Explore Religious Heritage Across Europe

The ring wall of the fortified church in Orăştie has an almost rectangular shape and was strengthened to the corners and at center of all lines with several towers, some of which have been preserved to this day. In the precincts two protestant churches stand side by side: the southern one, used nowadays by the Hungarian reformed congregation was built in the 14th century as a Romanesque basilica, later transformed into a Gothic basilica. A tower was built in 1400, about the same time as the chancel. Between 1820-1823 the Evangelic congregation of Orăştie built a new church for their community. After 1839, when the common bell tower collapsed, each community built from the ruins one of their own.

The exact period of the cemetery’s establishment is unknown. According to IAJGS the last known Jewish burial dates to 1917. The cemetery could not be found marked on old maps of the region. Supposedly, it was founded no later than in the early 20th century. There are no gravestones remaining. The cemetery is abandoned and overgrown.

Do not be fooled by the appearance of this church and its location in the historic center of the city. The Oratory of Santa Maria Reina y Madre was inaugurated in ... 2008 as the headquarters of Cofradía de las Penas.

The Oratory of the Caballero de Gracia is a church located in the center of Madrid. Built in 1654, it is the work of the architect Juan de Villanueva.

Sant'Andrea a Ponte Milvio is an oratory built in the 15th century next to an aedicula with a statue of St. Andrew, erected by Pius II (1458-1464) in memory of the ceremony that took place here on 11 April 1462, when the Pope went to meet Cardinal Bessarione carrying the head of the apostle Andrew. The relic had been saved by Tommaso Paleologo, despot of Patras, who had fled to avoid the Turks. Today the church is a subsidiary place of worship of the parish of Santa Croce in Via Flaminia.

The Oratory of Santa Caterina in Fontebranda, also known as the Oratory of the Tintoria, is a small church built between 1465 and 1474 by Francesco di Duccio del Guasta. After the canonization of Catherine of Siena by Pope Pius II in 1461, the inhabitants of the Sienese district of Fontebranda wanted to build a church dedicated to the saint who was born and lived there. It was therefore decided to demolish the old dye works of Jacopo Benincasa, the saint's father, and two adjacent houses to create a space for the church.

The Oratorio Israelitico Synagogue in Casale Monferrato was founded in 1595 but largely rebuilt between 1853 and 1866. This Mannerist brick building still serves as a synagogue.

A beautiful and unique experience, the caves at the Orheiul Vechi monastery in Moldovia contain old places of worship and prayer, transporting the visitor back to far simpler times and allowing the imagination to take over.

The current Oria Cathedral is due to Bishop Castrese Scaja who, in 1750, demolished the previous medieval Romanesque church (threatened with collapse after the earthquake of 20 February 1743) and built the new cathedral in Baroque style. During the construction of the new Baroque cathedral, designed by the architect Giustino Lombardi, two green marble columns of the old Romanesque cathedral were purchased for 8000 ducats by the King of Naples to embellish the chapel of the royal palace of Caserta. Of particular interest is the 16th-century "crypt of the mummies" located under the building.

The construction of the cathedral started at the end of the 13th century on certain Visigothic and Hispano-Arab remains. It has a Latin cross plan including a nave and two aisles, an ambulatory and chapels within buttresses. The three portals bears a mix of Gothic, Renaissance and Moorish styles. Annexed to the church is a museum of Sacred Art, housing works by Diego Velázquez and other Spanish painters.