Although religion is playing a less prominent role in European civilization nowadays, churches, mosques, synagogues, cathedrals and basilicas still play a very important role in the city landscapes of most European cities, and tourism as a result of that.
Erik, the Europeish editor with the most spare time, got the assignment to select the most beautiful religious buildings in Europe. As Erik also has a difficult time making choices, the result is a list with 79 impressive (Wieskirche), unusually located (Santuario di San Besso, Meteora), or uniquely designed (Hallgrimur, Chiesa di Dio Padre Misericordioso) churches.
1. St. Basil’s Cathedral, Moscow (Russia)
2. Sagrada Familia, Barcelona (Spain)
3. Hagia Sophia, Istanbul (Turkey)
4. Kölner Dom, Cologne (Germany)
5. Catedral de Santa Maria de la Sede, Sevilla (Spain)
6. Borgund stavkirke, Borgund (Norway)
7. Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore, Florence (Italy)
8. St. Sava Cathedral, Belgrade (Serbia)
9. Winchester Cathedral, Winchester (England)
10. Notre Dame, Paris (France)
11. Duomo, Milan (Italy)
12. Pechersk Lavra, Kiev (Ukraine)
13. Basilica di San Marco, Venice (Italy)
14. St. Stephen’s Cathedral, Vienna (Austria)
15. Chartres Cathedral, Chartres (France)
16. Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, Tallinn (Estonia)
17. Notre-Dame of Amiens, Amiens (France)
18. Cadiz Cathedral, Cadiz (Spain)
19. St. Stephen’s Basilica, Budapest (Hungary)
20. Cathedral of Our Lady, Antwerp (Belgium)
21. Basilica di Sant’Antonio, Padova (Italy)
22. Bruges Cathedral, Bruges (Belgium)
23. Hallgrimskirkja, Reykjavik (Iceland)
24. Notre-Dame de l’Immaculée-Conception, Lourdes (France)
25. Basilica di San Pietro, Vatican City
26. St. Michael and St. Gudula Cathedral, Brussels (Belgium)
27. Basilica of San Francesco d’Assisi, Assisi (Italy)
28. Saint Bavo Cathedral, Ghent (Belgium)
29. Duomo Santa Maria, Pisa (Italy)
30. Münster Unserer Lieben Frau, Freiburg (Germany)
31. Nagy Zsinagóga, Budapest (Hungary)
32. Speyer Dom, Speyer (Germany)
33. Catedral de Santa Eulàlia, Barcelona (Spain)
34. Santa María la Real de La Almudena, Madrid (Spain)
35. St Paul’s Cathedral, London (England)
36. Cathedral of Christ the Saviour, Moscow (Russia)
37. St. Vitus Cathedral, Prague (Czech Republic)
38. Echmiatsin Cathedral, Echmiatsin (Armenia)
39. Svetitskhoveli Cathedral, Mtscheta (Georgia)
40. Cathédrale Notre-Dame-Immaculée, Monaco (Monaco)
41. Saint Isaac’s Cathedral, Saint Petersburg (Russia)
42. Oudenbosch Basilica, Oudenbosch (The Netherlands)
43. Notre Dame du Haut, Ronchamp (France)
44. Saint John’s Cathedral, Den Bosch (The Netherlands)
45. Beauvais Cathedral, Beauvais (France)
46. Cathédrale Saint-Étienne de Metz, Metz (France)
47. St. Andrew’s Church, Kiev (Ukraine)
48. Ely Cathedral, Cambridgeshire (England)
49. Ulm Cathedral, Ulm (Germany)
50. Temppeliaukion Kirkko, Helsinki (Finland)
51. Utrecht Cathedral, Utrecht (The Netherlands)
52. Riga Cathedral, Riga (Latvia)
53. Santuario di San Besso, Ronco Canavese (Italy)
54. Basilica of Sts. Stanisław and Vaclav, Kraków (Poland)
55. Westminster Abbey, London (England)
56. Basilique du Sacré-Coeur de Montmartre, Paris (France)
57. Mosteiro dos Jerónimos, Lisbon (Portugal)
58. Aglona Basilica, Aglona (Latvia)
59. Meteora, Kalambaka (Greece)
60. Le Mont Saint-Michel, Normandy (France)
61. Chiesa di Dio Padre Misericordioso, Rome (Italy)
62. Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral, Liverpool (England)
63. Catedral de León, León (Spain)
64. Taidekappeli, Turku (Finland)
65. Wieskirche, Wies (Germany)
66. Durham Cathedral, Durham (England)
67. St. Stephan’s Church, Istanbul (Turkey)
68. St. Mark’s Church, Belgrade (Serbia)
69. Nidaros Cathedral, Trondheim (Norway)
70. Burgos Cathedral, Burgos (Spain)
71. St. Bavochurch, Haarlem (The Netherlands)
72. Bremilham church, Malmesbury (England)
73. Saint Sophia Cathedral, Kiev (Ukraine)
74. Sveti Jovan Kaneo, Ohrid (Macedonia)
75. Stavanger domkirke, Stavanger (Norway)
76. Kizhi Pogost, Kizhi (Russia)
77. Esztergomi Bazilika, Esztergom (Hungary)
78. Asamkirche, Munich (Germany)
79. Graun Tower, Lago di Resia (Italy)
Image sources: 1-25: Shutterstock.com, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79.
