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Which religion has contracted the best examples of architecture?

Who's builds are most breathtaking, both in art and engineering? ...In ancient architectural design? ...In modern architecture?

Public Comments

1. Hindu. Breathtaking buildings and statues and paintings. I don't know much about anything modern of theirs, though.
2. Stone Henge is rather breath taking when the sun comes up I hear..
3. I would vote Egyptian. Though the hanging gardens of babylon take a very very close second. (At least the paintings of what they *might* have looked like are breathtaking anyway ^_^ )
4. defn... the ancient greek religion
5. Islam
6. taoism
7. If you haven't seen it yet, I'd like to nominate the stunning, ethereal Baha'i house of worship currently under construction in Chile. Additionally is the exquisite house of worship in New Dehli better known as the lotus temple. This building has won numerous architectural awards for its beauty and innovative design. There are too many breathtaking ancient ones from which to choose.
8. The Great Pyramid of Cheops. Still spectacular after four thousand years.
9. The Catholics seem to have exquisite taste in putting together their basilicas both in the old days and even in more recent times. This one was built in 1989 in Ivory Coast in West Africa. http://www.sacred-destinations.com/cote-d-ivoire/yamoussoukro-basilica-of-our-lady-of-peace.htm This one in Italy was built in 1260 http://www.sacred-destinations.com/italy/assisi-basilica-santa-chiara.htm And there is a lot more before an after the examples I cited. I like how they build their places of worship. They are awe-inspiring.
10. for both art and engineering, then it's rome hands down. the pantheon was a feat of engineering unequalled for over a thousand years, and still breathtakingly beautiful. imagine it with its original gold and bronze decorations in the dome and lavishly sculpted pagan idols in its niches. you also have to imagine it in its original urban context, where it was part of a larger complex and didn't look so clunky on the outside. i doubt there's been a more inspiring religious building since. the chinese built some pretty spectacular buildings as well, and the hindus and egyptians, but my tastes tend toward the classical. ultimately, the greeks deserve all the credit for creating religious art and architecture. they perfected what they learned from egypt to such an extent that 3,000 years later, their work is still the gold standard. christians and muslims have certainly built some awesome buildings, but their architecture is directly copied from the roman empire; christians from the western empire and muslim from the eastern, so they get no points for originality. for modern architecture, the japanese win the prize. christian architecture in america today is a cultural embarassment, even when they try to do something worthwhile; but most of the time, they just slap some arches and a steeple on a tin shed and call it a day. mid-twentieth century, tho the catholics had their act together; liverpool cathedral, longchamps, and a number of noteworthy buildings in america showed a true concern for spiritual inspiration rather than warehousing tithers. edit: damn. i forgot sagrada familia in barcelona.
11. For me, it's the ancient Greeks...love that Parthenon!!!