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X'Mas Special: The world's most spectacular churches revealed!
On the occasion of Christmas, we take a look at the angular, asymmetrical, colourful and just plain extraordinary churches from around the world.
Today is Christmas and an important part of the celebrations involve visiting the church and offering prayers for the health, well-being and prosperity of loved ones.
Irrespective of whether you celebrate the festival or not, at some point of time, let's admit, we've all stood outside a church and admired its majestic grandeur.
Recently, a team of experts from the international database organisation Emporis.com had come up with a list of the world’s most spectacular churches.
Read on to find out what makes these churches so splendid to look at.
One of the spectacular looking modern day churches, according to Emporis is the Neue Synagoge (New Synagogue) located in the German city of Mainz.
It is reminiscent at first sight of building blocks in a wide variety of shapes and sizes, piled on top of one another and interspersed by slanting triangular and rectangular windows.
In actual fact, this Jewish place of worship, completed in 2010, is intended to represent an outsized version of the Hebrew word Kedushah, meaning blessing.
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X'Mas Special: The world's most spectacular churches revealed!
The architects of Iglesia Parroquial en Rivas Vaciamadrid in Madrid, Vicens and Ramos, also make strong use of corners and edges, with finger-like protuberances projecting like truncated pyramids out of the north side of the church.
The building is also notable for its rust-coloured facade, which sets it apart from other churches in terms of colour.
X'Mas Special: The world's most spectacular churches revealed!
With fewer angles, but all the more rotund is the Cathedrale de la Resurrection in Evry, France.
It catches the attention with its circular footprint and the trees ringing its steep rooftop like a crown.
X'Mas Special: The world's most spectacular churches revealed!
The Leaf Chapel in Hokuto, Japan on the other hand, is reminiscent of a cupola nestling against a slope.
Its two-part shape consists of a glass half that is stationary and a second half made of steel that can be pushed up over the other.
In favourable weather conditions, the indoor chapel can quickly be made into a location for an open-air wedding.
The world's most spectacular churches revealed!
A harmonious combination of rectangular and round elements is displayed by the Jubilee Church in Rome, Italy.
While the right-hand half is composed of rectangular blocks that house the various rooms and a bell tower, the left-hand side is characterised by three semi-circular layers that grow smaller as you move outward, and which lean over the other parts of the building like a cocoon.
Especially for the 'Eternal City' Rome with its countless Christian churches from two millennia of history, this asymmetrical house of worship does not just represent a feat of daring, but also a singular architectural highlight.
The other spectacular churches in the list are Catedral Metropolitana Nossa Senhora Aparecida in Brasilia, Brazil; Chapel of the Holy Cross, Evry, France; Hallgrimskirkja, Sedona, USA; Temppeliaukio Church, Helsinki, Finland and United States Air Force Cadet, Colorado, Springs, USA.