The world's most beautiful churches

The world's most beautiful churches

Las Lajas Sanctuary, Colombia
Built at a height of 100m inside the canyon of the Guáitara River, this church became a pilgrimage site after the Virgin Mary appeared in front of a woman and her deaf-mute daughter, caught in a violent storm here in the 18th century. The present Gothic-style church was built between 1916 and 1949; a bridge connects it to the opposite side of the canyon.

Borgund Stave Church, Norway
In 1180, the villagers of Borgund, in southern Norway, built a new church. But unlike older churches, which had rotted because their wooden frames came into contact with the cold, snowy ground, this church was to be built on stone foundations. Workmen put up to 2,000 pieces of timber in place; crosses were carved on the inner walls; holy water was sprinkled. The stave church – a medieval wooden Christian church – still stands in Borgund today, although it is no longer used for services, but is preserved as a museum by the Society for the Preservation of Ancient Norwegian Monuments. It is thought to be the best preserved of Norway’s 28 stave churches.

Gergeti Trinity Church, Georgia
It is possibly the setting, in the green and white Caucasus mountains, below the summit of Mt Kazbegi, that makes Gergeti Trinity Church quite so magnificent. Dating from the 14th century, it has a separate bell tower, and is often used as a navigation point for trekkers, who make a three-hour mountain climb to reach it. While religious services were banned during the Soviet era, it is once again used as a place of worship.
 

St Bartholomew's, Lake Königssee
A pilgrimage church in Bavaria, Germany, St Bartholomew’s is only accessible by boat or via a long hike. A building has been on this site since 1134, but the onion domes and red roof were added during a rebuilding in the Baroque style in the 1600s. A pilgrimage ending at the church is held annually on the first Saturday after August 24.

Hallgrímskirkja, Iceland
The church of Hallgrímur stands 73m tall above Reykjavik, in an Expressionist design supposedly influenced by Iceland’s basalt lava flows. It took 38 years to complete its construction, which began in 1945, but now performs two functions – it is also an observation tower.

Russian Orthodox Church of Mary Magdalene, Jerusalem
A bold piece of Muscovite architecture on the slope of the Mount of Olives, this church was consecrated in 1888, and has ties to the British Monarchy. It is the final resting place of Princess Andrew of Greece, the Duke of Edinburgh’s mother, whose remains were moved to a crypt below the church, in line with her wishes, in 1988. Today the church, in the Garden of Gethsemane, is used by the sisters of St Mary Magdalene for daily worship.

Sagrada Familia, Spain
Full name the Basílica i Temple Expiatori de la Sagrada Família, this Roman Catholic church designed by Antoni Gaudí surprises many a tourist to the Catalonian city. Even though work began in 1882, it is in a seemingly-permanent unfinished state, half covered with scaffolding and cranes. Despite this, it is a Unesco World Heritage Site, and attracts more than three million visitors a year, who are able to ignore the construction paraphernalia to admire the interior, particularly the geometric columns, which were designed to resemble the trunks and branches of trees. In 2013, it was reported that the church would be finished within 13 years.

The Church of the Transfiguration, Kizhi island, Russia
Bizarre yet utterly wonderful, this is the larger of the wooden churches on Kizhi, an island in Lake Onega in western Russia. With 22 domes reaching a height of 37 metres, it was built in the early 18th century, without nails, on the site of a previous church burnt down by lightning. Inside, there are 102 icons on its iconostasis, and a stone base prevents it rotting. Kizhi island is a popular stop-off point on Volga river cruises between St Petersburg and Moscow.

Matthias Church, Hungary
This Roman Catholic church in Buda’s Castle District define Budapest’s skyline with its sharp late Gothic spire. Extensively damaged during the Second World War, it was occupied by the Germans and the Soviets, during their occupation in 1944-45. An extensive renovation was finished in 2013 and a gallery within it now contains a replica of the Hungarian royal crown.

(Source: Telegraph)