CHURCH
ARCHITECTURE
CONTENTS:
1. HISTORY
2. ARCHITECTURAL STYLES
3. TYPES OF CHURCH
4. PARTS OF A CHURCH
5. EXAMPLES OF CHURCHES
CHURCH ARCHITECTURE
WHAT IS
CHURCH
• A CHURCH is a place
of public worship, for
prayer, and for the
reception of the
sacraments.
CHURCH ARCHITECTURE
WHAT IS
TEMPLE
• A TEMPLE is a
building devoted to
the worship, or
regarded as the
dwelling place, of a
god or gods or other
objects of religious
reverence.
The Historical Architecture Timeline
HOA1
Pre-Historic Egyptian Near East Greek Roman Early Christian Byzantine
HOA2
Romanesque Gothic Renaissance Industrial Revivalist Modern Post-Modern
HOA 3
Islamic Indian Chinese Japanese
HOA 4
Filipino Architecture
PREHISTORIC
ARCHITECTURE
RELIGIOUS MONUMENTS
• MENHIR - A prehistoric monument
consisting of an upright megalith,
usually standing alone but
sometimes aligned with others.
• DOLMEN - 2 or more upright stones
supporting a horizontal slab.
• CROMLECH/STONE CIRCLE - A
circular arrangement of megaliths
enclosing a dolmen or burial
mound.
CHURCH ARCHITECTURE
STONEHENGE
Wiltshire, England
WEST ASIATIC
ARCHITECTURE
BABYLON
ZIGGURATS
• also known “Holy Mountains”
• Chief building structure, square
or rectangle in plan w/ steeply
battered sides, with angles
facing the cardinal points & an
open platform on top
containing the “Fire Altar”.
CHURCH ARCHITECTURE
ZIGGURAT OF UR
Nasiriyah, Iraq
EGYPTIAN
ARCHITECTURE
PYRAMIDS & TOMBS
Were built because they
believe in “Life after Death“ &
for the preservation of the dead
body.
DEV’T OF RELIGOUS STRUCTURES:
1. Ancient Kingdom
a. MASTABAS
b. PYRAMIDS
EGYPTIAN
ARCHITECTURE
PYRAMIDS & TOMBS
2. Middle Kingdom
ROCK-HEWN TOMBS
3. New Kingdom
TEMPLES
GREEK
ARCHITECTURE
HELLENIC PERIOD
TEMPLE
• They are to shelter the patron
deity of a city state.
• They are used to offer
thanksgiving to a patron deity
after the success of war.
• Temples served as storage
places for the treasury
associated with the cult of the
god.
CHURCH ARCHITECTURE
PARTHENON
Athens, Greece
ROMAN
ARCHITECTURE
TEMPLE
• Religion has not so strong on
the Romans as on the Greeks
and did not enter in the same
degree into the life of people.
• Because the principal buildings
are not only temples, but also
public buildings which were
the material expression of
Roman rule and imperial
power.
CHURCH ARCHITECTURE
PANTHEON
Rome
EARLY CHRISTIAN
ARCHITECTURE
CHURCHES/BASILICAS
• The single most important social
phenomenon of the Early Christian
period was the spread and
acceptance of the Christian
religion.
• With Christianity widely accepted
as a state religion in Rome it was
necessary for architecture to
respond to the demands of the
religion for worship space.
CHURCH ARCHITECTURE
CHRISTIAN
CHURCH
• A type of architecture that
evolved form Roman
Basilicas after the birth of
Christianity.
• Emperor Constantine I,
legislated Christianity and
gave the world the first
greatest architectural
monuments dedicated for
the spread of Christianity.
CHURCH ARCHITECTURE
OLD ST PETER BASILICA
Vatican City
CHURCH ARCHITECTURE
OLD ST PETER BASILICA
Vatican City
BYZANTINE
ARCHITECTURE
CHURCHES/MOSQUE
• In the Byzantine period, focus
shifted from the rituals or
practices of worship to the
building as an embodiment or
symbols of the majesty of the
faith.
• use of light and decoration
contributes to the experience of
the space; the Church viewed as
the house of God
CHURCH ARCHITECTURE
HAGIA SOPHIA
Istanbul, Turkey
CHURCH ARCHITECTURE
HAGIA SOPHIA
Istanbul, Turkey
