Church sights in Europe
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La Sagrada Família
If you only have time for one sightseeing outing, this should be it. La Sagrada Família inspires awe with its sheer verticality and, in the true manner of the great medieval cathedrals it emulates, it’s still not finished after more than 100 years. Work is proceeding apace, however, and it might be done between the 2020s and 2040s. If the work should be carried on is the subject of controversy, but Spain’s most visited monument was consecrated by Pope Benedict XVI in late 2010. The main nave is now open for daily mass. Feathers were much ruffled by the high-speed train tunnel project, on which work began in 2010, that will pass in front of the church under Carrer de Mallo…
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Westminster Abbey
If you're one of those boring sods who boast about spending months in Europe without ever setting foot in a church, get over yourself and make this the exception. Not merely a beautiful place of worship, Westminster Abbey serves up the country's history cold on slabs of stone. For centuries the country's greatest have been interred here, including most of the monarchs from Henry III (died 1272) to George II (1760).
Westminster Abbey has never been a cathedral (the seat of a bishop). It's what is called a 'royal peculiar' and is administered directly by the Crown. Every monarch since William the Conqueror has been crowned here, with the exception of a couple of unlucky Eds …
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Basilica di San Marco
Luminous angels trumpet the way into San Marco in glittering mosaics above vast portals. Inside, the soaring stone structure still sets standards for razzle-dazzle, from the intricate geometry of 12th-century polychrome marble floors to 11th- to 15th-century mosaic domes glittering with millions of gilt-glass tesserae (tiles). This show-stopper took a brains trust of Mediterranean artisans almost 800 years and grand larceny to complete. Legend has it that Venetian merchants smuggled the corpse of St Mark out of Egypt in 828; the arrival of St Mark’s body in Venice is depicted in mosaics dating from 1270 on the left of the facade. Riots and fires thrice destroyed exterior …
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St Giles Cathedral
Dominating High St is the great grey bulk of St Giles Cathedral. Properly called the High Kirk of Edinburgh (it was only a true cathedral – the seat of a bishop – from 1633 to 1638 and from 1661 to 1689), St Giles Cathedral was named after the patron saint of cripples and beggars. A Norman-style church was built here in 1126 but was destroyed by English invaders in 1385; the only substantial remains are the central piers that support the tower.
The present church dates largely from the 15th century – the beautiful crown spire was completed in 1495 – but much of it was restored in the 19th century. The interior lacks grandeur but is rich in history: St Giles was at th…
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Berliner Dom
Pompous yet majestic, the 1905 neo-Renaissance Berliner Dom was once the royal court church and now does triple duty as house of worship, museum and concert hall. Take a spin around the sombre crypt where dozens of royals are buried in elaborate tombs, then climb up to the outside viewing gallery for glorious city views. The 7269-pipe Sauer organ and the elaborate sarcophagi made for the Great Elector and King Friedrich I and their wives are top draws in the main church hall.
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St Margaret's Church
A patchwork of architectural styles, this church is worth a look for its two extraordinarily elaborate Flemish brasses. You can also see a remarkable 17th-century moon dial, which tells the tide, not the time. You'll find historic flood-level markings by the west door.
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Bath Abbey
King Edgar was crowned in a church in Abbey Courtyard in 973 – though he had ruled since 959 – but the present Bath Abbey was built between 1499 and 1616, making it the last great medieval church raised in England. The nave's wonderful fan vaulting was erected in the 19th century.
Outside, the most striking feature is the west facade, where angels climb up and down stone ladders, commemorating a dream of the founder, Bishop Oliver King. Among those buried here are Sir Isaac Pitman, who devised the Pitman method of shorthand, and Beau Nash.
On the abbey's southern side, the steps lead down to the small Heritage Vaults Museum , which explores the abbey's history and its l…
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Christ Church Cathedral
Its hilltop location and eye-catching flying buttresses make this the most photogenic by far of Dublin's three cathedrals as well as one of the capital's most recognisable symbols.
It was founded in 1030 on what was then the southern edge of Dublin's Viking settlement. It was later smack in the middle of medieval Dublin: Dublin Castle, the Tholsel (Town Hall; demolished in 1809) and the original Four Courts (demolished in 1796) were all close by. Nearby, on Back Lane, is the only remaining guildhall in Dublin. The 1706 Tailors Hall was due for demolition in the 1960s, but survived to become the office of An Taisce (National Trust for Ireland).
The original wooden church in …
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St Peter's Roman Catholic Church
Displayed in a glittering brass-and-glass case in the north transept, the shrivelled head of St Oliver Plunkett (1629–81) is this church's main draw (the rest of the martyr was separated at his hanging in 1681). Actually it's two churches in one: the first, designed by Francis Johnston in classical style and built in 1791; and the newer addition, built in the Gothic style visible today.
