galleries  26 albums, 819 photos on 9 pages   [login]     1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9       Istanbul Images from Istanbul. Beneath the unchanging skyline of her domes and minarets there is the continual bustle and movement of the crowd, the rumbling of vehicles along the ancient cobbled streets, the incessant coming and going and the cries of street sellers mingling with the sounds of shipping in the busy port. Pilgrims in Shna Ndo People from all religious backgrounds come to St. Anthony of Padua shrine in Lac, northern Albania, in a pilgrimage that one hopes to bring healing. For almost 50 years, religious beliefs were forbidden in Albania. No one was allowed to profess religion during Communism. No religious institutions were permitted. Albania was thus the first official atheist country in the world. That brief rule has reversed and crowds of Catholic faithful go there each June 12 to worship this holy place.   1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9