DISCUSS: Best Religious Building

[HoustonTexas]

Koln Dom
St. Paul's
Ulm Cathedral
Vienna
Notre Dome
Duma Rock
Mecca

[wajz]

Funny how people have heated debates about buildings they only know from books and television. I have been fortunate enough to visit a great deal of the world's most important religious buildings, and the one that impressed me the most by far was BOROBUDUR temple on Java, Indonesia. Not only because of the mindblowing scale of the building, not because of its intensely beautiful sculpture and architecture, not even because of the beautiful and universal lesson it teaches. But because of the way it interacts with the landscape around it, that really clinches it for me.

Other religious sites that left an indelible impression on me are:

- Sant' Antimo abbey near Montalcino, Italy
- the old churches of Ravenna, Italy
- Ayasofia, Istanbul, Turkey
- Suleyman's Mosque, Istanbul, Turkey
- Senanque abbey, France
- Wells cathedral, England
- Siena cathedral, Italy
- Ss Giovanni en Paolo, Venice, Italy
- Bourges cathedral, France
- Pulguksa temple, Kyongyu, South Korea
- Gesu church, Rome, Italy
- Rievaulx abbey, England
- Santa Croce, Florence, Italy

And more... and yes I have been to St Peters in Rome, Notre Dame, Florence dome, St Pauls Cathedral... but all those experiences have been marred by the number of tourists there. I find visiting religious sites so much more enjoyable when there aren't too many chattering idiots around me.

[hkskyline]

Externally, Sagrada Familia in Barcelona is a stunning structure.

[DrasQue]

Hagia Sophia with no doubt !

[Manila-X]

1) Sagrada Familia
2) Notre Dame
3) Iglesia Ni Cristo (Quezon City)

[hkskyline]

Sagrada Família
More photos : http://www.globalphotos.org/barcelona-sagrada.htm

[JAB323]

I agree with Notre Dame in Montreal.

[EtherealMist]

Santa Maria Del Fiore in Florence:





The Dome of the Cathedral is one of the most architecturaly significant domes ever built.

[SkyLerm]

Good pics

[Daffy]

Originally Posted by JAB323

I agree with Notre Dame in Montreal.

My favourite relipious building in Montreal is St Joseph's Oratory.

Notre Dame is OK and shows what a good paint scheme can do for a relatively ordinary building.

[Nate]

Here is also another beautiful one. The Pechersk Lavra in Kyiv, Ukraine. It was built in the Ukrainian Baroque style, was mostly destroyed during the USSR, but has since been rebuilt:

[gibbor]

I've visited three well known religious buildings, all of which I found beautiful and impressive:

- St. Paul's Cathedral, London
- Kölner Dom (Cathedral of Cologne), Germany
- Sacré Coeur Basilica, Paris

[Skyline-BRN]

The Two Holy Mosques of Islam

MAKKAH


MADINA

[Bitxofo]

La Sagrada Familia, in Barcelona.

[alsen]

Originally Posted by Skyline-BRN

MAKKAH

The best....

[lahore boy]

Faisal Mosque is one of the largest mosques in the world, located in Islamabad, the capital city of Pakistan. It is a well-known mosque in the Islamic world and is renowned for both its immense size and its architecture.

[BG_PATRIOT]

ST. ALEXANDER NEVSKI MEMORIAL CATHEDRAL
SOFIA - BULGARIA

[OtAkAw]

I would have to side with Catholic Church's main Church, Saint Peter's Basilica, the largest Christian Church in the world and I guess I don't have to elaborate.

[Manila-X]

Here's my new favorite,

Crystal Cathedral, Orange County

[ZZ-II]

Ulmer Münster in Ulm.