Believers gathering to Saint Spyridon Church of Bucharest, around 1860. Watercolor by Carol Pop de Szatmary.

A place of worship or house of worship is a building or other location where a group of people (a congregation) comes to perform acts of religious praise, honour, or devotion. The form and function of religious architecture has evolved over thousands of years for both changing beliefs and architectural style. Sacred architecture (also known as religious architecture) is concerned with the design and construction of places of worship and/or sacred or intentional space such The term temple is often used as a general term for any house of worship; but churches and mosques are not generally called temples. A temple (from the Latin word Templum) is a structure reserved for religious or spiritual activities such as prayer and sacrifice or analogous rites A church building is a Building or Structure whose primary purpose is to facilitate the meeting of a church. A "mosque" in English refers to all types of buildings dedicated for Islamic worship although there is a distinction in Arabic between the smaller privately owned mosque and the larger

Names used for places of worship

Different religions have different names for their places of worship:

• Bahá'í House of Worship – Bahá'í Faith
• Buddhist temple – Buddhism
• Church – Christianity
  • In Western Christianity, some "private" temples are called chapels, while major public ones are designated by a term reflecting its ecclesiastical status, such as cathedral (seat of a diocesan bishop), basilica, or minster, and/or proper to a cultural tradition, including kirk (Scottish–cognate with church) or dom. A Bahá'í House of Worship, sometimes referred to by its Arabic name of Mashriqu'l-Adhkár ( is the designation of a place of Worship, or Temple, The Bahá'í Faith is a Religion founded by Bahá'u'lláh in nineteenth-century Persia, emphasizing the spiritual unity of all humankind Buddhist Temples monasteries, Stupas and Pagodas sorted by location Buddhism is a family of beliefs and practices Christianity ( Greek Χριστιανισμός from the word Xριστός ( Christ)is a monotheistic Religion centered on the life and teachings A chapel is a holy place or area of Worship for Christians, which may be attached to an institution such as a large church, a College, a This article is about the history and organisation of the cathedral The Latin word basilica (derived from Greek, Basiliké Stoà, Royal Stoa) was originally used to describe a Roman In English usage Minster is an honorific title attached to certain major medieval churches Kirk can mean " church " in general or the Church of Scotland in particular
  • In Orthodox Christianity (both Eastern and Oriental) an Orthodox temple is a church with base shaped like Greek cross. An Orthodox church as a Church building of Eastern Orthodoxy has a distinct recognizable style among Church architectures History While A cross is a geometrical figure consisting of two lines or bars perpendicular to each other dividing one or two of the lines in half
  • Protestant denominations installed in France in the early modern era use the word temple (as opposed to church, supposed to be Roman Catholic); some more recently built temples are called church.
  • Quakers call their places of worship meeting houses. A Friends meeting house is a place of worship for the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers
• Church – Mormons use both church and temple to denote different types of buildings. TalkMormon#Latter Day Saint vs Latter-day Saint --> Mormon Normal worship services are held in churches (sometimes also called ward meetinghouses) while Mormon temples are reserved for special ordinances. In the
• Derasar – Jainism
• Fire temple – Zoroastrianism
• Gurdwara – Sikhism
• Jinja – Shinto
• Kingdom Hall – Jehovah's Witnesses use the term Kingdom Hall to identify their places of worship, and seldom, if ever, use the word 'church' to describe any building in use by them for the purpose of such assembly. A dehrasar is a Temple for followers of Jainism. Jain idols of Tirthankaras are worshipped there Jainism, traditionally known as Jain Dharma / Shraman Dharma (जैन धर्म is an ancient religion of India. A Zoroastrian Fire Temple is a place of worship for Zoroastrians. Zoroastrianism (ˌzɔroʊˈæstriəˌnɪzəm is the religion and philosophy based on the teachings Sikhism ( IPA: or; ਸਿੱਖੀ sikkhī, IPA:) founded on the teachings of Nanak and nine successive gurus in fifteenth century A Shinto shrine is a structure whose main purpose is to house ("enshrine" a Shinto Kami, and is usually characterized by the presence of a (also called Kingdom Hall is the term for the meeting place for Jehovah's Witnesses. Jehovah's Witnesses is a restorationist, millenialist Christian denomination
• Mandir – Hinduism
  • Variously called a mandir' (Hindi), a koyil (Tamil), and an gudi/devalayam/kovela (Telugu). A Hindu temple or Mandir ( Sanskrit: मंदिर is a house of worship for Hindus followers of Hinduism. Hinduism is a religious tradition that originated in the Indian subcontinent.
• Mosque – Islam (also referred to by its Arabic name: Masjid). A "mosque" in English refers to all types of buildings dedicated for Islamic worship although there is a distinction in Arabic between the smaller privately owned mosque and the larger For other meanings including people named 'Islam' see Islam (disambiguation.
• Pathi – Ayyavazhi
• Roman temple – Roman religion
  • Templums for native deities
  • Fanums for foreign deities
• Synagogue – Judaism
  • Some synagogues, especially Reform synagogues, are called temples, but Orthodox Judaism considers this inappropriate as they do not consider synagogues a replacement for the Temple in Jerusalem. Pathi ( Tamil:பதி - "The place where God is" is the name asserted to the primary centres of congregational Fanum At the temples Romans prayed and made Ritual Worship Offerings of a small gift or Animal sacrifices to their Roman Fanum At the temples Romans prayed and made Ritual Worship Offerings of a small gift or Animal sacrifices to their Roman Fanum At the temples Romans prayed and made Ritual Worship Offerings of a small gift or Animal sacrifices to their Roman A synagogue (from Greek: grc συναγωγή transliterated synagogē, "assembly" he בית כנסת beit knesset, "house of Judaism (from the Greek Ioudaïsmos, derived from the Hebrew יהודה Yehudah, " Judah " in Hebrew יַהֲדוּת Yahedut Etymology The Hebrew name given in Scripture for the building is Beit HaMikdash or "The Holy House" and only the Temple in Jerusalem is referred to by this name Some Orthodox Jewish congregations use the term 'shul' to describe their place of worship.
• Daoguan – Taoism
• Greek temple – Greek religion
• Hof – Norse Paganism
• Wat – Buddhism (in Cambodia, Thailand, and Laos)

See also

• Altar
• Ibadat Khana
• Religious architecture
• Reliquary