Church (building)
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A church, church building, or chapel is a building used for Christian worship services and Christian activities. The earliest identified Christian church is a house church founded between 233 AD and 256 AD.<ref name="Snyder 2003 128">Template:Cite book</ref> The word church also describes a body or assembly of Christian believers, while "the Church" refers to the worldwide Christian religious community.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
In traditional Christian architecture, the plan view of a church often forms a Christian cross. The center aisle and seating create the vertical beam, while the bema and altar form the horizontal arms. Towers or domes rise above the heaven-facing roof line to encourage contemplation of the divine. Modern churches employ varied architectural styles, and many buildings originally designed for other purposes have been converted to churches. From the 11th to the 14th centuries, Western Europe experienced a wave of church construction.
Many churches worldwide are of considerable historical, national, cultural, and architectural significance. Several are included in the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites.<ref name="Tsivolas 2014 3–4">Template:Cite book</ref>
Etymology
The word church is derived from Old English Template:Lang, 'place of assemblage set aside for Christian worship', from the Common Germanic word kirika. This was probably borrowed via Gothic from Ancient Greek Template:Transliteration, 'the Lord's (house)', from Template:Transliteration, 'ruler, lord'. Template:Transliteration in turn comes from the Indo-European root Template:Lang, meaning 'to spread out, to swell' (euphemistically: 'to prevail, to be strong').<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
The word's cognates in many languages reflect its transmission from Greek and Proto-Indo-European roots. In early Germanic languages such as Old High German, the term became kirihha, signaling how Christianization shaped local vocabulary. Early Christian communities used the word to stress a building's dedication to God.<ref name="OEtymDChurch" />
The Greek Template:Transliteration, 'of the Lord', has been used of houses of Christian worship since Template:C., especially in the East, although it was less common in this sense than Template:Transliteration or Template:Transliteration.<ref name="OEtymDChurch">Template:Cite web</ref>
History
The history of church buildings traces the transformation of Christian worship spaces from clandestine house churches in the Roman Empire to monumental basilicas after legalization in 313 with the Edict of Milan, when imperial patronage and civic basilica forms were adapted to liturgical needs.<ref name="Krautheimer">Template:Cite book</ref><ref name="Drake2000">Template:Cite book</ref> During the 10th to 12th centuries the Romanesque period emphasized thick masonry walls, barrel and groin vaults, and round arches, followed in the 12th to 16th centuries by Gothic architecture, which developed pointed arches, rib vaults, and flying buttresses to achieve greater height and light.<ref name="Fernie">Template:Cite book</ref><ref name="FranklCrossley">Template:Cite book</ref> From the 15th century Renaissance architecture revived classical orders, symmetry, and proportional systems, and in the 17th to 18th centuries Baroque architecture and Rococo churches used theatrical space, integrated decoration, and urban scenography in response to varied patronage including the Counter-Reformation.<ref name="TrachtenbergHyman">Template:Cite book</ref><ref name="Wittkower">Template:Cite book</ref> After 1517 the Reformation fostered preaching-oriented halls and centralized plans in many Protestant regions, while the Orthodox East sustained and elaborated domed cross-in-square and other centralized schemes.<ref name="Kilde">Template:Cite book</ref> Global expansion carried European models and local adaptations to the Americas, Africa, and Asia, and the 19th century saw widespread historic revivals.<ref name="Krautheimer"/><ref name="Brooks">Template:Cite book</ref><ref name="Bremner">Template:Cite book</ref> In the 20th century new materials, modernist minimalism, and liturgical reforms such as the Second Vatican Council of 1962 to 1965 reshaped altars, seating, and the relationship between clergy and laity.<ref name="Proctor">Template:Cite book</ref><ref name="Baldovin">Template:Cite book</ref>
Antiquity
Template:Further The earliest archeologically identified Christian church is a house church (domus ecclesiae), the Dura-Europos church, founded between 233 AD and 256 AD.<ref name="Snyder 2003 128"/>
In the second half of the third century AD, the first purpose-built halls for Christian worship (aula ecclesiae) began to be constructed. Many of these structures were destroyed during the Diocletianic Persecution in the early 4th century. Even larger and more elaborate churches began to appear during the reign of Emperor Constantine the Great.<ref>Template:Cite book (Chapter 3)</ref>
