emblems, illustrating the association with Louis IX.

The church, particularly in the choir, the transept and the chapels along the outer aisles, is particularly rich in art and decoration of the French Baroque period in the 18th century, as well as more modern work from the 19th century. The art includes painting, sculpture, and smaller intricate works in alabaster and other rare materials.

The stained glass windows mostly date to the mid 19th century. A major series, illustrating the life of Christ, is by Alfred Gérente.

A series of chapels line the outer aisles of the nave, and are richly decorated with paintings and sculpture.

The statue of Saint Genevieve (1735) by François Ladatte survived the French Revolution (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2024)

The Communion Chapel (1715) displays ‘The Pilgrims of Emmaus’ by Charles Coypel (1694-1752) vividly representing a celebration of the Eucharist, crowded with figures and full of movement.

The Chapel of the Compassion has three paintings by the 19th-century French artist Karl-Henri Lehmann (1814-1882): ‘The Annunciation’, ‘The Virgin Presenting Christ to the World’ and ‘The Virgin and the Saints at the Foot of the Cross’. Lehmann was a prominent figure in the school of French Romanticism. ‘The Virgin and the Saints’ painting was presented at the 1848 Paris Salon.

The Chapel of Baptism at the west end has a group of eight small paintings representing scenes from the life of Christ, set into the wood panelling, by 16th century artists. Here too is a work of the French Renaissance painter Jacques Stella (1596-1657), ‘The Baptism of Christ’, inspired by the art of the Italian Renaissance.

The Chapel of Saint Mary Magdalene contains a monument to the 19th century Abbot Bossuet, an important benefactor of the church.

The organ was completed in 2005 but is covered during the present restoration work (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2024)

There is no remaining trace of the original 17th century organ. It was replaced in 1744 by a new organ by Lesclop, with a very ornate buffet or case covered with rocaille sculpture. This instrument, like most of the other Paris organs of the period, was destroyed during the French Revolution, in order to recover the lead used in the pipes to make munitions.

A smaller instrument by Merklin was installed on the tribune In the 19th century. But it was of mediocre quality. That organ was replaced in 1923 by a new organ by Charles Mutin, which kept the buffet of the earlier instrument. This organ also was of poor quality and was poorly maintained. A smaller organ was installed in the choir in the 1960s, which served as the church organ for several decades.

The present organ, with 51 stops, was completed in 2005 by Bernard Aubertin with funding from the City of Paris. The organ is in the German style, or Bach type. While the instrument is new, it preserves the original tower sculpture and sculpted angels of the 18th century buffet, and its gilded case adds a contemporary touch to the baroque appearance of the church.

Île Saint-Louis is in the 4th arrondissement and is 11 ha (27 acres) in size with a population of 4,453, making it one of the smallest parishes in Paris (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2024)

Morning prayers in Easter with USPG: (19) 27 April 2023

The Church of Our Lady Sub Catena is the oldest church in Mala Strana, the Lesser Quarter in Prague (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2023)

Patrick Comerford

We are still in the season of Easter, and this is the Third Week of Easter. LToday, the Calendar of the Church of England in Common Worship commemorates the poet Christina Rossetti, who died in 1894.

Later today, I hope to take part in a dat-long meeting of clergy in the Milton Keynes area. But, before this day gets busy, I am taking some time this morning for prayer and reflection. Following our visit to Prague earlier this month, I am reflecting each morning this week in these ways:

1, Short reflections on a church in Prague;

2, the Gospel reading of the day in the Church of England lectionary;

3, a prayer from the USPG prayer diary.

The baroque interior of the Church of Our Lady Sub Catena in Prague (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2023)

The Church of Our Lady Sub Catena, Prague:

The Church of Our Lady Sub Catena is the oldest church in Mala Strana, the Lesser Quarter in Prague, and it has a certain quiet charm not found in some of the churches in Prague that attract tourists in larger numbers.

