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Churches, Synagogues, Mosques, and Temples with Amazing Architecture

Throughout history religion has sparked the creation of some of the world’s most beautiful architectural achievements. See how that tradition continues inAD’*s survey of breathtaking contemporary houses of worship

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Architects often aim to infuse their creations with meaning, but one type of structure demands something particularly moving—a spiritual building. The most successful churches, chapels, temples, synagogues, and mosques have at least one thing in common: architecture that transforms raw, earthly materials into compositions so powerful they evoke something beyond our world. No wonder sanctuaries from across the ages remain among the most popular sights for global travelers. From the Pantheon in Rome to the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul to Le Corbusier’s Notre Dame du Haut chapel in Ronchamp, France, they are not just places of spiritual pilgrimage, but architectural pilgrimage. That tradition continues as contemporary architects boldly reimagine designs as old as religion itself.

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Photo: Leonardo Finotti
所有的祈神保佑ts Chapel Martinho Campos, Brazil
Designed by Brazilian architectGustavo Penna, this quaint, 1,700-square-foot chapel is a meditation on simple materiality that modernizes a number of traditional Christian motifs. A heavy, cross-shaped concrete structure, wider than it is tall, appears to be supported by impossibly delicate glass walls. Outside, a slender rectangular reflecting pool inspired by a baptismal font bisects the paved ground.