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This article lists some but by no means all of the oldest known church buildings in the world. In most instances, buildings listed here were reconstructed numerous times and only fragments of the original buildings have survived. These surviving freestanding buildings were purposely constructed for use by congregations (or used at an early date). The dates are the approximate dates when they were built and/or reconstructed and/or first used by Christian congregations for worship.
The term church may be used in the sense of "Christian denomination" or in the singular as the Christian Church as a whole. The "church" (Greek ekklēsía, 'assembly') is traced to Pentecost and the beginning of the Christian mission in the first century and was not used in reference to a building.
According to the Catholic Encyclopedia the Cenacle (the site of the Last Supper) in Jerusalem was the "first Christian church."[1] The Dura-Europos church in Syria is the oldest surviving church building in the world,[2] while the archaeological remains of both the Aqaba Church and the Megiddo church have been considered to be the world's oldest known purpose-built church, erected in the Roman Empire's administrative Diocese of the East in the 3rd century.[3][4] Several authors have cited the Etchmiadzin Cathedral (Armenia's mother church) as the oldest cathedral.[5][6][7][8][9][10]
St. Thaddeus Monastery or Qara Kelisa[11] (meaning 'black church') in Chaldoran County, Iran is also noted by UNESCO World Heritage Centre as relating to 66 AD: "According to Armenian tradition such a location was chosen because saint Thaddeus built the earliest church—parts of which are still believed to be in place as the base of the old section—upon the ruins of the temple."[12] In 66 AD, he as one of the Apostles and SanDokht (the daughter of the King or daughter of Abbot Simeon) and other Thaddeus' devotees were tortured and executed by Armenia's King Sanatrouk or Sanadruk.[12][13][14]
^"To the time of Constantine (71–312)". Catholic Encyclopedia. Archived from the original on 24 February 2023. Retrieved 15 November 2013. Certainly no spot in Christendom can be more venerable than the place of the Last Supper, which became the first Christian church.
^Cite error: The named reference Dura-Europos was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^Cite error: The named reference :0 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^Cite error: The named reference aqaba was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^Stokes, Jamie, ed. (2008). Encyclopedia of the Peoples of Africa and the Middle East. New York: Infobase Publishing. p. 65. ISBN 9781438126760. Etchmiatzin is located in the west of modern Armenia, close to the border with Turkey, and its fourth-century cathedral is generally regarded as the oldest in the world.
^Dhilawala, Sakina (1997). Armenia. New York: Marshall Cavendish. p. 72. ISBN 9780761406839. Echmiadzin Cathedral is the spiritual center of the Armenian Church and the seat of the Catholicos of all Armenians. It is also the oldest cathedral and Christian monastery in the world.
^Bauer-Manndorff, Elisabeth (1981). Armenia: Past and Present. Lucerne: Reich Verlag. Etchmiadzin, with the world's oldest cathedral and the seat of the Catholicos, draws tourists from all over the world.
^Utudjian, Édouard (1968). Armenian Architecture: 4th to 17th Century. Editions A. Morancé. p. 7. ...he also wanted to contribute to the restoration of the oldest cathedral in Christendom, that of Etchmiadzin, founded in the 4th century.
^Horne, Charles Francis (1925). The World and Its People: Or, A Comprehensive Tour of All Lands. New York: I.R. Hiller. p. 1312. A far more interesting relic in this Russian section of Armenia is the old monastery of Etchmiadzin. It has been in constant use since the founding of Christianity in Armenia in the third century of our era, and is thus the oldest Christian monastery in the world today.
^Bryce, James, Viscount (1896). Transcaucasia and Ararat, being notes of a vacation tour in the autumn of 1876, by James Bryce. London: Macmillan and Co. LTD. p. 311. ...the famous monastery of Etchmiadzin, which claims to be the oldest monastic foundation in the world...{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
^Qara Kelisa, the feast of St Thaddeus of the Armenians in the oldest church in the world (photos) Archived 2019-04-18 at the Wayback Machine, asianews.it
^ abThe Armenian Monastic Ensembles in Iranian Azarbayjan Archived 2017-12-04 at the Wayback Machine, UNESCO, 2007
^Armenian monastic ensembles (Iran) No 1262 Archived 2019-04-18 at the Wayback Machine, UNESCO - May 25, 1997
^St. Thaddeus Monastery, Armeninan church in Iran Archived 2019-04-18 at the Wayback Machine ,jerusalem-lospazioltre.it
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