Explore Religious Heritage Across Europe

The Mayor Synagogue in Istanbul is a Sephardi synagogue probably dating back to the 19th century. This stone building now serves as a storage.

The Church of the Mother of God is the oldest surviving religious building in Chisinau. It features traditional Moldovan architecture from the 15th and 16th centuries, although it was built in the 18th century. It is also known as Măzărache Church after its founder, the merchant Vasile Măzărache.

Mažići Monastery was founded in the 12th century. The monastery complex was demolished and rebuilt several times, but it was definitively abandoned at the beginning of the 18th century. At the beginning of the 21st century, the monastery church was renovated, while the renovation of the entire complex is still in progress. During archaeological excavations of the complex, prehistoric burial mounds from the Bronze Age, Roman tombs and a necropolis (from the 9th and 10th centuries) around it were discovered.

The construction of the cathedral began with the choir around 1175. The work continued in the 13th century: the current choir, in a radiant Gothic style, was built between 1253 and 1278 by Gautier de Varinfroy. The nave was completed in the 15th century, and work continued until the 16th century (facades of the transepts, radiant chapels, completion of the western portals and the northern tower). Restorations were carried out in the 19th century.

This magnificent Gothic cathedral was built between 1175 and 1540, and its construction was punctuated by a lot of work, renovations due to interruptions in the work or even accidents during the construction. It is considered the sister of Notre Dame de Paris by its size and style.

St. Rumbold’s Cathedral was built in the thirteenth century. It was known as ‘the church of the archbishops’ because it was larger and more impressive than the other parish churches. Originally there was a triple-nave cruciform church on the site of the cathedral. Much of the interior and iconoclasms were lost to plundering during the 16th century. The interior of the church is magnificent with works by Anthony van Dyck, Michel Coxie, Gaspard de Crayer, and Abraham Janssens. The showpiece is the high altar by Lucas Faydherbe from 1665.

The Mechina building was constructed in 1933-34; two storeys were added in 1937 according to a design by Stanislovas Stulginskis. It was designed as a modernist building, featuring vast plastered, undecorated surfaces. However, its facades were articulated with plain stringcourses and slender pilasters, while a steep roof and a large dormer over the attic space echoed traditional Lithuanian town building. Its main entrance, located on the northwestern façade, was surrounded by modernist multi-faceted windows; the staircase was lit by a vertical strip window. A plaster Star of David was set above the main entrance. The Mechina was a three storey building, which combined a prayer hall on the ground floor, four classrooms on the first floor, and offices on the upper one. The flat ceiling of the prayer hall was supported by four rectangular piers, and the bimah stood in between them. The classrooms were probably used for the teaching of the general subjects, while Torah study took place in the prayer hall. The Torah ark stood at the southeastern wall of the hall. Currently it is a three-storey plastered building, which retains the designed division of the facades with pilasters and stringcourses. Its attic has been converted into a regular additional floor. While fenestration of the southwestern façade has largely survived, that of the northeastern façade has been changed, and its modernist elements as well as the Jewish sign have vanished. All frames of the openings were replaced with modern plastic ones.

The mosque was largely destroyed during the communist period and was converted to residential house and remains like that until today.

Built between 1963-1965 as St Bonifatius Church by architects Michael Kleffner and Christa Kleffner-Dirxen. Renovated 2005-2006 by agn Niederberghaus & Partner. Repurposed 2015 as Media House of the Diocese of Münster, preserving its architectural features.

Among the town cathedrals of Transylvania, Mediaș stands out due to the fact that not only the church, but also the whole castle complex are entirely preserved. Today’s appearance of the church dedicated to St. Margaret traces back to two preceding buildings, which had to undergo many alterations until 1482. The western tower on the other hand reached its full height only in the middle of the 16th century. The interior of the church has an asymmetrical cross section, being a combination of basilica and hall church. By keeping the low height of the northern aisle, a series of outstanding medieval wall paintings were preserved on the wall of the nave above. The winged altar of 1485 is a masterpiece of the pre-reformation age. Furthermore there is a collection of important altars transferred from abandoned or endangered churches on display. Inside the ring wall with its five towers the ensemble of Old Town Hall, school and parish house is cuddling around the church. In the south tower St. Mary’s chapel shows its well preserved pre-reformation frescoes. The inner ward depicts the development of the civic life in a Saxon town shaped over centuries, featuring the elements of church and defence, education and administration. Even today the buildings of church, school and parish house serve their original functions.