Do Other Christian Churches Have Big Church Buildings Like Catholic Churches?

When the Christchurch Cathedral Anglican was destroyed in the earthquake of 2011, they built a temporary cathedral using pressed cardboard tubes as its main supports. It gained minor fame as the Cardboard Cathedral.

The Case of Christchurch Cathedral: New Zealand

In recent times, it's far too common to simply smash some concrete together and refer to the structure as a “church building”. However, there is no denying that many modern "megachurches" constructed more akin to football stadiums or modern-made-to-order Orthodox concrete monstrosities do not hold the same weight or significance as the majestic cathedrals at Chartres, Canterbury, or Notre Dame—structures built for centuries that employed experimental architectural techniques and adorned by the best artisans of their time.

A General Perspective on Cathedral-Building Traditions

In Latin Christendom, the term cathedral refers to massive projects that took several generations to complete, employing novel architectural techniques and decorated by top-tier Renaissance artists. However, these grand cathedrals do not represent the entirety of Christian church buildings. While the temples and artifacts from this tradition continue to thrive within modern Catholicism, they also permeate the Protestant national churches in northern countries such as

England Northern Europe (Nordics) Netherlands

which retained a substantial portion of their medieval traditions.

The Contrast Between Catholic and Orthodox Traditions

The Orthodox Church, while not entirely disregarding grand cathedrals, does not engage in such monumental building projects as systematically as their Latin counterparts. One notable exception is the Ayasofya in Constantinople, a wonder of the world both in size and engineering, but it was the rare exception. Eastern churches, generally built on an economical scale, seldom saw the grandeur of cathedral-building practices.

Muscovy's Grand Cathedrals: An Historical Anomaly

From the 16th century onwards, Russian Czars began to hire or force Italian architects to design and construct more imposing cathedrals. While these projects were still ambitious, the aesthetic and scale of these structures were notably less impressive compared to their counterparts in Western Europe.

Examples of Eastern Orthodox Churches

Photos by Author, Florence Duomo, showing the impressive ceiling and floor

Take, for example, the St. Basil's Cathedral in Moscow's Red Square. Built in just six years at Ivan the Terrible's command, it was likely overseen by Italian architects. However, the project was completed with a low budget leftover from another venture, resulting in traditional towers painted in garish colors to impress the Czar.

Author's photo of the interior of the Florence Baptistry completed in the 12th century, showing Byzantine-style decoration

One should note that even within these countries, there are examples of smaller, seemingly less grand structures. For instance, the Baptistry of the Florence Cathedral, completed in the 12th century, stands right in front of the massive Duomo. Despite always being a Catholic church, its interior is decorated in true Byzantine style. This contrast illustrates how Western Europe began to build on a grand scale as Catholic Christendom entered its Renaissance era.