Churches

Churches are buildings where Christians gather and worship God. Initially, these were buildings for more or less secret gatherings but as Christianity became adopted state religion and a tool for governing society, churches turned into exclusive sites of worship with little Christian worship happening outside these buildings.

Basilicas are large and important churches where Pope has given special ceremonial rites. Cathedrals are churches serving as seats of bishops. Chapels are places of Christian worship and fellowship, often they comprise parts of buildings built for another purpose.

Throughout history Christian churches have been the epitome of architecture and arts achievements in Western culture, representing it.

Short history

First Christian churches

It is rather hard to name the oldest Christian church as this religion evolved from older Jewish religions and there remain some uncertainties regarding of linkage of some Jewish sects to Christianity.

Judaism and Christianity started to divide during the 1st century AD and Christianity was a clearly distinct religion in the 4th century AD. One of the earliest dated churches was located in Syria, Dura-Europos town – in this abandoned town there is found a chapel from sometimes around 232 – 256 AD.

In the 4th century churches are already in Armenia (the oldest Christian state in the world), Israel, Palestine, Jordan, Greece. Old churches are also in Italy, France, Egypt, Cyprus, and some more regions.

Separately should be mentioned the unique rock-hewn churches of Lalibela in Ethiopia from the 13th century. Carvings and frescoes here show some similarities to Byzantine art.

Byzantine style

First really magnificent – and for long time unsurpassed – church is Hagia Sophia in Istanbul, Turkey. It is built in 532 – 537 AD and well represented the might of the Byzantine Empire. Numerous similar style but much smaller size churches over the next centuries were been built in Turkey, Greece, Bulgaria, and other countries of this region.

Byzantine style has served as a basis for the development of unique church architecture in Russia. The design of churches over centuries here changed maintaining its distinct style. Some of notable examples of Russian Orthodox church architecture are Vladimir Dormition Cathedral (Vladimir, 1160), Saint Basil’s Cathedral (Moscow, 1555 – 1561) and such miracle of wooden architecture as Transfiguration Church in Kizhi (Republic of Karelia, 1714).

Romanic style

Next magnificent churches were built in Western Europe, signaling the rise of Western culture. Romanic style in architecture merged accomplishments of Roman architecture with Byzantine architecture and was the first architectural style of Western culture with the first early examples appearing in the 9th century in Germany, France, Switzerland, and Spain. Among the original significant examples of this style can be named part of Aachen Cathedral (North-Rhine – Westphalia, Germany). Later came such beautiful and impressive churches as Speyer Cathedral (Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, 1130 – 1106), St. Mark’s Basilica (Veneto, Italy, 1094), Angoulême Cathedral (Charente, France, 1110 – 1128).

Gothic style

Important stimulus for the further development of architecture was the crusades, leading to an intense exchange of knowledge and skills between the long-established cultures in the Near East and energetic, rising Western European culture. The next style after the Romanic style – Gothic – testified to the peak of the influence of Christianity on Western society. Basilica of St.Denis in Paris (the 12th century) was the front-runner of Gothic style, but shortly afterward there were built some of the most magnificent Christian churches ever built – such as Notre Dame de Paris (Paris, France, 1163 – the late 14th century), Amiens Cathedral (Somme, France, 1220 – 1266), Burgos Cathedral ( Castile and Léon, Spain, 1221 – 1567), Cologne Cathedral (North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, 1248 – 1880) and Milan Cathedral (Lombardy, Italy, 1386 – 1965).

Renaissance style

Wealth, the fierce competition of influential Northern Italian cities, and the wish to revive " the Golden Age" brought the next major style in architecture and other arts – Renaissance. This was achieved with overplus – now the time of Renaissance is seen as the "Golden Age" of Europe.

Important step in development of this architecture was construction of Basilica of San Lorenzo (Florence, Italy, 1419-1480s). Italy dominated in this style – major accomplishments in church architecture in these times are St. Peter’s Basilica (Vatican City, 1506 – 1626), the small but beautiful Tempietto of San Pietro in Montorio (Rome, Italy, around 1502), a magnificent dome of Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore (Florence, Italy, 1469) and other churches. Outside Italy, there should be mentioned the beautiful Katedrala Sv. Jakova (Šibenik, Croatia, 1402 – 1555).

Baroque and Rococo styles

Baroque style originated as an attempt of the Christian church to renew its former significance through emotional and impressive communication of religious themes – using ornate, lush expressions of art and architecture. This opulent style was borrowed by monarchies of Europe that were at their peak of influence – thus nowadays the most well-known samples of Baroque architecture are palaces.

Significant Baroque churches are San Carlo alle Quattro Fontane (Rome, Italy, 1638 – 1646), Cathedral of San Giorgio (Sicily, Italy, 1693), St Paul’s Cathedral (London, United Kingdom, 1668 – 1697), Ottobeuren Abbey with its Rococo interior (Bavaria, Germany, 1737 – 1766), Vienna Karlskirche (Vienna, Austria, 1716 – 1737).

Meanwhile church was the bearer of Western culture to "new lands" – these were Baroque-style churches that first came to the Americas, parts of Africa, and Eastern Asia. It is symbolic that one of the first precursors of Baroque was Church of the Gesu in Rome, Italy, constructed in 1568-1580. This church was the seat of the Jesuit order, actively and with great success spreading Christianity around the world. Some magnificent examples of such colonial churches are Mexico City Metropolitan Cathedral (Mexico City, Mexico, 1573 – 1813), Iglesia de la Compania de Jesus (Cusco, Peru, 1668), São Francisco Church and Convent (Bahia, Brazil, 1708 – 1755).

Rococo originated in France and has been expressed mainly in the interior. Although it is widely believed that Rococo is a decadent, "overspiced" Baroque, in general, this style shows more elegance and sophistication than many somewhat tasteless applications of Baroque. This style has been mostly used in other monuments of architecture but here should be mentioned grand Rococo interiors in some Bavarian churches – Ottobeuren Abbey, Wieskirche (the 1740s) and Asamkirche in Munich (1733 – 1746).

Later styles

With the start of Enlightenment in the middle of the 17th century the importance of the Christian church declined. The construction of new churches was not the main item in public expenditure anymore. On the other side – the affluence of Europe was growing, especially when started industrialization. In general, there were not built grandiose Christian churches anymore, but there was widespread construction of smaller churches, very often with sophisticated architecture, significant effort was put also in the restoration of existing churches. There is one notable exception though – in 1882 in Barcelona, Spain there was started construction of one of the largest and most magnificent churches – Sagrada Familia. This building is one of the predecessors of the Art Nouveau style and the architect – Antoni Gaudi – planned that the church won’t be complete until some centuries of intense work will be gone. The development of computers and construction technologies will facilitate faster completion of construction work in 2026.

Other articles

Wondermondo has defined several other categories of religious structures:

• Religious architecture – list of more than 60 most interesting and impressive religious structures and sites around the world.
• Buddhist shrines
• Christian monasteries
• Hindu temples
• Jain shrines
• Judaism monuments, sinagogues
• Islamic shrines
• Other contemporary shrines
• Ancient pyramids
• Ancient and prehistoric shrines