1817 Items Tagged

Sacred Spaces

FOUND: An Underwater 16th Century Church

Sarah Laskow October 19, 2015

Bulgarian Iron Church of St. Stephens

Istanbul, Turkey

St. Stephen Bulgarian Iron Church

The most metal church of all time was built in record time because of an international, pious pissing contest.

A detail on Pope Gregory XIII's tomb, carved by Camillo Rusconi, shows the Pope being presented with a plan for what would become the Gregorian Calendar.

When The Pope Made 10 Days Disappear

Cara Giaimo October 6, 2015

We Asked a Cultural Historian: Are Apple Stores the New Temples?

Sarah Laskow September 25, 2015

objects of intrigue

Object of Intrigue: the Ladder at the Center of a Centuries-Old Religious Tussle

Ella Morton September 22, 2015

Perhaps this boy is headed to church?

Secret Missionaries and Smuggled Bibles: China's Religious Boom

Tao Tao Holmes September 21, 2015

Helsinki, Finland

Kamppi Chapel

An alien church provides much needed silence in the midst of a Finland shopping center.

Permanently Closed

Aerial view of the Entreprenörskyrkan

Stockholm, Sweden

Entreprenörskyrkan

When a conglomerate of visionary startups commandeer a disused Greek Orthodox Church, zaniness ensues.

South River Vineyard at sunset

South River Vineyard

When a guy acquired a free church, he hauled it away piece-by-piece to make it the tasting hall at his vineyard.

How One Runestone Suddenly Reappeared After Being Lost for 300 Years

Sarah Laskow September 3, 2015

The structure is carved into the cliff

Monastery of San Juan de la Peña

This religious complex carved into a cliff is steeped in legends of miraculous stags and the Holy Grail.

Roggenburger Leiberfest

Roggenburg, Germany

Roggenburg Leiberfest

Bring out your dead (saints that have been festooned and bejeweled, so that we can parade them around the town)!

Santa Minia in eternal repose

The Shrine of Santa Minia

The mysterious remains of a martyred teenage saint are venerated inside a small country chapel.

Abbey of San Galgano

Chiusdino, Italy

Abbey of San Galgano

These gutted monastery ruins still stand proudly in the middle of the Italian countryside.

Church exterior

Eglon, West Virginia

Our Lady of the Pines

This claimant to the title of "smallest church in the 48 states" doubles as an equally tiny, quasi-post office.

A skater on one of Skaterham's ramps

Caterham, England

Skaterham

If God were a skater, this would clearly be His park of choice.

Gereja Ayam

Magelang, Indonesia

Gereja Ayam

This massive chapel in the middle of the Indonesian forest is both haunting and fowl.

Permanently Closed

Front of the church

Saint-Chrysostome, Québec

Edwardstown Anglican Church

With the chapel itself being left to moulder, the cemetery of this abandoned church might be the freshest part.