St. Peter's Basilica

The Papal Basilica of Saint Peter (Latin: Basilica Sancti Petri), officially known in Italian as the Basilica Papale di San Pietro in Vaticano and commonly known as St. Peter's Basilica, is located within the Vatican City. St. Peter's Basilica has the largest interior of any Christian church in the world, holding 60,000 people. It is the symbolic "Mother church" of the Catholic Church and is regarded as one of the holiest Christian sites. It has been described as "holding a unique position in the Christian world" and as "the greatest of all churches of Christendom". In Catholic tradition, it is the burial site of its namesake Saint Peter, who was one of the twelve apostles of Jesus and, according to tradition, first Bishop of Rome and therefore first in the line of the papal succession.

Papal Basilica of Saint Peter Basilica Sancti Petri (Latin) Basilica Papale di San Pietro in Vaticano (Italian)
The interior of St. Peter's Basilica by Giovanni Paolo Pannini
Basic information
Location	Vatican City
Geographic coordinates	41°54′8″N 12°27′12″E / 41.90222°N 12.45333°E / 41.90222; 12.45333Coordinates: 41°54′8″N 12°27′12″E / 41.90222°N 12.45333°E / 41.90222; 12.45333
Affiliation	Roman Catholic
Year consecrated	1626
Ecclesiastical status	Major basilica
Website	Official website (Italian)
Architectural description
Architect(s)	Donato Bramante Antonio da Sangallo the Younger Michelangelo Vignola Giacomo della Porta Carlo Maderno Gianlorenzo Bernini
Architectural style	Renaissance and Baroque
Groundbreaking	1506
Year completed	1626
Specifications
Capacity	60,000 +
Length	730 feet (220 m)
Width	500 feet (150 m)
Height (max)	452 feet (138 m)
Dome dia. (outer)	137.7 feet (42.0 m)

Tradition and some historical evidence hold that Saint Peter's tomb is directly below the altar of the basilica. For this reason, many Popes have been interred at St Peter's since the Early Christian period. There has been a church on this site since the 4th century. Construction of the present basilica, over the old Constantinian basilica, began on April 18, 1506 and was completed on November 18, 1626.

St. Peter's is famous as a place of pilgrimage, for its liturgical functions and for its historical associations. It is associated with the papacy, with the Counter-reformation and with numerous artists, most significantly Michelangelo. As a work of architecture, it is regarded as the greatest building of its age. Contrary to popular misconception, Saint Peter's is not a cathedral, as it is not the seat of a bishop. It is properly termed a papal basilica.

Basilica of the National Shrine of Our Lady of Aparecida

The town of Aparecida, Brazil, houses two Basilicas dedicated to the National Patron Saint, the "Appeared --from the Apparition of the-- Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary", better known as Nossa Senhora da Conceição Aparecida, or Our Lady of Aparecida: the "Old Basilica", built between 1760 and 1770 and restored from 1824 to 1834, which was established as a Minor Basilica by Pope Saint Pius X in 1908, and the "New Basilica," dedicated by Pope John Paul II in 1980.

This much larger building became necessary due to the popular devotion to Our Lady of Aparecida, from whom many Brazilian Catholics claim to have received favors and pay her homage by visiting the temple and bringing ex-voto offerings or by fulfilling vows such as by approaching the shrine of the dark wooden statue of the Madonna (or its replica) found by fishermen in the River Paraiba on their knees. Thus, in 1955 construction of new Basilica started. Architect and fresco painter Benedito Calixto designed a building in the form of a Greek cross, 173 m (567 ft) long and 168 m (551 ft) wide; the dome reaches 70 m (229 ft) and the steeple rises to 105 m (334 ft), placing it also amongst the largest churches in the world, holding up to 45,000 people. The 272,000 square meters of parking hold 4,000 buses and 6,000 cars.

The building was consecrated by Pope John Paul II while still under construction, on July 4, 1980. The Pope created the church as a Minor Basilica and named it the most important National Marian Shrine in Brazil.

