Explore Religious Heritage Across Europe

When stepping up to Canongate Kirk you may be excused for not quite knowing what the building is. The front is unusual with its flat facade, heavy Doric porch and strange Dutch style gable, topped by a set of real antlers.

You can't come to Canterbury without visiting the world famous cathedral, site of the shrine of Thomas Becket and the seat of the Archbishop. The spectacular building houses many stunning features, including a Romanesque crypt, a perpendicular nave and beautiful medieval stained glass windows. It is the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion and seat of the Archbishop of Canterbury.

The construction of the Chapel of Souls or Chapel of Santa Catarina dates back to the late eighteenth century, when the brotherhood of souls and Chagas of San Francisco passed from the monastery of Santa Clara to the chapel of Santa Catarina. The building has about 16,000 "azulejos" on its exterior facade.

This funeral chapel was built in the mid 15th century for Cardinal Bessarione with frescoes attributed to Antoniazzo Romano and Melozzo da Forlì. In the vault you can admire the Choir of Angels and, on the right and left of the chapel, two frescoes that are an important testimony of Renaissance painting.

The chapel of Santa Crescenzia was built in the 13th century in honour of San Vito's nurse, Saint Crescentia. Legend has it that this woman was petrified - transgressing the order not to turn over in a landslide - on the very spot where the chapel was later built. The structure is of the arabesque type, but there are influences from other styles, notably Gothic and Norman.

The Palatine Chapel was built between 1130 and 1140 for the use of the first Norman king of Sicily, Roger II. It is an emblematic building of the Arab-Norman style. The chapel is filled with golden mosaics in Byzantine style. They were made by Greek artists called for this purpose by Roger II. They date back to the 12th century but have undergone numerous restorations and repairs over the years. The chapel is a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2015.

The Pauline Chapel is a Renaissance chapel located in the Vatican Palace in Rome. It is named after Pope Paul III, who had it built between 1537 and 1539. Two large frescoes by Michelangelo, dedicated to Saints Peter and Paul, adorn its side walls. The chapel's architect, Antonio da Sangallo the Younger, built it on the foundations of an earlier chapel, the "cappella parva", which housed the exposition of the Blessed Sacrament. Since the "cappella magna (future Sistine Chapel) fell into ruin in the mid-15th century, the "cappella parva" has been used for conclaves.

Căpriana monastery is one of the oldest monasteries in Moldova, mentioned for the first time in the 1420s. Having the status of a royal monastery, the monastery establishment has benefited from the care of several rulers of Moldova including Stephen III of Moldavia (1457-1504), Petru Rareș (1527-1538). The first stone church, dedicated to the Assumption, was built during the reign of Alexander the Good, around 1425. In 1840, a second church of the monastery was built, dedicated to Saint George, and in 1903 a third church was dedicated to Saint Nicholas. In 1962, the monastery was closed: a sanatorium for children with tuberculosis was opened in the cells. It was only in 1989 that the monastery reopened.

The cathedral of Capua is said to have been founded by Bishop Landulfo in 856. It was rebuilt in the 10th century, then by Archbishop Erveo (1072-1086) towards the end of the 11th century; he added the entrance portico, which was later enlarged in the 15th century, and considerably renovated the adjacent bishop's palace. In the 18th century the whole complex was radically renovated; again, between 1854 and 1857, under the episcopate of Giuseppe Cosenza, the architect Federico Travaglini renovated the church, which was almost completely razed to the ground during the 1943 bombings: it was rebuilt between 1949 and 1957.

The Capuchin Church and Monastery in Varaždin were built at the beginning of the 18th century after the religious order obtained permission to settle in the town. Following the typical style of Capuchin buildings, its design is very simple. It is dedicated to the Blessed Trinity.