5 Biggest Churches in The World

Research stated that there are about 7.3 billions people in this world, and According to CNN there are about 2.17 billions people hold Catholic / Christianity as their faith.

When we talk about religion, it would not be far from its place of worship. There are so many big and beautiful churches in this world. But for now, i would like to talk about 5 biggest churches. Why? Because i visited two of if earlier this year.. *grin*

5. Cathedral of Milan, Italy (Duomo di Milano)

This Gothic style cathedral take up one entire city block, its surface is 109,641 square feet. They said this church has the most statues than other churches. It took nearly six centuries, which is about 600 years! to build this most famous gothic church in Europe. Rumour also said that it has not finished yet, due to political and money issue. Napoleon Bonaparte also contributed a lot of his time and resources to finish the Duomo’s facade.

I love this church exterior, it really gives those ‘Van Helsing’ vibes, i can imagine myself running away from Lord Dracula and hid inside the church. haha. Too bad there were still construction that time, and they had some events going on in front of the church, so we did not manage to go inside the church.  Many tourist come here to view this magnificent church, because not just they can learn the history, but they can shop as well at Galleria Vittorio Emanuelle II. This shopping mall is just located beside this Duomo that has a lot of branded shops and good foods.

4. Cathedral of St. John the Divine, United States

This church located in New York City. it was Byzantine style before, than changed into Gothic style because of  the radical style in the two World War. One day in December 2001, a big fire consumed most of the building. They took about 7 years to re-open the church, but until now, the church itself is still unfinished although it is functioning normally.

source : nycgo.com

3. Cathedral of Seville, Spain.

The other name is Cathedral of Saint Marry of the See, located in Andalusia, and registered under UNESCO World Heritage Site. This church was first build to demonstrate the city’s wealth. They locals want to build the grandest church ever, until the other people who saw it will think they are mad. The space itself is 11,520m2, and this church is also known where Christophorus Colombus is burried.

source : footootjes.nl

2. Basicila of Our Lady of Aparecida, Brazil.

Brazil is one of the largest Catholic country. Normally the locals will come to the church to honour the Blessed Virgin Marry. This church have very interesting story. History said, there were three fisherman who went to fish, but after they waited the whole night, the didnt caught anything. Suddenly they caught something very heavy, when they lift their net, it was the headless statue of Virgin Marry. and they also caught the head statue of Virgin Marry on the next throw. and the three fisherman caught so many fishes after that tragedy. The statue was taken to this shrine afterward. Not sure if the real statue is still there, cause i read in some articles that someone ran and accidentally dropped the statue, and they decided to built the replica. It is estimated about 750,000 people go into this church every year.

source : snipview.com

1. St. Peter’s Basilica, Vatican City

Who doesnt know this biggest church in the world? Most ‘end of the world’ movies and many Hollywood movies took some of their segment here. Vatican City itself is the smallest country in the world, about one-eight of New York’s Central Park. This church is famous for its hand drawn ceiling by Michael Angelo. One of the apostles, Peter, also buried there too, and they made the tomb as the main altar. But not just Peter, all Pope who has passed away are buried inside the church as well.

To be honest, this is really the grandest and the most beautiful church that i’ve ever been to. The mosaic, the arts, the statues, the paintings, everything in this church are valuable art pieces. From the hand-drawn ceiling by Michael Angelo, Lapietta’s statue – The mourning of Virgin Marry, the altar itself that was designed by Bernini, and Davinci’s last supper painting. What a gallery isnt it?

We took about 30 minutes to get in to this church. Our Tour Guide says, everyday is crowded in Vatican city. They draw about 6 millions visitor per year. Even though this is the smallest county in the world, they has the most guards in the world. They have two types of guardians. One is Vatican Guardian, who came from Swiss. This Vatican Guardian is so special, they are chosen by blood, passed through generations, you cannot apply to become Vatican’s guardian. and their uniform is designed by Leonardo Davinci, and never changed since then. The other guardians are normal Vatican police.

** Do you see all the statues on top of the pillars? They made the statues for all saints that has passed away**

**The Vatican City guardian – The Swiss army**

**Lapietta’s statue – The Mourning of Virgin Marry. They put glass around it, because there were one mad Poland visitor claimed that he is jesus, climbed the statue and wanted to be carry by the Virgin Marry*

** The magnificent art piece by Michael Angelo **

** Bernini’s grand altar **

p.s : World history stated St Peter’s Basilica is the second-largest now. The first largest is Basicila of our Lady of Peace, located in Ivory Coast, built in 1985.

** All pictures are taken by Sony Nex C-3, unedited **