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| Outside gate to St Bartholomew the Great |
Thursday M&H and I adventured around London. I steered them away from all well known attractions of the capital and instead we explored the hidden gems of the town.
My favourate among them is St Bartholomew the Great, located near Smithfields Market and practically impossible to find. Every time I bring a friend there I get lost - usually the friend then asks a native for directions, and usually the native doesn't know, either.
Part of the difficulty is that Barts is also a general hospital, and the campus of a teaching hospital, and another church, all jumbled up together in the same general area. We meandered for over an hour before we finally found the old Priory Church.
St Bartholomew the Great is said to be the oldest church in London and was founded in 1123. It is my all time favourate church. No stained glass windows, little colour or gold, just bare stone and old wood and an atmosphere of true spirituality. It reminds me of a crusader church, solid and rustic and here to stay.
Photographing it is well nigh impossible. The church interior is dark, with many secret shady crooks and crevices. But there are lots of windows which let in the sunlight, and the camera is more sensitive to the sunlight than my eyes, so the photos are much lighter than what human eyes see when inside the church. Still, with a bit of imagination I hope you will be able to follow me into the great church and experience a little of the overwhelming impression it makes upon the visitor!
After visiting the church we walked along the embankment, and I include a few photos from there as well.
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| Entrance of Barts |
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| Back view of outside gate |
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| Interesting view in the City |
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| Millennium Bridge |
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| See the Globe Theatre (Shakespeare's!) in the distance? |
