Both inside and outside a church, the images in stained glass windows, mosaics, paintings, and sculptures portray stories and lessons that are important to the faithful. And the architecture of the building, too, reflects the faith.
For example, churches are often oriented toward the east, where the sun rises. The rising sun reminds Christians of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, the original leader of the Christian faith.
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Basilica San Lorenzo Maggiore, Milan, Italy
In 313, the Edict of Milan was proclaimed under the Roman emperors Constantine I and Licinius. This edict freed Christians from prosecution. Built toward the end of the 4th century, the Basilica San Lorenzo Maggiore in Milan, Italy, dates from this new era of Roman state for Christianity.
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Basilicas are churches that have been granted special privileges by the pope, often, like San Lorenzo Maggiore, because of their antiquity and significance as centres of worship.
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Bronze Statue of Constantine I
This bronze statue of Constantine I is a copy of a statue in Rome. It commemorates the first Christian emperor of the Roman Empire and the Edict of Milan.
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Dome
Over the centuries, San Lorenzo has been renovated many times. Its most notable addition is its dome, completed in 1619 after an older cupola collapsed.
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Façade and Porch
Behind the 19th-centutry façade and porch of San Lorenzo lies one of the earliest examples of a centrally-planned church. A centrally-planned building is square, circular, or polygonal, with a central space as wide as it is long.
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Colonnade
The 16 Corinthian columns that stand outside the church come from an unknown pagan temple. They were moved to the site of San Lorenzo at some time in the 4th century.
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The Hagia Sophia Cathedral, Istanbul, Turkey
In 324, Constantine I defeated his rival Roman emperor, Licinius, and the Roman Empire was united under one ruler. Constantine made his capital at Byzantium, which came to be called Constantinople (now Istanbul).
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The Hagia Sophia Cathedral in Istanbul was built in the 6th century under the Byzantine emperor Justinian I on a site where Constantine is said to have built a church in 325.
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Dome
Hagia Sophia displays all the features of Byzantine architecture. Its massive central dome, which, from the inside appears to float in the air, is characteristic of the style.
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Square Base
The square base of the Hagia Sophia is also characteristic of the Byzantine style. Traditional Eastern churches have four equally-sized wings extending from the central domed area, resulting in a floor plan in the shape of a Greek cross.
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Minarets
In 1453, the Ottoman Turks captured Constantinople, and the Byzantine Empire came to an end. Like other Byzantine churches, Hagia Sophia was transformed into a mosque. Minarets were added, from which the muezzin once called the times for prayer.
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Mosque-Cathedral of Córdoba, Spain
Whereas Hagia Sophia in Istanbul, Turkey, is a cathedral that later became a mosque, the Mosque-Cathedral of Córdoba in Spain is a mosque that later became a cathedral.
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The mosque dates to the 8th century, when Abd al-Rahman I became leader of the Spanish Muslims and made his capital in Córdoba. He founded the mosque in 784–786. It was later enlarged and completed in about 976.
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Bell Tower
The Great Mosque of Córdoba became a cathedral in 1236, when Córdoba fell to Ferdinand III and became part of Christian Spain. The bell tower dates to the 16th century and replaced the mosque’s minaret.
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Court of the Oranges
Inside the walls lies a large courtyard with a canopy of orange, olive, cypress and palm trees. During the Islamic period, this courtyard was a place for the public to gather.
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Chartres Cathedral, Chartres, France
The earliest churches typically followed the design of a Roman basilica, or court of justice. The Roman basilica was a secular building; over time, Christians transformed the style in a variety of ways to express their faith.
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In the 12th through the 16th centuries in Western Europe, the Gothic style prevailed. The Cathedral of Notre-Dame in Chartres, France—often simply called Chartres Cathedral—is among the most celebrated Gothic cathedrals.
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Stained-Glass Windows
Chartres Cathedral has 176 stained-glass windows. One innovation that made these massive windows possible was the flying buttress. A buttress extends from the outside of a wall and helps to support its weight or the weight of the roof.