The name of the church is something of a mystery. One theory says it was named after an old statue of the Virgin Mary, another suggests that a chain was used either to seal the gate of the commandry, and the more popular explanation says it was named after a chain that was stretched across the Vltava River to prevent ships from passing through without paying a toll to the knights. Some say the chain stretched from this site in the Lesser Town all the way across the Vltava River, along the tower gate of the former Judith Bridge, to the Old Town.

The entrance to the church in Mala Strana leads to a quaint, enchanting courtyard, which in turn leads to the church with a grand Baroque interior.

The Church of Our Lady Sub Catena or the Church of Our Lady Under the Chain is a hewn-stone, mediaeval Romanesque basilica, founded in the 12th century by the Knights Hospitaller or Order of Saint John of Jerusalem, often known today as the Knights of Malta.

The Knights Hospitaller received land south of the bishop’s court, below the castle and near the former Judith Bridge in 1156-1159. They built their first church on the site built after 1158, and the three-aisle Romanesque basilica was completed in 1182.

After 1314, when the Order of Saint John of Jerusalem obtained funds by selling off the property of the suppressed Knights Templar, the Romanesque church was knocked down and work began on a grand Gothic three-aisle basilica, built probably by Peter Parler’s workshop.

Remnants of the older building have been preserved on the right-hand side of what is now the courtyard. From the original plans, only the choir and sacristy were built; the western prism tower was started but never completed.

The church was destroyed by fire in 1420 during the Hussite Wars, and was ruined yet again in 1503. It took on its present mixed Baroque-Gothic appearance with renovations in the 17th century, when the church was rebuilt in Baroque style.

Most work of the work in this phase was carried out by the Italian architect Carlo Lurago and stone mason Giovanni Battista Spinetti. The Gothic steeples were cut down to 32 meters high, a shadow of their former selves, and the appearance of the church has remained the same since.

A Baroque painting by Karel Škréta above the High Altar depicts the Madonna blessing the Knights of Malta at the Battle of Lepanto (ca 1651). Another painting by Škréta of the Beheading of Saint Barbara is at the south altar (1674). Most of the sculptures in the church are the work of Jan Petr Wenda.

The church belongs to the Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of Saint John of Jerusalem of Rhodes and of Malta and is administered by the Grand Priory of Bohemia of the order of Malta as a monastery church.

The church is open for Mass on Sundays at 10:00 and on Tuesdays at 17:30. Outside those times, visitors can see the garden courtyard, and peer through the grille into the church.

A painting by Karel Škréta above the High A;tar depicts the Madonna blessing the Knights of Malta at the Battle of Lepanto (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2023)

John 6: 44-51 (NRSVA):

[Jesus said:] 44 ‘No one can come to me unless drawn by the Father who sent me; and I will raise that person up on the last day. 45 It is written in the prophets, “And they shall all be taught by God.” Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me. 46 Not that anyone has seen the Father except the one who is from God; he has seen the Father. 47 Very truly, I tell you, whoever believes has eternal life. 48 I am the bread of life. 49 Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. 50 This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. 51 I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats of this bread will live for ever; and the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.’

The quaint, enchanting courtyard and the entrance to the church in Mala Strana (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2023)

Today’s Prayer:

The theme this week in the prayer diary of the Anglican mission agency USPG (United Society Partners in the Gospel) is ‘Praying for Peace.’ This theme was introduced on Sunday by the Anglican Chaplain in Warsaw, Poland, the Revd David Brown, who reflected on peace in the light of the International Day of Multilateralism and Diplomacy for Peace last Monday.

The USPG Prayer invites us to pray this morning (27 April 2023, South Africa Freedom Day):

Let us pray for all who are oppressed. May the remembrance of South Africa’s first post-apartheid elections inspire us to work for the self-determination of every nation and person.

Collect:

Almighty Father,
who in your great mercy gladdened the disciples
with the sight of the risen Lord:
give us such knowledge of his presence with us,
that we may be strengthened and sustained by his risen life
and serve you continually in righteousness and truth;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.

Post Communion:

Living God,
your Son made himself known to his disciples
in the breaking of bread:
open the eyes of our faith,
that we may see him in all his redeeming work;
who is alive and reigns, now and for ever.

