Cathedrals by size. The largest Orthodox churches in the world

There are three Orthodox cathedrals in the world that can equally claim the title of "the largest church in the world." One of them is the most spacious - this is Tsminda Sameba in Tbilisi. The other is the largest in size: it is the Cathedral of St. Sava in Serbian Belgrade. And finally, the highest cathedral is the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Moscow.

Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Moscow. Its height of 103 meters is almost a 40-storey building. But the architect of the temple, Konstantin Ton, created such proportions that from the side the cathedral does not seem so high or large. Big? Yes. The largest or the more so the highest - no.

You begin to realize the scale when you find yourself inside. The size of the central altar is like a parish church. Vaults - breathtaking.

At the same time, unlike Catholic cathedrals, the dimensions of which are also amazing, in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior there is no feeling that you are a small person (they say this is a feature of the Latin style - to give a person the feeling that he is an ant compared to God). You are part of the whole building, this is your home. A feeling that is so close to an Orthodox church...

This cathedral had an unusual and difficult history - to start with the fact that initially it was supposed to be completely different (quite completely), and stand not on Volkhonka, but Sparrow Hills. But this .

The tallest Orthodox cathedrals in the world

So, the Cathedral of Christ the Savior is the highest Orthodox church in the world - 103 meters.

But the height of which other cathedrals exceeds 90 or 100 meters:

101.5 meters - St. Isaac's Cathedral in St. Petersburg. An example, just, of “Latin” architecture, when a temple is not only a temple, but also a majestic castle, which either “lifts” you into the heights, or “presses”, it’s not clear ...

97.5* - Tsminda Sameba, Tbilisi, Georgia. The asterisk is worth it, because a variety of data are given everywhere - up to 86 meters without a cross. This is connected both with the design feature of the Cathedral (part of it goes underground for 10 meters), and with the fact - to consider the cross as part of the building or not: and it is seven and a half meters ...

96.0 - Spaso-Preobrazhensky Cathedral in Khabarovsk. Built in 2004 year. Unlike the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, it has more elongated proportions and therefore it seems much higher.

93.7 - Smolny Cathedral, again Peter and again an example of the "Latin" style. As architecture - Rastrelli's unconditional masterpiece: an absolutely perfect composition. But once inside, you understand why it is so important to appreciate and honor traditions in temple building...

If we take Europe, then there will be the highest Orthodox church Cathedral of the Three Saints in Timisoara e, Romania - 83 meters. Here it is: (pay attention to the tradition in Orthodox architecture that is different from ours - it is completely familiar to Eastern Europe)

The largest temple

Tsminda Sameba in Tbilisi (Georgia), Trinity Cathedral, Holy Trinity Church - the largest Orthodox church in the world. Generally speaking, some consider it also the highest - 105 meters. But this is the height together with the 7.5-meter cross, and even then - at best, the data varies too much from source to source.

But one fact is indisputable - this is the only Orthodox cathedral that can accommodate 15 thousand people.

Like the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, the cathedral was built exclusively on donations: from ordinary Georgians to big businessmen. Construction was completed in 2004.

The temple was designed with echoes of the traditional Georgian temple style - like the Cathedral of Christ the Savior with elements of the old Russian style.

The cathedral stands on a hill on the banks of the Kura River, visible from everywhere.

Tsminda Sameba, as is often the case with large cathedrals, includes not only a central, amazing temple, but also nine chapels, which are located underground at a depth of more than 10 meters (perhaps, hence such large discrepancies in the height of the building, and someone else takes into account underground structures).

But what other churches, not counting the Trinity Cathedral, are among the "five" of the most spacious (all figures are estimated, that is, approximate):

• 14,000 people - St. Isaac's Cathedral (St. Petersburg)
• 12 000 - St. Michael's Cathedral (Cherkasy, Ukraine)
• 11,000 - St. Sava Cathedral (Belgrade, Serbia)
• 10,000 - this is several temples at once: the Cathedral of Christ the Savior (Moscow); the temple of the Volkmic Panteleimon (Athens, Greece); Spaso-Preobrazhensky Cathedral (Odessa, Ukraine); Church of the Holy Sepulcher (Jerusalem, Israel)

The largest Orthodox church

Well, if by the size of the temple we mean its width multiplied by the length, then the largest Orthodox church is the Serbian Cathedral in the name of St. Sava in Belgrade.

Its length is 91 meters, width - 81 meters (for comparison: Tsminda Sameba - 77 by 65 meters, the Cathedral of Christ the Savior - 60 by 60).

This is a "long-term construction" in the truest sense of the word. Construction began in 1935. Then the war happened, then the Soviet power. Work resumed only in 1986. As far as we know, finishing work is almost finished now.

