May 25: Bamberg – Karmelitenkirche

Right down the road from the Obere Pfarre is the Karmelitenkirche, part of the Karmelitenkloster (Carmelite Monastery). The site's monastic history started around the 11th century and the church was baroquified at the turn of the 18th century.

5127

5127.jpg

Here's the front of the Kirche plus a wing of the monastery at left. The cloister is beyond the volume connecting them.

5128

5128.jpg

Since the street slices across the diagonal in front of the church, the front plaza is an intense wedge.

5129

5129.jpg

A closer view of the east façade.

5131

5131.jpg

A first look into the nave through the vestibule doors.

5135

5135.jpg

The altar's grandeur is similar to that of the Obere Pfarre.

5136

5136.jpg

The organ lurks above, silently blinging.

5138

5138.jpg

The pulpit looks rather like three or four pulpits glommed together.

5139

5139.jpg

Curlicue pews.

5140

5140.jpg

The vault is simple and elegant and slightly worrying due to those visible plaster cracks.

5143

5143.jpg

These swoopy windows above the apse appear to look into another interior space, unusually.

5144

5144.jpg

This warm glow nicely offset the coolth of the daylight in the main space.

5146

5146.jpg

The vestibule structure is presumably of recent vintage and is pleasantly simple.

5150

5150.jpg

Now looking onward past the north wall of the Kirche, the street dipping down the west side of Kaulberg.

5151

5151.jpg

Nice stone textures. Note the palimpsest of an arch below the right side of the window.

5154

5154.jpg

The rather stark, preserved Gothic west face of the church.

5156

5156.jpg

A wider view.

5157

5157.jpg

A closeup on the edge of a spray of streetside flowers.

5159

5159.jpg

A still wider view, with flowers.

5162

5162.jpg

Wow, that roof ridge is a bit of a roller coaster.

5163

5163.jpg

And one more last view of the Kirche before rounding the corner down the hill.