St. Aloysius Roman Catholic Church – Detroit, Michigan

Isaac Kremer/ March 15, 2026/ Churches, Civic, Field Notes/ 0 comments

The mosaic sanctuary wall belongs to St. Aloysius Catholic Church, located at 1234 Washington Boulevard. The sprawling, glittering gold mosaic depicts Jesus Christ as the Good Shepherd carrying a lamb on his shoulders, surrounded by a flock of sheep resting beneath palm trees. The marble structure built below the mosaic features a recessed arch detailing a smaller mosaic panel of

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Basilica del Sacra Cuore – Rome, Italy

Isaac Kremer/ September 9, 2025/ Churches, Civic, Field Notes, Physical, preservation/ 0 comments

The Basilica of the Sacred Heart of Jesus at the Praetorian Barracks (Sacro Cuore di Gesù a Castro Pretorio) is topped by a prominent statue of “Christ The Redeemer” on the bell tower is made of gilded bronze and was added in 1931.  The basilica is situated on the Esquiline hill, on Via Marsala, opposite the main Termini railway station. It

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Forum – Rome, Italy

Isaac Kremer/ September 8, 2025/ Churches, Civic, Field Notes, museum, Physical, plaza, public art, streetscape/ 0 comments

Temple of Saturn The structure with the prominent remaining columns is the Temple of Saturn, located at the western end of the Roman Forum. The temple was one of the oldest and most important sacred buildings in the Roman Forum. It primarily served as the aerarium, the state treasury, housing the Roman Republic’s and early Empire’s reserves of gold and

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Basilica di  San Vitale al Quirinale – Rome, Italy

Isaac Kremer/ September 8, 2025/ Churches, Civic, Field Notes/ 0 comments

The Basilica of San Vitale (Basilica dei Santi Vitale e Compagni Martiri in Fovea) is a very ancient church located on the Via Nazionale. The ceiling is a modern, flat, coffered ceiling made of varnished wood. It was installed relatively recently in 1938 as part of a significant restoration of the basilica. The ceiling features painted and gilded decoration within

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Saint Peter’s Basilica – Vatican City

Isaac Kremer/ September 6, 2025/ Churches, Civic, Field Notes, Physical, plaza, preservation/ 0 comments

St. Peter’s Basilica and St. Peter’s Square are located in Vatican City, a microstate enclaved within Rome, Italy. The monumental square was designed by Gian Lorenzo Bernini and constructed between 1656 and 1667. It features a large elliptical space framed by colossal Tuscan colonnades, which consist of 284 columns and 88 pilasters arranged in four rows. These colonnades are often

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Basilica of Saint John at the Latin Gate – Rome, Italy

Isaac Kremer/ September 5, 2025/ Churches, Civic, Field Notes/ 0 comments

At the end of the second century A.D. Tertullian informs us that at Rome St. John the evangelist underwent martyrdom by being immersed in boiling oil, from which he emerged unscathed. The place where this was said to have occurred is at the Latin Gate. He was later exiled to Patmos. The basilica was erected after Gelasius (492-496). Evidenced of

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