Asheville, North Carolina.

Our visit to Asheville, North Carolina was in less-than-ideal weather. We planned to spend some time touring the Blue Ridge Parkway via an app with driving directions and navigation instructions. The company marketing the app suggested that the views are best in clear weather, something we didn’t see much during our entire visit. Not only was it cloudy, but the mornings were mostly foggy. We resigned ourselves to the sights of the city itself for several days. When we visited the downtown area, we happened by the Minor Basilica of St. Lawrence the Deacon & Martyr.

This Roman Catholic church features the architectural flair of the Spanish Renaissance. According to Wikipedia, it is the only basilica in western North Carolina, a testament to its architectural and historical importance. Constructed in 1905, the church features a remarkable dome, inspired by the Basilica de los Desamparados in Valencia, Spain. From this angle, the huge dome isn’t visible as it’s above the altar area behind the central facade that rises above the large round stained glass window and main entrance doors. The dome spans 58 by 82 feet (18 by 25 meters), and is reputedly the largest unsupported dome of its kind in North America.

The parish church within the Diocese of Charlotte serves the local Catholic community. The term Minor Basilica confers special privileges to the parish. If you are interested, Wikipedia describes the differences between major and minor basilicas here. The parish is Listed on the National Register of Historic Places giving recognition for its cultural and architectural heritage.

About the photo: On the day of our downtown visit, the skies were gray and drab. After using Adobe Lightroom Classic to catalog and visually straighten the image captured from my Samsung S23U, I sent it off to Luminar Neo for minor touch-up and major sky replacement surgery. Neo recommended the sky I chose in the Sky Replacement tool, and after reviewing the many sky options I have on my computer, I couldn’t find any more visually distinctive than the one chosen by the AI application. Once completed, I uploaded the image in 2K HD to my Flickr account. If you wish to pixel peep, simply click on the image to go to my Flickr site.

I encourage fellow bloggers to create their own Cellpic Sunday posts. I never have a specific topic for this feature, and the only rules are that the photo must be captured with a cell phone, iPad, or another mobile device… If you have an image from a drone or even a dashcam, that’s acceptable as well. The second rule is to link your challenge response to this post or leave a comment here with a link to your post in the comment. Oh, and, you don’t have to post it on a Sunday.

John Steiner