Church architecture refers to the architecture of Christian buildings, such as churches, chapels, convents, seminaries, etc. It has evolved over the two thousand years of the Christian religion, partly by innovation and partly by borrowing other architectural styles as well as responding to changing beliefs, practices and local traditions. From the Early Christianity to the present, the most significant objects of transformation for Christian architecture and design were the great churches of Byzantium, the Romanesque abbey churches, Gothic cathedrals and Renaissance basilicas with its emphasis on harmony. These large, often ornate and architecturally prestigious buildings were dominant features of the towns and countryside in which they stood. However, far more numerous were the parish churches in Christendom, the focus of Christian devotion in every town and village. While a few are counted as sublime works of architecture to equal the great cathedrals and churches, the majority developed along simpler lines, showing great regional diversity and often demonstrating local vernacular technology and decoration.
Image: Saint Sophia, Constantinopolis
Image: Basilique Saint Pierre Vatican (VA) 2021 08 25 4
Image: St Paul's Cathedral Nave, London, UK Diliff
The 800-year-old Ursuskerk of Termunten in the north of the Netherlands
A church, church building, or church house is a building used for Christian worship services and other Christian religious activities. The earliest identified Christian church is a house church founded between 233 and 256.
Milan Cathedral is a Gothic church in Italy
Typical church building in the United Kingdom
Baptist church in the United States
South facade of the Church of Saint Simeon Stylites in Aleppo, Syria, is considered to be one of the oldest surviving church buildings in the world