Yesterday’s reflection

Continued tomorrow

The church took on its present mixed Baroque-Gothic appearance during renovations in the 17th century (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2023)

Scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicised Edition copyright © 1989, 1995, National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. http://nrsvbibles.org

Inside the entrance porch to the courtyard and the church in Mala Strana (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2023)

The Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Northampton: one of England’s four surviving Round Churches

The Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Northampton, is the best-preserved of only four remaining round churches in England (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2023)

Patrick Comerford

The Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Northampton is the best preserved of only four remaining round churches in England. The Church of the Holy Sepulchre has been home to a worshipping and witnessing Christian presence in Northampton since 1100, and today is a living, active, worshipping community.

The Church of the Holy Sepulchre, a Norman round church in Sheep Street, is a Grade I listed building. It was built by returning Crusaders on the model of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. There other mediaeval round churches are still in use in England: the Round Church or Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Cambridge; Temple Church, London; and Saint John the Baptist, Little Maplestead, Essex.

The church was begun in 1100 by Simon de St Liz or Simon de Senlis, the first Norman Earl of Northampton, probably in thanks for his safe return from the first Crusade.

Inside the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Northampton

Simon de Senlis was responsible for making Northampton a Norman stronghold by building Northampton Castle (now destroyed) and a town wall. It is also probable that he was responsible for building All Hallows Church by the market place in the centre of Northampton and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre to the north.

Simon de Senlis joined the First Crusade ca 1096, when he would have seen the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. He would have seen it as a round church supported on 18 columns or piers with an ambulatory around the perimeter on the west of the church, and the site of Christ’s tomb at the centre.

The church had four apses at each of the cardinal points, with a façade on the east side so that the east apse was accessible directly from the rotunda. After its restoration, this church is what would have remained of a fourth-century church built by Constantine I.

The Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Northampton was built by Simon de Senlis when he returned from the First Crusade (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2023)

When he returned to Northampton, Simon de Senlis may have built the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Northampton, ca 1100. It is about half the size of the church in Jerusalem.

The original church of about 1100 had a round nave of eight columns, supporting a triforium. An ambulatory ran round the perimeter. The remains of a Norman window in the present nave suggest that the original round church had a chancel at the east, probably apse-ended.

A north aisle was added ca 1180, and second north aisle was added ca 1275. A south aisle was built in the early 15th century, the triforium of the round nave was replaced by a clerestory, and a west tower was added.

A similar Church of the Holy Sepulchre was built in Cambridge and, although it is smaller than its counterpart in Northampton, it may be indicative of the original church.

The porch leads into an eight-sided building that reflects the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem and two famous reinterpretations: Charlemagne’s chapel in Aachen, and San Vitale in Ravenna.

Three original Norman windows survive in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Northampton – one to the left of the south porch at low level and two on the north at high level. The fact that the windows are positioned at two different levels indicates there would have been a gallery.

Evidence of a corbel running round the perimeter supports the argument. Butm unlike Cambridge, there are no springers to suggest the form of vaulting. There are no gallery openings in the rotunda at high level, and the piers support pointed arches characteristic of a more later architecture than the Norman round arches.

The church in Cambridge has a conical stone-slated roof that was restored in the 19th century. The Holy Sepulchre in Northampton has a slightly flatter lead roof, but it is likely that the roof was originally similar to the roof at Cambridge.

The Church of the Holy Sepulchre was enlarged to its present form by Sir George Gilbert Scott in the 1860s (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2023)

Throughout the ages, a nave, chancel and aisles were added to the east of the round church at Northampton.

The building was further enlarged to its present form in the 1860s, when Sir George Gilbert Scott was involved in extensive restoration to bring the church to its present state. The chancel screen is by John Oldrid Scott (1880).

The church has a strong connection with the military life of the county. Note the highly unusual stained glass window of Richard the Lionheart at the battle of Jaffa in the north aisle to two late Morris and Co windows. The Soldiers’ Chapel commemorates where over 6000 soldiers from the Northamptonshire regiments from two World Wars. This chapel has recently been completely refurbished.

