The Ark of the Torah

This is the Ark of the Torah where the Torah scrolls are kept. There is a little curtain that can be pulled back to expose the scrolls or to take them out for reading. This little tour of the Kiever Shul concludes my Doors Open Toronto tour. I hope you have enjoyed it!

Blue skies over the temple

A look at the outside of the Kiever Shul, luckily it was a bright sunny day! This synagogue was opened in 1914 by Ukranian Jews. It has gone through some ups and downs in the days since, but the congregation seems to be growing these days even though they don't have a permanent Rabbi. 

Hope everyone has some great plans for the weekend. I am just hoping to keep cool! If you'd like to see more skies, take a look at Skywatch.

Holy reading

The last place I visited during Doors Open Toronto was the Kiever Shul. It was a lovely little temple tucked away in the Kensington Market area of Toronto. If only I could read Hebew!

Fenced out

A slew of plain, but practical benches are fenced out of an area just in front of the West Toronto Baptist Church. I wonder if the church made a little part of their lawn available on purpose in order to share a bit of space with the community? I like to imagine parishioners sitting out in the sun before or after a service spending some time getting to know one another or catching up on the week's events.

Notre Dame d'Ottawa

My MiL flew back to Germany today. I'll miss her company, but it was great having her here. We spent a few days in Canada's capitol city, Ottawa. It's a great place to visit with lots to see and do, including Notre Dame basilica. I've got plenty of shots coming up soon of all the things we did together, both in Toronto and Ottawa, so stay tuned!

Seven days

You can find the Seventh Day Adventists on College Street, just west of Bathurst. This particular branch serves mainly Portuguese people. I liked the architecture and the brick facade. Hope you're having a nice weekend so far. The golf is keeping me busy.

Mandir

Unfortunately you can't take photos inside Hindu temples, so all I have are outdoor shots of the Shri Swaminarayan temple. It's an absolutely amazing work of architecture. The temple was assembled from numerous pieces, fit together much like a jigsaw puzzle. The pieces were all hand-carved by artisans in India and transported by sea containers to Toronto. 

The building is modeled on ancient architectural standards and stands today without a single piece of steel or any kind of internal reinforcement. I only wish the sky had been bluer that day to provide more contrast to the white stone, but I did get some lovely tulips. And if you'd like to see more flowers, visit Floral Fridays.

PS: Coincidentally, I've visited another temple built by the Swaminarayan sect of Hinduism. It's not quite as grand as this one, but still beautiful. You can see it here.

Into the temple

I recently visited the Shri Swaminarayan temple just outside Toronto. It opened in 2007 and it is the largest Hindu temple in Canada. This entrance actually takes you into the community center portion of the temple, you can't enter into the Mandir directly. I love all that beautifully carved woodwork. It's quite warm and inviting. On Friday, I'll give you a look at the Mandir itself. It's fantastic!

Door to Saint Thomas

I do like red doors! This one will tkae you into the Saint Thomas church. This particular place of worship is of the Anglican denomination and it's located on the campus of the University of Toronto.

Besides the red door and the brick facade, I also like the street lamp. It all comes together as a very welcoming place.

Snowy chapel

A little chapel found by the side of a country road outside Uxbridge, Ontario.

As it turns out, this chapel has also been photographed by another Ontario blogger, Andy. Although he caught it in a sunnier season.

Inside

Here's a look inside the chapel. I love that roof and the beautiful stained glass window. Hope you are enjoying these posts while I'm away. Look for new shots on my travel blog when I get back.

Necropolis chapel

Here's a look at the chapel I was telling you about yesterday. Isn't it lovely? I love the Gothic style and all of that wonderful ivy growing on the walls. And the cemetery is quite a nice place for an afternoon stroll as well.

Hope you are enjoying One A Day on auto-pilot. Hopefully I'll have some new shots for my travel blog when I get back.

Decayed church

A decaying church. It seems that a congregation still meets here though. It certainly doesn't look like your typical house of worship.

Hope you are enjoying One a Day from Toronto on auto pilot.

Caught in a web

An old church downtown. I don't recall its name, but maybe a reader can help me? I know the tram lines above are not so attractive, but I like the way they look somehow, like they're weaving a web above the city.