Church Architecture

The Cathedral of St John the Divine
Architect: Christopher Grant LaFarge, George Lewis Heins
1892 -still incomplete Architecture

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The Cathedral of St. John the Divine is sometimes referred to as St. John's and also nicknamed St. John the Unfinished. It is believed to be the world’s largest Anglican cathedral-church. It is at 1047 Amsterdam Avenue in the Morningside Heights neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City. St. John the Divine was built by the Episcopalians, in part to compete with the Catholics’ St. Patrick’s Cathedral. The cathedral is an unfinished building of stone, granite, and limestone, with only two-thirds of the proposed building completed, due to several major stylistic changes, work interruptions, and unstable ground on the site.

Despite being incomplete, the Cathedral of St. John the Divine is the world's sixth-largest church by area and either the largest or second-largest Anglican cathedral. The floor area of St. John's is 121,000 sq ft, spanning a length of 601 feet, while the roof height of the nave is 177 feet. Since the cathedral's interior is so large, it has been used for hundreds of events and art exhibitions.

The Church of Our Savior on Spilled Blood in St. Petersburg, Russia
Architect: Alfred Alexandrovich Parland, Archimandrite Ignaty
1883 - 1907 Architecture

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The Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood is a Russian Orthodox church in Saint Petersburg, Russia which currently functions as a secular museum and church at the same time. Other names include the Church on Spilt Blood and the Cathedral of the Resurrection of Christ. The church was erected on the site where Narodnaya Volya members assassinated Emperor Alexander II in March 1881. The church was funded by the Romanov imperial family in honor of Alexander II.

The Duomo di Milano (Milan Cathedral)
1386 - 1965 Architecture

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Duomo di Milano is the cathedral church of Milan, Lombardy, Italy. It is dedicated to the Nativity of St. Mary. The cathedral took nearly six centuries to complete: construction began in 1386, and the final details were completed in 1965. It is the largest church in the Italian Republic—the larger St. Peter's Basilica is in the State of Vatican City, a sovereign state—and the third largest in the world.

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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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