tripplanner001

Just at the Abbey on Saturday. Went for evensong - was treated to beautiful choral music and see the interior, for free.

PalenQ

could you though really spend time looking around the tombstones, etc. Curious.

Macross

I tried to post three times that very thing. You are their whipping boy is all I can say. I am so sorry they treat you that way. I do think the admission to Windsor and St George's chapel is worth the 20 pounds. I would rather attend the service and donate what I wish. My most memorable service was at the Duomo in Florence when we went for 8am mass with the nuns. Notre Dame needs to charge. St Chapelle charges ten euro.

PalenQ

But I GUESS French and Italian churches get state support.

Macross

They do charge in Florence but we went to the early morning mass so was free. A guy was at the side door and let us in for mass. Probably 25 of us in there. Notre Dame has some structural issues and needs mega money to fix, why i said they need to charge. Swarms of people are in and out. I light candles everywhere so always put money in the box. Why ND doesn't charge but St Chapelle does is something I'd better google.

PatrickLondon

The position is probably no less complicated in other countries. AIUI (and I may be wrong), in France the state maintains most of the ancient church buildings, but not necessarily all, and not those dating from after the separation of church and state in 1905. Or at least, the buildings they do maintain are in budgetary competition with everything else, so (to judge by things I've seen online) it can be a long drawn-out and complicated affair to get funding from different public pots to repair and preserve a small ancient chapel out in the country. It might be related to whether it's still an active place of worship or not.

I'd guess, too, that for the Abbey, the balancing act between levels of entry fee, numbers of tourists and their assumed impact on the fabric of the building might be important too.

StCirq

<< it can be a long drawn-out and complicated affair to get funding from different public pots to repair and preserve a small ancient chapel out in the country. It might be related to whether it's still an active place of worship or not.>>

The chapel in St-Cirq is finally being repaired after at least a decade of discussion about it. There are virtually no tourists to it, and it is an active place of worship only every few months, or when there is a local wedding or funeral. The funds for its preservation are coming, as I understand it, at least mainly from local taxes. Perhaps there is a private donor or two and perhaps some federal taxes, but I don't think so. The sole reason, AFAIK, for restoring it is to preserve its historical importance (and to keep it from falling apart).

Cowboy1968

In Germany, you never pay an entrance fee in Catholic churches and cathedrals.
You may pay extra for certain features like climbing the tower or visiting adjacent museums, but never for the church itself.
Though donation boxes are always existing, and you also pay a small amount to light a candle if you want.

Some, actually very few, Protestant churches do charge an entrance fee - usually those in tourist hotspots like the Berliner Dom or churches in Lübeck or Meißen. The entrance fee is usually some single digit euros, and waived when you say that you're not sightseeing but want to pray. And when you go to mass, obviously. The Berliner Dom must be the most expensive Protestant cathedral to visit and charges € 7.

bilboburgler

Taxpayers, whether Roman Catholic, Protestant or members of other tax-collecting communities, pay an amount equal to between 8% (in Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg) and 9% (in the rest of the country) of their income tax to the church or other community to which they belong. According to wiki

Macross

Notre Dame charges to climb to the top. Rosslyn Chapel was about to be ruined with mold when the movie came out and the tourist tripled. They were able to totally restore it and fix the mold. I loved visiting there. That was so worth it. Short bus ride out of Edinburgh.

janisj

Rosslyn Chapel has become the Cinque Terre of Scotland. HORDES of tour buses over run it. They've had to build this modern visitors centre which doesn't compliment the site. Dan Brown has a lot to answer for.

(The conservation project started years before the Da Vinci Code was published and a decade before the movie.)

PalenQ

9 quid to enter Rossyln Chapel - sounds more reasonable - seems they could charge a lot more.

Christina

What I don't understand is why more churches don't charge for tourists to view them. At least the major ones, like Notre Dame. The upkeep of that place is tremendous and in fact, it is supported by the French govt (that particular one is due to its national status, I think the state owns it, I'm not saying all Catholic churches in France are, they are not as far as I know, I thought there was supposed to be separation of church and state), but they don't give it enough to cover needed upkeep and renovation costs. That's why Notre Dame has had to do fundraising to try to do much needed upkeep.