Medieval times
From the 11th through the 14th centuries, a wave of cathedral building and the construction of smaller parish churches occurred across Western Europe. Besides serving as a place of worship, the cathedral or parish church was frequently employed as a general gathering place by the communities in which they were located, hosting such events as guild meetings, banquets, mystery plays, and fairs. Church grounds and buildings were also used for the threshing and storage of grain.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
Romanesque architecture
Between 1000 and 1200, the Romanesque style became popular across Europe. The Romanesque style is defined by large and bulky edifices typically composed of simple, compact, sparsely decorated geometric structures. Frequent features of the Romanesque church include circular arches, round or octagonal towers, and cushion capitals on pillars. In the early Romanesque era, coffering on the ceiling was fashionable, while later in the same era, groined vaults gained popularity. Interiors widened, and the motifs of sculptures took on more epic traits and themes.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Romanesque architects adopted many Roman or early Christian architectural ideas, such as a cruciform ground plan, as that of Angoulême Cathedral, and the basilica system of a nave with a central vessel and side aisles.<ref name=dkp>Template:Cite book</ref>
Gothic architecture
The Gothic style emerged around 1140 in Île-de-France and subsequently spread throughout Europe.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Gothic churches lost the compact qualities of the Romanesque era, and decorations often contained symbolic and allegorical features. The first pointed arches, rib vaults, and buttresses began to appear, all possessing geometric properties that reduced the need for large, rigid walls to ensure structural stability. This also permitted the size of windows to increase, producing brighter and lighter interiors. Nave ceilings rose, and pillars and steeples heightened.<ref name=wd>Template:Cite book</ref><ref name=dkp/> Many architects used these developments to push the limits of structural possibility – an inclination that resulted in the collapse of several towers whose designs had unwittingly exceeded the boundaries of soundness. In Germany, the Netherlands and Spain, it became popular to build hall churches, a style in which every vault would be built to the same height.
Gothic cathedrals were lavishly designed, as in the Romanesque era, and many share Romanesque traits. Bagneux Church, France (1170–1190) exhibited both styles - a Romanesque tower, and Gothic nave and choir.<ref name=dkp/> Several also exhibit unprecedented degrees of detail and complexity in decoration. Notre-Dame de Paris and Reims Cathedral in France, as well as the church of San Francesco d'Assisi in Palermo, Salisbury Cathedral and the wool churches in England, and Santhome Church in Chennai, India, show the elaborate stylings characteristic of Gothic cathedrals.
Some of the most well-known gothic churches remained unfinished for centuries after the style fell out of popularity. One such example is the construction of Cologne Cathedral, which began in 1248, was halted in 1473, and didn't resume until 1842.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
Renaissance
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In the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, the changes in ethics and society due to the Renaissance and the Reformation also influenced the building of churches. The common style was much like the Gothic style but simplified. The basilica was not the most popular type of church anymore, but instead, hall churches were built. Typical features are columns and classical capitals.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
The construction of the Sistine Chapel with its uniquely important decorations and the entire rebuilding of St. Peter's Basilica, one of Christendom's most significant churches, were part of this process.<ref name= I.R.>Ilan Rachum, The Renaissance, an Illustrated Encyclopedia, 1979, Octopus, Template:ISBN</ref> In the wealthy Republic of Florence, the impetus for church-building was more civic than spiritual. The unfinished state of the enormous Florence Cathedral dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary did no honour to the city under her patronage. However, as the technology and finance were found to complete it, the rising dome did credit not only to the Virgin Mary, its architect and the Church but also to the Signoria, the Guilds and the sectors of the city from which the manpower to construct it was drawn. The dome inspired further religious works in Florence.
In Protestant churches, where the proclamation of God's Word is of particular importance, the visitor's line of sight is directed towards the pulpit.
