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, United States) are likewise colloquially referred to as 'round'.
Round churches by country
Armenia Zvartnots Cathedral in Vagharshapat (Etchmiadzin), often cited as the world's largest round church during its existence in the Middle Ages
Bosnia Church of the Holy Transfiguration, Sarajevo
Brazil Cathedral of Brasília
Bulgaria Round Church, Preslav
Canada Our Lady of Victory Church, Inuvik St. Jude's Cathedral, Iqaluit Saint George's Round Church, Halifax
Croatia Church of Saint Vitus, Rijeka Church of Saint Donatus, Zadar
Czech Republic Rotunda of St. Catherine, Znojmo Rotunda of St. Peter and Paul, Budeč -the oldest, believed to have been built between 895-915. Rotunda of St. Peter and Paul, Starý Plzenec Rotunda of St. George and St. Vojtěch, Říp Rotunda of St. Martin, Vyšehrad(Prague) This list is not complete. There are 29 surviving Romanesque rotundas or their torsos in the Czech Republic. All dating to the times of Great Moravia. There used to be at least 52, proven by archaeology or found in historical records.
Denmark
Nyker Church, Bornholm Nylars Church, Bornholm Saint Ols Church, Bornholm Østerlars Church, Bornholm Bjernede Church, Zealand Horne Church, Funen (with later gothic extensions) Thorsager Church, Jutland
Ethiopia Ura Kidane Mehret Church, Lake Tana Narga Selassie Church, Lake Tana
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, Abbaye St Croix in Quimperle.
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 Sarria Church Rotunda of Mosta
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 Church of Saint Anthony of Padua at Red Cross, Belgrade Church of Saint Basil of Ostrog, New Belgrade Evangelical church, Zemun
Spain Sant Gregori Taumaturg, Barcelona Iglesia San Marcos, Salamanca
Sweden Church ruins of Agnestad Bromma Church Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church, Stockholm Hagby Church
Munsö Church Skörstorp Church Solna Church
Valleberga Church
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
See also Round-tower church Irish round tower Norra begravningsplatsen
References Ann Vibeke Knudsen, The Old Churches of Bornholm. Bornholm Museum, Rønne, 1999. .
External links