Amazing Cathedrals and Temples around the World

Regardless of your religion, temples, cathedrals and churches express mankind’s eternal desire to create heavenly castles on earth. The 10 examples listed below showcase some of the best of the best, these amazing buildings instill a sense of wonder and amazement built by people with a vision of something above and beyond this mortal world.


#10 Las Lajas Cathedral 

Las Lajas Cathedral or Las Lajas Sanctuary is a cathedral located in the southern Colombian Department of Nariño and built inside the canyon of the Guaitara River.
The architecture of this cathedral is of Gothic Revival architecture built from January 1, 1916 to August 20, 1949

The story : an Indian woman named María Mueses de Quiñones was carrying her deaf-mute daughter Rosa on her back near Las Lajas (“The Rocks”). Weary of the climb, the María sat down on a rock when Rosa spoke (for the first time) about an apparition in a cave.
Later on, a mysterious painting of the Virgin Mary carrying a baby was discovered on the wall of the cave. Supposedly, studies of the painting showed no proof of paint or pigments on the rock – instead, when a core sample was taken, it was found that the colors were impregnated in the rock itself to a depth of several feet.
Whether true or not, the legend spurred the building of a gothic church worthy of a fairy tale.

#9  Kinkaku-ji Temple

In Japan’s former imperial capitol of Kyoto. Originally built in 1397, the temple burned down three times (most recently in 1950) but has been painstakingly rebuilt each time. The most recent reconstruction was completed in 1955 and was followed by an exacting renovation in the 1980s. Over 100 pounds of gold leaf in the form of 200,000 foils delicately applied to the structure’s top two floors(and the golden phoenix on the roof) gives it an ethereal glow in every possible light.


#8 St. Vitus Cathedral 

Prague is a city of wonders that has emerged from most major wars with its spectacular architecture virtually unscathed. In the case of St. Vitus Cathedral, begun in the year 1344, wars and revolutions slowed the pace of construction. dramatically slowed – the cathedral was finally finished in 1929!


#7 Hallgrimskirkja

Hallgrímskirkja is a Lutheran parish church whose tower soars 244 feet into Iceland’s crisp, cool air. Construction on the church began in 1945 and was completed in 1986. Hallgrímskirkja houses a huge pipe organ that stands 45 feet tall, weighs 25 tons and features 5,275 organ pipes. The bronze statue of Iceland’s Viking founder, Eric the Red, was a 1930 gift from the United States and thus predates the building of the actual church.


#6 La Sagrada Familia

Spanish cathedral magic, in the form of avant-garde architect Antoni Gaudi‘s astounding La Sagrada Familia, is very much a work in progress. That’s because Gaudi died in 1926 leaving his surrealistic building (begun in 1884) very much incomplete – and it’s still under construction today.

#5 Sri Mayapur Vedic Temple and Planetarium

Sri Mayapur Vedic Temple and Planetarium will be one of the world’s largest temples and, amazingly, not one bit of steel is being used to build it. The temple’s 22-acre footprint positions it on the shore of India’s sacred Ganges river and the bricks used in its construction will be crafted from fired river silt. The highlight of the temple is the marble & glass Diety Chamber which will soar 35 stories into the subcontinental sky.

#4 St Basil's Cathedral

 

The Cathedral of the Protection of Most Holy Theotokos on the Moat popularly known as Saint Basil's Cathedral is a Russian Orthodox church erected on the Red Square in Moscow in 1555–1561. Built on the order of Ivan IV of Russia to commemorate the capture of Kazan and Astrakhan, it marks the geometric center of the city and the hub of its growth since the 14th century. It was the tallest building in Moscow until the completion of the Ivan the Great Bell Tower in 1600.

The original building, known as "Trinity Church" and later "Trinity Cathedral", contained eight side churches arranged around the ninth, central church of Intercession; the tenth church was erected in 1588 over the grave of venerated local saint Vasily (Basil). In the 16th and the 17th centuries the church, perceived as the earthly symbol of the Heavenly City, was popularly known as the "Jerusalem" and served as an allegory of the Jerusalem Temple in the annual Palm Sunday parade attended by the Patriarch of Moscow and the tsar.

The building's design, shaped as a flame of a bonfire rising into the sky, has no analogues in Russian architecture: "It is like no other Russian building. Nothing similar can be found in the entire millennium of Byzantine tradition from the fifth to fifteenth century... a strangeness that astonishes by its unexpectedness, complexity and dazzling interleaving of the manifold details of its design." The cathedral foreshadowed the climax of Russian national architecture in the 17th century.

#3 Duomo 

Milan's layout, with streets either radiating from the Duomo or circling it, reveals that the Duomo occupies what was the most central site in Roman Mediolanum, that of the public basilica facing the forum. Saint Ambrose's 'New Basilica' was built on this site at the beginning of the 5th century, with an adjoining basilica added in 836. When a fire damaged both buildings in 1075, they were later rebuilt as the Duomo

The cathedral was built over several hundred years in a number of contrasting styles and the quality of the workmanship varies markedly. 

#2 Saint Michel d'Aiguilhe

An especially dramatic part of the volcanic landscape of the Auvergne, the basalt needle of Le Puy has been regarded as sacred probably since it was first spotted by humans. Three great stones incorporated into St. Michael's Chapel are thought to be the remains of a prehistoric dolmen built at the top.

Later, the Romans worshipped Mercury - the swift messenger god with winged shoes - at the site. When the area was christianized, the rock was consecrated to St. Michael the Archangel, who is the patron of many high places throughout Europe.

The Chapel of St. Michael was built by Bishop Godescalc and the deacon Trianus in 962. It was a simple shrine built on a central plan: a square sanctuary a tiny apsidole on each side. This original sanctuary and two 

of the apsidoles still survive today. The chapel attracted many pilgrims, especially since Le Puy was the starting point for one of the main routes to Santiago de Compostela.

In the 12th century, the chapel was significantly enlarged by adding a short nave west of the original sanctuary, an elliptical ambulatory, two side chapels, a narthex with an upper gallery, a carved portal, and a bell tower. The 10th-century frescoes were repainted in the original style and more were added.

The bell tower fell down in 1275 and was not reconstructed until the 19th century. Removal of the plaster in the chapel in about 1850 revealed the magnificent 10th and 12th-century frescoes. A century later, in 1955, archaeologists discovered a treasure trove of sacred objects in the altar, which are now displayed behind an iron grate in the wall.

#1 St Andrews Cathedral 

Though the United Kingdom boasts many beautiful cathedrals, it is the ruined ones that captivate one with a sense of poignant charm and echoes of turbulent times past. St. Andrews Cathedral hasn’t held a mass since 1559 when the howling winds of the Reformation did what centuries of winter gales could not: bring down Scotland’s largest cathedral. The ruins of the main cathedral (consecrated in 1318) and associated outbuildings evoke a sense of eerie majesty and are, besides golf, one of the biggest tourist draws to this part of Scotland.