The main church on the center square in Krakow (St Mary's) does charge an entry fee for tourists to walk around (not for people during Mass, of course), it's only 10 PLN but Poland is cheaper for everything. Other than that, of course Sagrada Familia in Barcelona charges about 15-20 euro for tourists to enter and walk around (depends on if you get audioguide or not), so that's not too different. It's still a working church. The cathedral in Seville charges an entry fee, also, of 9 euro to tourists. It's certainly a working church, also.

PalenQ

Maybe places like Notre Dame get a lot of voluntary donations at entrance - and places like Sainte-Chapelle where accoding to Wiki half the costs were provided by private foundations and entities, etc. I think churches should be able to charge tourists like any other site (unless upkeep, etc paid by state, donations, etc) just that 22 pounds seemed excessive even though money-making things like London Eye and Madame Tussauds, etc charge that much - they are I believe proit-making entities.

Tourists should not get a free ride unless really going to services of course.

I thought there was supposed to be separation of church and state> (France)

not total as there are over 8000 private schools, most Catholic Wiki says, for example whose teachers and costs are paid for by the state.

5alive

If you are going to make a major venue open to the public in this post 9/11 world, you need to think about the costs of security. We went to Rome just a few years before 9/11 and a few years after. The differences at the Vatican were profound. And even if a sight does not have a metal detector and a conveyor belt for bags, you can bet they have more staff and are watching you. Really, we all should pay for this. It is for our own benefit.

Second, in a number of places around the world, there is a much greater understanding of earthquakes and retrofitting, which gets added to the historic preservation costs discussed already.

I highly doubt that the churches who are charging the equivalent of $10 USD or so are recouping the costs of hosting their guests. They are still subsidizing your visit, and this is just helping them to break even or get closer to it.

And for the record--I do think 22 pounds (or 27 pounds) is a significant amount of money, but if you have time to see the sight properly, it is well worth it. I mean, it goes back to Edward the Confessor, doesn't it?

On the day I had planned for us to see Westminster, they had a memorial service for an MP who was killed in an attack. It was terribly sad and of course the abbey was closed. So we didn't see the interior. On the other hand, my kids got a lesson into life as we watched a bit of the procession of dignitaries and thought about this wonderful woman whose life was cut short. Travel is not always what we set out to see.

janisj

Rosslyn Chapel is a teensy place compared to the Abbey - if they charged by square footage, artifacts, history and historical significance -- If Rosslyn Chapel charged £9, Westminster Abbey should charge £100.

janisj

Rosslyn Chapel is a teensy place compared to the Abbey - if they charged by square footage, artifacts, history and historical significance -- If Rosslyn Chapel charges £9, Westminster Abbey should charge £100.

Calabria62

Evening, Fodorites,
We were there about two weeks ago, and found the price a tad high, but so interesting. And the free museums we enjoyed, the beautiful parks, etc took the sting out. And as others mentioned....people will pay high prices for a lot of things. On the other hand, we had the opportunity to sit it in on a Parliament discussion for free, that was fun! They were about a dozen people discussing the ban of single use water bottles.
BTW....the price to WA didn't keep any crowds away, it was quite crowded.

Macross

We didn't see any buses when we went last year to Rosslyn chapel and had a speaker who told us about the renovation. I am not bothering to look up who is right or wrong but she said the tourist dollars have helped restore the church and upkeep and they thanked Dan Brown. I bought several things in their gift shop which is rare for me and they had great coffee and cake. We took the local bus there and enjoyed the village also. I think I enjoyed it more because it was small. The black cat, now that was a marketing genius.

janisj

The reason the Chapel has a car park and a coach park is because . . . they get so many coaches.

Yes the tourist £ helps, but the masses of tourists cause more problems so it costs more to maintain the fabric of the bldg.

The restoration project started in 1997 -- the book was not published until 2003.

I have been to the Chapel 10 or 12 times including 2 weddings. Once I was the only visitor, once it was just my Mom and me. Those were ethereal. The last time I was there was 2.5 years ago and it was so sad. There were three full sized coaches in the car park and all these clueless visitors who were only there because of the book (which is fiction). The chapel was a special place, now it is on the tourist trail right along with Nessie.