The incredibly lavish artwork, gild and gold dome display the riches and power of the Church. It is both incredibly beautiful and disturbing. Like all religious buildings it is meant to intimidate with its scale and grandeur. The beliefs must have substance if they are connected to such an overpowering statement.
As an atheist and antitheist I merely lost myself in the beauty. The politics of religion I leave to one side.
This was certainly a place of stupendous wonder. But one cannot help but think how much misery it left in its wake.
