8 Beautiful Churches that Have Been Converted to Secular Uses

via imgur.com

Christianity in Europe is dying, and has been for some time. Churches are empty, they can’t be maintained, and so more and more are being sold or abandoned. Some of them end up demolished, while others are simply converted to some secular use.

While some of these uses are mostly benign (e.g. bookstore) and look nice, is it safe to say there’s a crisis of faith when big beautiful churches are being turned into skate parks and nightclubs?

In no particular order, here are 8 examples of churches that have been converted to secular uses:

[See also: 11 Beautiful Wooden Churches of Eastern Europe]

[See also: 12 Amazing Virtual Tours of the World’s Most Spectacular Churches]

1) Church of Santa Barbara in Llanera, Spain: Skate Park

via imprintculturelab.com

via imgur.com

And here’s a video about the artist who did the artwork, as well as some better views of the inside of the building:

2) Kelvinside Parish Church in Glasgow, Scotland: Event center, nightclub, bar, and restaurant

kaysgeog, Flickr

via arts.gla.ac.uk

thegriphouse.co.uk

3) St. Nicholas Church in Kyloe, England: A private home

via io9.gizmodo.com

via atlasobscura.com

via atlasobscura.com

4) Selexyz Dominicanen in Maastricht, Netherlands: Bookstore

via io9.gizmodo.com

Bert Kaufmann, Flickr

FaceMePLS, Flickr

5) Broerenkerk church in Zwolle, Netherlands: Bookstore

via wherecoolthingshappen.com

via wherecoolthingshappen.com

6) Old military chapel in Antwerp, Belgium: Restaurant

via urbanghostsmedia.com

via inhabitat.com

via inhabitat.com

7) Gothic chapel in Kingston, England: Fishing lodge

Mark Robinson, Flickr

8) St. John the Baptist in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: Brewpub

via io9.gizmodo.com

via io9.gizmodo.com

via io9.gizmodo.com

[See also: Inside Antarctica’s Catholic Ice Chapel, the World’s Southernmost Church]

[See also: 12 Beautiful Pieces of Modern Catholic Art]

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