The cathedral is very squat in proportion. With its huge size, it is 24 meters lower than the Cathedral of Christ the Savior - "only" 79 meters.

At the top of the four-ton central dome (they say it was raised for more than a month!) There is a huge, 12-meter gilded cross, and on other domes there are seventeen more crosses. And a few dozen more bells, the largest of which weighs 12 tons!

But these are all just numbers.

The greatness of any temple is not in meters - but in the assembly of Christians. At the funeral of Patriarch Pavel in 2009, more than a million people gathered around the cathedral.

Every great cathedral carries two destinies

• the first is the fate of the temple, in which the Sacraments are performed, and where thousands of people can gather in a single impulse to Christ.
• the second fate - or rather the "cross" - is the role of a symbol (city, or country), which is doomed to be a tourist destination. That is, a holy place reduced in the eyes of people to just a beautiful building, drowning in fuss, flashlights and conversations ...

The second is probably inevitable, but we must always remember how tourism differs from pilgrimage and not stand near the cathedrals as favorable tourists:

The tourist looks at the buildings "top-down";

and the pilgrim feels himself in the house of the Heavenly Father.

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The church that TravelAsk will talk about today is striking in its size. It is rightfully the largest in the world.

Main church of Ivory Coast

A real giant among churches is located in Africa, in the capital of Côte d'Ivoire, in the city of Yamoussoukro. The church has a very sonorous name: Notre Dame de la Paix, which in French means the Basilica of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Peace. This Catholic church is listed in the Guinness Book of Records.

The area of ​​the church is 30 thousand square meters, it is located on an area of ​​130 hectares. The height of its dome is also quite impressive - 158 meters. It also makes the church the second tallest in the world after Ulm Cathedral in Germany, which stands 161.5 meters high.

By the way, the dome of the basilica is the largest in the world: its diameter is 90 meters.

Why Africa?

In general, it is surprising that the largest temple, and even a Catholic one, is located in Africa. After all, Catholicism is far from the most popular religion here, moreover, Christians make up 33% of the country and are mainly represented by Pentecostals, Adventists and Methodists. Most of all there are Muslims - about 40%. So where did this temple come from? We found out all about this seemingly strange fact.

It's all about the first president of Côte d'Ivoire - Felix Houphouet-Boigny. The country was a French colony for a long time, and gained independence in 1960. It was then that he was proclaimed President Houphouet-Boigny, who was in power for several decades.

Felix did the incredible: he moved the capital from the millionaire city of Abidjan to the small town of Yamoussoukro, where he was from. The population of the city at that time was about 200 thousand people. Now, by the way, a little more: a little more than 280 thousand inhabitants live in the city.

In addition, the president decided to leave a memory of himself in the new capital, so he ordered the construction of the largest church in the world. The Basilica of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Peace is a gift to Pope John Paul II.

Construction of the basilica

Notre Dame de la Paix is ​​a copy of the main temple of the Vatican - St. Cathedral, only surpasses it in size. But, despite all its scale, the temple can accommodate only 18 thousand people, while the Vatican Cathedral - 60 thousand.

Especially for the construction of the basilica, Italian marble was brought into the country, and the stained-glass windows were created from French colored glass, which here (!!!) is 7 thousand square meters. No temple has so much painted glass, this is also a kind of record. By the way, one of the stained-glass windows depicted the chief architect, President Felix Houphouet-Boigny.

This giant was rebuilt quite quickly, in just 4 years, construction continued from 1985 to 1989. The temple cost, according to various estimates, from 175 to 400 thousand dollars, part of which was donated by the president (according to him, only from 175 to 400 thousand)))). By the way, this is about 6% of the country's annual budget. In general, for Côte d'Ivoire this is an unheard of luxury, because many people here live very poorly. 1,500 workers from Africa were involved in the construction, the French were the main architects.

The church was lit in 1990, the Pope himself came to this ceremony. True, the main condition was the construction of a hospital near the temple, but it began to be built quite recently. And in 1990, a stone was laid not far from the basilica, which can still be seen today.

Near the Basilica of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Peace there are two more buildings, very similar to the temple, only smaller in size: this is the papal villa and the house for the priest. By the way, the Pope visited here only once, at the consecration of the temple.

Competitors of Notre Dame de la Paix

In fact, the Basilica has two competitors, it is noteworthy that they are also in Africa, only in Nigeria. So, in Lagos there is a Pentecostal temple "Tabernacle of Faith", it has only about 50 thousand seats. In addition, in 2011, another Pentecostal temple was opened here - the National Temple of the Apostolic Church of Nigeria. It is able to accommodate about 100 thousand believers at the same time.

