Church Architecture

St. Patrick's Cathedral
Artist: James Renwick Jr.
1858-1878 Architecture

The Diocese of New York was founded by Pope Pius VII in 1808. St. Patrick's was founded shortly afterward to serve New York City's small, but growing, Catholic population. The original site was on Mulberry Street where St. Patrick's Old Cathedral was dedicated in 1815.At the time, there were 15,000 Catholics in the diocese.When Catholics increasef to 200,000+ a new site for the Cathefral was chosen on Fifth Avenue.

St. Patrick's boasts some exquisite Neo-Gothic architecture, with two elegant spires lying either side of a stunning stained glass rose window.

Inside are some fine altars and artworks, with the huge Pieta statue being the undoubted highlight. The largest cathedral of its type in the States, St. Patrick’s can be found on Fifth Avenue, right in front of the renowned Rockefeller Center.

St. Patrick's Cathedral, Armagh
Artist: Thomas Duff – 1838 JJ McCarthy – 1853 William Hague – 1899 George Ashlin – 1904
1840-1904 Architecture

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St. Patrick's Cathedral is in Armagh, Northern Ireland. It serves as the Roman Catholic cathedral of the Archdiocese of Armagh, the original medieval Cathedral of St. Patrick having been retained by the state church, the Church of Ireland, at the time of the split of the Irish Church during the Reformation.

Since the Irish Reformation under Henry VIII, no Catholic Archbishop had resided in Armagh. Since the seventeenth century, the majority Catholic population of Ireland had lived under the rigours of the Penal Laws, and the public public practice of Catholicism was almost completely extinguished and all Churches existent at the time of the enactment of the laws were ceded to the Established Church. By the end of the eighteenth century, there were few Catholic churches and no cathedrals in existence in Ireland. Following Catholic emancipation in 1829, the need to construct churches and cathedrals to serve this population became apparent. Construction was delayed by lack of available land for purchase, the Irish Potato Famine, a cholera epidemic and the death of the original architect and the deaths of five Archbishops.

St. Paul's Cathedral
Artist: Sir Christopher Wren
1710 Architecture

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One of the most famous and recognizable landmarks in London, St Paul’s Cathedral and its vast dome have dominated the city’s skyline ever since it was built back in 1697. Modeled on St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican, St Paul’s colossal dome is its defining feature, reaching 111 meters in height.

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When we think of Christian architecture, we may picture towering cathedrals with intricate stained-glass windows, but the roots of this style are much more humble. The earliest Christian structures were not grand, but rather simple house churches. As Christianity grew, its places of worship grew in size and intricacy.

The transition from early Christian to medieval architecture paralelled societal and religious changes. The Romanesque style, characterized by its rounded arches and massive walls, was followed by the Gothic style with its pointed archs, ribbed vaults, and flying buttresses.

Christian architecture has created some of the world’s most iconic structures. These buildings all share a common thread: they are physical manifestations of the Christian faith.

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