Basilica of the National Shrine of Our Lady of Aparecida Basílica do Santuário Nacional de Nossa Senhora Aparecida
Basílica do Santuário Nacional de Nossa Senhora Aparecida
Basic information
Location	Aparecida, Brazil
Affiliation	Roman Catholic
Ecclesiastical status	Minor basilica
Architectural description
Architect(s)	Benedito Calixto
Architectural type	Church
Specifications
Capacity	45,000
Height (max)	100 meters (328 feet)

The New Basilica is now the second or third largest Catholic place of worship in the world, depending on definitions of size. St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City is the largest and the Basilica of Our Lady of Peace of Yamoussoukro in Ivory Coast has been mentioned as the second largest but consists mostly of empty, unused space. In 1984, Our lady of Apparecida was officially declared as "the largest Marian Temple in the world." According to the official site of the basilica, in 1999 the number of pilgrims was 6,565,849.

Pope Benedict XVI visited the Basilica of the Shrine of Aparecida on May 12, 2007, during his Apostolic Journey to Brazil on the occasion of the 5th General Conference of the Bishops of Latin America and the Caribbean.

Seville Cathedral

The Cathedral of Seville in Seville, Andalucia is the largest Gothic cathedral and the third-largest church in the world. It is also known as Catedral de Santa María de la Sede (Cathedral of Saint Mary of the See)

Cathedral, Alcázar and Archivo de Indias in Seville*
UNESCO World Heritage Site
State Party	Spain
Type	Cultural
Criteria	i, ii, iii, vi
Reference	383
Region**	Europe and North America
Inscription history
Inscription	1987 (11th Session)

At the time of its completion in the 1500s, it supplanted the Hagia Sophia as the largest cathedral in the world. Previously, the Hagia Sophia had held the title for more than a thousand years. The cathedral also serves as the burial site of Christopher Columbus.

Cathedral of Saint John the Divine, New York

The Cathedral of St. John the Divine, officially the Cathedral Church of Saint John the Divine in the City and Diocese of New York, is the Cathedral of the Episcopal Diocese of New York. Located at 1047 Amsterdam Avenue New York, NY 10024 (between West 110th Street, which is also known as "Cathedral Parkway", and 113 Street) in Manhattan's Morningside Heights, the cathedral is claimed to be the largest Cathedral and Anglican church and fourth largest^[1] Christian church in the world (although the title is disputed with Liverpool Anglican Cathedral).^[2] The inside covers more than half a city block, with 121,000 sq ft (11,200 m²), spanning a length of 183.2 meters (601 ft) and height 70.7 meters (232 ft).

Cathedral of Saint John the Divine
The Western facade, including the Rose Window
Basic information
Location	Manhattan, New York City
Affiliation	Episcopal Church in the United States of America
State	New York
District	Episcopal Diocese of New York
Status	Active
Architectural description
Architectural type	Cathedral
Architectural style	Gothic Revival
Specifications
Materials	Stone

The cathedral is nicknamed St. John the Unfinished,^{[3][4][5][6][7][8]} and The White Elephant Of The Upper West Side.

The cathedral, designed in 1888 and begun in 1892, has, in its history, undergone radical stylistic changes and the interruption of the two World Wars. Originally designed as Byzantine-Romanesque, the plan was changed after 1909 to a Gothic design. After a large fire on December 18, 2001, it was closed for repairs and reopened in November 2008. It remains unfinished, with construction and restoration a continuing process.

Basilica of Our Lady of Licheń

Front side of the Basilica

Back side of the Basilica

The Basilica of Our Lady of Licheń is a Roman Catholic church located in the village of Licheń Stary near Konin in the Greater Poland Voivodeship in Poland. It was designed by Barbara Bielecka and built between 1994 and 2004. The construction was funded entirely by pilgrims' donations. With the central nave 98 meters tall, 120 meters long and 77 meters wide, and with a tower 141.5 metres tall, it is Poland's largest church and one of the largest churches in the world. The church is dedicated to Our Lady of Sorrows whose icon, dating back to the 18th century, is displayed in the basilica's main altar. It is one of Poland's principal pilgrimage sites.

Liverpool Cathedral

Liverpool Cathedral is the Church of England cathedral of the Anglican Diocese of Liverpool, built on St James' Mount near the centre of the city of Liverpool, England and is the seat of the Bishop of Liverpool. Its official name is the Cathedral Church of Christ in Liverpool but it is dedicated to Christ and the Blessed Virgin. It is the largest cathedral in the United Kingdom and the fifth largest in the world.

