List of oldest church buildings


This article lists some but by no means all of the oldest known church buildings in the world. In most instances, buildings listed here were reconstructed numerous times and only fragments of the original buildings have survived. These surviving freestanding buildings were purposely constructed for use by congregations. The dates are the approximate dates when they were built and/or reconstructed and/or first used by Christian congregations for worship.
The term church may be used in the sense of "Christian denomination" or in the singular as the Christian Church as a whole. The "church" is traced to Pentecost and the beginning of the Christian mission in the first century and was not used in reference to a building.
According to the Catholic Encyclopedia the Cenacle in Jerusalem was the "first Christian church." The Dura-Europos church in Syria is the oldest surviving church building in the world, while the archaeological remains of both the Aqaba Church and the Megiddo church have been considered to be the world's oldest known purpose-built church, erected in the Roman Empire's administrative Diocese of the East in the 3rd century. Several authors have cited the Etchmiadzin Cathedral as the oldest cathedral.
St. Thaddeus Monastery or Qara Kelisa in Chaldoran County, Iran is also noted by UNESCO World Heritage Centre as relating to 66 AD: "According to Armenian tradition such a location was chosen because saint Thaddeus built the earliest church—parts of which are still believed to be in place as the base of the old section—upon the ruins of the temple." In 66 AD, he as one of the Apostles and SanDokht and other Thaddeus' devotees were tortured and executed by Armenia's King Sanatrouk or Sanadruk.

Early Christianity to late antiquity

Church buildings of the 1st to 4th centuries, either excavated archaeologically or substantially preserved.

Late antiquity to early Middle Ages

Church buildings dating to between the 5th and 10th centuries.

