6 Breathtaking Churches Around The World That Appear To Be Stuck In Time

If walls could speak, churches would whisper secrets for centuries. All across the world, you can find these holy cathedrals, which are anything but prayer stations — they are time capsules full of stories, myth, and stunning structures. If you are a history aficionado, an architecture buff, or simply a traveller lured by old-world magic, you will go back in time through the following six churches. All have stood through time, with memories in their stone walls. Step inside and you can almost see and relive history spring to life, and know why some locations make time literally come to a standstill for all entering through their gates.

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Here Are 6 Of The World's Most Spectacular Churches:

1. Saint Basil's Cathedral, Moscow, Russia

Photo: Flickr

With its multicoloured onion domes and tale-like facade, St. Basil's Cathedral is perhaps one of the most recognisable churches in the world. Constructed in the 16th century during Ivan the Terrible's rule, the cathedral occupies Moscow's famous Red Square. It's said that the tsar had the architect blind so that he could never duplicate its loveliness elsewhere. True or false, the church's fanciful appearance still seems taken from the pages of some medieval romance novel.

2. Notre-Dame de Paris, France

Photo: Courtesy of Notre-Dame de Paris

Few landmarks represent the Parisian soul as much as Notre-Dame. Although partially demolished in the 2019 destructive blaze, its Gothic grandeur can't be suppressed. For 12 centuries, this cathedral has seen coronations, revolutions, and countless romance plots. Climb the towers for sweeping vistas of the Seine and gargoyles keeping watch over the City of Light.

3. St. Patrick's Cathedral, New York City, USA

Amidst the skyscrapers of Manhattan, St. Patrick's Cathedral stands as an element of neo-Gothic enchantment. Built during the mid-19th century, it's a peaceful refuge from the urban fray. Drop in and gaze in awe at its stunning rose window and marble altar — you'll scarcely recall you're in the middle of Fifth Avenue.

4. Sagrada Familia, Barcelona, Spain

Photo: Courtesy of dosde.com

A church unfinished after more than 140 years? Well, only in Barcelona. Antoni Gaudi's Sagrada Familia is as vertigo-inducing as it is beautiful. Its dizzy spires, intricate facades, and multicoloured stained glass windows are unique in themselves. Its status as an unfinished building may be ongoing — it's a work of art in the making and yet timelessly ageless.

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5. Duomo di Milano, Milan, Italy

Milan's Duomo is one of the most complicated Gothic cathedrals in Europe, and it wasn't finished until nearly six centuries had elapsed. Its statuary and marble spires make it look like some giant, complicated wedding cake. Go on the roof and walk through the spires and enjoy the views down into the cityscape below — it's an ageless Milanese tradition.

6. Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Jerusalem, Israel

Photo: Courtesy of Aleteia/Custody of the Holy Land

Probably Christianity's most sacred site, Jerusalem's Holy Sepulchre Church has long been thought to be the site where Jesus was crucified, buried, and risen. Built in the 4th century, it has been demolished and rebuilt numerous times but yet seems mired in antiquity. Pilgrims arrive in crowds from all points in the world and add their histories to this famous, multi-faceted past.