Top 10 largest temples in the world

Do you want to know what are the largest temples in the world? Although there is some confusion around this term, we mean by church a construct used since its origins for Christian worship, and this will be the definition we will use in this article.

Thus a church may be, according to this definition, a cathedral, basilica, or other type of building designed for that purpose.

In this category, the largest building is the Church of St. Peter in the Vatican, but let’s see which of the temples come next.

10 Cathedral of St. Sava, Belgrade, Serbia, 8 m²

This is the largest Orthodox church in the world and is dedicated to St. Sava, the founder of this denomination in Serbia. He was the son of Stefan Nemanja, ruler and founder of the medieval Serbian state. The temple was built in the Vrechar region, over the place where the remains of the saint would have been cremated in 1595 by the Ottoman Turks.

The construction of the temple began in 1935 and was financed solely by donations. The history of this cathedral dates back to 1905. The wars paralyzed its construction until 1984, which was fully completed in 2003.

9. Basilica del Pilar, Zaragoza, Spain, 8 m²

Construction of the current basilica Nuestra Señora del Pilar de Zaragoza has its basis in the increase in the number of Christians in Spain during the seventeenth century.

The previous Gothic-Mudéjar building remained small in the face of a growing number of believers. It was then that the need arose to build a new temple of a larger size, more in line with the Church of the Counter-Reformation.

It was in 1660 that Juan Joseph of Austria, then Viceroy of Aragon, contributed to the construction of the basilica. The current exterior of El Pilar is the result of a long construction process that began with the design of the architect Felipe Sánchez in 1681 and was subsequently revised by Francisco de Herrera “El Mozo” – the painter and architect of Charles II.

The intervention of the Royal Architect Ventura Rodriguez from 1750 was decisive. He updated the interior decoration in accordance with the new classicist trends of that time. He also reconstructed the outer track, with domes added to the central one, which was originally thought to be the only one, and towers that would not be completed until the middle of the twentieth century.

In the basilica, a column, a column of jasper, has been preserved and venerated, which, according to legend, was erected by the Virgin Mary herself, who, while still living in Jerusalem, appeared to the Apostle James on January 2, 40. Pilar Basilica brings together works of great artistic value from different eras, including frescoes painted by Goya, restored in 2007.

8. Church of the Holy Trinity, Fatima, Portugal, 8 m²

This temple is located in the Sanctuary of Nuestra Señora del Rosario in Fatima, 11 kilometers from the city of Urem and 120 kilometers from Lisbon. It was built in just three years, between 2003 and 2007, and is the most modern on the list. This is an extension of the Temple of Fatima, which already had Basilica Nuestra Señora del Rosariobuilt in the second quarter of the twentieth century.

The new church was consecrated on October 12, 2007, the 90th anniversary of the Marian apparitions of Fatima. In 1917, three children, Lucia de Jesus, Francisco Marto and Jacinta Marto, claimed to have witnessed several apparitions of the Virgin Mary in the area. Therefore, in 1928, the original Basilica began to be built, which will be consecrated on October 7, 1953 and has 15 altars.

It was built in the Neo-Baroque style according to the design of the Dutch architect G. Van Kriken and received the name of a small basilica a year after the opening.

7. Liverpool Cathedral, UK, 9 m²

Liverpool Cathedral is the second largest Anglican church in the world. The temple was built in the last century. Work began in 1904.

Construction began shortly after Liverpool City Council decided in 1901 that it was necessary to endow the city with a mastodon-sized cathedral. Work did not end until 1978. It was built by British architect Gilles Gilbert Scott, who was unable to see his project completed as he died 18 years before the last stone was laid. The building was built in neo-gothic style.

This is the second longest Cathedral building on the planet (188,7 meters), second only to the building of St. Peter of the Vatican (211,5 meters).

6. Basilica of Our Lady of Lichenska, Poland, 10 m²

Basilica of Our Lady of Ličenska is located in the village of Lichen Stary in the Greater Poland Voivodeship. The temple was designed by Polish architect Barbara Beletskaya and built in just 10 years, from 1994 to 2004. Its construction was financed by donations from pilgrims.

The church is dedicated to the Mother of God. The tower has a height of 141,5 meters and is the sixth largest in the world. It is also the second place of pilgrimage in the country (second only to Czestochowa, considered the Polish “spiritual capital”).