Baroque architecture
The Baroque style was first used in Italy around 1575. From there, it spread to the rest of Europe and the European colonies. The building industry increased heavily during the Baroque era. Buildings, even churches, were used to indicate wealth, authority, and influence. The use of forms known from the Renaissance was extremely exaggerated. Domes and capitals were decorated with moulding, and the former stucco sculptures were replaced by fresco paintings on the ceilings. For the first time, churches were seen as one connected work of art, and consistent artistic concepts were developed. Instead of long buildings, more central-plan buildings were created. The sprawling decoration with floral ornamentation and mythological motives lasted until about 1720, in the Rococo era.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
The Protestant parishes preferred Protestant churches often prioritize proximity between worshippers, the nave (main worship space), and the altar (often called a communion table).<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> This is achieved through various architectural designs and practices, including moving the altar loser to the congregation, decreasing the distance between the entrance and altar, and employing simpler architectural styles that focus attention on the pulpit and communion table.
Architecture
Church architecture developed from house churches and repurposed halls into purpose-built basilicas after the Edict of Milan in 313 and the establishment of Nicene Christianity as the imperial state religion in 380, and in the Byzantine East it soon embraced domed centralized schemes culminating in the cross-in-square type by the ninth to tenth centuries.<ref name="Krautheimer1986">Template:Cite book</ref><ref name="Fletcher2019">Template:Cite book</ref><ref name="Ousterhout1999">Template:Cite book</ref> In Western Europe the Romanesque of about 1000 to 1150 consolidated stone vaulting, thick walls, and modular planning, and from the 1140s the Gothic system of pointed arches, rib vaults, and flying buttresses enabled taller naves and luminous clerestories that transformed liturgical space.<ref name="Fernie2014">Template:Cite book</ref><ref name="VonSimson1962">Template:Cite book</ref><ref name="Bony1983">Template:Cite book</ref> From the 15th to the 18th centuries, Renaissance designers reasserted classical orders and centralized ideals, the Reformation simplified imagery and organized Protestant interiors around the pulpit and congregational audibility, and the Catholic Counter-Reformation after the Council of Trent (1545 to 1563) promoted axial clarity and ceremonial focus across Europe and in Iberian colonial churches.<ref name="Wittkower1998">Template:Cite book</ref><ref name="Spicer2016">Template:Cite book</ref><ref name="Bailey2012">Template:Cite book</ref> Since the 19th century, revival styles and industrial materials have broadened the available language of design, and in the 20th century the Liturgical Movement and the Second Vatican Council (1962 to 1965) reshaped Catholic layouts toward active participation, while modernist experiments reframed light, structure, and community.<ref name="Kieckhefer2004">Template:Cite book</ref><ref name="Hammond1960">Template:Cite book</ref><ref name="Schloeder1998">Template:Cite book</ref><ref name="Fletcher2019"/>
The architectural design of Christian churches commonly incorporates symbolic elements that reflect theological and liturgical meaning. The cruciform plan, with a long central nave intersected by transepts, represents the Christian cross and remains one of the most widespread church layouts.<ref name="petit">Template:Cite book</ref> Churches frequently feature domed or vaulted ceilings that draw the eye upward toward heaven. Alternative geometric plans include circular designs symbolizing eternity, or octagonal forms representing the church's role in illuminating the world. Most churches include a prominent spire or tower, typically positioned at the western end or crossing, which serves both practical and symbolic functions.<ref name="watkin_arch">Template:Cite book</ref>
The orientation of churches traditionally follows specific principles, with the main altar typically facing east toward sunrise.<ref name="sacred_arch">Template:Cite web</ref> This eastward alignment originated in fourth-century Byzantium and became standard practice in Western churches during the eighth and ninth centuries. Historical variations existed, particularly in early Roman churches where western-facing altars remained common through the eleventh century. Notable examples of western altar orientation persisted in prominent German churches including Bamberg Cathedral, Augsburg Cathedral, Regensburg Cathedral, and Hildesheim Cathedral.<ref name="otte">Template:Cite book</ref>
Types
Basilica
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The Latin word basilica was initially used to describe a Roman public building usually located in the forum of a Roman town.<ref name="OXFORD1">The Oxford Dictionary of Christian Art and Architecture (2013 Template:ISBN), p. 117</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> After the Roman Empire became officially Christian, the term came by extension to refer to a large and influential church that has been given special ceremonial rights by the Pope.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The word thus retains two senses today, one architectural and the other ecclesiastical.
Cathedral
A cathedral is a church, usually Catholic, Anglican, Oriental Orthodox or Eastern Orthodox, that houses the seat of a bishop. The word cathedral comes from cathedra, the bishop's throne in Template:Langx. The term is sometimes applied more broadly to any church of great size, although that usage is imprecise.
