184 Comments for Transfiguration of Our Lord

Wow...it looks so lonley there...

Pretty little golden cross...how many years of rot and decay have you seen? Do you remember the people and music that once filled this grand place? :(

I love how in the foreground, you see the sheet music laying there, abandoned and forgotten...and the background is the rest of the church--a little out of focus, but perfect for the shot.

That lion makes me so sad. It is like he was aware of what was to become of this magnificent place. Wow. The emotion on this one is strong.

WOW to the raw beauty of this.

There should be a way to preserve this intact (if possible) or even carefully dismantled and reassembled somewhere in another church or a museum or something!

That is good to know autoguy. At least someone cared.

I agree with eldokid (HEY remember me??) on this one. NO Church or biblical/religious building should EVER EVER EVER be demolished...at least not without attempting to preserve as much as possible of the structure.

I don't follow a religion anymore per say, but this is just awe-inspiring, even to me!

I believe very strongly in don't take dont break (graffiti, theft and vandalism of abandoned places disgusts me) but if there was any way I could have taken the frescos in these images, I would have. Just to save them from destruction so other people could enjoy their beauty.

I truly hope that they salvaged the organ!

I get the feeling that people destroy old stuff to remove reminders as it is for money or spite.

More blather:

"Around 2005, the former Transfiguration property was purchased by Raffaello Follieri, a con artist who claimed he was going to use his inside connections with the Vatican to buy churches for low prices and rehabilitate them into community centers. Instead, he lived a lavish lifestyle with his girlfriend at the time, actress Anne Hathaway. He had no inside connections, in fact the Vatican Secretary of State official disavowed any connection to Follieri. He lost bids on all other churches he tried to purchase, except for Transfiguration and two others. When the property was resold after Follieri's imprisonment, the buyers (The Boys' Latin of Philadelphia Charter School) only wanted the school building and quickly demolished the convent, rectory and finally the church in 2009, before any opposition could be raised by the community."

"The mosaic stations of the cross from Transfiguration are now beautifully displayed at St. Elizabeth's Church in Upper Uwchlan Township PA, as are three large stained glass windows depicting Jesus before Pilate, Jesus being taken down from the Cross and the Resurrection. "

The original had been saved: "The stained glass window depiction of Raphael's Transfiguration, that was once over the front doors of Transfiguration's upper church (in the choir loft), has been installed behind the main altar of the Immaculate Conception Church in Cottonwood, Arizona."

Thanks for sharing! An empty lot? So plenty of time was there for a proper salvage. Boy does that add insult to injury! Something just doesn't add up. I think somebody in power had it out for the place. Nothing else makes sense.

Saint Larry, Saint Moe, and Saint Curly. Nyuk-nyuk-nyuk, whoop-whoop-whoop. Yeah, closer to hell I'm moving. I'm feeling the heat.

The time and craftsmanship in that is incredible, yes. I can't imagine how to save it. Cut it into pieces. Remove lines of tiles for the cuts? Who would even pay the huge amount of money to salvage it?

The amount of old growth oak in those pews is insane. As one could guess, any hint of plaster failing could mean large heavy chunks might fall and kill people. In many cases, getting behind it to properly stop that is impossible. It looks great until a 1000 pound chunk falls and squashes you. I'm going to hell now, so I don't want to be hit.