Explore Religious Heritage Across Europe

The Basilica Virga Jesse dates back to the 18th century. The Brotherhood of Our Lady built the Clerkenkapel in 1334 to venerate the statue of the Virgin Mary, Virga Jesse. From 1727 it was replaced by a church in late baroque and early classicist style. The church was completed in 1740. François-Xavier de Mérode. In November 1944 the church and the adjacent houses were severely damaged by a rocket. The reconstruction of the church was completed in 1951.

Virklund Church was built in 1994 and designed by the Danish architects Johannes and Inger Exner. It is located on a hillside immediately north of the eastern end of Lake Thorso, around which the town of Virklund winds, and is thus quite centrally located in the city. a large, sloping hexagonal roof surface, which is most clearly seen from the west.

The Virolahti sacristy is a medieval stone sacristy that was built between 1500 and 1530 next to the wooden church of the time. The intention was to build an entire stone church later, but for financial and other reasons this did not materialise. The wooden church attached to the sacristy was demolished in the 17th century and replaced by a new one. This new wooden church was itself demolished in 1847 after an auction.

The Visby cathedral was originally built as a catholic cathedral in the late 12th century. It was built for German traders that frequented Visby and financed by the tax that they were required to pay. Today, it is the only medieval church still in use in Visby, the rest being preserved as ruins. After the Reformation, the church was made the seat of the diocese of Visby under the Church of Sweden.

The fortified church in Viscri still stands as a striking example of Transylvanian defensive architecture. On the foundations of the former Romanesque basilica, built by the first Székely settlers a new chancel was erected after dismantling the apse. In 1500 the church was fortified. Therefore the hall was prolonged and connected with the western, until then freestanding, dungeon, which most probably belonged to an early extinct noble family. The tower was heightened with one level with room for bells and parapet walk and another defensive level with loopholes for arches was built in the roof. The defence level of the chancel was demolished in 1743. The 7 m high ring wall was built in early 16th century and during the 17th century was strengthened by fortified houses, defensive towers and parapet walk. In the more peaceful times following 1743 grains storage rooms for the inhabitants replaced the parapet walk. The interior of the church still preserves the paneled ceiling from 1743 and the sober furnishing.

Viseu Cathedral began to take shape in the 12th century as a Romanesque building. The current Gothic cathedral, whose construction began in the 13th century, followed the lines of the original Romanesque building, thus endorsing a Romanesque, rather than Gothic, style that is typically spacious. In the Manueline period, the cathedral of Viseu interventions were undertaken inside and in the cloister. In the 17th century, the façade fell down and had to be repaired, and the choir was also renovated.

Višići Mosque is a Sunni place of worship of the Bosniak community.

The Visovac Monastery was founded in the 14th century by Dominican monks. Taken over by the Franciscan a century later, the monastery was enlarged. Destructed and abandoned in the 17th century, the monastery is repaired in the 18th and 20th centuries. Located on the beautiful island of Visovac in the Krka National Park, the monastery keeps a collection of books, works of art and other important documents.

The church in Vistdal is a long wooden church from 1869. The church underwent a major renovation after the New Year's hurricane in 1992, when the church suffered extensive structural damage.

The Cathedral of Viterbo is a Romanesque building dating from the 12th century, although the façade, due to modifications made in the 16th century, is in Renaissance style. The cathedral gained considerable importance in the second half of the 13th century when it became the seat of the papacy with the nearby Palace of the Popes. Two popes were buried in the cathedral: Pope Alexander IV (1199-1261), born Rinaldo di Jenne, who fled to Viterbo for fear of being captured by Manfred of Sicily, and whose tomb was lost, and Pope John XXI (1210-1277), born Pedro Julião, the only pope of Portuguese origin.