The correspondence dispute between many Christian communities over large and beautiful temples continues to this day. Many of these churches become architectural masterpieces that attract many tourists. The greatest architects of their era also contributed to the creation of majestic structures. Some buildings lasted for centuries. So let's now look at the largest churches in our world.

Temple of Saint Sava

The church is located in Serbia, in Belgrade. Its area is 8162 square meters. In the world, the building is considered the largest Orthodox church. The construction of the cathedral began in the distant 1935, and ended only in 1986. But in 2004, the church was finally opened, and the interior decoration had not yet been completed. The design got its name in honor of the founder of the Serbian Orthodox Church, St. Sava.

Basilica de Nuestra Señora del Pilar

In Spain, this temple is considered the most famous. Its area has 8318 square meters. The church was built in the Gothic style in the second half of the 17th century. Its tourists and locals can find it on the banks of the Ebro River. In the middle of the basilica is a column topped by a 15th-century statue. Her name is Mary with the Child in her arms.

Church of the Holy Trinity

This church could not miss our rating. She is in eighth place. The building is located in Portugal, in the city of Fatima. Its structure covers an area of ​​8700 square meters. The church, on the other hand, has a rather unusual architecture, which distinguishes it from the rest of the temples in our top. The building is quite low and has laconic simple forms. Here you will not find turrets and a Gothic facade, which usually attract tourists.

Liverpool Cathedral

The cathedral is located in the UK, in the city of Liverpool. Its area is 9687 meters. This English church should be called not only the largest, but also the highest in the world. And she doesn't even have a spire. For about 70 years, only a building with a large central tower was built. In 1904, the foundation was laid, but as for the interior decoration, it was completed only in the 70s.

Basilica of Our Lady of Lichen

You will find this building upon arrival in Poland. Namely, to the city of Likhen Stary. Its area has 10090 square meters. And the most interesting facts include the fact that the building is located in a village where only 1100 inhabitants live. But against the backdrop of toy houses of local residents, the building looks simply gigantic. The basilica is considered the main place of pilgrimage for believers in Poland.

Milan Cathedral

You can already guess from the name that the cathedral is located in Milan, Italy. He is ranked 4th. Milan Cathedral boasts an area of ​​10186 square meters. It was built from white marble. In the city, the church is considered the main attraction. In our rating, this church is considered the oldest, because it began to be built in 1386. But construction was completed only in 1965. The building was created in the Gothic classical style.

Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist

The building is located in New York. Its area is 11200 square meters. In 1892, they only began to build it. Tourists will find the building on Amsterdam Avenue between 110th and 113th streets. Only in our time, its construction has not been completed. During all this time, several architects have changed. That is why one can trace in the interior decoration and in the appearance of the cathedral not only the Byzantine-Roman style, but also the new Gothic style.

Seville Cathedral

The honorable third place is occupied by this building in Italy. As the name suggests, the cathedral is located in the city of Seville. Some locals also call such a cathedral Maria de la Sede. The area occupies 11520 square meters. At the beginning of the 16th century, they began to build this building, namely, on the site of a former mosque, which for a long time was considered one of the largest churches in the world.

Basilica of the National Sanctuary of Our Lady of Aparecida

The basilica is located in Brazil. Its area has 12,000 square meters. In fact, the structure takes up more space than the town in which it is located. The design was created in the shape of a cross. It is also considered the main center of pilgrimage for Brazilian believers.

Saint Paul's Cathedral

The Vatican is home to the largest cathedral in the world. Almost everyone has heard of him. The area of ​​such a temple is 20.193 square meters. Here lies the ashes of St. Peter, who was one of the 12 apostles of Jesus Christ. It took about a hundred years to build the cathedral. The most outstanding architects of Italy worked on it. Peter's Cathedral, at least for the next hundred years, will remain the largest and most beautiful church on our planet.

Video: Top 10 largest churches in the world

Temples have long been seen as the place where earth meets heaven. The architects sought to make this connection more tangible, which is why there are many very tall churches in the world.

