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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.

Santissima Trinità

Gaeta, Italy

The Sanctuary of the Montagna Spaccata, the Split Mountain, stands on the Monte Orlando promontory at the southern end…

1 ticket or tour

Sint-Janskerk, Gouda

Gouda, Netherlands

A modest ticket covers the church and includes a numbered guide to the windows, which is essential because there are…

1 ticket or tour

St Barbara Church, Cairo

Cairo, Egypt

The Church of Saint Barbara stands in Coptic Cairo, the old Christian quarter in the south of the city, and entry is…

1 ticket or tour

St Mary Redcliffe

Bristol, United Kingdom

St Mary Redcliffe is a large Anglican parish church in the Redcliffe district of Bristol, England, a short walk from…

1 ticket or tour

St Nicholas Church, Mala Strana

Prague, Czech Republic

A modest ticket covers the church, and a slightly dearer one adds the bell tower, which is run separately by the city…

1 ticket or tour

St Thomas Church, Leipzig

Leipzig, Germany

Entry to the church is free with a donation box. The tower climb, 179 steps to a gallery with a view over the city,…

1 ticket or tour

St Thomas’ Church, Erfurt

Erfurt, Germany

The Thomaskirche, St Thomas' Church, is a Protestant church in the neo-Gothic style in the Löbervorstadt district…

1 ticket or tour

Temppeliaukio Church

Helsinki, Finland

Temppeliaukio Church, also known as the Rock Church, stands in the Töölö district of Helsinki, Finland, a short walk…

1 ticket or tour

Trondenes Church

Harstad, Norway

Trondenes Church stands on the Trondenes peninsula about three kilometres north of the town centre of Harstad, in…

1 ticket or tour

Votivkirche

Vienna, Austria

Entry to the nave is free. The museum in the north tower, which holds the Antwerp Altar of 1460 and the tomb of Count…

1 ticket or tour

Agios Sozon Chapel

Naxos, Greece

There is nothing to buy and nothing to book. Agios Sozon is one of the hundreds of small whitewashed chapels scattered…

No online ticket

Alt St Alban

Cologne, Germany

There is nothing to buy: the church is a roofless ruin kept as a war memorial, open to the sky and enclosed by a low…

No online ticket

Augustinian Church, Vienna

Vienna, Austria

Entry is free with a donation box. Nothing inside is ticketed, which is unusual for a church of this importance in…

No online ticket

Aya Yorgi Church

Istanbul, Turkey

The Monastery of Saint George, Aya Yorgi, stands on Yücetepe, the highest hill of Büyükada, the largest of the…

No online ticket

Christ Church, Chelsea

London, United Kingdom

This is a parish church rather than a visitor attraction, and it should be approached as one.

No online ticket

Christ Church, East Sheen

London, United Kingdom

East Sheen sits between Richmond and Barnes in south-west London, and this church stands at the entrance to the common,…

No online ticket

Christ Church, Malacca

Malacca, Malaysia

The church is the red building on the square that every visitor to Malacca photographs, opposite the old Dutch town…

No online ticket

Church of La Compañía, Quito

Quito, Ecuador

La Compania charges admission and is worth every cent, but it is also one of the few churches in Quito with a proper…

No online ticket

Church of Our Lady before Týn

Prague, Czech Republic

The twin towers of Tyn are the image of the Old Town Square, and yet a great many visitors never get inside, because…

No online ticket

Church of Our Lady, Bruges

Bruges, Belgium

Entry to the nave of the Church of Our Lady is free, and the chancel with the tombs and the museum collection is…

No online ticket

Church of Panagia Paraportiani

Mykonos, Greece

The Church of Panagia Paraportiani stands at the edge of Mykonos Town, at the entrance to the Kastro district, near…

No online ticket