Which way the building faces
Many places of worship are built pointing somewhere. Most old churches in Britain have the ALTAR at the east end, towards the rising sun, which Christians linked with the resurrection — and that is where the word orientation comes from, from oriens, the Latin for east. A MOSQUE is laid out towards Mecca, and a SYNAGOGUE usually faces Jerusalem.
Not every building follows the rule. Angkor Wat in Cambodia, built in the twelfth century as a Hindu TEMPLE to the god Vishnu and later a Buddhist one, faces west, which may be linked to the setting sun and death. It is the largest religious monument in the world, and its towers appear on the Cambodian flag.
A church is named after its parts
The NAVE, the main space where the congregation sits, takes its name from navis, the Latin for ship; the long high roof can look like an upturned hull. The FONT used for baptism is often placed near the door, because baptism marks entering the faith. The PULPIT is raised so a preacher could be heard before microphones.
A CATHEDRAL is named after the cathedra, the chair of a bishop: any church, however small, that holds a bishop's seat is a cathedral, and some are smaller than a big parish church. A CHAPEL is a smaller place of worship, sometimes a room inside a school, hospital or palace. A STEEPLE is the whole tower with its SPIRE, the pointed top, on it.
What to do on a visit
Visiting a place of worship is a common school trip, and a little preparation helps. Shoes come off before entering a mosque, a MANDIR, a GURDWARA and most Buddhist temples, so socks without holes are sensible. In a gurdwara everyone, men and women, covers their head, and scarves are usually available at the door. In a synagogue men generally wear a kippah, and many women in mosques cover their hair.
Modest clothing covering shoulders and knees is expected almost everywhere, and it is polite to ask before taking photographs, especially during a service. Hosts usually welcome questions, and many buildings run visits specially for schools.
Buildings that changed hands, and one rebuilt forever
Hagia Sophia in Istanbul was completed in 537 as a Christian cathedral, crowned by a huge DOME, and was the largest cathedral in the world for nearly a thousand years. After the Ottoman conquest in 1453 it became a mosque, and over the following century a MINARET was added at each of its four corners; in 1934 it became a museum, and in 2020 a mosque again. Its layers of Christian mosaics and Islamic calligraphy sit side by side.
At Ise in Japan the main Shinto SHRINE is taken down and rebuilt on a neighbouring plot every twenty years, a custom kept for about 1,300 years; the last rebuild was in 2013. The craft skills are passed on each time. Our Japanese mythology page covers the sun goddess honoured there. Elsewhere in the grid are the PAGODA, the MONASTERY, the CANDLE, the TOWER, the PILGRIM who travels to them, and the parish CHURCH at the centre of so many villages.