NOSTALGIA - Europe revisited

Back to 1973 - we saw so much - visited so many places that still present themselves as if we were there just last month - or last week. Isn't it funny the tricks that time can play on the mind? As mentioned a little ways back, this particular trip had as its centrepoint a pilgrimage  to as many of Le Corbusier's buildings as we were able to visit. One building of course always stands out - the Chapel at Ronchamp (deserving of out of the way visits on three different occasions), and irrespective of one's religious persuasion (or lack thereof), when one enters this amazing space God belongs entirely to you. Corb was of course an atheist, yet the Catholic church commissioned him on a number of occasions to tackle projects which have become landmarks in the annals of modern architecture, and which ultimately celebrate Mans' highest achievements in various expressions of the arts. Here are a few pictures taken at Ronchamp all that time ago, which I will follow up with details from more of his building over the next few days.
Ronchamp was constructed largely from the rubble of of an earlier church which stood on the site, but which was severely damaged by bombing during the liberation struggles of 1944. The first traces of habitation on the hill where the chapel stands date to antiquity. During the Middle Ages a parish church of Ronchamp and the neighbouring villages was dedicated to Our Lady of September. In the 18th Century it became a pilgrimage chapel and was then called Our Lady of the Heights (Notre-Dame du Haut). During the French Revolution the chapel was sold as a national property, but in 1799 forty families in Ronchamp decided to buy it to restore its original spiritual vocation. Since then the chapel has been private property, attached by convention to the Diocese of Besancon.
Initially Le Corbusier resisted the commission, but after visiting the hill, the history of the site and the surrounding landscapes allowed him to be convinced.
"I wanted to create a place of silence, prayer, peace and inner joy" said Le Corbusier on the day of the inauguration on the 25th June, 1955.

Approaching Ronchamp from a distance

Ronchamp in winter

Roof Detail

Roof Detail

The Altar

Pulpit

Outside Pulpit

Rainwater spout