20 Churches That Look Like Spaceships

Ceiling of the Sagrada Família (photograph by SBA73/Flickr user)

The architecture of churches has always aimed to awe. Yet while some houses of worship convey the staggering unknowable nature of the spiritual with flying buttresses and ornate rose windows, other churches seem ready to take off for the heavens all on their own.

Below are 20 churches from around the world that look like space ships, from brutalist behemoths to stained glass-studded modernist cathedrals. We start with the futuristic 1918 concrete Third Church of  Christ, Scientist, in Washington, DC, which, if development plans go forward, will soon be torn down. Perhaps it’s time for it to become the rocket ship it dreams of being and escape to the stars. 

THIRD CHURCH OF CHRIST, SCIENTIST
Washington, DC, United States 

photograph by rodeomilano/Flickr user

photograph by rodeomilano/Flickr user

SAGRADA FAMILIA
Barcelona, Spain

photograph by Danny Fowler

photograph by David Fernández

CATHEDRAL OF CHRIST THE LIGHT
Oakland, California, United States

photograph by Christian Ortiz

photograph by Jim Hawksworth

ST. MARY’S CATHEDRAL
Tokyo, Japan

photograph by Morio/Wikimedia

photograph by Shinjuku1/Wikimedia

photograph by Sizuken/Flickr user

photograph by Morio/Wikimedia

SAINT-PIERRE
Firminy, France

photograph by Duncan Standridge

photograph by Pieter Morlion

ST. JOSEPH THE BETROTHED
Chicago, Illinois, United States

photograph by iryoda/Flickr user

CLIFTON CATHEDRAL
Bristol, England

photograph by the_justified_sinner/Flickr user 

photograph by Dauvit Alexander

photograph by mtgf/Flickr user

PILGRIMAGE CHURCH
Neviges, Germany

photograph by seier+seier

photograph by Xavier de Jauréguiberry

ST. JOHN’S ABBEY CHURCH
Collegeville, Minnesota, United States

photograph by Heather Seneff

photograph by Johnny Clark

RIO DE JANEIRO CATHEDRAL 
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

photograph by Rodrigo Soldon

photograph by romanlily/Flickr user

OUR LADY OF TEARS
Syracuse, Sicily, Italy

photograph by Marco Bellucci

photograph by Stefan L.

photograph by Stefan L.

CATHEDRAL OF BRASILIA
Brasília, Brazil

photograph by paul74/Flickr user

photograph by illuminaut/Flickr user

METROPOLITAN CATHEDRAL
Liverpool, England

photograph by Arthur John Picton

photograph by catholicism/Flickr user

STYKKISHOLMSKIRKJA
Stykkishólmur, Iceland 

photograph by Chris Zielecki

photograph by jerrroen/Flickr user

DIVINE MERCY SHRINE
El Salvador City, Philippines

photograph by Allan Donque

HOLY TRINITY CHURCH
Geneva, Switzerland

photograph by stonechat/Flickr user

OAKLAND CALIFORNIA TEMPLE
Oakland, California, United States

photograph by moregoodfoundation/Flickr user

ST. FRANCES CABRINI CHURCH
New Orleans, Louisiana, United States (demolished)

photograph by Karen Apricot

TEMPPELIAUKIO CHURCH
Helsinki, Finland

photograph by Matthew Duncan

photograph by ken.h/Flickr user

HALLGRIMSKIRKJA
Reykjavík, Iceland

photograph by extramundane/Flickr user

photograph by O Palsson

photograph by Daniel Williams