Lisa's Travel Photos
Western Europe
A Very Old Doorway (Cattedrale di SS Pietro e Paolo, Sovana)
The cathedral in Sovana is probably the oldest-feeling church I've ever been in, because it probably is the oldest church I've ever been in. There are parts from different times, but even the very latest are mid-medieval, and the earliest are from about the 8th century, maybe earlier. This doorway is called "pre-Romanesque" or "Lombard-style" (because it was probably at least partially sculpted by Lombard craftsmen) by the guidebooks, and probably dates from the earliest phase of the church. Very Very Old. (Don't miss the primitive sculpture of a man with a sword on the lower right, and the dark-colored lions beside the arch.)