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Best churches to visit worldwide

This is the widest group in the catalogue: parish churches, royal abbeys that are no longer abbeys, pilgrimage churches and a few buildings that are churches in the most unusual sense. It includes the rock-hewn churches of Lalibela in Ethiopia, carved down into the stone; the Salt Cathedral of Zipaquirá in Colombia, built inside a salt mine; Westminster Abbey, where English monarchs are crowned; the Gergeti Trinity Church beneath Mount Kazbek in Georgia; the medieval frescoes of the Boyana Church in Sofia; and the carvings of Rosslyn Chapel near Edinburgh.

Bath Abbey

Bath, United Kingdom

The abbey asks for a suggested donation rather than a fixed ticket for the nave, and the atmosphere is welcoming rather…

1 ticket or tour

Biertan fortified church

Biertan, Romania

The fortified church of Biertan stands on a hill in the village of Biertan in Transylvania, Romania, surrounded by…

1 ticket or tour

Blue Church

Bratislava, Slovakia

Entry is free but the church is open only for a short window each day, usually around the morning and evening masses,…

1 ticket or tour

Borgund Stave Church

Flam, Norway

One ticket covers the church and the visitor centre across the road, which has a good exhibition on how stave churches…

1 ticket or tour

Chiesa di Santa Maria di Idris

Matera, Italy

Santa Maria di Idris is cut into the Monterrone, the tall rock spur that rises in the middle of the Sasso Caveoso in…

1 ticket or tour

Christ Church

Philadelphia, United States

Christ Church is in the old city, two blocks from the waterfront and five minutes from Independence Hall, and it asks a…

1 ticket or tour

Church of Theth

Theth, Albania

The Church of Theth is a small Catholic church in the village of Theth, in the Shala valley of the Accursed Mountains,…

1 ticket or tour

Clerigos Church and Tower

Porto, Portugal

One ticket covers the church, the museum in the brotherhood's old rooms and the tower, and it is timed, with…

1 ticket or tour

Entoto Maryam Church

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Entoto Maryam Church stands on the Entoto hills, the mountain range that rises above the northern edge of Addis Ababa,…

1 ticket or tour

Frauenkirche, Dresden

Dresden, Germany

Entry to the church is free during opening hours, with a donation box at the door.

1 ticket or tour

Garrison Church, Potsdam

Potsdam, Germany

The Garrison Church stands on the Breite Strasse in the centre of Potsdam, Germany, near the Potsdam Film Museum, and…

1 ticket or tour

Great St Martin Church

Cologne, Germany

The church is free to enter. What costs a small sum is the guided descent into the excavations beneath it, which show…

1 ticket or tour

Iglesia de San Nicolás

Granada, Spain

The Church of San Nicolás stands at the top of the Albaicín, the old Moorish quarter of Granada, southern Spain, beside…

1 ticket or tour

Kawaiahaʻo Church

Honolulu, United States

Kawaiahao Church stands in downtown Honolulu, on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, near the Iolani Palace and the King…

1 ticket or tour

Kreuzkirche

Kassel, Germany

The Kreuzkirche is a Protestant church in the Vorderer Westen district of Kassel, Germany, a residential quarter west…

1 ticket or tour

La Madeleine

Paris, France

The church is free to enter and there is no ticket of any kind.

1 ticket or tour

Nieuwe Kerk, Amsterdam

Amsterdam, Netherlands

The church functions as an exhibition hall rather than a parish, and the ticket price depends entirely on what is…

1 ticket or tour

Oude Kerk, Amsterdam

Amsterdam, Netherlands

The Oude Kerk, the Old Church, stands in the heart of Amsterdam's oldest district, De Wallen, now the red-light…

1 ticket or tour

Saint-Emilion Monolithic Church

Bordeaux, France

The underground monuments of Saint-Emilion can be seen only on a guided tour run by the tourist office, and the ticket…

1 ticket or tour

Santa Monica

Florence, Italy

The Church of Santa Monaca stands on Via Santa Monaca in the Oltrarno district of Florence, Italy, the neighbourhood…

1 ticket or tour