The Vicarage beside the Church of the Holy Sepulchre (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2023)

Over the years, the church has suffered from erosion. The Restoration Trust raised £1.3 million over the last 30 years, leaving the church in good order.

As a registered Inclusive Church, the church welcomes all people regardless of age, race, gender, sexuality, mental or physical abilities, or financial or social status. The parish fully supports the ministry of women as deacons, priests, and bishops. The parish is currently looking at how the building may be used in the future to better serve the needs of the local community.

The Church of the Holy Sepulchre is in the Diocese of Peterborough. The main Sunday service is the Sung Eucharist at 11 am in modern Catholic style, usually followed by tea, coffee and biscuits in the adjacent Church Rooms.

The Church of the Holy Sepulchre is a registered Inclusive Church that welcomes all (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2023)

A day to recall the Holocaust and disasters in Jewish history

A Holocaust memorial at the Jewish cemetery in Berlin … Tisha B’Av, beginning this evening, recalls major disasters in Jewish history, including the Holocaust (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Patrick Comerford

This evening (29 July) marks the beginning of Tisha B'Av (תִּשְׁעָה בְּאָב), literally the ‘Ninth of Av,’ the annual fast day in the Jewish calendar recalling many disasters in the course of Jewish history, mainly the destruction of Solomon’s Temple in Jerusalem by the Babylonians and the destruction of the Second Temple by the Romans.

Tisha B’Av is regarded as the saddest day in the Jewish calendar and it is associated with many other disasters in Jewish history.

Traditionally, the day is observed through five prohibitions, including a 25-hour fast. The Book of Lamentations, which is read in synagogues, mourns the destruction of Jerusalem, followed by the recitation of kinot or liturgical dirges that lament the loss of the Temples and of Jerusalem and recall events such as the murder of the Ten Martyrs by the Romans, massacres of mediaeval Jewish communities during the Crusades, the expulsions of Jews from Spain by the Inquisition, and the Holocaust.

According to the Mishnah (Taanit 4: 6), five events occurred on the Ninth of Av that are recalled in the traditional fasting.

The First Temple built by King Solomon was destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar in 587 BCE, and the people of Judah was sent into exile in Babylon. The destruction of the Temple destruction began on the 7th of Av (II Kings 25: 8) and continued until the 10th (Jeremiah 52: 12).

According to the Talmud, the actual destruction began on the Ninth of Av and it continued to burn throughout the Tenth of Av.

The Second Temple built by Ezra and Nehemiah was destroyed by the Romans in 70 CE, scattering the people of Judea and commencing the exile of the Jewish people. The Romans later crushed Bar Kokhba’s revolt and killed over 500,000 people, and then razed the site of the Temple in Jerusalem and the surrounding area in 135 CE.

Over time, Tisha B’Av has come to be a day of mourning not only for these events, but also for later tragedies, including:

● The First Crusade began on 15 August 1096 (24 Av), and 10,000 Jews were slaughtered in its first month in France and the Rhineland.
● The Jews were expelled from England on 18 July 1290 (9 Av).
● The Jews were expelled from France on 22 July 1306 (10 Av).
● The Jews were expelled from Spain on 31 July 1492 (7 Av).
● Germany entered World War I on 1-2 August 1914 (9-10 Av).
● Himmler formally received approval from the Nazis for the ‘Final Solution’ on 2 August 1941 (9 Av).
● The mass deportation of Jews from the Warsaw Ghetto began on 23 July 1942 (9 Av).
● A bomb attack on a Jewish community centre in Buenos Aires killed 85 people on 18 July 1994 (10 Av).

Many religious communities mourn the 6 million Jews murdered in the Holocaust on Tisha B’Av, adding the recitation of special kinot related to the Holocaust.

The fast on Tisha B’Av lasts about 25 hours, beginning at sunset on the preceding evening lasting until nightfall the next day. The five traditional prohibitions on Tisha B’Av are:

● eating or drinking;
● washing or bathing;
● application of creams or oils;
● wearing (leather) shoes;
● marital or sexual relations.