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Rose Window
The rose window is characteristic of the Gothic style. These circular windows are typically found above the western entrance to the church. This window is encircled with 12 smaller circles, representing the Apostles, the original followers of Christ.
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Northwest Spire
Chartres Cathedral was consecrated in 1260, and like any centuries-old building it has been altered many times. One of the most notable changes to the cathedral is the intricate spire of the northwest tower, added in the early 15th century.
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Westminster Abbey, in London, England
A church has stood on the site of present-day Westminster Abbey for centuries. The church as we know it today dates to the 13th century and the reign of Henry III, who replaced the eastern part of a church that had been built in the 11th century by King Edward the Confessor.
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Nearly every British sovereign has been crowned in the Abbey since William the Conqueror in 1066, and for centuries, royal weddings have taken place here as well.
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Rose Window
Westminster Abbey may symbolize British royal power, but Henry III’s architect, Henry of Reynes, was influenced by the great French cathedrals of the time, including Chartres Cathedral. The northern entrance, with its beautiful rose window, exemplifies this Gothic style.
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Pointed Arches
Another notable Gothic feature of Westminster Abbey is its pointed arches. These doors bring visitors into the northern end of the transept. The transept is perpendicular to the main part of a church, creating a cross-shaped floor plan.
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Nave
The nave is the main hall of a church, where congregants gather. When Henry III died in 1272, the nave of Westminster Abbey was incomplete. For years, the older Norman nave remained attached to the Gothic section of the church.
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St. Basil’s Cathedral, Moscow, Russia
In 1552 on the Feast of Intercession, Tsar Ivan IV (Ivan the Terrible) defeated Kazan. This city was the capital of a Tartar khanate, or state, and a trading centre on the Volga River.
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To celebrate his victory, Ivan IV had a church dedicated to Saint Mary built at the southern end of Red Square in Moscow. Later named for St. Basil the Blessed, the church has become an icon of Russian grandeur and power.
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Central Tower
St. Basil’s multi-coloured towers and domes rise above nine chapels. The tall central tower rises above the central chapel, Church of the Protecting Veil of the Mother of God.
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Onion-shaped Domes
It is not known what inspired the onion-shaped domes of St. Basil’s, but this style became characteristic of Russian churches. Unlike the domes on eastern churches, which are made of stone or brick, Russian onion domes are made of wood.
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Red Square
Red Square dates from the late 15th century and has been called ‘Red Square’ since the late 17th century. The 73,000-square-metre square has been the site of demonstrations, parades, and speeches as well as a marketplace.
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Kremlin
The central fortress in a medieval Russian city was called the ‘kremlin’. The Kremlin in Moscow dates from 1156, and since 1918 it has served as the centre of the Russian government.
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La Sagrada Familia, Barcelona, Spain
As modern architectural styles have emerged, they have found expression in the building of Christian churches. Art Nouveau, for example, was a style that flourished in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
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It featured curving lines and organic forms. Perhaps the most original proponent of the Art Nouveau style was the Spanish architect Antonio Gaudí. La Sagrada Familia in Barcelona is his incomplete masterpiece.
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Ongoing Construction
Gaudí became the architect of La Sagrada Familia in 1883 and worked on the church until his death in 1926. When he died, only one transept and one of its towers were finished. Work on the structure is still ongoing.
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Organic Forms
Looking to nature for inspiration, Gaudí included undulating, bulging, and branching forms in his buildings. These columns are like tree trunks, or the roots of one massive tree.
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The Passion of Christ
Gaudí planned three magnificent façades for La Sagrada Familia, each representing one stage in the life of Jesus Christ. The sculpture on this façade represents the Passion and death of Christ and is the work of Josep Subirachs.
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Towers
Eventually, La Sagrada Familia will have 18 towers. The tallest tower will represent Jesus Christ, one will represent his mother, 4 will represent the Gospels, and 12 will represent the Apostles.