1. Height 161.5 m Ulm Cathedral (1377-1890) Ulm Germany

High temples made the connection tangible between earth and sky

The tallest temple is Ulm Cathedral. Height 161.5 m

3. Height 157.4 m Cologne Cathedral (1248-1880) The highest church in the world with two identical towers. 533 steps lead to a height of 100 meters. Cologne. Germany

4. Height 151 m Rouen Cathedral (1877). The tallest cast iron tower in the world. Rouen. France

5. Height 147.3 m Cathedral of St. Nicholas (1874). Not restored after World War II, left as a monument. Hamburg. Germany

6. Height 142 m Strasbourg Cathedral (1439). From 1625 to 1874 the tallest structure of mankind. Strasbourg. France

7. Height 141.5 m Basilica of the Blessed Virgin of Lichen (2004). Likhen-Stary. Poland

8. Height 136.4 m St. Stephen's Cathedral (1433). Vein. Austria

9. Height 134.8 m New Cathedral (1924). Linz. Austria

10. Height 132.5 m St. Peter's Cathedral Petersdom (1626) Vatican

11. Height 132.2 m St. Peter's Cathedral First built in 1516. Restored after the Hamburg fire in 1878. Hamburg. Germany

12. Height 132 m Church of St. Michael (1786). Called colloquially "Michel". Hamburg. Germany

13. Height 130.6 m Cathedral of St. Martin (1500) Landshut. Germany

14. Height 129 m Oratory of St. Joseph (1917-1967) Montreal. Canada

15. Height 125.4 m Church of St. Jacob (1962) Hamburg. Germany

16. Height 124.9 m Church of St. Mary (1350) Lubeck. Germany

17. Height 124 m Cathedral in Maring (1959-1972) Maring. Brazil

18. Height 123.7 m Church of St. Olaf (1267) At the turn of the 16th century, the height reached 159 meters, which allowed it to be considered the tallest building in the world from 1549, when the tower of Lincoln Cathedral collapsed, until its own misfortune, a fire in 1625 Tallinn. Estonia

19. Height 123.5 m Church of St. Peter (1209-1690). Riga. Latvia.

20. Height 123.1 m Salisbury Cathedral (1220-1258). Salisbury. Great Britain

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For many centuries, many people tried and made a lot of work in order to build various structures. As a result, quite a few temples, churches and monasteries appeared. Indeed, even in those distant times, the largest buildings were built precisely so that Orthodox Christians had the opportunity to bow to the Mother of God, the Lord God and other saints who are revered in Orthodoxy.

The largest temples in Europe

Ulm Cathedral is considered the largest Orthodox church in Europe and throughout the world. It is located in Germany. The height of its tallest building reaches 162 meters. Tourists who visit the cathedral every year have a unique opportunity to visit the highest point. It can be climbed by a stone staircase. An interesting historical fact is that the construction of this cathedral took place over five centuries.

The construction of the second largest cathedral in Europe began in 1248, but for financial reasons it was completed only in 1880. It's called Cologne Cathedral. Its height is 157 meters. It is located in Germany. Today, the cathedral has the largest facade in the world.

One of the largest temples in Europe is the Cathedral of Seville. Its location is in Andalusia. Today it is the main attraction of the country of Spain. It was founded five centuries ago, but despite this, thanks to its luxurious architecture, the temple attracts a considerable number of tourists. It is important to note that this cathedral is generally recognized as the largest Gothic cathedral not only in Europe, but throughout the planet.

Another large temple is the temple of Tsminda Sameba. Translated into Russian, it means the Cathedral of the Holy Trinity. This cathedral is located in Georgia in Tbilisi. It is considered to be the main Orthodox cathedral on the territory of the state of Georgia. It contains thirteen thrones. The lower temple was built in honor of. And the belfry was built separately.

The construction of this temple began in 1989. This construction was timed to coincide with the celebration of the autocephaly of the Georgian Church. The height of the cathedral itself, without above the domed cross, reaches 98 meters, plus the cross is almost 8 meters.

The largest Orthodox churches in Russia

In Russia, as well as throughout Europe, there are quite a few churches built:

• The largest is the Cathedral of the Savior of Christ. It is located in the city of Moscow, which is located in Russia. Its construction took place over three years and was completed in 1997. The temple was built in the Russian-Byzantine architectural style. Its height is 103 meters.
• The next largest is St. Isaac's Cathedral. Officially, it has a different name - the Cathedral of St. Isaac of Dalmatia. This is the largest cathedral in St. Petersburg. Its height reaches 102 meters. It officially has the status of a museum. But despite this, the community that lives on its territory has the opportunity to worship on some days with the permission of the museum management. This cathedral was consecrated by Peter 1 in honor of Isaac of Dalmatia. The emperor was very revered by this saint, since he was born on the day of his memory.
• Another large temple in size, which is located on the territory of Russia, is the Transfiguration Cathedral. Its height is 96 meters. This cathedral is the largest in the Far East. Its upper hall can accommodate up to 2,000 people, and the lower one about 1,500 people. Its construction lasted about 2 years and ended in 2004. The cathedral is a symbol of the power of the country.

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