Europe’ s most beautiful sacred destinations
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KOMUNITAS BLOGGER UNIVERSITAS SRIWIJAYA
Whether you’re a strong believer or a convinced atheist, you have to appreciate the
beauty of certain holy places, and European cathedrals are definitely the most beautiful and
the most renown. So here are 10 of Europe’s most impressive sacred structures.
St. Basil’s Cathedral
Location: Moscow, Russia
Commissioned by Ivan the terrible to commemorate his successful military campaign against
the Tartar Mongols in the city of Kazan, in 1552, St. Basil’s was designed by Postnik
Yakolev and built between 1555 and 1561. Legend has it that Ivan the Terrible had the
architect blinded after the building was finished, so he could never build anything more
beautiful, but history records that he did build another cathedral in Vladimir, so the legend is
most likely just that.
Built on the edge of the Red Square in Moscow, St. Basil’s Cathedral is a colorful
edifice made up of 9 individual chapels, each a symbol of a successful assault on Kazan and
topped by an onion dome. The ninth chapel was erected in 1588 between the first eight,
giving the cathedral the look of an eight-corner star when seen from above.
Moscow’s most popular and probably most beautiful building was close to being a
victim of the Bolshevik regime; Stalin closed down the church, melted its bells and prepared
a plan for its demolition, to ease the movement of parades and vehicles through the square.
Thankfully the courage of brilliant architect P. Baranovsky, who, when ordered to make
preparation for the destruction, threatened to cut his own throat on the church’s steps,
managed to convince Stalin to reconsider.
St. Basil’s interior is less impressive than the exterior, made up of small chapels and
tight corridors with colorful, delicate floral paintings covering the walls.
Photo credits: 1,2
Sagrada Familia
Location: Barcelona, Spain
Designed by now famous architect Antonio Gaudi, Sagrada Familia is a Roman Catholic
cathedral still under construction in Barcelona. Work on the cathedral started in 1882 and
Gaudi himself worked on it for 40 years, 15 of which he dedicated exclusively to it, until his
death in 1926. When asked about the deadline of his project, now scheduled to 2026, Gaudi
said “My client is not in a hurry.”
Sagrada Familia features 18 huge towers representing the 12 Apostles, the 4 Evangelists,
the Virgin Mary and, the tallest one, Jesus Christ, which, upon the cathedral’s
completion will have a huge cross mounted on top. The height of the church will be of 170
meters, one meter shorter than a neighboring hill, because Gaudi believed his creation
shouldn’t be higher than God. It will have three facades, the Nativity to the East, the
Glory to the South and the Passion to the West.
You might think the building process has already taken too long but at the start of the 20th
century, specialist predicted the project would be completed in several hundred years.
Thanks to technological progress we might live long enough to see it completed.
Photo credits: 1,2
Notre Dame
Location: Paris, France
One of the most famous cathedrals in the world, especially due to the popular novel by Victor
Hugo, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, it is considered the finest example of French Gothic
Architecture.
Construction of the cathedral began in 1163, after the Bishop Maurice de Sully considered
the current cathedral unworthy of its role, and it lasted until 1345. Over this long period of
time, many architects worked on the project, evidenced by the many styles used on the west
front and towers.
Raided during the rioting of the Huguenots in 1548 and during the French Revolution in
1793, Notre Dame has been restored many times and a restoration program started in 1991
is still ongoing because the cleaning and restoration of old sculptures is extremely delicate.
Photo credits: 1,2
Hagia Sophia
Location: Istanbul, Turkey
Former patriarchal basilica, a mosque and now a museum, Hagia Sophia is one of the
greatest structures ever built. Created between 532 and 537 as a church on the orders of
Justinian, emperor of the Byzantine Empire and home to many holy relics, Hagia Sophia was
the Patriarchal church of Constantinople and the religious ground zero of the eastern
Orthodox World for almost 1000 years.
After the fall of Constantinople in 1453, the ottomans started converting this holy place into a
mosque, removing the bells, altar, iconostas and relics and covering the murals with Turkish
mosaics. For 500 years it was the main mosque of the Ottoman Empire and it has served as
an inspiration for pretty much all the mosques built across Turkey, until 1935 when the great
reformer, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk decided to close the mosque and turn it into a museum.
The greatest example of Byzantine architecture, Hagia Sophia was the largest cathedral in
the world for 1000 years, until the completion of the Cathedral of Seville.
Photo credits: 1,2
Winchester Cathedral
Location: Winchester, England
Dedicated to the Holy Trinity of Saint Paul, saint Peter and Swithun, Winchester Cathedral is
one of the largest cathedrals in England and the longest Gothic cathedral in Europe.
