Englishman Derry Brabbs is well respected as a photographer of historic sites and landscapes. He has brought those interests together in his book Great Pilgrimage Sites of Europe.

As you might expect, photography is at the heart of things here. Brabbs offers an eclectic selection of 33 sites found in across 13 countries in western Europe.

St Peter’s Basilica Rome around daybreak when the streetlamps are still lit and the dawn sky casts a soft pink glow over St Peter’s, with not a coach in sight.

Some are widely known destinations. Chartres, Assisi, and Cologne are among those. Others are  known to people in country or nearby: Ely, for instance, and Trondheim.

There are several even less widely known choices, too, including Le-Puy-en-Velay and Covadonga. None of his choices are unknown, really. Most have been sites of pilgrimage for centuries. The well known ones you may find described in travel guides or analysed in art history texts. Others you are less likely to find in those places. All the more reason to explore what Brabbs has to offer about them here.

Our Lady of the Pillar, Zaragoza

Each site is given a generous helping of photographs, accompanied by a brief text in which Brabbs mixes history of the site, historical context, and personal thoughts. If you want deep wriiten context, this is not where you will find it, but words do serve to help set things in perspective.

It is his photographs which make the impact of the sites he has chosen clear, though. If you have been to a site, Brabbs still has both detail and landscape shots which will show you aspects you have not seen. If it is a place you have not visited, his work may inspire you to think about a visit, when that's possible. Whatever your relationship to any of these sites, Great Pilgrimage Sites of Europe makes a fine guide for armchair travel, too.

The Sanctuary of Our Lady of La Salette, France

The votive shrine of Our Lady of La Salette stands near the basilica’s main portal and it is a focal point for pilgrims attending outdoor masses. 

Many sites honor Saint Mary, while others are dedicated to early Christian martyrs or well loved regional saints. Whether this aligns with your view of faith or not, you will find Brabbs's photographs worthwhile for their views of architecture, community, and history.

Several images to look out for:

Saint Therese became known for her straightforward and honest approach to spirituality in her writings. It makes sense then that there's a statue of her kneeling outside the cathedral dedicated to her in Lisieux. which is in Normandy in France. Brabbs shows many of the elegant decorations within the cathedral, but it is this perspective that suggests deeper moments of reflection.

A moody shot of the Abbey Church of Vadstena, in Ostergotland, Sweden, and details of the carvings within remind of the life of Saint Bridget (of Sweden; a different saint than Saint Bridgid of Ireland, in case you were wondering). She and her children both did work that benefitted many in 14th century Sweden. She was a pilgrim herself too, having visited Santiago de Compostela, Rome, and Jerusalem.

Cologne in Germany, Chartres in France, and Ely in England are each cathedrals with many imposing and impressive architectural and decorative aspects. Brabbs does a fine job of at once distilling these, and through his images, suggesting ideas for further investigation.

There is much else to explore in the pilgrimage sites Derry Brabbs has chosen. A stave church in Norway, a church high on a mountain peak in in France whose design shows influences from Moorish Spain, atmospheric views of the facade of Our Lady of Salette in the French Alps and of pilgrims in procession there as dusk falls: those are just a few of the images and places which may linger with you.

Montserrat, Catalonia distant view of the monastery at sunrise reveals its isolated setting beneath the saw-tooth mountain ridge from which Montserrat derives its name (serrated mountain). It also highlights the logistical problems faced by those who undertook its original construction centuries before the mountain railway existed.

Great Pilgrimage Sites of Europe
by Derry Brabbs
 published by Frances Lincoln
256 pages  $40 us  $50ca

Kerry Dexter is Music Editor at Wandering Educators. You may reach Kerry at music at wanderingeducators dot com.

You may find more of Kerry's work in National Geographic Traveler, Strings, Perceptive Travel, Journey to Scotland, Irish Fireside, and other places, as well as at her own site, Music Road.

All photos courtesy and copyright Derry Brabbs, used with permission