If possible, work is avoided during this period. Ritual washing up to the knuckles is allowed, as is washing to remove dirt or mud from one’s body.

Torah study is forbidden as it is considered a spiritually enjoyable activity, although one may study texts such as the Book of Lamentations, the Book of Job, portions of Jeremiah and chapters of the Talmud that discuss mourning and the destruction of the Temple.

Before the evening services begin in synagogues, the parochet covering the Torah Ark is removed or drawn aside, lasting until the Mincha prayer service. Old prayer-books and Torah scrolls are often buried on this day.

Plaza de Juda Levi in Córdoba … recalling Judah Halevi, who wrote kinot for Tisha B’Av (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2019)

The scroll of Eicha (Lamentations) is read in synagogues in the evening, and in many Sephardic congregations the Book of Job is read in the morning. The morning is spent chanting or reading kinot mourning the loss of the Temples and the subsequent persecutions, often referring to post-exilic disasters.

The most popular kinot were written by the eighth-century liturgical poet Elazar Hakallir, Judah Halevi (1085- 1145), the Spanish philosopher regarded by many as the greatest post-biblical poet, and Solomon ibn Gabirol (1021-1058).

Other kinot were written in response to tragedies in Jewish history, including the public burning of the Torah in Paris, the massacres of Jews during the first Crusade, the slaughter of the Jews of York, and the annihilation of European Jewry in the Holocaust.

In western Sephardi Tisha B’Av services, there is a tendency to emphasise hope for ultimate redemption and national and spiritual restoration, as part of the recalled collective grief.

This is reflected in one the most celebrated compositions by Judah ha-Levi often heard in synagogues on Tisha B’Av:

Zion, wilt thou not ask if peace’s wing
Shadows the captives that ensue thy peace
Left lonely from thine ancient shepherding?
Lo! west and east and north and south – worldwide
All those from far and near, without surcease
Salute thee: Peace and Peace from every side.

A Shabbat memorial prayer that recalls grief, tragedy, massacres and pogroms

Patrick Comerford

Tishah B’Av, a fast day in the Jewish calendar that begins next Wednesday (29 July 2020), recalls a number of disasters in Jewish history, primarily the destruction of Solomon’s Temple by the Babylonians and the Second Temple by the Romans.

On the Shabbat before Tisha B’Av, which begins this evening, the memorial prayer ‘Father of compassion’ (אב הרחמים, ‘Av Harachamim’ or ‘Abh Haraḥamim’) is said in many synagogues and congregations.

This poetic prayer was written in a time of profound grief, at the late 11th or early 12th century. It dates from the massacre of Jewish communities around the Rhine River in 1096 by Christian crusaders at the beginning of the First Crusade (1096-1099), one of the darkest moments in mediaeval Jewish history.

This prayer first appeared in siddurim or Jewish prayer books in 1290, and since then it has been printed in every Orthodox siddur in the European traditions of Sephardic and Ashkenazic prayers. It has since come to serve as a remembrance of other pogroms and tragedies, and for the victims of the Holocaust, so that it is now a prayer recalling all Jewish martyrs.

It has become the custom to say this prayer on two special moments in the Jewish year: the Shabbat before Shavuot, as the anniversary of the massacre of the Rhineland Jewish communities, and the Shabbat before Tishah B’Av, when the destruction of the two Temples in Jerusalem and the victims of later persecutions are mourned.

Father of compassion, who dwells on high:
may he remember in His compassion
the pious, the upright and the blameless –
holy communities who sacrificed their lives
for the sanctification of God’s name.

Lovely and pleasant in their lives,
in death they were not parted.

They were swifter than eagles and stronger than lions
to do the will of their Maker,
and the desire of their Creator.

O our God, remember them for good
with the other righteous of the world,
and may He exact retribution for the shed blood of His servants,
as it is written in the Torah of Moses, the man of God:

‘O nations, acclaim His people,
wreak vengeance on His foes,
and make clean His people’s land.’