A church with a cathedral function is not necessarily a large building. It might be as small as Christ Church Cathedral in Oxford, England, Porvoo Cathedral in Porvoo, Finland, Sacred Heart Cathedral in Raleigh, United States, or Chur Cathedral in Switzerland. However, frequently, the cathedral, along with some of the abbey churches, was the largest building in any region.
Cathedrals often showcase ambitious architectural design and the work of accomplished craftsmen. They carry significant ecclesiastical and civic status that parish churches rarely attain.<ref>Batsford and Fry, 1-3</ref>Template:Full citation needed Many are celebrated as notable works of architecture.<ref>Richard Utz. "The Cathedral as Time Machine: Art, Architecture, and Religion." In: The Idea of the Gothic Cathedral. Interdisciplinary Perspectives on the Meanings of the Medieval Edifice in the Modern Period, ed. Stephanie Glaser (Turnhout: Brepols, 2018). pp. 239–59.</ref>
Chapel
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A chapel may be a discrete space with an altar inside a larger cathedral, conventual, parish, or other church. It can also be a freestanding small church building or room not connected to a larger church, created to serve a particular hospital, school, university, prison, private household, palace, castle, or other institution. Proprietary churches and small conventual churches are often described with this term.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Collegiate church
Template:Main A collegiate church is a church where the daily office of worship is maintained by a college of canons, which may be presided over by a dean or provost. Collegiate churches were often supported by extensive lands held by the church, or by tithe income from appropriated benefices. They commonly provide distinct spaces for congregational worship and for the choir offices of their clerical community.
Conventual church
Template:Further A conventual church (in Eastern Orthodoxy katholikon) is the main church in a Christian monastery or convent, known variously as an abbey, a priory, a friary, or a preceptory.
Parish church
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A parish church is a church built to meet the needs of people localised in a geographical area called a parish. The vast majority of Catholic, Orthodox, Anglican, and Lutheran church buildings fall into this category. A parish church may also be a basilica, a cathedral, a conventual or collegiate church, or a place of pilgrimage. The vast majority of parish churches do not however enjoy such privileges.
In addition to a parish church, each parish may maintain auxiliary organizations and their facilities such as a rectory, parish hall, parochial school, or convent, frequently located on the same campus or adjacent to the church.
Pilgrimage church
Template:Main A pilgrimage church is a church to which pilgrimages are regularly made, or a church along a pilgrimage route, often located at the tomb of a saints, or holding icons or relics to which miraculous properties are ascribed, the site of Marian apparitions, etc.
Proprietary church
Template:Main During the Middle Ages, a proprietary church was a church, abbey, or cloister built on the private grounds of a feudal lord, over which he retained proprietary interests.
Evangelical church structures
The architecture of evangelical places of worship is mainly characterized by its sobriety.<ref>Peter W. Williams, Houses of God: Region, Religion, and Architecture in the United States, University of Illinois Press, USA, 2000, p. 125</ref><ref>Murray Dempster, Byron D. Klaus, Douglas Petersen, The Globalization of Pentecostalism: A Religion Made to Travel, Wipf and Stock Publishers, USA, 2011, p. 210</ref> The Latin cross is a well known Christian symbol that can usually be seen on the building of an evangelical church and that identifies the place's belonging.<ref>Mark A. Lamport, Encyclopedia of Christianity in the Global South, Volume 2, Rowman & Littlefield, USA, 2018, p. 32</ref><ref>Anne C. Loveland, Otis B. Wheeler, From Meetinghouse to Megachurch: A Material and Cultural History, University of Missouri Press, USA, 2003, p. 149</ref> Some services take place in theaters, schools or multipurpose rooms, rented for Sunday only.<ref name="Caillou">Annabelle Caillou, Vivre grâce aux dons et au bénévolat Template:Webarchive, ledevoir.com, Canada, 10 November 2018</ref><ref>Helmuth Berking, Silke Steets, Jochen Schwenk, Religious Pluralism and the City: Inquiries into Postsecular Urbanism, Bloomsbury Publishing, UK, 2018, p. 78</ref><ref>George Thomas Kurian, Mark A. Lamport, Encyclopedia of Christianity in the United States, Volume 5, Rowman & Littlefield, USA, 2016, p. 1359</ref> There is usually a baptistery at the front of the church (in what is known as the chancel in historic traditions) or in a separate room for baptisms by immersion.<ref>William H. Brackney, Historical Dictionary of the Baptists, Scarecrow Press, USA, 2009, p. 61</ref><ref>Wade Clark Roof, Contemporary American Religion, Volume 1, Macmillan, UK, 2000, p. 49</ref>
