Durham Cathedral

The Cathedral Church of Christ, Blessed Mary the Virgin and St Cuthbert of Durham was built between 1093 and 1133 as a Catholic cathedral, but now it is Anglican. For the past three years, a public project has been underway to build a LEGO replica, as a way to raise both money and public interest. It's been fun to watch photos in progress on Flickr and Twitter, and now the last brick has been laid. You can see a lot of in-progress photos here, see some films here, or visit the cathedral yourself and see it in real life, as it will be on permanent display.

Hajj

This is a busy time for a blogger with an eye to world religions, between Jewish holidays, the Pope visiting the US, and it's also the time of the Hajj in Islam. The Hajj is an annual pilgrimage of faithful Muslims to Mecca, the birthplace of Muhammad and the location where he received the Quran, and this year it runs from September 22 to 27. This is one of the five pillars of Islam, and all Muslims are required to make this journey during their lives if they are able. Over 2,000,000 people are there this year (tragically, the press of so many people led to the death of 700 yesterday). A couple of years ago Ibraheem, a ten year old, built a LEGO diorama illustrating different locations and rituals associated with the Hajj. Some of these include:
The Tawaf, a ritual in which pilgrims walk seven times around the Kaaba, a cubic building covered in a black curtain. This structure is believed to have been built by Abraham and Ishmael and includes a black stone brought down from heaven by an angel. In the time of Muhammad this structure was full of idols, but when Muhammad conquered Mecca he removed the idols. Today the Kabaa is surrounded by the huge Al-Masjid al-Haram Mosque, built to accomodate the huge crowds of pilgrims at Hajj time.
Spending the afternoon in prayer, contemplation and repentance on the plain of Arafat. Here one can listen to sermons preached near the foot of the Mount of Mercy, where Muhammad is said to have given his last sermon.
Spending the night under the stars in the field of Muzdalifah.
Going back and forth between Mount Safa and Mount Marwah, where Hagar is said to have run when Abraham left her and Ishmael in the wilderness.
Throwing pebbles at three Jamarats (formerly pillars, now walls) in a ceremony called the Stoning of the Devil.
In addition to these, Ibraheem also built the tent city a Mina, where 100,000 tents house the visitors to Mecca.

Papal visit

I live in New Jersey, and when you are driving up the 295 past Philadelphia, in characteristic Jersey fashion the freeway signs say "Pope in Philly. Expect delays." If you cross over to the Pennsylvania side the signs are more polite, as Pennsylvanians seem to be (I credit the Amish) (okay, in parts of Philly not so polite, but seriously, keep on driving to Amish country, they're all very nice people out there), anyway, where was I, oh yeah, the signs read something like "Road closures for papal visit".* Anyway, if you can get through the roads, it's a great time to go to Philadelphia. Yes, Pope Francis is going to be there on Saturday and Sunday, but LEGO fans should go to the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia. Nathan Sawaya's Art of the Brick exhibition is still there until October 4, and they just installed a large LEGO Vatican display, in time for the Pontiff's visit. This highly detailed minifig version of St. Peter's Basilica and St. Peter's Square, including tourists, nuns, Swiss Guards, and Francis himself, was built over the past ten months by Father Bob Simon, a Catholic priest from Scranton, Pennsylvania. I'm not sure how long this display will be at the Franklin, but there is a display called Vatican Splendours including art from the Vatican that is running through February 15. I'm sure there will be huge crowds there this weekend due to Catholics coming to the World Meeting of Families (the occasion of Francis' visit). I wonder if Father Simon will have the opportunity to show this to Francis (from the press coverage Francis seems like such a nice guy that I'll be he'd enjoy a LEGO version of himself).



*Update: Delaware is much more subtle, maybe in a form of church/state separation. They just say "Major event in Philadelphia".

Salamanca Cathedral

The Catedral Nueva (New Cathedral) of Salamanca Spain, here in LEGO form by Beth Tice, was commissioned by Ferdinand V of Castile in 1513 and completed in 1733.

Dharma Bhakti Buddhist Temple

The Dharma Bhakti Buddhist Temple (here in LEGO by Kosmas Santosa) was originally built in Jakarta Indonesia in 1650 to honor Buddhist priest Guan Yin. The building has gone through renovations and name changes over the years, and sadly was largely destroyed by fire earlier this year.

Notre Dames

Daniel Stoeffler built two different French Notre Dames: Notre Dame de Paris and Notre Dame de Strasbourg. The cathedral in Paris was built from 1160 to 1345 on the Île de la Cité, an island in the Seine. The cathedral in Strasbourg was built from 1176 to 1439, though the originally planned south tower was never built, so I suppose you could argue it is still under construction. .

Songkran Festival

In Thailand they celebrate the new year, or the Songkran Festival (here in LEGO by Jared Chan), from April 13-15. Traditions include spending time with your parents, grandparents, and other elders; throwing out what is old to look forward to the new; sprinkling with water in a form of ritual purification; and a tradition called 'bathing the Buddha'. A statue of the Buddha is brought through the streets and splashed with water, again a symbol of cleansing the soul of inner impurity. This tradition of splashing with water has evolved into a party-like atmosphere, with people taking to the streets with buckets, hoses, and super-soaker water guns in a city-wide water-fight, as shown in Jared's MOC.

