Over the past few weeks I have been madly collecting information about Orthodox churches in the U.S. and in the process, I discovered a few beauties right here in the state of Utah that I had had no clue about before this.
In one day, I visited three! All in the general Salt Lake area.
The first one I visited was St. Anna's in Sandy. One thing that immediately caught my eye was this colorful and gilded mosaic on the exterior of the church. I admit, I honestly wish we had more places that did this, I think it's an emerging skill that's making a comeback and is a fantastic way of beautifying churches -- including those which already exist and could use a bit of sprucing up! (Looking at you, LDS chapels!)
But of course, it tends to be the interiors that steal the show.
Orthodox churches have a great amount of detail and color in them as a rule. This one is actually quite muted by comparison to many others (including those I visited later) but it still has some lovely details.
I was able to shoot through the altar screen to the beauty that lay behind the "royal doors" (the arch in the middle.)
You can see some of the wonderful workmanship, and the fact is that there is a great deal of care and detail even in the places that don't get seen by many.
The richness of the details, the true love and care that go into making them, and making them beautifully, always impresses me! Just look at the incredible embroidery work here!
And the iconography is always a treat, something that stylistically tends to give it away as an Orthodox church.
This church remains unfinished at the moment. The ceiling has yet to be treated to its own iconography, which will hopefully be rectified in the next couple of years. When that happens, I will be sure to go back and see it again!