church

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Medieval cathedral arranged on a cruciform plan

Figure 12: Ceiling design. (right) Simple, white paster ceiling, Christ Lutheran Church, Minneapolis, Minnesota, designed by Eliel and Eero Saarinen, 1950.

Church of San Giorgio Maggiore, Venice, by Andrea Palladio, 1566–1610.

The process of restoring and recasting cathedral bells

For Students

church summary

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Florence Baptistery of Saint John, Italy

9 Historic Buildings in Florence

Milan Cathedral Against Sky During Sunset, Italy

19 Essential Italian Churches

Nativity facade of Sagrada Familia cathedral in Barcelona, Spain. Cathedral of La Sagrada Familia, designed by Antonio Guadi.

10 Iconic Churches in Spain

Raphael (Raffaello Sanzio), 1483-1520. The vision of the prophet Ezekiel, 1518. Wood, 40 x 30 cm. Inv 174. Galleria Palatina, Palazzo Pitti, Florence, Italy

13 Artists Who Died Untimely Deaths

Church of Notre-Dame-du-Haut, Ronchamp, France, by Le Corbusier, 1950-55.

Celebrating Le Corbusier

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The Battle of New Orleans, by E. Percy Moran, c. 1910. Andrew Jackson, War of 1812.

26 Decade-Defining Events in U.S. History

Queen Elizabeth II addresses at opening of Parliament. (Date unknown on photo, but may be 1958, the first time the opening of Parliament was filmed.)

All 119 References in “We Didn’t Start the Fire,” Explained

Julius Caesar in full Gaius Julius Caesar (100? BCE-44 BCE) statue in Rimini, Italy. Roman general and statesman and dictator

The Time Julius Caesar Was Captured by Pirates

General Pershing's troops moving into Mexico in 1917 during World War I.

Timeline of World War I

African Americans demonstrating for voting rights in front of the White House as police and others watch, March 12, 1965. One sign reads, "We demand the right to vote everywhere." Voting Rights Act, civil rights.

Timeline of the American Civil Rights Movement

Young boys working in a thread spinning mill in Macon, Georgia, 1909. Boys are so small they have to climb onto the spinning frame to reach and fix broken threads and put back empty bobbins. Child labor. Industrial revolution

The Rise of the Machines: Pros and Cons of the Industrial Revolution

Artist interpretation of a Space meteoroid impact. Meteor impact. Asteroid, End of the world, danger, destruction, dinosaur extinct, Judgement Day, Planet Earth, Doomsday Predictions, comet

10 Failed Doomsday Predictions

Arts & Culture

church

architecture

Written and fact-checked by The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Last Updated: Feb 16, 2024 • Article History

church

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Category: Arts & Culture

Key People:: Andrea Palladio; Donato Bramante; Le Corbusier; Raphael; Gian Lorenzo Bernini

Related Topics:: crypt; chapel; nave; altarpiece; rood screen

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church, in architecture, a building designed for Christian worship. The earliest churches were based on the plan of the pagan Roman basilica (q.v.), or hall of justice. The plan generally included a nave (q.v.), or hall, with a flat timber roof, in which the crowd gathered; one or two side aisles flanking the nave and separated from it by a row of regularly spaced columns; a narthex (q.v.), or entrance vestibule at the west end, which was reserved for penitents and unbaptized believers; and an apse (q.v.) of either semicircular or rectangular design, located at the east end and reserved ...(100 of 646 words)

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