Winchester Cathedral is very popular among tourists who come here to visit the place where
famed English writer Jane Austin is buried. Her tomb lies in the north aisle of the nave and
marker there praises her work and contribution to international literature. It has also been a
film-set for 2005’s The Da Vinci Code.
It is one of the most impressive structures in England and of its greatest sacred places, with
many Saxon kings buried here, as well as William the Conqueror and his son William II.
Photo credits: 1,2
Cathedral of St. Sava
Location: Belgrad, Serbia
The Cathedral of St. Sava is the largest Orthodox Church in the world, currently in use. It is a
monument erected in the memory of Saint Sava, founder of the Serbian Orthodox Church
and an important figure in Serbian History. It is built on Vracar plateau, the place where it is
believed Sinan Pasha burned the remains of Saint Sava in 1595.
Work on the cathedral began in May 1935, after many problems accepting a viable design,
but due to the start of WWII and the occupation of the city by the Red Army, it was completed
just 4 years ago, in 2004. The structure itself is finished but work on the interior still requires
a lot of work.
The building is 82 meters tall and is visible from any side of the city.
Photo credits: 1,2
Cologne Cathedral
Location: Cologne, Germany
An “exceptional work of human creative genius” as described by UNESCO,
Cologne Cathedral is one of the most popular monuments in Germany. It is one of the largest
cathedrals in the world and between 1880 and 1884 it was the tallest structure in the world,
before the completion of the Washington Monument and later the Eiffel Tower. Its spires are
only surpassed by the singular spire of Ulm Cathedral, making it the second tallest church in
the world, with 157 meters in height.
Work on this impressive Gothic church began in 1248 but it took more than 600 years to
complete in 1880. During WWII the cathedral took 14 hits from aerial bombers but stood tall
surrounded by destroyed buildings. Many thought it was a divine miracle, but in truth, the
allies wanted to keep the cathedral intact as they were using it to calculate bearings to other
German targets.
In 1996, Cologne Cathedral was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List.
Photo credits: 1,2
Basillica di Santa Maria del Fiore
Location: Florence, Italy
Designed to be the largest cathedral in the world, Santa Maria del Fiore is today surpassed
in size only by St. Peter’s Cathedral in The Vatican, St. Paul’s Cathedral in
London and the Cathedral of Milan. Designed by Arnolfo di Cambio in 1296, it started as a
wish of the Florentines to have a greater holy place than the ones in Pisa and Siena and it is
built upon an older church, Santa Reparata. When it was finished, it was the largest
cathedral in Europe able to embrace 30,000 Christians.
The most important elements of the Basillica di Santa Maria del Fiore are its 42 meters dome
and its façade, the later considered one of the most beautiful in the world. Its walls are
covered with stripes of Carrara (white), Prato (green), Siena (red) and Lavenza marble.
Throughout its history, the Santa Maria del Fiore hosted the council of Florencs, listened to
the lectures of Girolamo Savonarola and witnessed the murder of Giuliano de Medici.
Photo credits: 1,2
Seville Cathedral
Location: Seville, Spain
Formally known as Catedral de Santa Maria de la Sede, Seville Cathedral is the largest
Roman-Catholic cathedral in the world and also the largest Medieval Gothic religious
buildings. The building process began in 1402 on the site where the Almohad Mosque once
stood and it stretched into the 16th century.
The interior is just as impressive as the exterior, its main altarpiece is considered the largest
in the world and the nave is the largest in all of Spain. It features many gold decorations,
religious jewelry, paintings, sculptures and a Gothic retablo of 45 carved scenes from the life
of Christ. This is also where you can find the tomb of Christopher Columbus.
The Seville Cathedral was built to show the world the wealth of the city, which had become a
major trading center after “La Reconquista” During its construction somebody
is recorded to have said “we shall have a church [so great and] of such a kind that
those who see it built will think we were mad.”
Photo credits: 1,2
Nidaros Cathedral
Location: Trondheim, Norway
Undoubtedly the most beautiful cathedral in Norway, probably in all Scandinavian Peninsula,
Nidaros has been an important destination for pilgrims coming from all over Northern Europe
since the building process began in 1070. It is supposedly erected over the tomb of King
Olav Haraldsson, who was declared a saint 5 days after his death.
The style of the cathedral is Romanesque and Gothic but the current building was rebuilt
several times, since it has had many problems, especially with fire and in 1708 it all burned
down except for the stone walls. It has undergone a process of restoration that ended in
2001.
Throughout the years, Nidaros Cathedral witnessed many coronations, the last taking place
in 1906 and it is a very popular tourist attraction in Norway.
Photo credits: 1,2