Some sacred spaces

Those of you who attend a place of worship will be familiar with its design. It will be your sacred space. But sacred spaces can be very different from each other.
For Jews the most sacred space in the world is the Western (sometimes called 'Wailing') Wall. It is in Jerusalem and is the base of the great temple built by King Solomon. Here every day crowds of Jewish men and women, boys and girls, come to pray in the open air, the males in an area on the left, the females separated from them on the right. Look at more pictures of the Western Wall

The Greeks built temples to their gods and we can still see the ruins of many of them, like this one, on the right, dedicated to Apollo at Delphi.

Some of you will be familiar with the interior of a traditional Anglican parish church.
This is a view looking down the nave towards the rood screen (a screen, or partition, with a cross above it) which separates the nave from the chancel where the choirs have their stalls and where the altar stands.

This worship space is quite a contrast! It is the Ealing Christian Centre, a Pentecostal church which has taken over a cinema building and uses the former auditorium for worship.

Here is a very modern worship space, in Cross Street Unitarian Church, Manchester.












Mosques have a very simple space for prayer. Leeds Central Mosque has been converted from a Roman Catholic church of the 1960s. All the furnishings have been removed to leave an open, beautifully carpeted, area for prayer.

These places are very different from each other but all deserve our respect.

Return to sacred space index page