churches and temples - events

959 BC	Israel	The temple of King Solomon of Israel and Judah in Jerusalem is completed. He proceeds to build palaces for himself and his wives. According to the Old Testament, Solomon's temple is made of ashlar stone and with liberal use of gold. However, at 27m/90 ft by 9 m/30 ft (taking the cubit at 46 cm/18 in) it is still smaller than his palace, which measures some 46 m/150 ft by 23 m/75 ft. Solomon's temple is said to be designed more to Canaanite standards than Jewish.
c. 850 BC	South America	The Chauvín de Huantar temple in Peru is constructed. Built without using mortar and with cantilevered ceilings, it is the oldest known building in South America.
c. 550 BC	Lydia	Lydian king Croesus builds the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus. One of the Seven Wonders of the World, it is known for its great size, being 110 m/350 ft by 55 m/180 ft.
c. 510 BC	Greece	The temple of the virgin goddess Aphaea is built on the island of Aegina. It is famed for its sculptures, which in modern times are held in Munich, Germany.
460 BC–457 BC	Greece	The temple of Zeus is built at Olympia, Greece. The labours of the Greek hero Heracles are illustrated on friezes in the temple.
447 BC	Greece	Athenian statesman Pericles commissions the construction of the great temple of Athena, the Parthenon, on the Acropolis in Athens. He intends the Parthenon and other edifices to have a dual religious and patriotic symbolism. Supervised by his friend, the Greek sculptor Phidias, the work is completed in about ten years. Also built on the Acropolis is the Propylaea (or ‘entrance’) and, in later times, the temple of Athene Nike and the temple known as the Erechtheum.
356 BC	Asia Minor	The temple of Artemis at Ephesus, one of the Seven Wonders of the World, is burnt down by Herostratus, who wishes to do something that history will remember him by.
10	Syria-Roman	The Temple of Jupiter is the first of the magnificent Roman buildings to be constructed at Heliopolis (Baalbek), in Roman Syria (modern Lebanon).
118	Roman Empire	The Pantheon, a temple dedicated to all the gods, is rebuilt in Rome. A domed structure, probably designed by the emperor Hadrian himself, it is one of the few classical buildings to have survived virtually intact.
123	Roman Empire	Roman emperor Hadrian orders the building of a great temple in the town of Cyzicus on the Sea of Marmara (in modern Turkey). Completed by Marcus Aurelius about 167, it becomes one of the wonders of the world.
c. 150	South America	A great building complex known as the Ciudadela is constructed in Teotihuacán in the Mexican Basin, about 1.2 km/ 0.75 mi from the great Pyramid of the Sun. This building is now known as the ‘Temple of Quetzalcoatl’ after the temple in its midst, and may have been the residence of the rulers of Teotihuacán.
c. 475	India	The Hindu Dashavatara temple at Deogarh in Uttar Pradesh, India, is built around this time. Sacred to Vishnu, it contains the finest Gupta-period sculpture in India.
532	Byzantine Empire	The building of the great Church of Holy Wisdom, Hagia Sophia, is begun in Constantinople (modern Istanbul, Turkey) at the command of the emperor Justinian. It is designed by two mathematicians, Anthemius of Tralles and Isidorus of Miletus.
760	India	At Ellora, in the Deccan province of India, the monolithic Kailasa cave temple represents the high point of Indian rock-cut architecture. Kailasa is a Hindu temple, but Ellora also contains fine Buddhist and Jain temples.
c. 847	Arab Caliphate	Building begins on the Great Mosque of al-Mutawakkil at the second Abbasid capital of Samarra (in modern Iraq). The largest mosque in the world, its most distinctive feature is its huge spiral minaret built of brick.
975	Spain	The Great Mosque at Córdoba, Spain, begun in 786, is extended, and lavish decoration is applied to the new mihrab (prayer niche indicating the direction of Mecca).
1001	Germany, Holy Roman Empire	Building begins on the Church of St Michael in Hildesheim, Germany. Possibly designed by its bishop, St Bernward, it is the first example of a church in which the different areas of the interior are clearly articulated.
1015	Germany, Holy Roman Empire	Decorated bronze doors are made for the Church of St Michael in Hildesheim, Germany.
1053	Japan	The Hoodo (Phoenix Hall) is built in Byodoin Temple near Kyoto, Japan. The shape of the hall represents a phoenix with its wings outstretched.
1065	Germany, Holy Roman Empire	Stained glass is used for the first time, to decorate a window in the clerestory of Augsburg Cathedral, Germany.
1078–1124	Spain, France	Work begins on the Romanesque cathedral of Santiago de Compostela, Spain, using French masons. Built on a huge scale to accommodate the large number of pilgrims, it is largely completed by 1124.
1093	England	Work begins on Durham Cathedral in Durham, England, continuing until 1133 and including the first example of decorative rib vaulting.
1132–1143	Sicily	The Palatine Chapel in Palermo, Sicily is constructed for King Roger II of Sicily. It combines Byzantine, Islamic, and Norman styles of architecture in a dazzling hybrid.
1137–1140	France	The new west front of Saint-Denis in Paris, France, is built. The design and sculpture of its façade mark the beginning of Gothic architecture. Abbot Suger now begins a new east end, with Gothic vaulting and stained glass windows.
1145	France	Construction begins on the royal portal at the west end of Chartres Cathedral in Chartres, France. Its sculpture shows the transition from the Romanesque to the Gothic style of architecture.
1145	Persia	Construction begins on the ‘Friday Mosque’ at Isfahan, Persia, capital of the Seljuk Turks.
15 July 1149	Kingdom of Jerusalem	The Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem is dedicated.
1163–1220	France	The Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, France is constructed.
c. 1163	Norway	A wooden stave church is built at Borgund in Norway.
