Beauty and Christ
Historic Christian Sites
Christianity has left its mark across two thousand years and every continent, in places you can still visit: the hidden catacombs of Rome where the first believers buried their dead, the great domed Hagia Sophia in Constantinople, the windswept island monasteries of Iona and Lindisfarne, and St Peter’s Basilica in Rome. Each is a chapter in a story still being written.
A faith you can visit
The catacombs of Rome, underground burial galleries where persecuted early Christians laid their dead and painted the earliest Christian art. Hagia Sophia in Constantinople (Istanbul), completed in 537 under the emperor Justinian, for nearly a thousand years the largest church in the world. Iona and Lindisfarne, island monasteries off Britain from which the Gospel spread through the British Isles. Canterbury, the seat of English Christianity. St Peter’s Basilica in Rome, built over the traditional tomb of the apostle Peter. And countless village churches, mission chapels, and cathedrals on every continent since.
What they point to
Taken together, these sites tell one astonishing story: a movement that began with a small band of Galileans following a crucified and risen teacher has, in twenty centuries, reached every nation on earth. The buildings are the visible trail of something that could not be stopped. Jesus said it would be so.
The stones are impressive. The living Church they belong to is more impressive still, and it is not a relic. You can see it, and join it, today.
Come and see
Beauty is a door, never a trick. The cathedrals, the hymns, and the long roads of pilgrimage were all made by people who had first found something, or Someone, worth the labour of a lifetime. If the beauty draws you, follow it to its source. The living Christ it points toward is not an argument to win but a Person to meet, and he still draws near to everyone who comes to him with an open heart. The Gospel of John is a gentle place to begin.
Meet JesusRead the Gospel of JohnThe Church around the worldJesus Christ is Lord.
Frequently asked questions
- What are the most important historic Christian sites?
- Among them are the catacombs of Rome, where the earliest Christian art survives; Hagia Sophia in Constantinople, completed in 537; the island monasteries of Iona and Lindisfarne; Canterbury Cathedral; and St Peter's Basilica in Rome, over the traditional tomb of Peter.
- What are the Roman catacombs?
- The catacombs are underground burial galleries beneath Rome where early Christians, often under persecution, buried their dead and painted some of the earliest Christian art, images of hope in the resurrection.
- What do historic Christian sites show us?
- They trace one remarkable story: a movement that began with a small band following a crucified and risen Jesus reached every nation on earth within twenty centuries. The sites are the visible trail of a living, worldwide Church, not a relic of the past.