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St Patrick's Cathedral
It was at this cathedral, reputedly, that St Paddy himself dunked the Irish heathens into the waters of a well, so the church that bears his name stands on one of the earliest Christian sites in the city and a pretty sacred piece of turf. Although there's been a church here since the 5th century, the present building dates from 1190 or 1225 (opinions differ) and it has been altered several times, most notably in 1864 when the flying buttresses were added, thanks to the neo-Gothic craze that swept the nation. St Patrick's Park, the expanse of green beside the cathedral, was a crowded slum until it was cleared and its residents evicted in the early 20th century.
Like Christ …
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St Michan's Church
The macabre remains of the ancient dead are the attraction at this old church near the Four Courts, founded by the Danes in 1095 and named after one of their saints. Incredibly, it was the only church on the north side of the Liffey until 1686. The original church has largely disappeared beneath several additions, most dating from the 17th century (except for the battlement tower, which dates from the 15th century). It was considerably restored in the early 19th century and again after the Civil War, during which it had been damaged.
The very unchurchlike interior – it looks a bit like a courtroom – contains an organ from 1724 that Handel may have played for the first perf…
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Church of St Anne
The 18th-century baroque Church of St Anne has one of the most eye-catching interiors of any church in Budapest.
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Wells Cathedral
Set in a marvellous medieval close, the Cathedral Church of St Andrew was built in stages between 1180 and 1508. The building incorporates several Gothic styles, but its most famous asset is the wonderful west front, an immense sculpture gallery decorated with more than 300 figures, built in the 13th century and restored to its original splendour in 1986. The facade would once have been painted in vivid colours, but has long since reverted to its original sandy hue. Apart from the figure of Christ, installed in 1985 in the uppermost niche, all the figures are original.
Inside, the most striking feature is the pair of scissor arches that separate the nave from the choir, de…
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Basílica de Nuestra Señora del Pilar Church
Brace yourself for the saintly and the solemn in this great baroque cavern of Catholicism. It was here on 2 January 40 that Santiago (St James the Apostle) is believed by the faithful to have seen the Virgin Mary descend atop a marble pilar (pillar). A chapel was built around the remaining pillar, followed by a series of ever-more-grandiose churches, culminating in the enormous basilica that you see today. Originally designed in 1681 by Felipe Sánchez y Herrera, it was greatly modified in the 18th century by the heavier hand of Ventura Rodríguez; the towers were not finished until the early 20th century. The exterior is another story altogether, its splendid main dome lor…
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Chiesa dei SS Giovanni e Paolo
Who does brick Gothic best? When the Dominicans undertook the 100-year effort to build Zanipolo in 1333 to rival the Franciscans’ Chiesa diSanta MariaGloriosa dei Frari, the church stirred passions and partisanship more common to Serie A football than architecture. Both have red-brick facades with high-contrast detailing in white stone. But since Zanipolo’s facade remains unfinished, the Frari won a decisive early decision over Zanipolo with its soaring grace – and with Titian’s Assunta altarpiece front and centre, the Frari seemed impossible to surpass. Over the centuries, Zanipolo may have at least tied the score with the sheer scale and variety of its masterpie…
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Glasgow Cathedral
An attraction that shouldn't be missed, Glasgow Cathedral has a rare timelessness. The dark, imposing interior conjures up medieval might and can send a shiver down the spine. It's a shining example of Gothic architecture, and the only mainland Scottish cathedral to have survived the Reformation. Most of the current building dates from the 15th century, and only the western towers were destroyed in the turmoil.