Europe

High to late Middle Ages

A selection of notable churches, extant from the 11th to the 14th century.
BuildingImageLocationCountryOldest PartDenominationNotes
Dalby churchDalby, SwedenSweden1060Church of Sweden (Lutheran)Oldest parts date to around the year 1060 and is therefore considered the oldest building in the Nordic countries; however, the only remaining parts from that time are parts of one of the walls.
Church of Our LadyAarhusDenmark1060LutheranAn older wooden church was on the site in the 10th century. The crypt of the church is the oldest extant stone church in Scandinavia. It is still functioning as a church.
Cathedral of PisaPisaItaly1063Roman CatholicBuilt on the foundations of an older church. Dedicated to the Assumption of St. Mary, it is a Primatial church.
Santiago de Compostela CathedralSantiago de Compostela, GaliciaSpain1075 Roman CatholicAccording to tradition, the Apostle James, son of Zebedee spread Christianity in the Iberian Peninsula. In the year 44 he was beheaded in Jerusalem and his remains were later transferred to Galicia in a stone boat. The king Alfonso II of Asturias ordered the construction of a chapel in 810s in the place. This chapel was followed by a first church in 829 and later by a pre-Romanesque church on 899, gradually becoming an important place of pilgrimage. In 997 this primitive church was reduced to ashes by Almanzor, commander of the army of the Caliphate of Cordoba. The construction of the current cathedral in the same place was built between 1075 and 1122 under the reign of Alfonso VI of León and Castile. The baroque façade of Obradoiro was made in 1740; also baroque is that of Acibecharía; that of Pratarías was built by Master Esteban in 1103; the Pórtico da Gloria, a primordial work of Romanesque sculpture, completed by Master Mateo in 1188.
Pammakaristos ChurchIstanbulTurkey1071-1078Orthodox Christianity; Islam after 1591;One of the most famous Byzantine churches in Istanbul, Turkey, and was the last pre-Ottoman building to house the Ecumenical Patriarchate. Converted in 1591 into the Fethiye Mosque
Church of the [Holy Mother of God, Asen's Fortress]Asen's FortressBulgaria1100–1200Bulgarian Orthodox ChurchMedieval Eastern Orthodox church located in Asen's Fortress. It lies near Asenovgrad in the Rhodope Mountains of Plovdiv Province, south central Bulgaria. Constructed most likely in the 12th century, it features two stories, of which the upper story is the church proper and the lower story is of unclear function. The rectangular tower over the church's narthex is regarded as the earliest preserved of its kind in the Balkans. Fragments of frescoes are visible on the walls of the church's upper story.
Monastery of the PantokratorIstanbulTurkey1124-1136Orthodox Christianity; Islam shortly after 1453;It is made up of two former Byzantine churches and a chapel joined together and represents the best example of [Byzantine architecture#Comnenian and Paleologan periods|Middle Byzantine architecture] in Constantinople. After Hagia Sophia, it is the largest Byzantine religious edifice still standing in Istanbul.
Garðar CathedralIgalikuGreenland1126Roman Catholic.The first cathedral built in the Americas. Abandoned in the 14th century.
Church of Saint PorphyriusGaza CityPalestine1150s/1160sGreek OrthodoxOldest active church in the city.
Notre-Dame de ParisParisFrance1160–1260Roman CatholicMedieval Catholic cathedral located in Paris, France, consecrated to the Virgin Mary and considered one of the finest examples of French Gothic architecture.
Church of St Demetrius of Thessaloniki, Veliko TarnovoVeliko TarnovoBulgaria1185Bulgarian Orthodox ChurchMedieval Bulgarian Orthodox Church in the city of Veliko Tarnovo in central northern Bulgaria, the former capital of the Second Bulgarian Empire. The church lies at the northeastern foot of the Trapezitsa and Tsarevets hills, on the right bank of the Yantra River, outside the city's medieval fortifications. Architecturally, it has a pentahedral apse and a cross-domed design with a narthex and a fore-apse space. It was once part of a large monastery and belonged in its southeastern part. The church's exterior is decorated with blind arches and colourful ornaments: glazed rosettes, suns, rhombs and other painted figures. The church was built of stone alternated with three rows of bricks. It is in size. The church was the place where the anti-Byzantine Uprising of Asen and Peter was proclaimed in 1185; it was this uprising that led to the reestablishment of the Bulgarian Empire and the proclamation of Tarnovo for its capital.
Holy Forty Martyrs Church, Veliko TarnovoVeliko TarnovoBulgaria1230Bulgarian Orthodox ChurchMedieval Eastern Orthodox church constructed in 1230 in the town of Veliko Tarnovo in Bulgaria, the former capital of the Second Bulgarian Empire. The Holy Forty Martyrs Church, an elongated six-columned basilica, has three semicircular apses and a narrow narthex from the west. Another building was added later to the west side of the church. The church interior was covered with mural painting probably in 1230. On the western addition some of the outer decoration survived revealing the traditional arches and coloured small ceramic plates inserted into the wall. It is not clear if the church has frescoes painted on the outer walls. Some of the Bulgarian Empire's most significant historical records are stored in the church, including Omurtag's Column, Asen's Column and the Border Column from Rodosto from the rule of Khan Krum.
St. Michael's ChurchViennaAustria1220–1240Roman CatholicOne of the oldest churches in Vienna, Austria, and also one of its few remaining Romanesque buildings. Dedicated to the Archangel Michael, St. Michael's Church is located at Michaelerplatz across from St. Michael's Gate at the Hofburg Palace.
Church of [Saints Peter and Paul, Veliko Tarnovo]Veliko TarnovoBulgaria1218–1241Bulgarian Orthodox ChurchMedieval Bulgarian Orthodox church in the city of Veliko Tarnovo in central northern Bulgaria, the former capital of the Second Bulgarian Empire. The 13th-century church lies at the foot of the Tsarevets hill's northern slopes and was reconstructed in 1981. The church is dedicated to the Christian Apostles Saint Peter and Saint Paul. It follows the cross-domed design and has a single apse. The cella is divided into three naves by two rows of columns. The columns' capitals are decorated with plastic carving and tracery. The church has a high, massive iconostasis. According to the 14th-century account of Patriarch Evtimiy, the church and the surrounding monastery were built on the order of Tsar Ivan Asen II's wife Anna.
Hagia Sophia, TrabzonTrabzonTurkey1238-1263Orthodox Christianity; Islam after 1584;The building dates back to the thirteenth century, when Trabzon was the capital of the Empire of Trebizond. It is one of a few dozen Byzantine sites extant in the area and has been described as being "regarded as one of the finest examples of Byzantine architecture".
Ascension Cathedral, Veliko TarnovoVeliko TarnovoBulgaria1331–1371Bulgarian Orthodox ChurchReconstructed Eastern Orthodox cathedral in the city of Veliko Tarnovo, in north central Bulgaria. Located on top of the fortified Tsarevets hill in the former capital of the Second Bulgarian Empire, the cathedral was the seat of the Bulgarian patriarch from its construction in the 11th–12th century to its destruction in 1393. Standing on top of a late Roman church, the cathedral, reconstructed in the 1970s and 1980s, follows a cross-domed plan with a bell tower and a triple apse. Richly decorated on both the exterior and interior, its internal walls now feature modern frescoes, the presence of which has meant that it has not been reconsecrated. Though not active as a Christian place of worship, it has been open for visitors since 1985.
Church of Christ Pantocrator, NesebarNesebarBulgaria1331–1371Bulgarian Orthodox ChurchMedieval Eastern Orthodox church in the eastern Bulgarian town of Nesebar, on the Black Sea coast of Burgas Province. Part of the Ancient Nesebar UNESCO World Heritage Site, the Church of Christ Pantocrator was constructed in the 13th–14th century and is best known for its lavish exterior decoration. The church, today an art gallery, survives largely intact and is among Bulgaria's best preserved churches of the Middle Ages.
Church of Saint Paraskevi, NesebarNesebarBulgaria1331–1371Bulgarian Orthodox ChurchPartially preserved medieval Eastern Orthodox church in Nesebar, a town on the Black Sea coast of Burgas Province in eastern Bulgaria. It was most likely built in the 13th or 14th century and forms part of the Ancient Nesebar UNESCO World Heritage Site. The Church of Saint Paraskevi features a single nave and a pentagonal apse as well as rich exterior decoration. Its dome and the belfry surmounting the narthex have not been preserved today, and it is unknown which of the three saints named Paraskevi it was dedicated to.

Early modern

Notable early churches built in the New World between the 15th and 19th centuries. Listed are especially the oldest extant church buildings by country.