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Some of these temples were built several centuries ago, others are the creations of modern architects. The implementation of some ideas took decades and even centuries. Others needed only a few years. All these buildings have one thing in common - their architecture is unique, and this attracts millions of people, regardless of their beliefs.

website brings you some of the most architecturally significant places of worship from around the world.

Milan Cathedral, Italy

Holy Trinity Church, Antarctica

Russian Orthodox Church was built in Russia in the 1990s and then transported to a Russian station in Antarctica. This is one of 7 churches on its territory.

Taktsang Lakhang, Bhutan

Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque, United Arab Emirates

Hallgrimskirkja Church, Iceland

The Lutheran Church in Reykjavik is the fourth tallest building in Iceland. It is located in the center of Reykjavik and is visible from any part of the city.

Temple of All Religions, Kazan, Russia

This unique structure miraculously combines a Christian cross, a Muslim crescent, a Star of David and a Chinese dome. True, no rituals are performed here, because this is not a functioning temple, but just a building that looks like a residential building inside. In total, the project includes domes and other iconic elements of religious buildings of 16 world religions, including disappeared civilizations.

Lotus Temple, India

For the people of India, the lotus means purity and peace. This is one of the most visited buildings in the world.

Kul-Sharif Mosque, Kazan, Russia

The designers of the new mosque tried to recreate the main mosque of the Kazan Khanate, destroyed in 1552 by the troops of Ivan the Terrible.

Cathedral of Las Lajas, Colombia

The neo-Gothic cathedral is built directly on a 30-meter arched bridge connecting the two sides of a deep gorge. The temple is cared for by two Franciscan communities: one is Colombian, the other is Ecuadorian. Thus, the Cathedral of Las Lajas became a pledge of peace and union between the two South American peoples.

Kamppi Chapel of Silence, Finland

It is intended for privacy and meetings. There are no services in the chapel. Here you can hide from the bustle, enjoy peace in one of the busiest places in the capital and meditate in an environmentally friendly space. Because of appearance and materials, the chapel of silence is often called the “sauna of the spirit.”

Church of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary, Slovenia

The church is located on the only island in all of Slovenia. To get inside, you need to cross the lake by boat and climb 99 steps.

Air Force Academy Cadet Chapel, USA

The chapel's unique design is a classic example of modernist architecture. The magnificent interior brings together several different areas of worship under one roof, including Protestant, Catholic, Jewish and Buddhist chapels. Each of them has its own distinctive symbolism, ammunition and its own exit.

Paoay Church, Philippines

St Patrick's Cathedral, Australia

St Patrick's Cathedral is the tallest and largest church in Australia.

Church of the Transfiguration, Kizhi, Russia

The church was built in the traditions of Russian carpentry, that is, without nails. It is crowned with 22 domes and its height is 37 meters.

Green Church, Argentina

The most common Catholic Church became famous thanks to the rich living decor of ivy, which turned the facade into an allusion to the biblical Garden of Gethsemane.

St. Andrew's Church, Ukraine

The church is located on a steep hill overlooking beautiful view to Kyiv. According to legend, it was built on the spot where St. Andrew the First-Called erected a cross. This is just one of the many legends that surround St. Andrew's Church.

California Mormon Temple, USA

The huge building is made in dazzling white. And this color scheme is no coincidence, because white color is traditionally perceived as a symbol of purity and purity. Tourists and simply curious people are not allowed inside the Mormon Temple itself; only members of the community can enter the premises of the sacred building.

Crystal Mosque, Malaysia

It is located on an artificial island. The mosque is made of steel and glass, so it feels like it is made of crystal.

Many are confused by the rich decoration of churches, the luxurious vestments of clergy, the luxurious houses and cars of priests. What can you answer to such people? Save me, God.

Priest Afanasy Gumerov, resident of the Sretensky Monastery, answers:

The letter unlawfully connects two fundamentally different questions: our attitude to the splendor of the temple and the moral image of the priest.