A church in which more than 2,000 people gather each Sunday is known as a megachurch. The term gigachurch is sometimes used to refer to especially large megachurches, such as Lakewood Church (United States) or Yoido Full Gospel Church (South Korea).<ref>Sam Hey, Megachurches: Origins, Ministry, and Prospects, Wipf and Stock Publishers, USA, 2013, p. 265.</ref><ref>Ed Stetzer, Megachurch Research - Terminology Template:Webarchive, christianitytoday.com, USA, October 9, 2008.</ref><ref>Alicia Budich, From Megachurch to "Gigachurch", cbsnews.com, USA, April 6, 2012.</ref>
House church
In some countries of the world which apply sharia or communism, government authorizations for worship are complex for Christians.<ref>Erwin Fahlbusch, Geoffrey William Bromiley, The Encyclopedia of Christianity, Volume 4, Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, USA, 2005, p. 163.</ref><ref>Yves Mamou, Yves Mamou: «Les persécutions de chrétiens ont lieu en majorité dans des pays musulmans» Template:Webarchive, lefigaro.fr, France, March 20, 2019</ref><ref>Wesley Rahn, In Xi we trust - Is China cracking down on Christianity? Template:Webarchive, dw.com, Germany, January 19, 2018</ref> Because of persecution of Christians, Evangelical house churches have thus developed.<ref>Allan Heaton Anderson, An Introduction to Pentecostalism: Global Charismatic Christianity, Cambridge University Press, UK, 2013, p. 104.</ref> For example, there is the Evangelical house churches in China movement.<ref>Brian Stiller, Evangelicals Around the World: A Global Handbook for the 21st Century, Thomas Nelson, USA, 2015, p. 328</ref> The meetings thus take place in private houses, in secret and in "illegality".<ref>Mark A. Lamport, Encyclopedia of Christianity in the Global South, Volume 2, Rowman & Littlefield, USA, 2018, p. 364.</ref>
Alternative buildings
Old and disused church buildings can be seen as an interesting proposition for developers as the architecture and location often provide for attractive homes<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> or city centre entertainment venues.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> On the other hand, many newer churches have decided to host meetings in public buildings such as schools,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> universities,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> cinemas<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> or theatres.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
There is another trend to convert old buildings for worship rather than face the construction costs and planning difficulties of a new build. Unusual venues in the UK include a former tram power station,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> a former bus garage,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> a former cinema and bingo hall,<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> a former Territorial Army drill hall,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and a former synagogue.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Template:HMS served as a floating church for mariners at Liverpool from 1827 until she sank in 1872.<ref name="LM100672">Template:Cite news</ref> A windmill has also been converted into a church at Reigate Heath.
There have been increased partnerships between church management and private real estate companies to redevelop church properties into mixed uses. While it has garnered criticism, the partnership allows congregations to increase revenue while preserving the property.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Inter-religious conversion
A number of Roman temples have been converted to churches including the Pantheon temple in Rome which was converted into a church dedicated to St. Mary and the Martyrs in the 7th century, also known as "Santa Maria Rotonda".<ref name="MacDonald 1976 p=18">Template:Harvnb</ref>
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Mosques have also been converted for use by other religions, notably in southern Spain, following the conquest of the Moors in 1492.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> The most prominent of them is the Great Mosque of Cordoba, itself constructed on the site of a church demolished during the period of Muslim rule. Palma Cathedral in Palma de Mallorca was converted into a church after the mosque in its site was demolished,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The Mosque of Cristo de la Luz in Toledo, Spain was conveted into a church around 1187,<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Outside of the Iberian Peninsula, such instances also occurred in southeastern Europe once regions were no longer under Muslim rule, like the Seven Saints Church, in Sofia, Bulgaria.
