On Monday I showed you more of our adventures in Strasbourg, as part of our Viking River Cruise down the Rhine. We were spending the day in France and exploring what they call La Petite France.
We had already visited Our Lady of Strasbourg twice and Place de la Cathedrale but as we walked to another area we came across the Saint Lawrence entrance to the Cathedral and of course I had to take a few more pictures.
When you take pictures of these massive cathedrals from a distance you don’t always realize how grand they are. Above you can see my friends Betsy and Jerry walking in front of the entrance. And I never realized until just now, there is even some graffiti on the side. I do hate that someone had to mark up the beautiful sandstone.
Maybe they didn’t know they were being watched by this sad little Mascaron! Mascarons are an architectural element that are supposed to help frighten off evil spirits. They were usually scary but this one looks more cute than scary.
See? Even he looks more scared than scary. We found this one right by the main entrance.
As we walked around this side of the Cathedral we could see they were doing construction, just like at the Dom in Cologne.
Just look at all those different angles and all of that ornamentation!
And all of those rooflines! Even though we visited twice, we still did not really see very much of the Cathedral.
But then we came to the Portal of Saint Lawrence!
Now the doors themselves may not be very ornate, but just look at the detail surrounding them!
The carvings and statues surrounding the doors of course tell stories and are full of symbolism.
On the left is the Adoration of the Magi and the center and right are the Martyrdom of Saint Laurent.
I love the different shading of the sandstone.
And I imagine it must be beautiful inside! Saint Laurent or Lawrence was one of seven deacons in Rome under Pope Sixtus II around 258 AD that were persecuted under Emperor Valerian. Saint Lawrence was the keeper of the riches of the Church and was asked to deliver them to the Emperor. He asked for some time so he could gather them together and instead distributed the worldly riches to the poor and needy. To the Emperor he presented the widowed and orphaned, stating that those presented were the riches of the Church in God’s eyes.
Not pleased, the Emperor tortured him until he died. He was placed over a bed of hot coals and slowly cooked, literally. You can see above the door Saint Laurent on the bed of coals. Legend has it that during his torture, he was asked how he felt and he said he was ready to be turned over, he was done on that side. So, it is understandable that he would be the Saint for Cooks and Comedians.
Here is another shot of the Adoration of the Magi, or the Three Wise Men.
And more of the Martyrdom of Saint Laurent.
As we were walking away I turned back to see the lone spire of the Cathedral behind the Portal of Saint Lawrence. It is called The Arrow because of how it is constructed.
It actually has an arrow and is typical of German Architecture. And in this area, cultures of the French and German often intermingle.
It really made for a lovely shot – a shrine to a Martyr and an enormous Arrow on the Cathedral.
This is not a sponsored post. This is my experience from my trip with Viking River Cruises. Email me to find out how you can save $100 when you book your first cruise with Viking through their referral program.
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