Rachel Conley - what is sacred to you

One day, in my art history class this semester, our professor asked if anyone had ever been to a place that to them felt sacred. I don’t think anyone answered her question, but it really made me stop and think, and I couldn’t get the question out of my mind. Had I ever been to a place that I felt was sacred? And the answer was yes, I have. Several places, actually.

One of these places, the most depressing one, was Auschwitz. There was a monument around the crematoriums letting you know that the ashes of some of the victims had been spread around the buildings. It was standing there, in the area around the building, that I felt it was sacred ground. I don’t even know how to describe what I felt at that moment, but I felt very much that the ground was sacred and I could almost feel the pain of the people who rested there. It was very powerful experience.

Another place that I felt was sacred was the village of Pompeii, in Italy. The village was destroyed in 79 by an eruption by Mt. Vesuvius. The village has since been excavated and people can visit it. Going to Pompeii was something I’ve wanted to do for a very long time, and so I was very excited when I was actually able to go. Seeing the remains of the beautiful city I was almost able to see the Romans walking around the village, talking to their neighbors, doing chores, etc. While to me the whole village felt sacred, the feeling was especially strong at the Temples of Jupiter and Apollo. I could imagine the Romans worshipping the Gods and sacrificing to them, and it was an amazing feeling.

A third place that felt sacred to me was the Flavian Amphitheater (the Colosseum). The Romans are my favorite civilization that I’ve studied so far. I find them absolutely fascinating. When most people think of Rome, the Colosseum is one of the first things they think of. Seeing it I could well imagine the gladiatorial games and other events the Romans held there. While the Romans built so many other amazing things, the Colosseum is one of the most stunning and extraordinary. You can ask my friends, while we were approaching it I turned around every five seconds to tell them how excited I was to finally get to see it.

I think the idea of what is personally sacred to a person is very interesting. I think that everyone should really give it thought as some point or another because I feel it can really tell something about someone’s personality.