And by Your servants, the prophets, it is written:
‘I shall cleanse their which I have not yet cleansed,
says the Lord who dwells in Zion.’

And in the Holy Writings it says:
‘Why should the nations say: Where is their God?
Before our eyes, may those nations know
that you avenge the shed blood of Your servants.’

And it also says:
‘For the Avenger of blood remembers them
and does not forget the cry of the afflicted.’

And it further says:
‘He will execute judgement among the nations,
heaping up the dead,
crushing the rulers far and wide.
From the brook by the wayside he will drink,
then he will hold his head high.’

The Stephansdom is the lasting image and symbol of Vienna

The Stephansdom, or Saint Stephen’s Cathedral, is the most visited site in Vienna (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2019)

Patrick Comerford

The Stephansdom, or Saint Stephen’s Cathedral in Vienna is at the heart of the city and the most visited site in the Austrian capital.

For many, the cathedral in Stephansplatz is their lasting image of Vienna, with its spires, delightful multicoloured roof and bell towers. The most striking parts of the cathedral include the main tower, which rises over 136 metres, and the roof’s 230,000 multi-coloured tiles.

During my visit to Vienna last week [7 November 2019], I returned to visit the Stephansdom, which is the seat of the Archbishop of Vienna. The Diocese of Vienna was founded 650 years ago in 1469. But the cathedral predates the diocese, and was first built in 1137, and the current cathedral dates from 1263.

The Stephansdom has seen many important events in Habsburg and Austrian history. Over the centuries, towers, doors and extensions have been added to give the city the present Gothic building with its sprinkling of baroque features.

The glory of Saint Stephen’s Cathedral is its ornately patterned, richly coloured roof (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2019)

Saint Rupert’s Church is considered the oldest church in Vienna – although that claim is contested by the Peterskirche or Saint Peter’s Church. The new church was built on the site of an ancient Roman cemetery.

By the mid-12th century, Vienna had become an important centre and the four existing churches, including only one parish church, no longer met the town’s needs. In 1137, Bishop Reginmar of Passau and Leopold IV, Duke of Bavaria, signed the Treaty of Mautern, which referred to Vienna as a civitas for the first time.

Under the treaty, Leopold IV received large stretches of land, except the site allocated for a new parish church that would eventually become Saint Stephen’s Cathedral.

The north aisle of the cathedral (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2019)

The present Romanesque and Gothic form of the cathedral was largely initiated by Rudolf IV (1339-1365) and stands on the ruins of two earlier churches, the first a parish church consecrated in 1147.

The new Romanesque church was only partially built when it was solemnly dedicated in 1147, at the beginning of the Second Crusade. The first church was completed in 1160, but rebuilding and expansion lasted until 1511, and repairs and restoration projects have continued to the present day.

The first Romanesque structure was extended westward in 1230-1245, and the present west wall and Romanesque towers date from this period. A great fire in 1258 destroyed much of the original building, and a larger replacement, also Romanesque in style and reusing the two towers, was built over the ruins of the old church and consecrated in 1263.

King Albert I ordered a Gothic three-nave choir to be built at the east of the church in 1304, wide enough to meet the tips of the old transepts. His son, Duke Albert II, continued work on the Albertine choir, which was consecrated in 1340.

The middle nave of the cathedral is dedicated to Saint Stephen and All Saints (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2019)

The middle nave is dedicated to Saint Stephen and All Saints, while the north and south nave are dedicated to Saint Mary and the Apostles.

Although Saint Stephen’s was still only a parish church and Vienna was not yet a diocese, Rudolf IV established a chapter of canons befitting a cathedral in 1365.

Emperor Frederick III persuaded Pope Paul II to give Vienna its own bishop in 1469, and the Diocese of Vienna dates from 18 January 1469. During the reign of Karl VI, Pope Innocent XIII made Vienna the see of an archbishop in 1722.

