The 79 Most Beautiful European Churches

62 comments on "The 79 Most Beautiful European Churches";

1. 

   Reply Ben Cook 14.12.2010 “Now *that* is what I call a collection of church photos. Bravo :)”
2. 

   Reply Matteo 14.12.2010 “excuse me, reschensee, or Lago di Resia is not located in Austria, but in Italy!!!”
3. 

   Reply Europeish 14.12.2010 “@Matteo: thanks for pointing that out! We have updated the post with the appropriate location.”
4. 

   Reply Europeish 15.12.2010 “Thank you Christian Today for suggesting the Asamkirche, which is now listed at #78!”
5. Reply Lloyd Westgard 21.12.2010 “Amazing photos...”
6. 

   Reply Darko 26.12.2010 “Have a look at this one, St. Clement & St. Panteleimon church: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plao%C5%A1nik”
7. 

   Reply 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 !”
8. 

   Reply cfaa 15.03.2011 “how did you possibly create a list of the most beautiful churches in europe and not include ONE from ireland?”
9. 

   Reply required 22.03.2011 “Hagia Sophia is a museum - not a church nor a Mosque.”
10. 

    Reply MIKE WALLACE 04.05.2011 “OH MY GOD... I'd like to thank the creator of this web site for taking the time to compile this beautiful collection ”
11. 

    Reply sinafa 27.06.2011 “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 ! :)”
12. 

    Reply 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”
13. 

    Reply Raúl 26.08.2011 “I think you should have a look to the York Minster, just amazing!”
14. 

    Reply Raúl 26.08.2011 “Ah! I forgot it! You can't leave Santiago de Compostela behind!”
15. 

    Reply DoozieWD 28.10.2011 “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”
16. 

    Reply Sanja 01.11.2011 “St. George′s Church (crkva Svetog Djordja)Topola, Serbia should be in this list. Great list!”
17. 

    Reply Tauraus Reed 17.12.2011 “no Rosslyn Chapel...how?”
18. 

    Reply Jonathan 18.01.2012 “Stunning compilation! Only one thing I can't get over: the fact that Rheims Cathedral is missing. Other than that: simply awesome.”
19. 

    Reply Pedro 16.02.2012 “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.”
20. 

    Reply Agnes Bezzina 11.04.2012 “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/”
21. Reply 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 [...]”
22. 

    Reply luis 27.06.2012 “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.”
23. 

    Reply Josephine 20.08.2012 “This is awesome!!! I mean to watch or see the most popular and beautiful churches around europe..Amazingly beautiful…”
24. 

    Reply mauro 27.08.2012 “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”
25. 

    Reply mauro 28.08.2012 “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”
26. 

    Reply Artemisia 02.09.2012 “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.”
27. 

    Reply aa 08.09.2012 “no Romanian monasteries, you can't call this the most beautiful churches without romanian ones”
28. 

    Reply England 10.10.2012 “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.”
29. 

    Reply Clint Spiteri 30.11.2012 “What about St.John's Co Cathedral in Valletta, Malta? http://stjohnscocathedral.com/”
30. Reply 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 [...]”
31. 

    Reply peter 08.02.2013 “One should consider the interior of Notre dame Cathedral in Montreal! http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8159/6977424908_7e086f9bfd_z.jpg”
32. 

    Reply peter 08.02.2013 “sorry, the list was for european churches....... disregard my earlier post”
33. 

    Reply Ivo 19.06.2013 “What about Bulgaria? There are maybe 3-4 that should be on this list”
34. 

    Reply Raymond Anthony 21.06.2013 “How can you miss the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela. Same thing for the Mesquita of Cordoba.”
35. 

    Reply david 06.07.2013 “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.”
36. 

    Reply Peter Sollie 31.07.2013 “You might never have seen the Tromsdalen kirke (Ishavskatedralen) in Tromsø Norway. Its the most beautiful modern church built after second world war.”
37. 

    Reply Jakub 30.09.2013 “What about Slovakia? Check the Cathedral of the Saint Martin in Bratislava and Cathedral of the Saint Elizabeth in Košice!”
38. 

    Reply David 30.10.2013 “I'm unpleasantly surprised that the Alexander Nevski cathedral in Sofia, Bulgaria is not on this list... Shame on u”
39. 

    Reply erikur 02.12.2013 “What about the old church of uppsala in sweden or the blue mosque in istanbul,turkey?”
40. 

    Reply Silwer 17.04.2014 “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.”
41. 

    Reply Anahit 19.04.2014 “Do you know that 38th church,that of the Armenian Ejmiatsin church, is the first official Christian church,established in 301AD”
42. 

    Reply tp 30.04.2014 “Nonsense. Not a single English cathedral...”
    • 

      Reply Shane Hull 01.01.2018 “9. Winchester”
43. 

    Reply mohan mulchandani 29.06.2014 “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”
44. 

    Reply harendra 29.06.2014 “amazing awesome beautiful pic of churches......:)”
45. 

    Reply Blagovesta 27.08.2014 “Excuse me, but what about Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, Sofia, Bulgaria?”
46. 

    Reply Kone 01.10.2014 “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.”
47. 

    Reply Earl White 06.10.2014 “I did not see The Church of Our Savior on the Spilled Blood in St Petersburg, Russia.”
48. 

    Reply LP 09.10.2014 “I wonder why the Church of Spilled Blood in St. Petersburg was not included in the list. It's magnificent!”
49. 

    Reply cbcbbccbcb 19.01.2015 “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”
50. 

    Reply Thetis 28.01.2015 “#47 is mislabelled. It is not St. Andrew's Church in Kiev; it is The Junilee Church in Rome!”
    • 

      Reply Erik Lammers 09.02.2015 “Actually, no - the Jubilee Church (or Chiesa di Dio Padre Misericordioso) is listed at #61 ;)”
51. 

    Reply 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.”
52. 

    Reply eric 19.02.2015 “beautiful location and beautiful churches nice ...///”
53. 

    Reply Angela Tongson 23.06.2017 “You did not include Our Lady of Rheimes Cathedral, Champagne region, France.”
54. 

    Reply 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.”
55. 

    Reply 991 20.01.2018 “What about Croatian churches and catedrals, for example Zagreb,Osijek,Đakovo,Vukovar,Split,Rijeka,Pula,Zadar,Šibenik,Dubrovnik,Trogir etc. ?”
56. 

    Reply Justinas Kulakauskas 05.02.2018 “What abouth St. Stanislvan and St. Vladislav Cathedral in Vilnius? How many of European capitals have purely classict cathedral?”
57. 

    Reply Genesis 09.06.2018 “You should consider including St Michael's Cathedral in Kiev, also known as the golden domed cathedral.”
58. 

    Reply 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 :(”
59. 

    Reply 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.”
60. 

    Reply 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!”