1. The temple is not an ordinary dwelling, but symbolically represents Heaven. The Kingdom of Heaven surpasses our earthly mind in its perfection. To portray it, a person takes everything that is best and precious in the world around him and tries to create with these means an image of the heavenly. It is clear why the seer John the Theologian, depicting the Heavenly Jerusalem, uses such comparisons: “ The bases of the city wall are decorated with all sorts of precious stones: first base jasper, second sapphire, third chalcedon, fourth emerald, fifth sardonyx, sixth carnelian, seventh chrysolite, eighth virill, ninth topaz, tenth chrysoprase, eleventh hyacinth, twelfth amethyst. And the twelve gates were twelve pearls: each gate was made of one pearl. The city street is pure gold, like clear glass"(Rev. 21:19-21). The spiritual separation of the House of God from the ordinary, earthly circle of realities must have corresponding visible, material forms and images. The entire Bible is imbued with the idea of ​​the holiness of the temple, of its superiority over the ordinary, familiar. In Hebrew, the word holy (kodesh) means separated, set apart. When the Jews, freed from Egyptian captivity, began their own history under the guidance of God, the Lord not only commanded the construction of a tabernacle (camp temple), but also gave detailed instructions on how to decorate it. “And they will build a sanctuary for Me, and I will dwell in the midst of them” (Ex. 25:8). Next, the Lord appoints Bezalel to build the tabernacle: “I filled him with the Spirit of God, with wisdom, understanding, knowledge and all skill to work in gold, silver and brass” (Exodus 31:2-4). When the Jerusalem Temple was built on Mount Moriah, the most expensive materials were used: gold, silver, ivory, cypress, olive tree, etc. “And Solomon overlaid the inside of the temple with pure gold, and stretched out gold chains before the oracle, and overlaid it with gold. He overlaid the whole temple with gold, the whole temple to the end, and the whole altar that was before the oracle he overlaid with gold” (1 Kings 6:21-22). The Lord appeared to Solomon and said: “I have consecrated this temple which you have built, that My name may dwell there forever” (9:3).

When Christianity defeated the pagan world, the brightest page opened in the history of world architecture - church architecture. The Temple of St. Sophia in Constantinople captured not only the talents of the great masters Anthimius of Trales and Isidore of Miletus, but also the high piety of the inhabitants of Constantinople, starting from King Justinian and ending with a simple stonemason. During the construction of the cathedral, human genius clearly manifested itself. Many craftsmen and artists revealed their God-given talents here. The grandeur and proportionality of architectural proportions, the boldness of engineering and construction solutions, the radiant beauty of the interior are organically combined with rich decoration: a silver altar barrier, lamps made of silver or gold, candelabra and chandeliers, and shrines of saints decorated with precious stones.

In all subsequent centuries, the creators of temples were guided by the pious rule - to dedicate all the best to God.

The splendor of liturgical clothing also corresponds to the biblical tradition. The Lord commanded Moses: “And thou shalt make holy garments for Aaron thy brother, for glory and splendour.<...>Let them take gold, blue, purple, and scarlet wool, and fine linen…” (Ex. 28:2,5).

2. “Luxurious houses...”. I don't know what is meant here. All the priests I know live in ordinary city apartments. Some don't have cars, others do. You can't call them chic. Those who have foreign brands, differ from those who own domestic cars only in that they spend several times less money and time on repairs. People who do not know the life of a priest closely do not imagine how much time he spends traveling to confess, administer communion, administer unction to the sick or seriously ill, baptize in a hospital or maternity hospital, consecrate an apartment, perform a memorial service in a cemetery. They can call for a call anywhere in the city. The machine saves energy and time.

As for personal modesty and non-covetousness, all Christians should strive for this virtue. The moral ideal is one. The Holy Apostle James says: “The wisdom that comes from above is first pure, then peaceable, modest, obedient, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and unfeigned” (3:17). Of course, priests must teach by example and not seduce anyone. If someone does this, he is subject not to our judgment, but to God’s. Our judgments and assessments are most often superficial and inaccurate. How much negative things were said at the beginning of the 20th century by the liberal press about our clergy: luxurious bishop’s chambers, rich robes of priests, and so on. A few years later, most of them ended up in rotten camp barracks. In simple mended cassocks, they felled wood, but they did not betray Christ, but with their confession they replenished the host of holy martyrs.

IN modern Russia the construction of temples in park areas very often leads to conflicts. All these conflicts look like they follow the same scenario. A certain foundation for the temple is being laid, and the territory of part of the park is being fenced off for construction. Loud indignation from people begins, “why are they building a temple in the park,” and there’s nowhere to walk, and then there’s a temple right next door. People set up a tent city, rallies and statements to the district prefecture begin. And this whole bacchanalia becomes known throughout the country.

There are many videos on YouTube in support and/or against the construction of the temple. The videos feature intense, disturbing music, taken from none other than 17 Moments of Spring or a thriller that matches the spirit and intensity of passions. In general, everything is terrible. One could assume from such videos that aliens are invading the earth or that a maniacal killer is out hunting on the streets of Moscow or St. Petersburg.

Horrible, isn't it?

In fact, everything is much calmer. And there are no special nightmares. See how it all works and why it is this way and not otherwise.

There have always been many temples in Rus'. This was justified for many reasons. The first of them is that the temple served as a kind of branch of the state. authorities (the church was not separated from the state) and in the church a person received baptism, and in the church a person received a kind of registration (an entry in the registry book) after birth.