We probably missed at least a few wonderful churches, basilicas, cathedrals, mosques or synagogues. Feel free to share your favorite religious building in the comments, and maybe we’ll add it to the list!
62 comments on "The 79 Most Beautiful European Churches";
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“Now *that* is what I call a collection of church photos. Bravo :)”Ben Cook 14.12.2010
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“excuse me, reschensee, or Lago di Resia is not located in Austria, but in Italy!!!”Matteo 14.12.2010
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“@Matteo: thanks for pointing that out! We have updated the post with the appropriate location.”Europeish 14.12.2010
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“Thank you Christian Today for suggesting the Asamkirche, which is now listed at #78!”Europeish 15.12.2010
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“Amazing photos...”Lloyd Westgard 21.12.2010
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“Have a look at this one, St. Clement & St. Panteleimon church: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plao%C5%A1nik”Darko 26.12.2010
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nottellingmyname 01.03.2011 “OMG some of the churches are beautafull ! and some not but some are not rated right ! some are ugly and the beautafull but rated tooooo low i mean come on !”
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“how did you possibly create a list of the most beautiful churches in europe and not include ONE from ireland?”cfaa 15.03.2011
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“Hagia Sophia is a museum - not a church nor a Mosque.”required 22.03.2011
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“OH MY GOD... I'd like to thank the creator of this web site for taking the time to compile this beautiful collection ”MIKE WALLACE 04.05.2011
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“So beautifull collection indeed but I think you can add the Cathedral of Vilnius in Lithuania. Part of the UNESCO patrimony... I visited it last year it's just gorgeous ! :)”sinafa 27.06.2011
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Jacques CLEMENT 08.07.2011 “I have visited around 200 cathedrals in Europe; You made an outstanding work there but some huge cathedrals are missing as Strasbourg, Albi, Bourges, Reims in France all UNESCO CLASSIFIED and Rouen or Toledo and perhaps the most beautiful of all: the Mezquita of Cordoba in Spain! There are many wonders also in germany as Regensburg (Ratisbonne), in Italy as Siena and Orvieto or the major basilicas of christianity in Roma (San Juan Laterano, Santa Maria Maggiore and San Paolo extra muros....only to list some huge ones! Jacques”
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“I think you should have a look to the York Minster, just amazing!”Raúl 26.08.2011
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“Ah! I forgot it! You can't leave Santiago de Compostela behind!”Raúl 26.08.2011
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“Some really good ones, although your missing the best of all and historic story... Our Lady of Fatima in Portugal. The New church they built on the grounds is nice but very modern. If you read up on the history on the original church and what happened with the 3 kids is pretty remarkable. Being there is COMPLETELY breath taking, you literally feel the religious calm atmosphere Take care”DoozieWD 28.10.2011
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“St. George′s Church (crkva Svetog Djordja)Topola, Serbia should be in this list. Great list!”Sanja 01.11.2011
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“no Rosslyn Chapel...how?”Tauraus Reed 17.12.2011
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“Stunning compilation! Only one thing I can't get over: the fact that Rheims Cathedral is missing. Other than that: simply awesome.”Jonathan 18.01.2012
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“unbelievably beautiful churches. hard to believe men built such beautiful creations. no one builds anything such as this anymore. its why so many tourists still visit the old structures, no beauty today anymore, just ugly condos and artificial buildings. its is tragedy of modern age.”Pedro 16.02.2012
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“St John's Co-Cathedral in Valletta, Malta, built by the Knights of St John in the 16th Century is undoubtedly one of the finest baroque churches in Europe. Definitely suggest this addition ... See website for more details ... http://stjohnscocathedral.com/”Agnes Bezzina 11.04.2012
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What I know to be true « Art Teach Travel 22.04.2012 “[...] items we see in our travels are artworks. All that we enjoy as tourists, such as palace and cathedral architecture, historical bridges and walls, woven fabrics, rugs and tapestries, marble sculpture [...]”