1174	England	The choir of Canterbury Cathedral, England, is destroyed by fire. Its reconstruction by the French mason William of Sens marks the beginnings of English Gothic style.
1220	England	Construction begins on the cathedral at Salisbury, England, with Nicholas of Ely as architect.
1319	England	The chapterhouse of Wells Cathedral in England is completed. It introduces the late Gothic practice of using vault ribs for decorative rather than purely structural reasons.
1321	Byzantine Empire	The restoration of the monastery of Christ of Chora (Kariye Camii) in Constantinople is completed, the walls decorated with mosaics and frescoes that are of the highest quality and among the finest examples of late Byzantine art.
1334	Italy	Italian artist Giotto di Bondone is put in charge of the building of Florence Cathedral, and designs the campanile.
1352	Flanders	The Cathedral of Antwerp in Flanders is completed.
1357	Spain	The synagogue (now the Church of El Transito) in Toledo, Spain is completed.
1360	Germany, Holy Roman Empire	The Cathedral of Freiburg in Germany is completed.
1380	Italy	The Cathedral of Siena is completed in Italy. It is one of the finest examples of Italian Gothic.
1387	Italy, Milan	Work begins on Milan Cathedral in Italy. A vast building, combining the Romanesque and Gothic styles, it has a complicated history, with work continuing, on and off, for hundreds of years. Over the years a number of architects work on its design, including Simonde da Orsenigo, Bonino da Campioni, Master Johann of Freiburg, Henrich Parler, and Jean Mignot of Paris.
1421	Italy	Work begins on the Church of San Lorenzo in Florence, Italy. The design is by the Italian artist and architect Filippo Brunelleschi, whose aim is to construct the entire church in cubic units – a revolutionary approach that has a profound effect on Italian Renaissance architecture.
1436	Italy	The dome of Florence Cathedral in Italy, designed by the Italian artist and architect Filippo Brunelleschi, is completed. This marks the completion of the cathedral (known as the Duomo and as Santa Maria del Fiore), though it is ten years before the lantern surmounting the dome is added. Work began in 1296 to a design by Arnolfo di Cambio, enlarged by Francesco Talenti in the 1350s.
c. 1440	Italy	Work begins on the Pazzi Chapel in Florence, Italy, designed by the Italian architect Filippo Brunelleschi. It is completed in the 1460s, with changes made by other architects.
1447	Ottoman Empire	The Üç Serefeli Mosque in Edirne, the first centrally-planned mosque in the Ottoman Empire, is completed. Built in the Ottoman style, it is noted in particular for its fine minarets.
1502	Italy	The Tempietto, a small chapel in Rome, Italy, designed by the Italian architect Donato Bramante, is completed. It is widely seen as the perfect expression of the new classicism of Italian Renaissance architecture.
1507	France	The west front of Troyes Cathedral, France, is completed. Designed by the French architect Chambiges, it is an example of the French late Gothic style ‘flamboyant’.
1508	Anatolia, Ottoman Empire	The mosque of Beyazit in Constantinople, Ottoman Empire, the city's earliest surviving imperial mosque, is completed. Its features include the earliest fully developed Ottoman minarets.
1576	Italy	Work begins on the Church of Il Redentore in Venice, Italy, to a design by the Italian architect Andrea Palladio. It is one of the finest churches of the Italian Renaissance.
1590	Italy	The dome of St Peter's in Rome, Italy, is completed. The original design of 1546 by Michelangelo (Buonarroti) has been modified by the architect Giacomo della Porta, with the assistance of the architect Domenico Fontana. The Sistine Library in Rome is also completed to Fontana's design.
1603	Italy	The façade of the Church of Santa Susanna in Rome, designed by the Italian architect Carlo Maderno, is completed. It foreshadows the baroque style.
1612	Italy	The façade of Saint Peter's, designed by the Italian architect Carlo Maderno, is completed in the Vatican, Rome.
1710	UK	The new St Paul's Cathedral, built to replace the Gothic cathedral destroyed in the Great Fire of London in 1666, is completed in London, England. It has been designed by the English architect Christopher Wren and is one of the greatest baroque buildings in Europe. Marlborough House in Westminster, London, England, designed by the English architect Christopher Wren, is also completed.
1727	UK	The Church of St Mary Woolnoth, London, England, designed by the English architect Nicholas Hawksmoor, is completed.
1731	Italy	The Superga, a church designed by the Italian architect Filippo Juvarra, is completed in Turin, Italy.
1731	Germany, Holy Roman Empire	The pilgrimage church of Steinhausen, Germany, designed by the German architect Domenikus Zimmermann, is completed, an early example of the rococo church. His brother Johann Baptist decorates the church.
1763	America	The synagogue at Newport, Rhode Island, designed by the American architect Peter Harrison, is completed. This is the first synagogue in America; its design, particularly the interior, is one of the best examples of American architecture of the period.
1790	France	The Church of Ste Geneviève (called Panthéon since the French Revolution), designed by the French architect Jacques-Germain Soufflot, is completed in Paris, France. It is one of the earliest and finest expressions of French neoclassicism.
1822	UK	St Pancras Church in London, England, designed by the English architects Henry William Inwood and his father William Inwood, is completed, one of the finest examples of the Gothic Revival style.
1858	USA	Saint Patrick's Cathedral in New York City, designed by the US architect James Renwick, is completed. It is one of the best-known examples of American Gothic Revival.
1877	USA	The Trinity Church in Boston, Massachusetts, designed by the US architect Henry Hobson Richardson, is completed. The interior is decorated by the US artist John La Farge.
1884	Spain	The Spanish architect Antonio Gaudí begins work on the Sagrada Familia Church in Barcelona, Spain, an extravagant and idiosyncratic building that is still unfinished at his death in 1926.