A facelift

Église de la Réconciliation

Taizé has two churches: the big Église de la Réconciliation and the small Église romane Sainte-Marie-Madeleine. Both are in use by the international Christian ecumenical monastic order of Taizé. the small however is hardly ever used for services; only around New Year's Eve, when there are hardly any guests in Taizé only a few services are held by the monks.

Église romane Sainte-Marie-Madeleine

Because I am interested in Romanesque architecture I had visited the Sainte-Marie-Madeleine a few times. However, the church had two drawbacks. Even though the church is not really in use it is very often occupied by quite a few Taizé visitors, who feel the need to tun that particular church in a meditation centre. That is also the reason why in the summertime it is virtually impossible to take pictures of the interior without having people in the viewfinder.

Church before the renovation (with flash)

Further the church more resembled a burial chamber than a church. The walls were plastered in a sober dark grey (bordering on black), and the windows are very small and not very transparent. Both factors made it virtually impossible a) to photograph without using a flash, and b) to walk around in the pitch dark without breaking your neck over stools, empty or occupied, left behind by Taizé visitors. All in all, I never felt at ease inside that church.

Church after the renovation (without flash)

When recently I decided to have a look inside the church again, I found a very pleasant surprise. The interior had been completely renovated, there was new furniture and the awful grey had been replaced by a beige colour. In word: the church had been transformed from burial chamber into a church.
And what did the bible say? "And God said, Let there be light: and there was light. And God saw the light, and it was good; and God divided the light from the darkness."
Only why did it take the Taizé Brothers so long to come up with this bright idea?

Church after the renovation (without flash)

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