The Pilgrimage Church in Wies was designed in the shape of an oval – it’s not just the perspective of this photo that has such curves. But when you look at the ceiling, does anything catch your eye?
The construction of the church in Wies was commissioned to Dominikus Zimmermann in 1745, who was at this time a famous architect in Bavaria and Swabia. However, work on the church was not completed until 1754. The interior of the “Wieskirche” was decorated with rich Rococo sculptures and frescoes. Everything inside the building was meant to reflect “the divine in visual form”.
Okay, but what about the curiosity in the photo? Did you notice something unusual? Well, the ceiling of the church is not a dome – the frescoes were painted this way to give the impression of an oval. The optical illusion is so good that it is difficult to see it in the photo.
