美國(guó)的水晶大教堂

Crystal Cathedral1， the United States

The Protestant2 church in the Californian town of Garden Grove is made almost entirely of glass and its shape resembles a four-point crystal. In the process of construction， about twelve thousand glasses have been used， and inside is the worlds largest organ3， with sixteen thousand pipes.

這座位于加州加登格羅夫鎮(zhèn)的新教教堂幾乎完全由玻璃建造而成，外形酷似一塊四面體水晶。該教堂在建造過程中使用了約1.2萬(wàn)塊玻璃。教堂內(nèi)有世界上最大的管風(fēng)琴，其音管多達(dá)1.6萬(wàn)根。

冰島的哈爾格林姆斯教堂 Hallgr ímskirkja， Iceland

This unusual church， located in the center of Reykjavík， is the fourth highest building in Iceland， and at the same time the largest. Its height is 74.5 meters and on the top of the church there is an observation deck with a panoramic4 view of the city. The church got its strange name in memory of the Icelandic clergyman5 and poet Hallgrímur Pétursson， and its appearance， according to the designers， is made to resemble geysers6， of which there are many in Iceland. The construction of the church lasted for a long time， from 1945 to 1986.

這座教堂造型奇特，位于雷克雅未克市中心，是冰島國(guó)內(nèi)第四高同時(shí)也是規(guī)模最大的建筑。教堂高74.5米，在頂層設(shè)有一個(gè)可以俯瞰雷克雅未克全景的望臺(tái)。為了紀(jì)念冰島的神職人員兼詩(shī)人哈爾格林姆斯·彼得松，教堂才取了這個(gè)奇怪的名字。按照設(shè)計(jì)者的說法，教堂的外形是根據(jù)冰島數(shù)量眾多的間歇泉設(shè)計(jì)的。這座教堂的建造耗時(shí)頗久，1945年動(dòng)工，1986年才建成。

俄羅斯的圣巴西爾大教堂 St. Basils Cathedral， Russia

The church， which has long been along with the Kremlin the symbol of Moscow and Russia， was built in the years 1555～1561 by order of Ivan Grozny in honour of the capture of Kazan and the victory over the Kazan Khanate. The designer of the church is unknown. According to one version， it was Yakovlev Postnikov， a master from Pskov； according to others it was a Western-European， probably， Italian architect. Legend has it that the Russian tsar7 ordered the designer of the cathedral to be blinded， so that he would never be able to build anything more beautiful.

這座教堂和克里姆林宮歷來被一同視為莫斯科和俄羅斯的標(biāo)志。它建于1555～1561年間，是伊凡四世為了紀(jì)念攻占喀山、打敗喀山汗國(guó)而下令建造的。教堂的設(shè)計(jì)者是誰(shuí)已無從知曉。一種說法稱，設(shè)計(jì)者是來自普斯科夫的工匠雅科夫列夫·普斯特尼科夫。另有說法稱，設(shè)計(jì)者是西歐人，很可能是一位意大利建筑師。據(jù)說，俄國(guó)沙皇伊凡四世下令弄瞎了大教堂設(shè)計(jì)者的眼睛，以確保他再也無法建造出比這座教堂更美麗的建筑。

西班牙的圣家族大教堂 Sagrada Familia， Spain

Antonio Gaudis creation is perhaps one of the most famous unfinished， long-in-construction buildings in the world. Started in 1882， the construction is scheduled for completion in 2026， on the 100th anniversary of the death of the great architect. However， the dates have changed so many times that no one particularly believes in the newly appointed date. Gaudi himself in answer to the question why it was taking so long to erect8 the temple （and he supervised the construction for over forty years） said，“My customer is not in a hurry.”