Cathedral Church of Christ in Liverpool
Liverpool Cathedral viewed from the south-east
Basic information
Location	Liverpool
Full name	Cathedral Church of Christ
County	Merseyside
Country	England
Ecclesiastical information
Denomination	Church of England
Province	York
Diocese	Liverpool
Diocese created	1880
Website	www.liverpoolcathedral.org.uk
Building information
Dates built	1904-1978
Architect(s)	Giles Gilbert Scott
Architectural style	Gothic Revival
Length	188.67m
Height (nave)	36.5m
Height (choir)	35.3m
Towers	1
Tower height(s)	100.8m

The Anglican cathedral is one of two cathedrals in the city. The other, the Roman Catholic Metropolitan Cathedral of Liverpool, is situated approximately half a mile to the north. The cathedrals are linked by Hope Street, which takes its name from William Hope, a local merchant whose house stood on the site now occupied by the Philharmonic Hall, and was named long before either cathedral was built.

Church of the Most Holy Trinity (Fátima, Portugal)

The Church of the Most Holy Trinity is a Roman Catholic church in the Shrine of Our Lady of Fátima in Fátima, Portugal. Ranked as the fourth largest Christian church in the world, the church was constructed between 2004 and 2007 at a cost of 80 million euros.

The first stone was laid on June 6, 2004, by the now retired Bishop of the Diocese of Leiria-Fátima, Bishop Serafim Ferreira e Silva, Pope John Paul II blessed and donated the first stone, on March 9 2004. It is a piece of marble taken from the tomb of Apostle Peter, over which St Peter's Basilica in Rome was built. This was only a symbolic act, as the stone was later put inside the finished church for the pilgrims to see.

Church of the Most Holy Trinity
Basic information
Location	Fátima, Portugal
Geographic coordinates	39°37′45.5″N 8°40′33″W / 39.629306°N 8.67583°W / 39.629306; -8.67583Coordinates: 39°37′45.5″N 8°40′33″W / 39.629306°N 8.67583°W / 39.629306; -8.67583
Affiliation	Roman Catholic
Year consecrated	2007
Ecclesiastical status	Church
Leadership	Fr. Virgílio Antunes
Website	www.santuario-fatima.pt
Architectural description
Architect(s)	Alexandros Tombazis
Architectural type	Church
Direction of facade	NE
Groundbreaking	2004
Year completed	2007
Construction cost	80 million euros
Specifications
Capacity	9000
Length	95 metres (310 ft)
Width	115 metres (380 ft)
Height (max)	20 metres (66 ft)

It was consecrated on October 12, 2007, on the occasion of the 90th anniversary of the apparitions of Fátima, by the Secretary of State of the Vatican and Legate of Holy Father Benedict XVI, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone.

The Church, dedicated to the Most Holy Trinity, has about 8500 seats, and its architect was the Greek Alexandros Tombazis. It was entirely paid with gifts from the pilgrims. The decoration is inspired in Byzantine and orthodox art.

Milan Cathedral

Milan Cathedral (Italian: Duomo di Milano; Milanese: Domm de Milan) is the cathedral church of Milan in Lombardy, northern Italy. It is the seat of the Archbishop of Milan, currently Cardinal Dionigi Tettamanzi.

The Gothic cathedral took five centuries to complete and is the fourth-largest church in the world.

Milan Cathedral
Duomo di Milano from the Square.
Basic information
Location	Milan, Italy
Geographic coordinates	45°27′51″N 9°11′29″E / 45.46417°N 9.19139°E / 45.46417; 9.19139Coordinates: 45°27′51″N 9°11′29″E / 45.46417°N 9.19139°E / 45.46417; 9.19139
Affiliation	Roman Catholic
Architectural description
Groundbreaking	1386
Year completed	1965
Specifications
Length	157 metres (515 ft)
Width	92 metres (302 ft)
Width (nave)	16.75 metres (55 ft)
Height (max)	45 metres (148 ft)
Dome height (outer)	65.5 metres (215 ft)
Spire height	106.5 metres (349 ft)
Materials	Brick with Candoglia marble

Basilica of Our Lady of the Pillar

The Basilica-Cathedral of Our Lady of the Pillar (in Spanish Catedral-Basílica de Nuestra Señora del Pilar) is a Roman Catholic church in the city of Zaragoza, Aragon in Spain. The Basilica venerates Blessed Virgin Mary , under her title Our Lady of the Pillar^[1] praised as Mother of the Hispanic Peoples by Pope John Paul II.^[2] It is reputed to be the first church dedicated to Mary in history.

