Incredible Churches of the World

This month, as a special Christmas gift to all of my wonderful friends who have supported this website for more than seven years, I decided to share with you some of the most beautiful Churches made to honor our God. Different cultures around the world celebrate and worship God, the most Supreme. In Christianity, we are so blessed to know that He chose not only to create us but also to commune with us. He was born into this world and this month, we commemorate His wondrous birth. May you and yours share in the love of our Living God in this season of His Holy birth.

After you have enjoyed this presentation, please also consider signing the "Manhattan Declaration" by following the link below.

"Christians, when they have lived up to the highest ideals of their faith, have defended the weak and vulnerable and worked tirelessly to protect and strengthen vital institutions of civil society, beginning with the family.

We are Orthodox, Catholic, and evangelical Christians who have united at this hour to reaffirm fundamental truths about justice and the common good, and to call upon our fellow citizens, believers and non-believers alike, to join us in defending them. These truths are:

1. the sanctity of human life

2. the dignity of marriage as the conjugal union of husband and wife

3. the rights of conscience and religious liberty.

Inasmuch as these truths are foundational to human dignity and the well-being of society, they are inviolable and non-negotiable. Because they are increasingly under assault from powerful forces in our culture, we are compelled today to speak out forcefully in their defense, and to commit ourselves to honoring them fully no matter what pressures are brought upon us and our institutions to abandon or compromise them. We make this commitment not as partisans of any political group but as followers of Jesus Christ, the crucified and risen Lord, who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life."

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Harajuku: Japanese Futuristic Church

Harajuku: Japanese Futuristic Church
This futuristic non Catholic church is located in Tokyo and it was first unveiled by the design firm of Ciel Rouge Creation in 2005. The ceiling is specially made to reverberate natural sound for 2 seconds to provide a unique listening experience for worshipers and tourists.

Saint Basil's Cathedral: The Red Square's Colorful Church

The St. Basil's Cathedral is located on the Red Square in Moscow, Russia.
A Russian Orthodox church, the Cathedral sports a series of colorful bulbous domes that taper to a point, aptly named onion domes, that are part of Moscow's Kremlin skyline. The cathedral was commissioned by Ivan the Terrible to commemorate the capture of the Khanate of Kazan. In 1588 Tsar Fedor Ivanovich had a chapel added on the eastern side above the grave of Basil Fool for Christ, A Russian Orthodox saint after whom the cathedral was popularly named.

Hallgrímskirkja: Iceland's Most Amazing Church

The Hallgrímskirkja (literally, the church of Hallgrímur) is a Lutheran parish church located in Reykjavík, Iceland. At 74.5 metres (244 ft), it is the fourth tallest architectural structure in Iceland. The church is named after the Ice-landic poet and clergyman Hallgrímur Pétursson (1614 to 1674), author of the Passion Hymns. State Architect Guðjón Samúelsson's design of the church was commissioned in 1937; it took 38 years to build it.

Cathedral of Brasília: The Modern Church of architect Oscar Niemeyer

The Catedral Metropolitana Nossa Senhora Aparecida in the capital of Brazilis an expression of the architect Oscar Niemeyer. This concrete-framed hyper-boloid structure, seems with its glass roof to be reaching up, Open, to heaven. On 31 May 1970, the Cathedral's structure was finished, and only the 70 m diameter of the circular area were visible. Niemeyer's project of Cathedral of Brasília is based in the hyperboloid of revolution which sections are asymmetric. The hyperboloid structure itself is a result of 16 identical assembled concrete columns. These columns, having hyperbolic section and weighing 90 t, represent two hands moving upwards to heaven.

The Cathedral was dedicated on 31 May 1970.

Borgund Church: Best Preserved Stave Church

The Borgund Stave Church in Lærdal is the best preserved of Norway's 28 extant stave churches. This wooden church, probably built in the end of the 12th century, has not changed structure or had a major reconstruction since the date it was built. The church is also featured as a Wonder for the Viking civilization in the video game Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings.

Las Lajas Cathedral: A Gothic Church Worthy of a Fairy Tale

The Las Lajas Cathedral is located in southern Colombia and built in 1916 inside the canyon of the Guaitara River. According to the legend, this was the place where 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 this amazing church.

