Round church

A round church is a special type of church construction, having a completely circular plan. There are many Nordic round churches in Sweden and Denmark (notably the island of Bornholm) and were popular church constructions in Scandinavia in the 11th and early 12th centuries.

Østerlars Round Church, Bornholm, Denmark

Round churches should not be confused with the older types of round-tower church constructions. Churches with many-sided polygonal shapes (such as the 16-sided example in Richmond, Vermont, USA) are colloquially referred to as round as well.

Round churches by country

Bosnia

Church of the Holy Transfiguration in Sarajevo.

Bulgaria

Round Church, Preslav

Brazil

Cathedral of Brasília

Canada

Our Lady of Victory Church, Inuvik; St. Jude's Cathedral, Iqaluit; Saint George's Round Church, Halifax

Croatia

Church of Saint Vitus in Rijeka.

Denmark

Nyker Church, Nylars Church, Saint Ols Church and Østerlars Church, Bornholm; Bjernede Church, Zealand; Horne Church, Funen (with later gothic extensions), and Thorsager Church, Jutland.

United Kingdom

There are four medieval round churches still in use in England: Holy Sepulchre, Cambridge; Temple Church, London; St. John the Baptist Church, Little Maplestead, Essex, and The Holy Sepulchre, Northampton. St Chad's Church, Shrewsbury is a Georgian round church, and the Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral was built in the 20th century. The 18th-century All Saints' Church, Newcastle upon Tyne is redundant and used for other purposes.

In Scotland, the medieval Orphir Round Church near Houton on Mainland, Orkney is in ruins. Kilarrow Parish Church at the top of main street in Bowmore, is a round church, built in 1767, on the island of Islay, on Scotland's west coast.

Germany

Aachen Cathedral. Liebfrauenkirche in Trier. St. Ludwig in Darmstadt, Hessen. There is also a round church in Untersuhl, Thuringia.

Hungary

Saint Anne Church in Kallósd, Roman Catholic Church in Kiszombor, Rotunda in Öskü, St. Jacob rotunda in Ják, Neoclassical church in Balatonfüred (19th century).

Italy

Church of Saint Stephen in Rome; Church of Saint Bernard of Clairvaux in Rome; Old Cathedral of Brescia; Church of Saint Lawrence in Mantua; Santo Stefano, Bologna; Church of Saint Angelo in Perugia; Church of Saint Marie in Forlì.

Malta

Philippines

Church of the Holy Sacrifice in the campus of the University of the Philippines Diliman, Quezon City.

Portugal

Monastery of Serra do Pilar, a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Vila Nova de Gaia, Portugal.

Serbia

Church of Saint Anthony of Padua at Red Cross, Belgrade; Church of Saint Basil of Ostrog in New Belgrade; Evangelical church in Zemun.

Spain

Iglesia San Marcos, Salamanca

Sweden

See also

References

  • Ann Vibeke Knudsen The Old Churches of Bornholm. Bornholm Museum, Rønne, 1999. ISBN 87-88179-43-5.
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