Church Architecture

St Davids Cathedral is an Anglican cathedral situated in St Davids, Britain's smallest city, in the county of Pembrokeshire, near the most westerly point of Wales. The monastic community was founded by Saint David, Abbot of Menevia, who died in 589. Over the ensuring years the area was raided and pillaged by Vikings who destroyed all the buildings.. In 1115, with the area under Norman control, King Henry I of England began construction of a new cathedral. In 1123, St Davids, was a center of pilgrimage for the Western world; the Pope decreed that "Two pilgrimages to St Davids is equal to one to Rome, and three pilgrimages to one to Jerusalem". The new cathedral was quickly constructed. Henry II of England's visit in 1171 saw the following of David increase and the need for a larger cathedral. The present cathedral was begun in 1181 and completed not long after.

The St. Francis of Assisi Cathedral (Greek: Εκκλησία του Αγ. Φραγκίσκου της Ασίζης)  also called Catholic Cathedral of Rhodes, is a Roman Catholic church located in the city of Rhodes, Greece

St John's Archcathedral (Archikatedra św. Jana w Warszawie) is a Catholic church within the Old Town precinct in Warsaw, Poland. It is dedicated to John the Baptist.

St. Joseph Cathedral is a Catholic cathedral in downtown San Diego, California. It is the seat of the Diocese of San Diego. What started as a frame building in 1874 was replaced by a brick church in 1894 and a cathedral in 1936

Saint Mark’s Basilica (Basilica di San Marco a Venezia) is a world famous Byzantine cathedral in Venice’s St. Mark’s Square, sometimes known as Chiesa d’Oro or “Church of Gold."  St. Mark’s Basilica was originally founded in 828 AD, after the relics of the patron saint Mark the evangelist were brought, or reportedly stolen, from Alexandria.  At that time it was a temporary building forming part of the palace of the Doge Giustiniano Particiaco.

Saint Mark’s Basilica has undergone a series of transformations, first being built as a permanent church in 832 only to be burnt down in 976 as part of a rebellion. Although the church was rebuilt in 978, it was actually a construction project commenced in 1063 under the auspices of Domenico Contarini which formed the basis of the current form of Saint Mark’s Basilica.

In 1094 It was dedicated to Saint Mark. Since that time, Saint Mark’s Basilica has undergone a series of changes, both in terms of its architecture and social stature. Numerous people have added to and enhanced St Mark’s Basilica over the years, bringing pieces from around the world which have contributed to its grandeur.

From a religious perspective, St Mark’s Basilica was a state church until 1807, when it became the seat of the Patriarch of Venice and, on the subsequent orders of Napoleon, the city cathedral.

St. Mary Cathedral Basilica is a Catholic church situated in Galveston, Texas. It is the primary cathedral of the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston and the mother church of Catholics in Texas, as well as a minor basilica. It started as a small wooden-framed building in Galvestan in 1842 and was dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Because St. Mary Cathedral was the first Catholic cathedral in the state of Texas, and the original Diocese of Galveston encompassed the entire state, it has the distinction of being the mother church of all the Catholic dioceses in Texas.

St. Mary Cathedral was named a Texas state historic landmark in 1968 and a national historic landmark in 1973. In 1979, in recognition of the cathedral's importance to the community and the state of Texas, as well as the historical impact it had on Catholicism in the state of Texas, Pope John Paul II elevated St. Mary Cathedral to the status of a minor basilica

St. Mary's Cathedral is a Catholic cathedral located in Colorado Springs, Colorado, United States. It is the seat of the Diocese of Colorado Springs. The property on which St. Mary's sits was purchased for $3,100 in 1888.

St. Mary's Cathedral is the cathedral and parish church in the Diocese of Cheyenne located in Cheyenne, Wyoming, United States.

The parish was founded as St. John the Baptist in 1867 and erected a frame church. The congregation outgrew the small brick church and construction of the new cathedral began in 1906.

St. Michael's Cathedral is the mother church of the Diocese of Springfield in Massachusetts, United States.

The parish was established in 1847 as the church of St. Benedict.Rev. Michael P. Gallagher, the first priest, began construction of the current building in 1860. In recognition of Fr. Gallagher's work, the parish changed its name to St. Michael.

When Pope Pius IX established the present Diocese of Springfield in Massachusetts in 1870, St. Michael's church became its cathedral.

St. Nicholas Cathedral is a 13th-century Gothic Roman Catholic church in Elbląg, Poland. Established in c. 1247. Since 1539 the city council tacitly tolerated and gradually openly promoted Lutheranism, so that St. Nicholas Church had become a Lutheran church by 1573.In 1611 the free practice of the Catholic religion in prevailingly Lutheran Prussia was allowed by law. Based on that St. Nicholas was restored as a Roman Catholic parish church in 1612, then the only one in Elbląg, and remaining a Catholic church since.

It was damaged by fire in the late 18th century and suffered damage during World War II. It was elevated to the status of cathedral in 1992.

The Diocese of New York was founded by Pope Pius VII in 1808. St. Patrick's was founded shortly afterward to serve New York City's small, but growing, Catholic population. The original site was on Mulberry Street where St. Patrick's Old Cathedral was dedicated in 1815.At the time, there were 15,000 Catholics in the diocese.When Catholics increasef to 200,000+ a new site for the Cathefral was chosen on Fifth Avenue.

St. Patrick's boasts some exquisite Neo-Gothic architecture, with two elegant spires lying either side of a stunning stained glass rose window.

Inside are some fine altars and artworks, with the huge Pieta statue being the undoubted highlight. The largest cathedral of its type in the States, St. Patrick’s can be found on Fifth Avenue, right in front of the renowned Rockefeller Center.

St. Patrick's Cathedral is in Armagh, Northern Ireland. It serves as the Roman Catholic cathedral of the Archdiocese of Armagh, the original medieval Cathedral of St. Patrick having been retained by the state church, the Church of Ireland, at the time of the split of the Irish Church during the Reformation. 

Since the Irish Reformation under Henry VIII, no Catholic Archbishop had resided in Armagh. Since the seventeenth century, the majority Catholic population of Ireland had lived under the rigours of the Penal Laws, and the public public practice of Catholicism was almost completely extinguished and all Churches existent at the time of the enactment of the laws were ceded to the Established Church. By the end of the eighteenth century, there were few Catholic churches and no cathedrals in existence in Ireland. Following Catholic emancipation in 1829, the need to construct churches and cathedrals to serve this population became apparent. Construction was delayed by lack of available land for purchase, the Irish Potato Famine, a cholera epidemic and the death of the original architect and the deaths of five Archbishops.