Local traditions take the history of this basilica to the dawn of Christianity in Spain attributing to an apparition to St James the greater, an Apostle who had brought Christianity to the country. This is the only known apparition of Mary to have occurred before her Assumption.

Basilica of Our Lady of the Pillar
Nuestra Señora del Pilar Basilica
Basic information
Location	Zaragoza, Spain
Affiliation	Roman Catholic
Year consecrated	1st or 2nd centuryAD
Ecclesiastical status	Minor Basilica

Many of the kings of Spain, many other foreign rulers and saints have paid their devotion before this statue of Mary. St. John of the Cross, St. Teresa of Avila, St. Ignatius of Loyola, and Blessed William Joseph Chaminade are among the most outstanding ones. The Basilica of Our Lady of the Pillar is one of two minor basilicas in the city of Zaragoza, and is co-cathedral of the city alongside the nearby La Seo Cathedral. The architecture is of baroque style, and the present building was predominantly built between 1681 and 1872.

Cathedral of Saint Sava

The Cathedral of Saint Sava (Serbian: Храм светог Саве or Hram svetog Save) is an Orthodox church in Belgrade, the capital of Serbia, one of the largest in the world. The church is dedicated to Saint Sava, founder of the Serbian Orthodox Church and an important figure in medieval Serbia. It is built on the Vračar plateau, on the location where his remains are thought to have been burned in 1595 by the Ottoman Empire's Sinan Pasha. From its location, it dominates Belgrade's cityscape, and is perhaps the most monumental building in the city. The building of the church structure is being financed exclusively by donations. The parish home is nearby, as will be the planned patriarchal building.

Cathedral of Saint Sava Храм светог Саве
Basic information
Location	Belgrade, Serbia
Geographic coordinates	44°47.885′N 020°28.113′E / 44.798083°N 20.46855°E / 44.798083; 20.46855Coordinates: 44°47.885′N 020°28.113′E / 44.798083°N 20.46855°E / 44.798083; 20.46855
Affiliation	Serbian Orthodoxy
Website	www.hramsvetogsave.com

It is not a cathedral in the technical ecclesiastical sense, as it is not the seat of a bishop (the seat of the Metropolitan bishop of Belgrade is St. Michael's Cathedral). In Serbian it is called a hram (temple), which is in Eastern Orthodox church another name for a church. In English, it is usually called a cathedral because of its size and importance.

Basilica of the Sacred Heart, Brussels

The National Basilica of the Sacred Heart (French: Basilique Nationale du Sacré-Cœur, Dutch: Nationale Basiliek van het Heilig-Hart ) is a Roman Catholic Minor Basilica and parish church in Brussels. The church was dedicated to the Sacred Heart, inspired by the Basilique du Sacré-Coeur in Paris. Symbolically King Leopold II laid the first stone of the basilica in 1905 during the celebrations of the 75th anniversary of Belgian independence. The construction was halted by the two World Wars and wasn't finished until 1969. Belonging to the Metropolitan Archdiocese of Mechlin-Brussels, it is the sixth largest Roman Catholic church by area in the world.

Basilica of the Sacred Heart Basilique du Sacré-Cœur (French) Basiliek van het Heilig-Hart (Dutch)
Basic information
Location	Brussels, Belgium
Geographic coordinates	50°52′00″N 4°19′02″E / 50.8666667°N 4.31722°E / 50.8666667; 4.31722Coordinates: 50°52′00″N 4°19′02″E / 50.8666667°N 4.31722°E / 50.8666667; 4.31722
Affiliation	Roman Catholic
Municipality	Koekelberg
Year consecrated	1935
Status	Active
Leadership	Herman Cosijns

