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Østerlars Round Church, Bornholm, Denmark

A round church is a church with a completely circular plan, thus a rotunda in architectural terms.

There are many Nordic round churches in Sweden and Denmark (notably the island of Bornholm); round churches were popular in Scandinavia in the 11th and early 12th centuries.

Round churches should not be confused with the older types of round-tower church constructions. Churches with many-sided polygonal shapes (such as the 16-sided example in Richmond, Vermont, USA) are likewise colloquially referred to as 'round'.

Round churches by country

Armenia

Zvartnots Cathedral in Vagharshapat (Etchmiadzin),^[1] often cited as the world's largest round church during its existence in the Middle Ages^[2]^[3]^[4]

Canada

Croatia

Denmark

Nyker Church
Nylars Church
Saint Ols Church
Østerlars Church, Bornholm
Bjernede Church, Zealand
Horne Church, Funen (with later gothic extensions)
Thorsager Church, Jutland

Ethiopia

Ura Kidane Mehret Church, Lake Tana^[5]

France

Medieval churches of Saint-Bonnet-la-Rivière and Neuvy-Saint-Sépulchre, Baroque churches as Chapelle de l'Oratoire, Avignon and Vieille Charité church, Marseille

Germany

Aachen Cathedral. Liebfrauenkirche in Trier. St. Ludwig in Darmstadt, Hessen. There is also a round church in Untersuhl, Thuringia.

Hungary

Saint Anne Church, Kallósd
Roman Catholic Church, Kiszombor
Rotunda, Öskü
St. Jacob Rotunda, Ják
Neoclassical church, Balatonfüred (19th century)

Italy

Church of Saint Stephen, Rome
Church of Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, Rome
Old Cathedral, Brescia
Church of Saint Lawrence, Mantua
Santo Stefano, Bologna
Church of Saint Angelo, Perugia
Church of Saint Marie, Forlì

Malta

Mexico

Capilla del Pocito, an 18th-century Baroque chapel now part of the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe complex in Mexico City

The Netherlands

Ronde Lutherse Kerk

Norway

St. Olav's Abbey, Tønsberg

Philippines

Padre Pio Shrine, Santo Tomas, Batangas
Church of the Holy Sacrifice in the campus of the University of the Philippines Diliman, Quezon City

Portugal

Monastery of Serra do Pilar, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, Vila Nova de Gaia
Church of the Convent of Christ, former headquarters of the Order of Christ and UNESCO World Heritage Site, Tomar
Chapel of São Mamede, a 16th-century round chapel in the village of Jana, Sintra
Church of Bom Jesus da Cruz, an 18th-century round church with greek cross interior located in Barcelos, district of Braga
Basilica of the Holy Trinity, a minor basilica in the Sanctuary of Fátima in the city of Fátima

Serbia

Spain

Sant Gregori Taumaturg, Barcelona
Iglesia San Marcos, Salamanca

Sweden

Church ruins of Agnestad
Bromma Church
Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church, Stockholm^[6]
Hagby Church
Church ruins of Klosterstad [de]
Munsö Church
Skörstorp Church
Solna Church
Tjärstads Church [sv]
Valleberga Church
Vårdsberg Church [sv]
Voxtorp Church

United Kingdom

In England, there are four medieval round churches still in use: Holy Sepulchre, Cambridge; Temple Church, London; St John the Baptist Church, Little Maplestead, Essex, and The Holy Sepulchre, Northampton. St Chad's Church, Shrewsbury, is a Georgian round church, and the Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral was built in the 20th century. The 18th-century All Saints' Church, Newcastle upon Tyne, is now part of the Evangelical Presbyterian Church in England and Wales.

In Scotland, the medieval Orphir Round Church near Houton on Mainland, Orkney, is in ruins. Kilarrow Parish Church at the top of main street in Bowmore is a round church, built in 1767, on the island of Islay, on Scotland's west coast.

Gallery

Church of the Holy Transfiguration, Sarajevo, Bosnia
Church of Saint Vitus, Rijeka, Croatia
Bjernede Church near Sorø, Denmark
Thorsager Church, Thorsager, Denmark
Thorsager church, interior
Holy Sepulchre, Cambridge, England
Untersuhl Church, Germany
Saint Anne Church, Kallósd, Hungary
Bowmore Church, Islay, Scotland
Church of St. Anthony of Padua, Belgrade, Serbia
The rotunda of Saint Nicolas, Cieszyn, Poland

References

Ann Vibeke Knudsen, The Old Churches of Bornholm. Bornholm Museum, Rønne, 1999. ISBN 87-88179-43-5.

^ Adalian, Rouben Paul (2010). Historical Dictionary of Armenia. Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press. p. 82. ISBN 978-0-8108-7450-3. ...the singular jewel of Armenian architecture, the seventh-century round cathedral of Zvartnots...
^ Baliozian, Ara (1980). The Armenians: Their History & Culture. Ararat Press. p. 148. ...the famous 7th-century Zvartnots cathedral (the largest round church in the world)...
^ Chahin, M. (2001). The Kingdom of Armenia: A History. Curzon. p. 275. It is the largest round church in the world.
^ Fodor's Soviet Union, 1985. Fodor's Travel Publications. 1984. p. 379. ISBN 9780679011545. ...the ruined seventh-century Cathedral at Zvartnots. Zvartnots, in its day the largest round church in the world ...
^ "Churches of Ethiopia".
^ "The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church". 21 November 2017.