The Stephansdom survived the bombings of World War II, only to suffer from mindless vandalism when looters set fire to nearby buildings in April 1945. The fire spread and destroyed parts of the cathedral. But the city and the community came together all the damage was repaired within a few years, and the cathedral reopened on 23 April 1952.

A Crucifixion scene on the west front of the cathedral (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2019)

The glory of Saint Stephen’s Cathedral is its ornately patterned, richly coloured roof, 111 metres long, and covered by 230,000 glazed tiles. Above the choir on the south side, the tiles form a mosaic of the double-headed eagle that is a symbol of the Habsburg dynasty.

The cathedral is oriented toward the sunrise on Saint Stephen’s Day, 26 December. It is built of limestone, is 107 metres long, 40 metres wide, and 136 metres tall at its highest point.

Over the centuries, soot and other forms of air pollution accumulating on the church have given it a black colour, but recent restoration projects have again returned some portions of the building to its original white.

The main part of the cathedral contains 18 altars, with more in the many chapels (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2019)

The front of the nave and part of the north side are open to visitors, but everything else requires a ticket or is only open to people attending Mass. The accessible areas give views of the full length of the cathedral and some of the many small side altars.

The massive South Tower standing at at 136 meters is the highest point of the cathedral and a dominant feature on the skyline of Vienna. It is known affectionately to the people of Vienna as Steffl, a diminutive form of Stephen.

It took 65 years, from 1368 to 1433, to build the south tower. During the Siege of Vienna in 1529 and again during the Battle of Vienna in 1683, it served as the main observation and command post for the defence of the walled city. It is a 343-step climb with an observation chamber that offers views of Vienna.

The North Tower has a lift up to a viewing platform and the 21,283 kg Pummerin bell. The north tower was originally intended to mirror the south tower, but the plan was too ambitious and building stopped in 1511. The tower-stump was given a Renaissance cap, nicknamed the ‘water tower top,’ in 1578. The tower is now 68 metres tall, about half the height of the south tower.

The main entrance of the cathedral is known as the ‘Giant’s Door’ or ‘Riesentor’ (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2019)

The main entrance is known as the ‘Giant’s Door’ or Riesentor, referring to the thighbone of a mastodon that hung over it for decades. The tympanum above the Giant’s Door depicts Christ Pantocrator flanked by two winged angels. On the left and right of the door are two Roman Towers, or Heidentürme, each about 65 metres tall. They were built from the rubble of old Roman structures, and with the Giant’s Door they are the oldest parts of the cathedral.

Ludwig van Beethoven discovered the totality of his deafness when he saw birds flying out of the bell tower when the bells tolled but he could not hear them.

A memorial tablet recalls Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s relationship with the cathedral, where had been appointed an adjunct music director shortly before he death. This was his parish church when he lived at the ‘Figaro House,’ he was married here, two of his children were baptised here, and his funeral was held here.

The main part of the cathedral contains 18 altars, with more in the various chapels. The High Altar and the Wiener Neustadt Altar are the most famous.

The marble, baroque High Altar was built in 1641-1647. The Wiener Neustädter Altar at the head of the north nave was commissioned by Emperor Frederick III in 1447. On the predella is his famous AEIOU device. The Wiener Neustädter Altar is composed of two triptychs. Restoration began in 1985 and took 20 years to complete.

The Maria Pötsch Icon or Pötscher Madonna is a Byzantine-style icon of the Virgin Mary with the Christ Child, commissioned in 1676 by László Csigri after his release as a prisoner of war from the Turks who were invading Hungary.

The stone pulpit is a masterwork of late Gothic sculpture (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2019)

The stone pulpit is a masterwork of late Gothic sculpture. It was long attributed to Anton Pilgram, although it is now believed that Niclaes Gerhaert van Leyden was the carver.
The carvings include relief portraits of the four original Doctors of the Church: Saint Augustine of Hippo, Saint Ambrose, Saint Gregory the Great and Saint Jerome.

The handrail of the stairway curving its way around the pillar from ground level to the pulpit has fantastic decorations of toads and lizards biting each other, symbolising the struggle between good against evil. At the top of the steps, a stone puppy guards the preacher against intruders.