The Aramean temple in Damascus, Syria, which became a Roman temple of Jupiter was later converted into the church of St. John in the 4th century, the site was then bought by Umayyad caliph Al-Walid I in 705 and the church was demolished and the Umayyad Mosque was built on the site.Template:Sfn
Geographical distribution
With the exception of Saudi Arabia and the Maldives, all sovereign states and dependent territories worldwide have church buildings.<ref name="Kurian 2015 187–188">Template:Cite book</ref> Among countries with a church, Afghanistan has the fewest churches globally, featuring only one official church: the Our Lady of Divine Providence Chapel in Kabul.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Somalia follows closely, having once housed the Mogadishu Cathedral,<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> along with the Saint Anthony of Padua Church in Somaliland.<ref>Somaliland's only Catholic church closed days after re-opening due to 'public pressures 'Template:Webarchive</ref> Other countries with a limited number of churches include Bhutan and Western Sahara.Template:Refn
Estimates suggest that the United States has about 380,000 churches, the highest total worldwide,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> followed by Brazil and Italy.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Across Europe, more than 500,000 churches form part of the continent's cultural heritage.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Several cities are commonly known as the "City of Churches" because of their dense concentration of church buildings. Examples include Adelaide,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Ani,<ref>Template:Cite EB1911</ref> Ayacucho,<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Kraków,<ref name="diecezja">Józef Szymon Wroński (2007), Kościoły Krakowa (The churches of Kraków). Archidiecezja Krakowska. Retrieved 23 December 2012. Template:In lang</ref> Moscow,<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> Montreal,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Naples,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Ohrid,<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Prague, Puebla, Querétaro, Rome,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Salzburg, and Vilnius.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Rome and New York City are frequently cited as having the largest number of churches of any cities worldwide.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
Saudi Arabia, which has about 1.5 million Christians, prohibits the construction of churches.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The country does preserve the remnants of the fourth-century Jubail Church, affiliated with the Church of the East.<ref name=":1">Template:Cite journal</ref> Discovered in 1986 and excavated in 1987 by the Saudi Antiquities Department, the site remained unpublished as of 2008 because of sensitivities regarding non-Islamic artifacts.<ref name=":1" /> The Maldives, home to about 1,400 Christians,<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> also bans church construction, though foreign Christian workers may worship privately.<ref>Template:Citation</ref> Despite these prohibitions, both countries host secret home churches.<ref name="Kurian 2015 187–188">Template:Cite book</ref>
Christianity is the world's largest and most widespread religion,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> with over 2.3 billion followers.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Churches are found across all seven continents, which are Asia, Africa, North America, South America, Antarctica, Europe, and Oceania. Antarctica is home to eight churches,<ref>Riedel, Dr. Katja. Faith in Antarctica – Religion in the land of eternal snow. Polar News. April 27, 2016. Retrieved January 18, 2017.</ref> with two additional churches located south of the Antarctic Convergence.<ref>Merchant, Brian. Prayer on Ice: The Six Churches Giving Sermons to Scientists on Antarctica . Vice. March 18, 2013. Retrieves January 2, 2017.</ref>
Beyond their liturgical role, many churches serve as historical, national, cultural, and architectural landmarks, and numerous examples appear on the UNESCO World Heritage Sites register.<ref name="Tsivolas 2014 3–4"/> According to the Catholic Encyclopedia the Cenacle (the site of the Last Supper) in Jerusalem was the "first Christian church".<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The Dura-Europos church in Syria is the oldest surviving church building in the world.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Several authors have cited the Etchmiadzin Cathedral (Armenia's mother church) as the oldest cathedral in the world.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
See also
Notes
References
Bibliography
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- Erlande-Brandenburg, Alain, Qu'est-ce qu'une église ?, Gallimard, Paris, 333 p., 2010.
- Gendry Mickael, L'église, un héritage de Rome, Essai sur les principes et méthodes de l'architecture chrétienne, Religions et Spiritualité, collection Beaux-Arts architecture religion, édition Harmattan 2009, 267 p.
External links
Template:Commons Template:Wikiquote Template:Wiktionary
- New Advent Catholic Encyclopedia – Ecclesiastical Buildings
- New Advent Catholic Encyclopedia – The Church
- Prairie Churches Documentary produced by Prairie Public Television
- Iowa Places of Worship Documentary produced by Iowa Public Television
- Template:CathEncy