Types of church buildings

thumb|Chapel of St Michael and St George at St Paul's Cathedral in London thumb|Schematic rendering of typical "side chapels" in the apse of a cathedral, surrounding the ambulatory A chapel (from , a diminutive of cappa, meaning "little cape") is a Christian place of prayer and worship that is usually relatively small. The term has several meanings. First, smaller spaces inside a church that have their own altar are often called chapels; the Lady chapel is a common type of these. Second, a chapel is a place of worship, sometimes interfaith, that is part of a building, complex, or vessel with s

thumb|Digital reconstruction of the 2nd century BC Basilica Sempronia, in the [[Forum Romanum]] thumb|19th century reconstruction of the 2nd century AD Basilica Ulpia, part of the [[Trajan's Forum, Rome]] thumb|Ruins of Yererouk basilica 4th–5th century AD thumb|Ruins of the late 5th century AD basilica at Mushabbak, Syria thumb|Reconstruction of the basilica at Fano from a description by its architect [[Vitruvius|alt=]]

church which acts as the religious centre of a parish

church built to play a defensive role in time of conflict

church where the daily office of worship is maintained by a college of canons

thumb|Florence Cathedral Duomo (, ) is an Italian term for the main church of a city or a town, usually with the features of, or having been built to serve as a cathedral, whether or not it currently plays this role. The Duomo of Monza, for example, has never been a diocesan seat and is by definition not a cathedral. In a similar way, the town of Asolo has not had its own bishop since the 10th century, but the main church (rebuilt since then) is still called the Asolo Duomo. By contradistinction, the Italian word for a cathedral sensu stricto is cattedrale. There is no direct translation of "d

A co-cathedral is a cathedral church which shares the function of being a bishop's seat, or cathedra, with another cathedral, often in another city (usually a former see, anchor city of the metropolitan area or the civil capital). Instances of this occurred in England before the Protestant Reformation in the dioceses of 'Bath and Wells', and of 'Coventry and Lichfield'. These two dioceses were each named for both cities that served as bishop's seats.

thumb|Eukterion or Orthodox Chapel in, Dipkarpaz, Northern Cyprus Eukterion (), or eukterios oikos (εὑκτήριος οἰ̑κος), literally meaning "a house of prayer", was a term used in the Byzantine and some other Eastern Orthodox societies such as Georgia to refer to private churches—oratories and chapels—that were distinct from, or attached to, the main places of public worship (katholikai ekklesiai).

church building with a single nave and no side-aisles

A pro-cathedral (or procathedral) is a parish church that temporarily serves as the cathedral or co-cathedral of a diocese, or a church that has the same function in a Catholic missionary jurisdiction (such as an apostolic prefecture or apostolic administration) that is not yet entitled to a proper cathedral. The 'pro' is abbreviated from pro tempore ('for the time being' in Latin). A pro-cathedral is distinct from a proto-cathedral, the term in the Catholic Church for a former cathedral, which typically results from moving an episcopal see to another (usually new) cathedral, in the same or an

honorific title given to particular churches in England and other countries

French term for a parish church and churchyard

term which has many meanings within Christianity

Christian church structure centering on the regular gathering of cell groups

Church building, site of Roman Catholic pilgrimage