Churches can be measured and compared in several different ways. These include area, volume, length, width, height, or capacity. Several churches individually claim to be "the largest church", which may be due to any one of these criteria.
The reason the edifice was built was for Christian religious services (see Church (building) for more detail)
Entries are included even if they currently do not function as a church. For example, the Hagia Sophia is included; it was originally built as a church but currently operates as a mosque.[lower-alpha 1]
Buildings that have become churches, but which were not built for that purpose, are not included; for example, the Lakewood Church building, which was originally built to be the Compaq Center.
The building must still be standing.
The building have a known floor area of more than 2,000 square metres (22,000sqft).
Internal floor area is measured to the internal face of the external walls.
External floor area is measured to the external face of the external walls.
A reliable source is present that states the building's area.
Not a Shrine, Tabernacle, Temple, or any other structures that function separately from a church.
↑ The Hagia Sophia was constructed in 360 and operated as a church until 1453 when it was converted into a mosque. In 1935 the Hagia Sophia was reconstituted as a museum open to the public. After this decision was annulled in 2020, the status of the Hagia Sophia reverted to that of a mosque.
1 2 The external floor area also includes the courtyards.
↑ Estimates sometimes vary from source to source, from 22,250 square metres[22] to 24,000 square metres.[23]
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1 2 9,240 m² of Lichen Basilica: enclosed main floor includes transept and apse at 290 m², enclosed tower floor at 560 m², open tower and gallery floor at 23,000 m² (which excludes the porticos at 530 m²), total area includes all floors "Sanktuarium Maryjne w Licheniu" (in Polish). Marian Sanctuary in Licheń. Retrieved 5 September 2012.
↑ "Cathedral". Liverpool Cathedral. Retrieved 5 September 2012.
↑ Carvalho, António PO; Freitas, Diamantino (10 July 2003). "The New Megachurch for the Sanctuary of Fátima"(PDF). Tenth International Congress on Sound and Vibration. Stockholm: University of Porto. Retrieved 29 May 2015.
↑ "O catedrală pentru capitală"[A Capital Cathedral]. Cathedral of Salvation of the Nation (in Romanian). Romanian Orthodox Church. Retrieved 23 November 2018.
↑ "Building". www.svenskakyrkan.se (in Swedish). 28 November 2022. Retrieved 30 January 2023.
↑ Lampen, Michael. "Architecture". Grace Cathedral. Retrieved 22 April 2019.
↑ "I love early morning Sofia". Hitotoki. Archived from the original on 30 March 2010. The church occupies an area of 3170 m² and can accommodate up to 5,000 worshippers inside, which makes it the second biggest cathedral on the Balkan Peninsula after the Temple of Saint Sava in Serbia
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