Located in the Parc Elisabeth atop the Koekelberg Hill in Brussels' Koekelberg municipality, the church is popularly known as the Koekelberg Basilica (French: Basilique de Koekelberg or Dutch: Basiliek van Koekelberg). The massive brick and concrete reinforced church features two thin towers and a green copper dome that rises 89 metres (290 ft) above the esplanade, dominating the northwestern skyline of Brussels

Basilica of Our Lady of Peace of Yamoussoukro

Basilica of Our Lady of Peace of Yamoussoukro Basilique Notre-Dame de la Paix
Basilica of Our Lady of Peace of Yamoussoukro
Basic information
Location	Yamoussoukro, Côte d'Ivoire
Geographic coordinates	6°48′40″N 5°17′47″W / 6.81111°N 5.29639°W / 6.81111; -5.29639Coordinates: 6°48′40″N 5°17′47″W / 6.81111°N 5.29639°W / 6.81111; -5.29639
Affiliation	Roman Catholic
Year consecrated	1990
Ecclesiastical status	Minor basilica

The Basilica of Our Lady of Peace of Yamoussoukro (French: Basilique de Notre Dame de la Paix de Yamoussoukro) is a Roman Catholic minor basilica dedicated to Our Lady of Peace in Yamoussoukro, the administrative capital of Côte d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast). The basilica was constructed between 1985 and 1989 at a cost of $300 million. The design of the dome and encircled plaza are clearly inspired by those of the Basilica of Saint Peter in the Vatican City, although it is not an outright replica.^[2] The cornerstone was laid on August 10, 1985, and it was consecrated on September 10, 1990, by Pope John Paul II

Contrary to popular belief, this particular basilica is not a cathedral. The nearby Cathedral of Saint Augustine is the principal place of worship and seat of the bishop of the Diocese of Yamoussoukro.

Guinness World Records lists it as the largest church in the world, having surpassed the previous recordholder, St. Peter's Basilica, upon completion. It has an area of 30,000sq metres (322,917 sq ft) and is 158m (518ft) high. However, it also includes a rectory and a villa (counted in the overall area), which are not strictly part of the church, and it can accommodate 18,000 worshippers, compared to 60,000 for St. Peter's

The Basilica is administrated by Polish Pallottines.

San Petronio Basilica

The Basilica of San Petronio is the main church of Bologna, the old città d'arte in the Emilia Romagna region of Italy; however, it is not the metropolitan cathedral of the city, which is the Cathedral of Saint Peter. It dominates the Piazza Maggiore. It is the fifth largest church in the world, stretching for 132 meters in length and 60 in width, while the vault reaches 45 meters inside and 51 meters in the facade. It can contain about 28,000 persons^.

It is dedicated to the patron saint of the city, Saint Petronius, who was the bishop of Bologna in the fifth century. Following a council decree of 1388, the first stone of construction was laid June 7, 1390, when the town council entrusted Antonio di Vincenzo with raising a Gothic cathedral.

Works lasted for several centuries: after the completion of the first version of the facade, in 1393 the first pair of side chapels were begun. The series were completed only in 1479. However, in 1514 Arduino degli Arriguzzi proposed a revised plan in the form of a Latin cross with the intent to outdo even Saint Peter's Basilica of Rome, the greatest church of the Western Christian world even in its ancient version. By tradition Pope Pius IV halted such a majestic project.

In spite of this setback the basilica continued to enjoy the great prestige it engendered from the very beginning: pope Clement VII chose it for the coronation of Charles V in 1530. Jacopo Barozzi da Vignola was chief architect of the fabbrica; his is the design of the ciborium over the altar. The vaulting and decoration of the central nave is by Girolamo Rainaldi, who completed it in 1646-1658.

The facing of the main facade, however, remains unfinished: many architects (notably Baldassarre Peruzzi, Vignola, Andrea Palladio and Alberto Alberti) were commissioned to propose solutions for it, but a definitive one was never found. Jacopo della Quercia of Siena enriched the main doorway with sculptures (illustrated, left) and two new small flanking doorways, with subjects taken from the Old Testament, forming a traditional prelude to the new dispensation that is represented by the basilica itself. The heroic nudes of Adam and other figures in the rectangular bas-relief panels were an inspiration to artists of the Renaissance.

