Oldest Churches In The World
This article lists some but by no means all of the oldest known Church (building), church buildings in the world. In most instances, buildings listed here were reconstructed numerous times and only fragments of the original buildings have survived. These surviving freestanding buildings were purposely constructed for use by congregations (or used at an early date). The dates are the approximate dates when they were first used by congregations for worship. The term ''church'' may be used in the sense of "Christian denomination" or in the singular as the Christian Church as a whole. The "church" (Greek , 'assembly') is traced to Pentecost and the beginning of the Christian mission in the Christianity in the 1st century, first century and was not used in reference to a building. According to the ''Catholic Encyclopedia'' the Cenacle (the site of the Last Supper) in Jerusalem was the "first Christian church." The Dura-Europos church in Syria is the oldest surviving church building in ...
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Church (building)
A church, church building or church house is a building used for Christian worship services and other Christian religious activities. The earliest identified Christian church is a house church founded between 233 and 256. From the 11th through the 14th centuries, there was a wave of church construction in Western Europe. Sometimes, the word ''church'' is used by analogy for the buildings of other religions. ''Church'' is also used to describe the Christian religious community as a whole, or a body or an assembly of Christian believers around the world. In traditional Christian architecture, the plan view of a church often forms a Christian cross; the center aisle and seating representing the vertical beam with the Church architecture#Characteristics of the early Christian church building, bema and altar forming the horizontal. Towers or domes may inspire contemplation of the heavens. Modern churches have a variety of architectural styles and layouts. Some buildings designe ...
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