9781422282762

RELIGIOUS, CULTURAL, AND MINORITY RIGHTS

RELIGIOUS BUILDINGS

Religious buildings can be a good indicator of what religion is (or was) popular in a particular area. These buildings have many different names, depending on the religion itself. Christianity calls its buildings churches, Islam calls its buildings mosques, Hinduism and Buddhism call their buildings temples, and Judaism calls its buildings synagogues. Some religions want to be seen through their architecture. Think about the tall steeples on Christian churches or prayer towers on mosques. These buildings become icons for the presence of the religion. In some areas the buildings may have been converted from a mosque to a church, or vice versa, but you can sometimes tell what the original use was based on its architecture.

A mosque in Istanbul, Turkey.

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