A church, church building or church house is a building used for Christian worship services and other Christian religious activities. The earliest identified Christian church building is a house church founded between 233 and 256. From the 11th through the 14th centuries there was a wave of church construction in western Europe.
Sometimes the word church is used by analogy for the buildings of other religions.[1] Church is also used to describe the Christian religious community as a whole, or a body or an assembly of Christian believers around the world.[2]
In traditional Christian architecture, the plan view of a church often forms a Christian cross; the center aisle and seating representing the vertical beam with the bema and altar forming the horizontal. Towers or domes may inspire contemplation of the heavens. Modern churches have a variety of architectural styles and layouts. Some buildings designed for other purposes have been converted to churches, while many original church buildings have been put to other uses.