The entry is through a side door into the nave, which is hung with some regimental colours. The wooden roof above has been restored many times since its original construction, but some of the timber dates from the 14th century; note the impressive shields. Many of t…
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I Frari (Chiesa di Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari)
Like moths to an eternal flame, visitors are inexorably drawn to the front of this cavernous, dimly lit Gothic church by a small altarpiece that seems to come equipped with its own sunlight. This is Titian’s 1518 Assunta (aka Madonna of the Ascension ), capturing the split second the radiant Madonna reaches heavenward, her signature Titian-red robe in glorious disarray as she finds her footing on a cloud. Both inside and outside the painting, onlookers below gasp and point out the ascending Madonna to one another. As if this weren’t too much to handle already, the lofty brick Gothic I Frari (or Chiesa di Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari) has other fascinating features: mi…
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Chiesa di San Francesco della Vigna
Designed and built by Jacopo Sansovino with a facade by a precocious Palladio in his first church commission, this enchanting Franciscan church is one of Venice’s most underrated attractions. The Madonna positively glows in Bellini’s 1507 Madonna and Saints in the Capella Santa just off the flower-carpeted cloister courtyard, while swimming angels and strutting birds steal the scene in Antonio da Negroponte’s c 1460–70 delightful Virgin Enthroned. Palladio and the Madonna are tough acts to follow, but father–son sculptors Pietro and Tullio Lombardo’s 15th-century marble reliefs of saints and the life of Christ, housed in the Cappella Giustiniani, in the north …
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Chiesa di San Zaccaria
When 15th-century Venetian Paris Hiltons showed more interest in sailors than saints, they might be sent for a stint at the convent adjoining Chiesa di San Zaccaria; Venice’s spoiled daughters passed their time in prayer here, with breaks for concerts and occasionally scandalous masked balls. The wealth showered on this church by their grateful (or at least hopeful) parents is evident. To your right as you enter, the Cappella di Sant’Anastasia holds works by Tintoretto and Tiepolo and magnificently crafted choir stalls, and through another chapel from here you’ll reach the frescoed Cappella di San Tarasion (also called Cappella d’Oro or Golden Chapel). Twelfth-centu…
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Chiesa di San Nicolò dei Mendicoli
Other churches in town may be grander and glitzier, but San Nicolò dei Mendicoli earns a special spot in local hearts for being the most essentially Venetian. From the outside, this low, spare brick Veneto-Gothic church dedicated to serving the poor hasn’t changed much since the 12th century, when its cloisters functioned as a women’s shelter and its portico sheltered mendicoli (beggars). The tiny, picturesque campo out front is a Venice in miniature, surrounded on three sides by canals and bearing a pylon bearing the winged lion of St Mark, one of the few in Venice to have escaped target practice by Napoleon’s troops. Dim interiors are illuminated by a golden arcade…
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Greyfriars Kirk
Candlemaker Row leads from the eastern end of the Grassmarket towards one of Edinburgh's most famous churches. Greyfriars Kirk was built on the site of a Franciscan friary and opened for worship on Christmas Day 1620. In 1638 the National Covenant was signed here, rejecting Charles I's attempts to impose episcopacy and a new English prayer book, and affirming the independence of the Scottish Church. Many who signed were later executed at the Grassmarket and, in 1679, 1200 Covenanters were held prisoner in terrible conditions in the southwestern corner of the kirkyard. There's a small exhibition inside the church.
Surrounding the church, hemmed in by high walls and overlook…
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Chiesa di Santa Maria dei Miracoli
When Nicolò di Pietro’s Madonna icon started miraculously weeping in its outdoor shrine around 1480, crowd control became impossible in this cramped corner of Cannaregio. Out of deference to her holiness – and possibly to disperse foot-traffic jams – the neighbours took up a collection to build a chapel to house the painting and its ecstatic admirers. But there was another miracle in store for the neighbourhood: Pietro and Tullio Lombardo’s design, which completely ignored then-current Gothic in favour of a simpler, more classical approach that would come to be known as Renaissance architecture. Although frequently described as a ‘jewel box’, the church is not especially …
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St Mary's Priory Church & Tithe Barn
Relatively modest-looking, St Mary's contains a remarkable treasury of aristocratic tombs within. It was founded at the same time as the castle (1087) as part of a Benedictine priory, but the present building dates mainly from the 14th century, with 15th- and 19th-century additions and alterations. In the northern transept is one of the most important medieval carvings in Europe – a monumental 15th-century wooden representation of the biblical figure of Jesse.
The priory's 13th century tithe barn has recently been restored and converted into an excellent heritage centre and a food hall focusing on locally sourced Welsh products.
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Chiesa dei Gesuati
If you’re not yet sold on baroque art, just duck inside Giorgio Massari’s 1735 high baroque church and look up. On ceiling panels completed in 1737–39, Tiepolo tells stories in the life of St Dominic in trompe l’œil skies with such brilliantly sunny colour, you may momentarily wonder if you’re wearing enough sunscreen. Fellow Venetian virtuoso of luminosity Sebastiano Ricci painted the crystalline, 1730–33 Saints Peter and Thomas with Pope Pius V on the right side of the nave – quite a contrast to Tintoretto’s adjacent 1565 Crucifixion, with mere hints of deep red and green amid the gathering gloom.
If you find the side door to the cloisters open, you mig…
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Chiesa di Santa Maria Formosa
Rebuilt in 1492 by Mauro Codussi on the site of a 7th-century church, this house of worship bears a curious name (Curvaceous St Mary) that has spawned two local legends. One claims the name was caused by confusion over a confusingly abbreviated listing and address for a local courtesan in a Venice guidebook in the dark, pre–Lonely Planet days of the early 16th century. The other tells the story of San Magno, Bishop of Oderzo, who is said to have had a vision of the Virgin Mary on this spot. Unlike standard views of Our Lady, this Venetian vision was beautiful and formosa. The inside of the church was damaged when an Austrian bomb went off in 1916, but among the works of…
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