Iglesia (s)
Kirche (g)
igreja (P)
church (e)
église (f)
largest church in the world?
Well, exactly what are you measuring? Is it a church (a Christian house of worship); a cathedral (a church which is the office for a bishop); or a basilica (a church which has additional ceremonial functions)? Are you measuring weekly attendance, building height, interior floor area, seating capacity, visitor capacity or exterior area? How about we go with interior floor area in square meters or put another way, the measurement if you needed to replace the floor tiles, God forbid.
As you might have guessed, it’s St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome, or more accurately, Vatican City, (an independent city state within Rome). St Peter’s has an interior floor area of 15,160 square meters and a visitor capacity of 60,000 people. Second is the Cathedral Basilica of the National Shrine of Our Lady Aparecida, Aparecida, Brazil with an interior floor area of 12,000 square meters and a visitor capacity of 45,000 people. Rounding out the top ten are:
3) The Cathedral of St. John the Divine (New York, NY) — 11,200 square meters
4) The Basilica of Our Lady of Lichen (Lichen Stary, Poland) — 10,090 square meters
5) Milan Cathedral (Milan, Italy) — 10,000 square meters
6) Seville Cathedral (Seville, Spain) — 9,800 square meters
7) Basilica of the Holy Trinity (Fátima, Portugal) — 8,700 square meters
8) Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls (Rome, Italy) — 8,515 square meters
9) Liverpool Cathedral (Liverpool, England) — 8,400 square meters; and
10) The Basilica Cathedral of Our Lady of the Pillar (Zaragoza, Spain) — 8,318 square meters
When speaking about the architecture of a church, cathedral or basilica, one often hears the term sanctuary, referring to the front portion of the church, which is often higher than the area where the worshipers or congregation sit, and is the place from which a service is conducted.
But the word sanctuary has another historical meaning when used in relation to a church or religious building. Even before Christianity appeared on the scene, temples offered protection to fugitives or those accused of crimes. Once Christianity was established, early Christian churches also offered protection. The concept of sanctuary was part of Roman imperial law. If someone had committed a crime, particularly murder, and then went to a church and claimed sanctuary, the person couldn’t be harmed, arrested or removed from the church. Have you ever seen the movie “The Hunchback of Notre Dame”, based on the novel by French writer Victor Hugo? You might have seen the 1996 Disney version with Tom Hulce (also known for his roles in Animal House and Amadeus) voicing Quasimodo, or, ahem, for more mature readers, the 1939 movie (highly recommended) starring Charles Laughton as Quasimodo. If so, you will likely remember Quasimodo swinging in on a rope to rescue the woman he loves, Esmerelda, from execution, bringing her to Notre Dame cathedral in Paris while shouting “Sanctuary”.
Sanctuary was not a perfect option, however. If not a Christian, the person was expected to convert to Christianity and one couldn’t stay forever, particularly in England. Usually, the person had to leave after 30-45 days, deciding whether to stand trial and possibly face execution; or admit guilt, possibly forfeiting all of their worldly goods and agreeing to be banished forever. A difficult choice but claiming sanctuary did give an accused time, particularly if they were being actively pursued.
Bringing weapons or using force in a church was forbidden (a concept still generally respected) but not always observed by the pursuers of the accused criminal. One of the more famous examples of ignoring these rules was the murder of the Archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas Becket, in Canterbury Cathedral, by four knights of Henry II, King of England, on December 29, 1170. Becket’s murder was the subject of a 1964 Academy Award winning film starring Richard Burton as Becket and Peter O’Toole as Henry II as well as a verse play by T.S. Eliot titled Murder in the Cathedral. Sanctuary was banned by England in 1623 but the idea has made a comeback in recent times with churches offering sanctuary for refugees or immigrants in a country without permission from the authorities.