Take Me To Church
The Mihrab You Know
Piper, Noooo
It's All Greek, Roman, and Etruscan to Me
A Royal Pain
100
This cross-shaped plan type was common in Romanesque and Gothic cathedrals and often includes an apse.
What is a Cruciform plan?
100
All mosques are oriented to this city, home of the Kaaba and a must to visit if you follow Islam.
What is Mecca?
100
This spiritual workout involves walking in a circle. Repeatedly. Clockwise, please.
What is circumambulation?
100
The most plain of all the orders, but still timeless.
What is Doric?
100
While similar buildings served a religious purpose, this Mughal structure actually was a massive mausoleum for the Shah's wife.
What is the Taj Mahal?
200
This innovation was created to support the towering arches of Gothic cathedrals.
What is a flying buttress?
200
Five times a day, this architectural feature yells "time to pray!" (not actually, but kind of.)
What is a minaret?
200
This mound-like structure used in Buddhist worship holds relics, but you can't go inside.
What is a stupa?
200
This structure, while taking inspiration from Greek temples, stepped outside the box with an oculus and a dome.
What is the Pantheon?
200
This massive complex was both a domestic and a public space for the emperor, who was known as the son of Heaven
What is the Forbidden City?
300
This style of cathedral featured solid, rounded arches with massive walls to support their weight.
What is Romanesque?
300
This niche in a mosque wall isn’t for books—unless they point you toward the holiest city in Islam.
What is a mihrab?
300
This symbolic geometric diagram forms the basis of Hindu temple plans...and the universe.
What is mandala?
300
While this amphitheatre was built by the Romans, they paid homage to Greek column styles on each level.
What is the Colosseum / Flavian Amphitheater?
300
Off with their heads! Versailles was built for this self declared "Sun God," and the lavish palace may have led his demise at the hands of the French revolution.
Who is King Louis XIV?
400
While originally built for Christians in the Byzantine era, this former cathedral is now a mosque.
What is the Hagia Sofia?
400
The most common mosque design includes this type of hall, featuring columns and a central courtyard.
What is hypostyle?
400
Many temples were created using this technique, using carefully cut blocks of stone piled in successive rows called courses.
What is Ashlar Masonry?
400
These decorative square panels often alternate with triglyphs.
What are metopes?
400
This parliamentary building was build during the Romantic era, but utilizes elements of Gothic Architecture.
What is Westminster Palace?
500
This Baroque church hosts 3D sculptures that seem to come to life as they overlap and cast shadows.
What is Il Gesu?
500
The Great Mosque of Isfahan and Alhambra both feature these honeycomb-like decorations resembly intricate stalactites.
What are muqarnas?
500
This concept of an "axis of the world" marks sacred sites and denotes a link between the human and celestial realms.
What is axis mundi?
500
Unlike Greek and Roman temples, Etruscan temples rarely stand today because they were made of this ephemeral material.
What is wood?
500
The mortuary temple of Hatshepsut originally included this feature as part of the complex, filled with exotic trees and plants.
What are terraces?