St. Joseph Church: Known for its Thirteen Gold Domed Roof

The St.. Joseph The Betrothed is an Ukrainian Greek- Catholic Church in Chicago. Built in 1956, it is most known for its ultra-modern thirteen gold domed roof symbolizing the twelve Apostles and Jesus Christ as the largest center dome. The interior of the church is completely adorned with Byzantine style icons (frescoes). Unfortunately the iconographer was deported back to his homeland before he was able to write the names of all the saints as pre-scribed by iconographic traditions.

Ruica Church: Where Chandeliers are made of Bullet Shells

Located over the Kalemegdan Fortress in Belgrade, Serbia, the Ru¸ica Church is a small chapel decorated with... with trench art! Its chandeliers are entirely made of spent bullet casing, swords, and cannon parts. The space the church now occupies was used by the Turks as gunpowder storage for over 100 years and it had to be largely rebuilt in 1920 after WWI. Though damaged by bombings there was an upshot to the terrible carnage of The Great War. While fighting along side England and the US, Serbian soldiers on the Thessaloniki front took the time to put together these amazing chandeliers. It is one of the world's finest examples of trench art.

Chapel of St-Gildas: Built into the base of a bare rocky cliff

The Chapel of St-Gildas sits upon the bank of the Canal du Blavet in Brittany, France. Built like a stone barn into the base of a bare rocky cliff, this was once a holy place of the Druids.

St. Gildas appears to have traveled widely throughout the Celtic world of Corwall, Wales, Ireland and Scotland.
He arrived in Brittany in about AD 540 and is said to have preached Christianity to the people from a rough pulpit, now contained within the chapel.

The Tromsdalen Church: The Arctic Cathedral

This Church is more commonly known as The Arctic Cathedral (Ishavskatedralen, literally "The Cathedral of the Arctic Sea"), is a church in Tromsø, Norway, built in 1965. The church is a parish church and not, in fact, a cathedral. The church was designed by Jan Inge Hovig, and its building materials consist mainly of concrete. Because of the church's distinct look and situation, it has often been called "the opera house of Norway", likening it to the famous Sydney Opera House in Sydney, Australia. The church is probably the most famous landmark in Tromsø, although Tromsø does have another church of interest, the Tromsø Cathedral, which is noted for being the only wooden cathedral in Norway.

United States Air Force Academy Cadet Chapel

Completed in 1962, is the distinguishing feature of the Cadet Area at the United States Air Force Academy. It was designed by renowned architect Walter Netsch of Skidmore, Owings and Merrill of Chicago. Construction was accomplished by Robert E. McKee, Inc., of Santa Fe, New Mexico. Originally controversial in its design, the Cadet Chapel has become a classic and highly regarded example of modernist architecture. The Cadet Chapel was awarded the American Institute of Architects' National 25 Year Award in 1996, and as part of the Cadet Area, was named a U.S. National Historic Landmark in 2004.

The most striking aspect of the Chapel is its row of seventeen spires. The original design called for nineteen spires, but this number was reduced due to budget issues. The structure is a tubular steel frame of 100 identical tetrahedrons, each 75 feet (23 m) long, weighing five tons, and enclosed with clear aluminum panels. The panels were fabricated in Missouri and shipped by rail to the site. The tetrahedrons are spaced a foot apart, creating gaps in the framework that are filled with one-inch thick colored glass. The tetrahedrons comprising the spires are filled by triangular clear aluminum panels, while the tetrahedrons between the spires are filled with a mosaic of colored glass in aluminum frame. The shell of the chapel and surrounding grounds cost $3.5 million to build. Various furnishings, pipe organs, liturgical fittings and adornments of the chapel were presented as gifts from various individuals and organizations. In 1959, a designated Easter offering was also taken at Air Force bases around the world to help complete the interior.

Divine Mercy Shrine in the Philippines

In the Heart of Jesus where the rays are emanating from, is a chapel where the Blessed Sacrament is exposed. The rays are stairs leading to the chapel. The structure on the bottom of the statue is another chapel.

Thanks especially to my daughter-in-law, Kelly Martinko, for finding and sharing these wonderful photos.

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