Sacred Churches of Western Europe

An obvious question to ask would be, “just  what is the distinction between a abbey, a cathedral and a basilica?”


Abbey is a building us by monks or nuns.A Cathedral is a church that contains the cathedra (Latin for 'seat') of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually specific to those Christian denominations with an episcopal hierarchy, such as the Catholic, Anglican, Eastern Orthodox and some Lutheran churches.and a basilica is a large oblong building with double colonnades and semicircular apse, used in ancient Rome as a court of law.

Following the Protestant Reformation, the Christian church in parts of Western Europe, such as Scotland, the Netherlands, certain Swiss Cantons and parts of Germany, adopted a Presbyterian polity that did away with bishops altogether. 


Where ancient cathedral buildings in these lands are still in use for congregational worship, they generally retain the title and dignity of "cathedral", while maintaining and developing distinct cathedral functions, but void of hierarchical supremacy.


Though not necessarily in the order of their magnificence, following are eight of the most awe-inspiring and sacred ones in all Western Europe.


The Intro Media is courtesy of my friend and colleague, Rick Steves, whose PBS series gave me the inspiration to travel  the globe.