Churches, mosques, temples in the middle of the countryside or in the center of the city, religious buildings welcome the faithful who pray to their gods there and some, like the ones we show you here, are true works of art.
Göbekli Tepe
Local: Türkiye
Situated on a peak in the Taurus Mountains in Turkey, Göbekli Tepe is the oldest known stone temple complex. They were built around 9,500 BC and to this day archaeologists debate the purpose of the structure — although the most accepted theory is that the buildings were used for religious purposes.
Golden Temple
Local: India
The impressive temple is made of marble and completely gold-plated and was originally built in the 17th century. It is located in Amritsar, India, and is the most important place of worship of the Sikhs. The upper part of the building is made with more than 100 kilograms of gold, and the entire structure — also known as Darbar Sahib and Harmandir Sahib — represents the faith and values of Sikhism.
Taktsang Palphug Monastery
Local: Bhutan
Built at the end of the 18th century at the entrance to a cave located more than 3,000 meters above sea level, the Taktsang Palphug Monastery is one of the most famous Buddhist temples in Bhutan. The structure has four main temples, shelters for the monks and extended through several caves used for meditation. All areas are interconnected through stairs, bridges and ramps.
Sheikh Zayed Mosque
Local: United Arab Emirates
Opened 10 years ago, the spectacular Sheikh Zayed Mosque, located in Abu Dhabi, in the United Arab Emirates, is the third largest mosque in the world, with capacity for up to 41 thousand worshipers — 7,126 of them in the main prayer hall alone. The entire complex occupies an area of just over 22,400 square meters, while the building has four minarets each 107 meters high and 82 domes of different sizes, the largest of which is 85 meters high and almost 33 meters in diameter.
Las Lajas Sanctuary
Local: Colombia
The impressive church was built on the Guaitara River, in Nariño, between 1916 and 1949, and became an important point of pilgrimage — and tourism — in Colombia. From its base to the top of the tower, the sanctuary is 100 meters high, and the bridge that connects the temple to the other side is 50 meters above the ground.
Holy Family
Local: Spain
Construction of the Sagrada Familia — located in Barcelona, Spain — officially began in 1882, and its current monumental design was proposed by the Catalan architect Antoni Gaudí, who took over the project shortly after the first person responsible, Francisco de Paula del Villar y Lozano , abandon the work.
Djenné Great Mosque
Local: Mali
The Great Mosque of Djenné, in Mali, was built in the 13th century, rebuilt at the beginning of the 20th century, underwent an expansion in the 1920s and today accommodates up to 3 thousand worshipers. The temple, in Sudano-Sahelian style and Islamic influences, is the largest structure in the world made of adobe, that is, bricks made of raw earth, straw, animal excrement, natural fibers and water.
Temppeliaukio Kirkko
Local: Finland
Designed by brothers Timo and Tuomo Suomalainen, the Temppeliaukio Kirkko church, located in Helsinki, Finland, is a Lutheran temple built inside an immense block of granite. The location was chosen in 1968 and the building was created on a rocky outcrop whose top was 12 meters above ground level. A
Blue Mosque
Local: Türkiye
The official name of this impressive building located in Istanbul, Turkey, is “Sultan Ahmet Mosque” — or Sultanahmet Camii, in Turkish. Built at the beginning of the 17th century in Ottoman style, the structure has six minarets and is known as the Blue Mosque thanks to the more than 20,000 beautiful blue tiles that cover its interior ceiling and the more than 200 intricate stained glass windows of the same color that allow entry to natural light.
Kinkaku-ji
Local: Japan
Also known as the Golden Pavilion Temple, the building above is in Kyoto, Japan. A Zen temple whose history dates back to the 14th century has the entire pavilion — with the exception of the ground floor — covered with gold leaves, and the roof is adorned with a golden chinese phoenix.