安東尼奧·高迪的這件作品也許是世界上最著名的建造時(shí)間曠日持久、目前還尚未完工的建筑之一。該教堂于1882年動(dòng)工，計(jì)劃于2026年——這位偉大的建筑師逝世100周年時(shí)完工。不過，由于完工日期變動(dòng)次數(shù)太多，沒有人真正相信這個(gè)新制定的完工日期。當(dāng)有人問到為什么建造這座教堂要花那么長(zhǎng)的時(shí)間時(shí)，高迪本人（他曾督建該教堂40多年）的回答是：“我的顧客不著急?！?/p>

巴西的巴西利亞大教堂

The Cathedral of Brasília， Brazil

The construction of this unusual church in the capital of Brazil， was completed in 1970. The designer， Oscar Niemeyer， created a structure consisting of asymmetric9 hyperbolic10 columns， each weighing 90 tons. The form of the church symbolizes hands raised to heaven， to God. It is said that the Liverpool Roman Catholic Metropolitan Cathedral served as a prototype11 for the church.

位于巴西首都的這座外觀獨(dú)特的教堂建成于1970年。建筑師奧斯卡·尼邁耶設(shè)計(jì)的這座建筑由一組不對(duì)稱的雙曲線形支柱構(gòu)成，每根支柱重90噸。教堂的外形象征著向天堂和上帝舉起的一雙雙手。據(jù)說該教堂是以利物浦的羅馬天主教大都會(huì)教堂為藍(lán)本設(shè)計(jì)的。

捷克共和國(guó)的人骨教堂 Sedlec Ossuary， Czech Republic

The decoration of this Czech church， located on the outskirts of the small town of Kutná Hora， is made entirely of bones. For this reason the church was called “Church of the Bones” or Kostnice. The church was built on the territory of an ancient cemetery， and its interior is made from the remains of about 40，000 people who were once buried here. The author of the creation， the half-blind monk Frantisek Rint， was appointed the task to “sort” the territory of the cemetery. To that end， he sorted the bones by size and shape， washed and whitened them， and then used them in the decoration of the church.

這座教堂坐落于捷克小鎮(zhèn)庫(kù)特納霍拉的郊外，內(nèi)部裝飾全部用人骨制成，因此被人們叫做“人骨教堂”。教堂建于一處古代墓園之上，其內(nèi)部裝飾用過去葬在此地的約四萬(wàn)人的遺骨制成。這些人骨裝飾品的制作者是半盲的僧侶弗蘭蒂塞克·林特，他當(dāng)時(shí)受命“清理”墓園。為完成使命，他把那些遺骨按尺寸和形狀歸類，清洗并漂白，再用它們來裝飾教堂。

泰國(guó)的萬(wàn)瓶寺

Wat Pa Maha Chedi Kaew， Thailand

This Buddhist temple in the Thai province of Sisaket is built entirely of glass bottles， mainly beer bottles， left behind by tourists. The monks began to collect glass bottles back in the 1980s. The half a million bottles they collected were enough not only for the construction of the temple， but also for the monastic dwellings12 and even a few houses for tourists. Tin lids were also put to use—they have served to create several panels depicting the Buddha.

位于泰國(guó)四色菊府的這座佛寺完全由游客丟棄的玻璃瓶——主要是啤酒瓶——建造而成。僧人們從上世紀(jì)80年代開始收集玻璃瓶，收集來的50萬(wàn)只瓶子不僅足夠搭建寺廟，還夠用來建造僧舍和幾間供游客居住的客房。馬口鐵做的瓶蓋也派上了用場(chǎng)——它們被做成了描繪佛祖形象的幾幅鑲嵌畫。

注釋

1. cathedral n. 大教堂，堂皇宏偉的教堂

2. Protestant adj. 新教（教徒）的

3. organ n. 管風(fēng)琴

4. panoramic adj. 全景的

5. clergyman n. 【宗】神職人員

6. geyser n. 【地】間歇（噴）泉

7. tsar n. （1917年以前的）俄國(guó)沙皇

8. erect vt. 架設(shè)；建造

9. asymmetric adj. 不對(duì)稱的，不勻稱的

10. hyperbolic adj. 【數(shù)】雙曲（線）的

11. prototype n. 原型；樣品，樣本

12. dwelling： n.住處，處所；寓所；居住