Explore Religious Heritage Across Europe

Menorca Cathedral is an example of Catalan Gothic architecture, built in the 13th and 14th centuries on top of a mosque. Marès stone (limestone), the island's traditional building material, was used for the construction. A Turkish raid in 1558 seriously damaged the church. Repairs only lasted until 1626, when a fire caused the apse to collapse. After that, a more solid reconstruction took place. The church was raised to the status of a cathedral in 1795.

Meråker church is a white, wooden church that was built in a long church style in 1793 by the architects P. Olsen and E. Nanstad.

The Romanesque basilica from the 13th century has been largely preserved, as is testified by the connection between nave and side aisles. Two centuries later, during the fortification phase, a tower with later demolished parapet walk was erected above the chancel. The defence level of the western tower and its timber frame parapet walk is still preserved. This type of church with two towers is also found in the neighboring village of Dealu Frumos. The square ring wall with two defense towers had loopholes and parapet walks. From the last one only the insertion holes of the beams are still preserved. The gate tower was once home of the castle guardian.

Merida Cathedral dates back to the 13th century. When the city was conquered by Alfonso IX of León and returned to Christian rule, it was attached to the Archbishopric of Santiago de Compostela. Work began on the construction of a chapel dedicated to the Virgin Mary on the ruins of the Visigothic cathedral. In 1479, Don Alonso de Cárdenas, Master of the Order of St. James, ordered the chapel to be enlarged with the aim of making it the main church of the city. In 1620, a bull of Pope Paul V created the title of titular bishop of Merida. The bishop was chosen from among the priests of the Order of Santiago, who chose the church of Santa María as the seat of their bishopric.

In 2013, a new Merkez Mosque was put into use. In the same architectural style as the mosque, a minaret was placed on Saturday, April 6, 2013.

The DITIB Merkez Mosque, one of the largest in Germany, was built in the traditional Ottoman style between 2004 and 2008. The building has a surface area of 40 by 28 metres, a 34 metre high minaret and a 23 metre high silver dome roof. The gross floor area is approximately 2,500 m². There is no call to prayer by a muezzin outside the building.

The Merry Cemetery is a cemetery in the north of Romania famous for its colourful hand-painted wooden crosses, each with a painting and a poem in memory of the person buried below.

Merton College Chapel, dedicated to St Mary and St John the Baptist, was completed in the late 13th century. The present choir, with its huge east window, was completed in 1294. Under Elizabeth I, Protestantism was imposed and Merton College found itself under siege for three weeks by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Matthew Parker, in defence of the old religion. The chapel replaced St. John's Parish Church and continued to serve as a parish church as well as a chapel until 1891.

The early Gothic hall church built in the 14th century with western tower and polygonal chancel was prepared for defence in 1495. The tower was fortified with a wooden defence level, as well as the nave and the chancel. While the vaults of the church were removed because of the risk to collapse during the renovation work in the early 19th century, the tower has been preserved in its medieval form. The fortification wall was protected with three defence towers, of which two are still preserved and an outer bailey was built in the 16th century in the south-western part. A part of this wall was demolished in 1888, allowing a school to be built in that space. The three sides wooden gallery, decorated with Baroque paintings and the winged altar from 1693 above which the 1914 organ is installed, dominates the interior.

This church is listed as a National Monument of the Netherlands.