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“I think Saint Jame's Cathedral in Santiago de Compostela (Spain) is a must. It's so beautiful and quite important in the european history.”luis 27.06.2012
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“This is awesome!!! I mean to watch or see the most popular and beautiful churches around europe..Amazingly beautiful…”Josephine 20.08.2012
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“Nice photos indeed.. though, with all due respects, I think n.53 and n.79 shouldn't stand among the others; considering how many European Jewels are still missing in this list. Mauro, Ferrara -Italia”mauro 27.08.2012
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“BTW: Just in case someone is interested to insert it.. here a photo of San Petronio Basilica that's facing Piazza Maggiore in Bologna down-town (Italy) http://www.bulgnais.com/pmaggiore_01_small.jpg or http://www.bulgnais.com/images/pmaggiore_01.jpg”mauro 28.08.2012
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“Marvellous! Where will I ever find the time to visit them all? An extensive collection but even if you doubled it I doubt the list would be complete. Some of the lovliest churches are smallish (compared to St Peter's, Rome), and are mostly tucked away in places not usually reached by the descent of the touristy hordes: what about beautiful Trani Cathedral in Puglia, Italy: blindingly white at midday on a summer's day against the turquoise sea just beyond it, the enigmatic Basilica di Collemaggio, L'Aquila, Italy with its rose and cream stone facade like a pillow lace design, a Templar banner put up long after the Templars were gone...? And York Minster, Yorkshire,UK? Burgos Cathedral, Spain where El Cid campeador, Ruy Diaz de Vivar and his wife Ximena lie buried...? Not intended as criticism, only suggestions for our greatest churches hunters. Last but not least, many compliments for the lovely photos, that have the power to take us where we cannot go.”Artemisia 02.09.2012
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“no Romanian monasteries, you can't call this the most beautiful churches without romanian ones”aa 08.09.2012
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“I travelled in serbia last year, i think that you need to put more serbian cathedrals here, like Gracanica, Visoki Decani, Holly Virgin of Ljevis, Studenica or Pecka Patrijarsija.”England 10.10.2012
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“What about St.John's Co Cathedral in Valletta, Malta? http://stjohnscocathedral.com/”Clint Spiteri 30.11.2012
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Sacré-Coeur: The Heart of Paris | Travel in Paris 10.01.2013 “[...] proves that the French are not only masters of wine and cancan, they are the masters of one of the most breathtaking basilicas of Europe too. Sights La Basilique du Sacré-Coeur, the Basilica of the Sacred [...]”