The unfinished facade of San Petronio Basilica.

The construction of the basilica was a project of the comune of Bologna, not of the bishops: the property was a symbol of communal power that was not transferred from the city to the diocese until 1929; the basilica was finally consecrated in 1954. It has been the seat of the relics of Bologna's patron saint only since 2000; until then they were preserved in the Santo Stefano church of Bologna.

The interior is notable for a Madonna with Saints by Lorenzo Costa the Younger and a Pietà by Amico Aspertini. Also the colours of the walls and the stained glass windows are noteworthy. The choir was made in 15th century by Agostino de' Marchi, while the ciborium is a work by Vignola.

Bologna was a principal center of Baroque music in Italy. The musical organization had been officially instituted by Pope Eugenius IV in 1436; the first regularly paid instrumentalists were added in the late sixteenth century, and in the seventeenth century San Petronio was renowned for its sacred instrumental and choral music, with its two great organs, completed in 1476 and 1596, both still in remarkably original condition; the library remains a rich archival repository. Three successive maestri di capella marked the great age of music at San Petronio: Maurizio Cazzati (1657-71), Giovanni Paolo Colonna (1674-95) and Giacomo Antonio Perti (1696-1756).

The church hosts also a sundial in the form of a meridian line inlaid in the paving of the left aisle in 1655; it was calculated and designed by the famous astronomer Giovanni Domenico Cassini, who was teaching astronomy at the University: at 66.8 meters it is the longest sundial in the world, following measurements that were for the time uniquely precise; Cassini and Domenico Guglielmini published an illustrated account of how the meridian was accomplished in 1695.

Elisa Bonaparte, Napoleone Bonaparte's sister, is buried here.

Renaissance fresco in San Petronio Basilica, depicting Mohammed being tortured in Hell.

In 2002, 5 men were arrested who were believed to be planning to blow-up the building and were connected to Al-Qaeda. Again in 2006, plans by Muslim terrorists to destroy the Basilica were thwarted by Italian police. The terrorists claimed that a 15th-century fresco inside was insulting to Islam. The fresco, painted by Giovanni da Modena, represents a scene from Dante Alighieri's Inferno, and depicts Muhammad in Hell being devoured by demons.

Cologne Cathedral

Cologne Cathedral (German: Kölner Dom, officially Hohe Domkirche St. Peter und Maria) is a Roman Catholic church in Cologne, Germany. It is the seat of the Archbishop of Cologne (currently Cardinal Joachim Meisner), and is under the administration of the archdiocese of Cologne. It is renowned as a monument of Christianity, of German Catholicism in particular, of Gothic architecture and of the continuing faith and perseverance of the people of the city in which it stands. It is dedicated to Saint Peter and the Blessed Virgin Mary. The cathedral is a World Heritage Site, one of the best-known architectural monuments in Germany, and Cologne's most famous landmark, described by UNESCO as an "exceptional work of human creative genius".

Cologne Cathedral*
UNESCO World Heritage Site
State Party	Germany
Type	Cultural
Criteria	i, ii, iv
Reference	292
Region**	Europe

Construction of Cologne Cathedral began in 1248 and took, with interruptions, until 1880 to complete– a period of over 600 years. It is 144.5 metres long, 86.5 m wide and its two towers are 157 m tall. The cathedral is one of the world's largest churches and the largest Gothic church in Northern Europe. For four years, 1880-84, it was the tallest structure in the world, until the completion of the Washington Monument. It has the second-tallest church spires, only surpassed by the single spire of Ulm Cathedral, completed 10 years later in 1890. Because of its enormous twin spires, it also presents the largest façade of any church in the world. The choir of the cathedral, measured between the piers, also holds the distinction of having the largest height to width ratio of any Medieval church, 3.6:1, exceeding even Beauvais Cathedral which has a slightly higher vault.

Cologne's medieval builders had planned a grand structure to house the reliquary of the Three Kings and fit its role as a place of worship of the Holy Roman Emperor. Despite having been left incomplete during the medieval period, Cologne Cathedral eventually became unified as "a masterpiece of exceptional intrinsic value" and "a powerful testimony to the strength and persistence of Christian belief in medieval and modern Europe".