The structure in this MOC is also of note. Wat Benchamabophit Dusitvanaram is one of the most well-known Buddhist temples in Bangkok. The temple, a little over a hundred years old, houses a statue of the Buddha known as Phra Buddhajinaraja in the inner hall, other statues of the Buddha found throughout the structure, and the remains of King Chulalongkorn, who reigned in Thailand from 1868-1910 and is the one who ordered the temple's construction. Today the temple is a symbol of the nation, a popular destination for tourists and is depicted on a Thai coin.

Duomo di Milano

The Duomo di Milano (built here in LEGO by Bright Bricks for Nano Bleu Toys in Milan) was begun in 1386 and completed just in 1965. This cathedral is the fifth largest church in the world and the largest in Italy (though remember that the Vatican is a separate country - St Peters is the largest Christian church in the world), and I can testify that it is massive. I was there once and the columns reminded me most of the giant sequoia trees at Yosemite National Park. This model is built at a 1:200 scale and took the builders much less than the six centuries of the original, just an amazing ten days(!).

Ulm Minster

Ulm Minster is a Lutheran (formerly Catholic) church in Ulm Germany that is the tallest church in the world. Construction began in 1377 but was only finished in 1890, 125 years ago. As part of the anniversary celebration, two Legoland model designers, Vera Feldmann and Anastasia Trautwein, built a 2.3 meter tall LEGO rendition. It was originally displayed at Legoland Germany, but is now installed in the church itself for the rest of 2015. I don't see in the various articles what will happen to the model after that - presumably it will either return to Legoland to become part of the permanent display at some point.

Szent István-Bazilika

Legorevival made this rendition of Szent István-Bazilika (Saint Stephen's Basilica) from Budapest. This Roman Catholic basilica is the third largest church in Hungary, completed in 1905. It is named for Stephen, the first king of Hungary.

Ta Prohm

Ta Prohm (here in LEGO by Toltomeja) is a Buddhist temple in Cambodia located just west of Angkor Wat and a little south of Angkor Thom. This was built in the late 12th century as a Mahayana Buddhist monastery and university, and it its day the complex was home to over 12,500 people. After it was abandoned four centuries ago when the Khmer Empire collapsed, the temple was slowly taken over by the jungle.

Che Kung Temple

Andy Bear built this rendition of the Che Kung Temple found in the Sha Tin district in Hong Kong. The temple is dedicated to Che Kung, a general in the Song Dynasty in the 13th century, also known as a healer. He is now revered as a god of protection.

Salt Lake Temple

David Jungheim built this version of the Salt Lake Temple. The real structure on Temple Square in Salt Lake City was dedicated in 1893 and is the center of the The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Vor Frue Kirke

Vor Frue Kirke, the Church of Our Lady (here in LEGO by Lasse Vestergård), is the Cathedral of Copenhagen and the National Cathedral of Denmark. Churches have stood at this location since 1187, but the current cathedral was built in the early 1800's.

Beth Sholom Synagogue

Tim S built the Beth Sholom Synagogue, a synagogue outside of Philadelphia designed by Frank Lloyd Wright.

Tiger's Nest

Taktsang Palphug Monastery (translated as "Tiger's Nest") sits precariously on a cliffside overlooking the Paro Valley in Bhutan. This monastery was built three hundred years ago, on the site of a cave in the cliff face where where Guru Padmasambhava is said to have meditated for three years, three months, three weeks, three days and three hours in the 8th century. This figure was key in bringing Bhuddhism to Bhutan, and is revered throughout the country. Anu Pehrson built this beautiful LEGO rendition of the Tiger's Nest.

Tabernacle

I've been meaning to post Brick.Spartan's beautiful Tabernacle. This, of course, was the tent form of a temple built at God's direction that the Israelites carried with them on their wanderings through the desert, and later it had a more permanent home in the promised land (though it was moved a couple of times) until Solomon built the Temple and the focus of worship moved to Jerusalem. Brick.Spartan was careful to include a lot of details, including all of the furnishings that were built for the Tabernacle interior.

Smolny Cathedral

I've previously noted Heath Flor's Smolny Cathedral, a Russian Orthodox cathedral in St Petersburg that is now a concert hall. Last year Dave Kaleta built this Micro Smolny as a Christmas gift.

Pura Tanah Lot

Tanah Lot means 'Land in the Sea' - this rocky outcrop on the coast of Bali is cut off from the main land at high tide, and accessible by foot at low tide. During the 15th century, the traveling Hindu priest Nirartha rested at this spot, and was inspired by the beautiful location to found a shrine to worship the local sea gods. This recreation of Pura Tanah Lot is found in Legoland Malaysia.

Deir el Bahari

I've previously described, Deir el Bahari, a temple dedicated to the Pharoah Hatshepsut, honored as a god after her death. FifthPixel built this great rendition of this Egyptian site, illustrated here as if it were an official Architecture set.