Mystery plays and miracle plays are among the earliest formally developed plays in medieval Europe. Medieval mystery plays focused on the representation of Bible stories in churches as tableaux with accompanying antiphonal song. They told of subjects such as the Creation, Adam and Eve, the murder of Abel, and the Last Judgment. Often they were performed together in cycles which could last for days. The name derives from mystery used in its sense of miracle, but an occasionally quoted derivation is from ministerium, meaning craft, and so the 'mysteries' or plays performed by the craft guilds.
Depiction of a performance of the Mystery Play of Saint Clement in Metz during the Middle Ages.
Mystery play, Flanders, 15th century
Two Players of St. Peter portraying Adam and Eve
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