Bodega Church shown in the
pictures above is St. Teresa of Avila Catholic Church, appearing in the
Alfred Hitchcock movie, The Birds. Ansel Adams also created a striking
portrait of this house of worship with black and white film.
There are numerous St.
Teresa of Avila Catholic churches in the United States. One of the
largest is in Georgia, and, in addition to the church in Bodega,
California, shown above, there's also one in Auburn, Calif. The St.
Teresa of Avila Catholic Church shown above was built in 1861, and is
believed to be the oldest Catholic church in continuous use in Sonoma
County. Sitting atop a hill overlooking the small community of Bodega
and a great artisans coop,
the church blocks the view of another famous structure.
Behind the church is the Potter
School, appearing in the movie, The Birds. The white structure hidden on
the far right, slightly peaking through behind the church, is
immortalized in paintings by local artist Annie Murphy Springer, who
sells her art at the Artisans Coop and on the Internet. The church,
itself, appears in the movie, and hosted Alfred Hitchcock at a service
or two.
At the bottom of the hill in a
valley surrounded my gently rolling hills and mountain slopes, you can
look up and see this beautiful white church rising into the sky.
Photographed literally thousands upon thousands of times, one of the
more famous photographers who turned his image into a black & white
photo was Ansel Adams.
From below the hill and path that
cars can drive up, stands a sign and mounted church bell. The sign dates
the church to 1862, though construction began several years earlier.
Portuguese and Spanish shipbuilders constructed the long-standing
structure with its towering steeple. One of the church's unique interior
features is the lack of a center aisle. According to the sign with the
bell, the church is open for Tuesday and Thursday mass at 9 a.m.;
Spanish Mass on Saturdays at 7 p.m.; and Sundays at 9 a.m.
The church is an ideal place to go when staying at nearby,
Bodega Bay, a city located on a bay (as the
name indicates), next to the Pacific Ocean.
In addition to being a popular
tourist destination and great escape for weekend getaways from San
Francisco and L.A., Bodega Bay offers a home base for exploring places
such as the quaint community of Bodega.
Bodega Bay < Bodega >
Sebastopol |
