Church of the Saint

I could stare at those statues for hours.

This is Saint Mark carrying forth God's will and banning evil from the church as he crushes the demon saint Diablo.

Intense.

Diablo as in the devil?

Yes but do come along, there's much to see inside. But before we enter I wanted to show you something else.

Notice if you will the engravings on these bronze entrance doors.

What's going on there? It looks like a pretty hardcore fight.

It's an interpretation of the saints battling away the demons. It serves as a praise to the Saints who fight to keep this a holy place, devoid of all evil spirits. In the past centuries, it was an honor for an artist to get asked to depict such a scene since everyone went to church and the experience starts at the door. It was up to the artist to show the people why the ground they walked upon was holy.

Is this church still popular for Hamburg locals?

It was before the construction started.

Construction? What kind of construction? The church is already here, why build it again?

It's a restorative effort to preserve the aged works of religious art.

As you'll see, the construction is gorgeous. The restoration of gold and bronze statues takes a long time to complete without destroying the intricacies of the sculptures and artwork.

So it's a big tease.

What a big let down. The Sanctuary looks incredible, and I never get to experience it. Great.

Yeah! Why don't they do a partial restoration so it's still somewhat functional?

The entire task is undertaken in hopes of keeping everything in pristine condition. Let's move along so you can see Martin Luther.

Wait. Check this out. It's officially a big tease.