5. Milan Cathedral, Italy, 10 m²

Milan Cathedral (Milan Cathedral) is the oldest on this list by construction start date. The church was completed only in the last century, namely in 1965, when the last gates were opened. The temple is 157 meters long and can accommodate up to 40 people inside. The older windows of the choir are considered the largest in the world.

The history of the temple dates back to the end of the XIV century. In 1386 Archbishop Antonio da Saluzzo started a new project that had many unusual aspects. The project was the heir to the French Gothic architectural tradition.

The construction of the temple takes a Renaissance turn under the direction of Bishop Charles Borromeo, when Pellegrino Tibaldi, as chief architect, redesigns the project to achieve a new Renaissance look. In 1577, Borromeo finally consecrated the entire building. But construction work continued.

In 1649 the original Gothic style returns to the main façade. In 1762, one of the distinctive elements of the cathedral rises – the Madonna spire, whose height is 108,5 meters. In 1812 the façade was finally completed.

Although, as we have already said, the final details of the cathedral were completed in the XNUMXth century, to this day some blocks remain unfinished, waiting to be turned into statues.

4. Cathedral of St. John the Divine, New York, USA, 11 m²

Cathedral of Saint John the Divine in New York is competing with Liverpool for the title of the largest Anglican cathedral in the world. The temple is 183,2 meters long and 70,7 meters high, while the internal height of the building is 37,8 meters.

The cathedral was designed in 1888, and construction work began four years later. Initially, the style of the temple was conceived as a combination of the Neo-Roman and Neo-Byzantine traditions, but in 1909 the design became neo-Gothic.

3. Cathedral of Seville, Spain, 11 m²

Cathedral of Seville (Cathedral of Santa Maria de la See) is the only temple on this list, along with St. Peter of the Vatican, which is part of the UNESCO World Heritage List of Cultural Property. He received this title in 1987. The temple was built in the late Gothic style, making it the largest Gothic cathedral in the world.

Construction, according to legend, began in 1401, although there is no documentary evidence that the work began before 1433. The construction was carried out on the site left after the demolition of the old mosque of the city of Guadalquivir, which was destroyed as a result of an earthquake that occurred in 1356.

On the roof of the temple rises a statue of Giraldillo, which acts as a weather vane. On October 10, 1506, the last stone was laid in the highest part of the cymborium. Thus, the cathedral was symbolically completed. However, over the centuries, some elements continued to be added to the overall composition. The cimborrio also had to be rebuilt twice, which collapsed in 1511 and 1888 due to structural failures.

2. Basilica of Our Lady of Aparecida, Aparecida, Brazil, 18 m²

The basilica, located in the city of Aparecida, in the state of São Paulo, in the southwest of Brazil, is the central part of the ensemble of the national sanctuary of Aparecida. The temple was built in neo-Roman style. It has a length of 173 meters and a height of 168.

Nuestra Señora de la Concepción Aparecida has been the patron saint of Brazil since Pope Pius XI decided so in 1930. The origins of the sanctuary date back to 1717. Legend has it that the fishermen in the area were supposed to get food for the retinue of the Governor of the Captaincy of São Paulo.

In 1745, a chapel was built for a huge number of pilgrims, and a small village towered around it. The number of believers continued to grow, and the building had to get bigger and bigger.

The temple was expanded in 1852 and in 1888. But still this was not enough. Already in 1955, construction began on a new temple, which is the second largest in the world. On July 4, 1980, Pope John Paul II visited and consecrated the shrine.

1. Church of St. Peter, Vatican 20 m²

The largest temple in the Christian world – Saint Peter’s Church in the Vatican. The Basilica of St. Peter rises above the tomb of the apostle, located in the necropolis. The first Vatican basilica was built by Constantine in the 1000th century and stood for over XNUMX years until the Renaissance popes tore it down to build a new one over the tomb of the Apostle Peter.

The dimensions of the future temple were so gigantic that the enterprise seemed unrealizable. Construction lasted no more and no less than 120 years, and the best artists of the time worked on it. The façade is by Carlo Maderno, the dome is by Michelangelo and the piazza designed for large celebrations is by Lorenzo Bernini.

Work on the current basilica began in 1506, under the papacy of Julius II, and ended in 1626, when it was consecrated by Pope Urban VIII.

Despite its splendor, St. Peter’s Basilica is neither the official seat of the Pope, nor the first among the main basilicas of Rome. This honor is used by the Roman Cathedral of St. John Lateran.

However, it is the main papal church as it hosts most of the papal ceremonies. This is due primarily to its size, proximity to the papal residence and its location in the Vatican.