Basilica of Our Lady of Peace of Yamoussoukro in the Ivory Coast

"The basilica was constructed between 1985 and 1989 at a cost of $300 million." (Click thumb nails to view full size)





"The basilica was met with some controversy globally when construction began. The lavishly built basilica sits in the middle of the African bush in an impoverished city where only a minority of homes have running water and adequate sanitation. The cost of the basilica doubled the national debt of Côte d'Ivoire, but many of the country's Roman Catholics are proud of the church." Source







Link to the Unhived Mind: Vatican moving to Africa ?

Holy Water

"Holy Water" used to be vended through coin operated machines..

http://www.smith.edu/hsc/museum/ancient_inventions/hsc18b.htm

"The simple person-machine exchange of goods has been functioning fine for millennia, it turns out, since the very first vending machine was invented in 215 B.C. by the mathematician Hero of Alexandria, who came up with a coin-operated gadget to dispense holy water. The first vending machine hit the United States in the late 19th century; it sold Tutti-Frutti gum on New York mass transit." source: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/02/03/AR2010020303498.html

(Now the CC just put the "donate" box right near the holy water instead of flat out charging for it. -Thomas)
References:

Krug, Bryon: Vending Business-in-a-Box, BooksOnStuff, 2003.

^ http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/ancient_calendar.html Old World, High Tech: World's First Vending Machine (scroll down to see the item)

^ "History of the Vending Machine" page of Gumballs.com.