[mihaic]

> Agreed. People don't flourish inside cathedrals, no matter how attractive they look.

Nor do they flourish inside supermarkets, these buildings are designed for something else. Walking in St. Peter's in Roma gives a sensation of awe even to devout atheists, something I can't imagine the local Walmart doing.

[lmm]

Didn't Yeltsin experience something akin to a religious conversion on seeking an American supermarket? We're only numb to the miracle because we see it every day.

[simiones]

Off-topic, but all that the St Peter's Cathedral in Rome gave me was of obscene wealth and displays of wealth.

For awe, I would much more recommend the Pantheon, especially knowing that you're stepping into a building for which 500 years is barely more than a quarter of its history.

[JetSpiegel]

Of course, the Pantheon that stands today is not even the original, it was rebuilt at least twice, from what I can tell.

One of the emperors that rebuilt it still kept the "Agrippa did this" inscription, you don't mess with Augustus.

[dragonwriter]

> Off-topic, but all that the St Peter's Cathedral in Rome gave me was of obscene wealth and displays of wealth.

Even further off-topic, but if you are referring to the big church in the Vatican adjacent to St. Peter’s Square, it is Saint Peter’s Basilica; it is the second-ranking of the four major basilicas but it is not (though many tourist-focussed lists of cathedrals include it) a cathedral.

The cathedral that is the seat of the Bishop of Rome (and also the first-ranking of the four major basilicas) is the Archbasilica of St. John Lateran.

[simiones]

Yes, you are right.