The handrail of the the pulpit has fantastic decorations of toads and lizards (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2019)

Beneath the stairs is one of the most beloved symbols of the cathedral: a stone self-portrait of the unknown sculptor gawking out of a window and known as the Fenstergucker. It may be a self-portrait of the sculptor.

There are several formal chapels in the cathedral, including Saint Katherine’s Chapel, the baptismal chapel, and Saint Barbara’s Chapel.

Saint Eligius’s Chapel is said to hold the body of Saint Valentine – but this is also said to be in the Carmelite Church in Whitefriar Street, Dublin. The other relics claimed by the cathedral the beard on the crucified Christ and a piece of the tablecloth from the Last Supper. The remains of over 11,000 persons are buried in the catacombs.

A late mediaeval memorial in the cathedral (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2019)

The preservation and repair of the fabric of Saint Stephen’s has been a continuous task since the cathedral was first built in 1147.

The Stephansdom is open year-round, from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. (from 7 a.m. on Sundays and holidays). It remains a working cathedral, and the seat of the Archbishop of Vienna, Cardinal Christoph Schönborn.

In winter, the square hosts the Stephansplatz Christmas market, although last Thursday the skies above the cathedral were bright, clear and blue.

The Wiener Neustädter Altar is composed of two triptychs (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2019)

A few days in Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia

The Arcadia Boutique Hotel on Frantiskanska Street is in the heart of the old city of Bratislava, a building that dates back to the 13th century (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2019)

Patrick Comerford

I am in Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia, for the next few days, celebrating some landmark dates in the family. I arrived on a Ryanair flight from Dublin earlier this morning [5 November 2019] and I am staying in the Arcadia Boutique Hotel on Frantiskanska Street, in the heart of the old city.

I have already strolled through the old town this afternoon, and the attractions on the doorstep include Saint Martin’s Cathedral, Gothic churches, palaces and castles, the Museum of Jewish Culture, the banks of the River Danube and the other sites that make this a charming European capital.

During the Third Crusade (1189-1192), it is said, the Emperor Frederick Barbarossa stayed at a building on this site. The hotel building claims to date back to 1290, with memories than date back seven or eight centuries, housed in mediaeval buildings that have been transformed into a romantic hotel, but retaining its vaults, old ceilings and winding corridors.

Evidence of a Celtic settlement in the area in the 3rd century BC has been found in the cellar, archaeological research has revealed indications of a Roman settlement at the site, and objects from the 12th and 13th centuries have been found in the hotel grounds. Inside, the building retains fine works in wrought iron from the Renaissance, Baroque and Classicism eras.

Františkánska Street was originally a street leading up to Bratislava Castle, and buildings were built on only one side of the street. The original buildings included the Franciscan Church with the Chapel of Saint John the Evangelist, the monastery garden and the Franciscan monastery.

In the first part of the 15th century, this street slowly developed into an area for craftsmen, including stonemasons, knife grinders and coopers, who worked alongside the city wall.

The building served as the headquarters of the Hussite movement in Bratislava in 1432. As a legacy from that time, a chalice as the symbol of the Hussites was carved in stone into one of the arcades in the building.

The hotel’s cellar, now used as a wellness area, is the oldest part of the building and offers a fine example of Gothic vaults. On the first floor, there are examples of late-Gothic wall ornaments and stone window frames.

The arcades in the central courtyard area, which now forms the hotel’s lobby area, are among the finest examples of Renaissance architecture in Slovakia. The Renaissance-era vaulted ceiling in the cocktail bar is decorated with Baroque ornaments.

During my few days here, I hope to post on this blog about my visits to churches, castles and the cathedral. I am planning to visit the remaining sites of Jewish Bratislava tomorrow [6 November 2019], and may even take the bus to neighbouring Vienna, the capital of Austria, which is about an hour away.

Join me over the next few days on this blog, if only for a cup of coffee or a glass of wine, as I explore what for me is a new venture in a new European capital.

Parts of the hotel are said to dates back to the 13th century (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2019)