The Church is often reproached for Tsarist Russia There were criminal code provisions protecting religion. In fact, the defense was not against religion.

The state protected one of its own structural units, which kept a chronicle of fertility and mortality (baptism after birth, funeral service after death), and a person constantly receiving communion (the law on compulsory communion) - the mechanism of modern “registration”.

If a person does not go to church for a long time, it means he has moved to another place. By the constant presence (or absence) of a person at the service, one can easily judge a person’s movements, his views, etc. A wedding was an analogue of a modern registry office. One could call such a system cynical, but, in truth, “he who pays calls the tune.” The church, not separated from the state, was on the balance of the state and it would be naive to expect that the state would have nothing from this.

Since baptism, confession, and funeral services were mandatory, a large number of churches were justified, just as Post Office branches were justified in every, even the most run-down village of the USSR. Because in tsarist times the Church was vascular information system, the role of which in Soviet times was played by the post office.

Nowadays there is no such relevance in the number of churches as in pre-revolutionary times. But some genetic memory of the old infrastructure remains. But the social context and social discourse have changed very much. There were simply more people. People have become different.

It cannot be said that the majority are opposed to the construction of temples. There aren't many of them. This is so simple because no one would build temples if they were not profitable. This means that the builder of the temple assumes that people will go to it.

Will they really?

Yes, they will.

What does that mean?

This means that we are dealing with a bunch of very loud-voiced activists and a large number of those who are simply silent. After all, a large number of people simply do not interfere with these frictions. And the very fact of the desire to build a temple is based, among other things, on the understanding that it will be successful in this place. They will go to it. This means that there is a demand for the temple in this place. Another thing is that not everyone likes it.

Why doesn't everyone like it?

See above. There are more people, people have become different. When you have a village of 800 people, it’s not difficult to build a church, because “you have to be baptized somewhere, have a funeral service somewhere, have a wedding somewhere.” People were included in the process of building the temple. This whole system of personalized bricks is exactly the way to gain the loyalty of residents. If your brick with your name is in the wall of the temple, this is also your temple. And you won't be against him. After all, it contains a piece of your soul, your name.

What irritates people about the presence of a temple? Well, first of all, there really aren’t enough parks. There is nowhere to go for a walk with children. When you personally are not a church-going Christian, you are not against Orthodoxy, but you can be called indifferent - you will react negatively to the loss of your living space.

Disturbs some bell ringing before the service. Let's say you like to sleep during the day. And at four o'clock the bell starts before the service. And you hear it and it can irritate you. After all, you are indifferent to faith. While all you see is faith somehow getting in the way. IN in this case take a walk or sleep.

You can talk for a long time about the fact that “the main thing for the Russian Orthodox Church is business,” or, on the contrary, throw yourself at the activists with your fists, saying, “Yes, you are all possessed here.” In fact, I think that representatives of the Russian Orthodox Church should do more explanatory work. Work not from a position of strength, but carry out educational work. Why a temple, why in this particular place, what are the advantages of having a temple, etc.

Because a temple cannot be outright harmful. Firstly, crime is consistently lower near the temple. Because criminals are often superstitious and still avoid openly robbing or killing near a temple and in direct view of the temple.

It is believed that the temple sanctifies the place around it. Illuminates - improves the spiritual atmosphere. Now, if you feel some kind of gloomy stuffiness in the air near a prison or hospital, the temple seems to be the opposite, defusing the atmosphere.

One can debate for a long time that “in this temple there will only be representatives of the Russian Orthodox Church who have forgotten their faith.” Well, this is all scholasticism, my friends. What does “forgetting faith” mean? The service has a specific sequence of prayers in a specific order. Whatever the priest and his motives, he will perform this service (and the choir will sing) strictly according to certain regulations. The service ritual will be completed 100%.

And as practice shows, people need rituals. You may say "who needs rituals". OK. Do you agree to have your body thrown in the forest after death?

A temple is a ritual place. The temple answers the human need for rituals. If there were no need for rituals, there would not be a single temple in the world. But dealing with needs is not a rewarding task. This is a definite loss.

Today you have to be selfish in a good sense. In good terms, this means “taking what is useful for yourself from life.” Not “everything”, but useful. If there is a way to make your wife, husband, son kinder and softer, it is worth using. If there is a way to somehow influence relatives who behave incorrectly, remember the church.

Whatever one may say, not every second person or even every tenth person is ready to go openly against God. We all walk under God. And frankly, we don’t give a damn about the sky - we’re afraid. If only we had a holy desire not just to fear, but to love heaven. And to come to church not to the priest (well, really, God knows what he is like), but to heaven. And look for heaven in the temple.

Then you definitely won’t go wrong and won’t be disappointed. After all, the seeker finds exactly what he is looking for.