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“One should consider the interior of Notre dame Cathedral in Montreal! http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8159/6977424908_7e086f9bfd_z.jpg”peter 08.02.2013
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“sorry, the list was for european churches....... disregard my earlier post”peter 08.02.2013
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“What about Bulgaria? There are maybe 3-4 that should be on this list”Ivo 19.06.2013
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“How can you miss the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela. Same thing for the Mesquita of Cordoba.”Raymond Anthony 21.06.2013
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“i like the Bogrund Stave Church in Norway...Take yourself back to the time of the Vikings in Northern Europe. Giant men wearing fur coats, wielding huge axes with ruthless warfare tactics. If you can believe that these men were actually religious and spent time going to church, the Bogrund Stave Church is where they would go. Located in the heart of Norway, this ancient, wooden church is truly something out of this world.”david 06.07.2013
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“You might never have seen the Tromsdalen kirke (Ishavskatedralen) in Tromsø Norway. Its the most beautiful modern church built after second world war.”Peter Sollie 31.07.2013
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“What about Slovakia? Check the Cathedral of the Saint Martin in Bratislava and Cathedral of the Saint Elizabeth in Košice!”Jakub 30.09.2013
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“I'm unpleasantly surprised that the Alexander Nevski cathedral in Sofia, Bulgaria is not on this list... Shame on u”David 30.10.2013
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“What about the old church of uppsala in sweden or the blue mosque in istanbul,turkey?”erikur 02.12.2013
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“There´s no church from Romania? The fact that you have not put in your list monasteries like Stravopolous in Bucharest or the in Curtea de Arges is a disgrace for humanity.”Silwer 17.04.2014
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“Do you know that 38th church,that of the Armenian Ejmiatsin church, is the first official Christian church,established in 301AD”Anahit 19.04.2014
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“Nonsense. Not a single English cathedral...”tp 30.04.2014
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Shane Hull 01.01.2018 “9. Winchester”
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“I like structure of churches many places i have no money to see go there but i saw on internet its very good and peacefull i liked very much if im become millonare i will see all churches go there so please bless for me”mohan mulchandani 29.06.2014
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“amazing awesome beautiful pic of churches......:)”harendra 29.06.2014
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“Excuse me, but what about Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, Sofia, Bulgaria?”Blagovesta 27.08.2014
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“I recently visited the Primate Cathedral of St Mary of Toledo, a beautiful church inside and out, and I think certainly worthy of a feature on this list.”Kone 01.10.2014
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“I did not see The Church of Our Savior on the Spilled Blood in St Petersburg, Russia.”Earl White 06.10.2014
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“I wonder why the Church of Spilled Blood in St. Petersburg was not included in the list. It's magnificent!”LP 09.10.2014
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“What? And Trinitarian Church of Bratislava? or Church and Convent of St. Elisabeth in Bratislava or rather to find out how beautiful is that convent, Kostol a Kastiel Svätej Alžbety !!!! One of these two has to be there or atleats Blumenthal Church”cbcbbccbcb 19.01.2015
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Thetis 28.01.2015 “#47 is mislabelled. It is not St. Andrew's Church in Kiev; it is The Junilee Church in Rome!”
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Erik Lammers 09.02.2015 “Actually, no - the Jubilee Church (or Chiesa di Dio Padre Misericordioso) is listed at #61 ;)”
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Jenny 02.02.2015 “One of the most beautiful churches in Germany and in my opinion in all of Europe is the Aachen Cathedral. It's not only an important coronation site but also just a stunning cathedral. It should definitely be added to this list of grand churches.”
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“beautiful location and beautiful churches nice ...///”eric 19.02.2015
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Angela Tongson 23.06.2017 “You did not include Our Lady of Rheimes Cathedral, Champagne region, France.”
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Amr 05.07.2017 “I'd think of other churches to be added to your list from my own travels; STRASBOURG CATHEDRAL in Strasbourg, SAINTE-CHAPELLE in Paris, ST. PETER's CATHEDRAL in Bremen, ASSUMPTION of MARY PILGRIMAGE CHURCH in Bled (located above an island in Lake Bled), and SÃO FRANCISCO CHURCH in Porto.”
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“What about Croatian churches and catedrals, for example Zagreb,Osijek,Đakovo,Vukovar,Split,Rijeka,Pula,Zadar,Šibenik,Dubrovnik,Trogir etc. ?”991 20.01.2018
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“What abouth St. Stanislvan and St. Vladislav Cathedral in Vilnius? How many of European capitals have purely classict cathedral?”Justinas Kulakauskas 05.02.2018
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“You should consider including St Michael's Cathedral in Kiev, also known as the golden domed cathedral.”Genesis 09.06.2018
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mona 31.10.2018 “Unfortunately hundreds of churches in Europe are closing and some of them were sold to Muslims they turned them into mosques !!!! where are the Catholics for God sake ?????? how can the Pope agree to sell the churches??????? The Christians in Europe are too far from the Church too far from Jesus,unfortunately!!! they will face many problems ,and they will regret too much,i am afraid that it will be too late :(”
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Ed Dickson 14.03.2019 “St. Sulpice in Paris is a must see. It is a ten minute walk from Notre Dame and has pure raw beauty.”
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Keith Warwick 16.04.2019 “It is absolute folly to try to rank religious buildings in any kind of order of beauty! It is such a wholly personal, subjective, sociological issue that any such list is pointless! Sorry, but anyone who has ever seen Kings College Chapel in Cambridge United Kingdom, or Rouen Cathedral of France, would not understand at all WHY these great works of art are not listed! This illustrates why lists are so ludicrous and absurd!”
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