Today I came across an article about the construction of new churches in Moscow. I’ll start it a little, you can read the rest yourself at the link.

Temples of Discord

Muscovites protest against church development within walking distance

Moscow authorities announced a radical revision of the construction program Orthodox churches in the capital. Taking into account the annexed territories of New Moscow, in the coming years, not 200, but 380 churches within walking distance will be built in the city. Who needed so many churches and why? Who will serve in them and why are citizens deprived of public gardens and parks for their sake? Muscovites who have opposed church development are now looking for answers to these questions.

Khodynka Chronicles

They decided to actively build churches in the city in 2010. Then Patriarch Kirill said that Moscow is in last place among all regions of the country in terms of the number of churches per capita. According to the authorities, every Muscovite should have a church within a kilometer radius from their home.

“But this toilet and bread store should be within walking distance, not the temple. The temple is generally not a place of intense demand and instant consumption,” comments Alexander Afanasyev, a member of the organizing committee of the “For the Park” movement, commenting on the initiative. For two years now, Alexander, together with residents of the area, has been fighting against the illegal development of Khodynsky Field.

On the territory of the future park, the authorities planned to build a temple complex comparable in scale to the Cathedral of Christ the Savior. Moreover, they wanted to build it in close proximity to residential buildings. In the summer of 2012, a platform and a cross were installed there, and people calling themselves the community of the future temple began holding prayer services and standing in this place, convening activists from all over the city under the guise of local residents.

“They collected signatures for the construction of the temple, they collected eight thousand. Everything would be fine, but they were collected all over Moscow. These activists were seen on Tverskaya and in other places,” notes Afanasiev.

Local residents wrote statements and appeals to the government, the prefecture, the mayor's office, and went to rallies against the construction of the temple. In 2012, almost two thousand people came out to protect the park. After a wave of protests, the temple was moved away from houses, but construction was still not abandoned. http://lenta.ru/articles/2014/09/04/church/

There's a lot more, read it. I just want to give you a photo of one grandmother with a poster.

Action of Orthodox activists in support of the construction of churches in new areas.
Photo: Sergey Bobylev / ITAR-TASS

This photo well expresses the essence of the Moscow government's ideas. Or rather, part of it, I will speak about the essence below. It has just been forgotten that the basis of the Christian religion is tolerance...

I have already written a lot about the fact that there are a lot of churches in America. And here in the state of Illinois, and in several other states that I was able to visit. Complete, in general.

Moreover, it is no secret that for Americans the church is more than just a place to communicate with God. Rather, it is a family club. Churches often have some kind of schools, or some type of circles.

They not only teach religion, but also completely worldly affairs. For example, in Sunday schools children are taught to draw, dance and all that kind of stuff. Parents love it, and Americans often go to church with the whole family on weekends. That's how it is done here.

Does this mean that the church has a beneficial effect on people? Without a doubt! Although I myself am such a weak believer, rather an agnostic, I have a very friendly attitude towards those who attend church in America and towards the American churches themselves.

So the Moscow government has started a good cause? And the more churches there are in Moscow and other Russian cities, the better it is for the whole country? - This is where I start to doubt.

The main difference between American churches is that they are all different. Orthodox, Catholic, Muslim, Jewish, Virgin Mary, Baptist, Adventist... Any, to choose from.

In my opinion, it is not very smart to instill one single religion, as Moscow does. Precisely ONE and precisely PLANT. To me it looks like “The Party is our helmsman.”

Religion is a deeply personal matter for each person. It was not for nothing that people flocked to young America from everywhere, from all over the world, where they found themselves alone in their faith and were persecuted for their faith.

I think construction huge amount of new churches is intended primarily to suppress dissent. “There is only one God, period!” This is my opinion, I do not impose it on anyone.

The word "temple": means division.

In ancient times, the temple was a crossroads or watershed between heaven and earth.

It was believed that the earthly temple was a copy of the heavenly temple.

If this sign appears to you, try to create an inner temple or sanctuary within yourself.

Interpretation of dreams from the American Dream Book

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Dream Interpretation - Temple

Temple - Spirit. The state of the temple speaks about the state of your spirit if you treat X with reverence in a dream. If you don’t feel emotional trepidation, then see “The Cathedral.” If X. a sacred ceremony of any kind occurs, you grow spiritually. If you take any oath, in reality you reach the level of Serving the Law of Existence. Build X. - work for the benefit of construction spiritual society. Decorating X. - behind tinsel you are hiding the poverty of your spirit. Ruins of H. - you are not fulfilling your karmic tasks, life is wasted. People in X. - look for like-minded people. Abbot X. - look for the spiritual Teacher, perhaps he has already come, but you did not see him.

Interpretation of dreams from