Emptying temples can remain the dominants of the city and the centers of attraction for citizens, if non-standard solutions are found. “Around the World” has compiled a selection of 13 churches that have successfully changed their “profile” for various reasons.
Martin’s Patershof Hotel
Mechelen, Belgium
The modern design fits into the space of the Neo—Gothic cathedral: the breakfast area is in the altar part, and the stained glass windows of the middle of the XIX century are in the guest rooms.
The history of the cathedral begins around 1231, when the Franciscan Order of the Lesser Brothers was established in Mechelen. The cathedral acquired its current appearance in the middle of the XIX century. The temple functioned until World War II, when the building was requisitioned by the German military. After the war, the Order of the Lesser Brothers began to restore the cathedral, but in the 1990s it was decided to sell the building with the adjacent territory. In 2006, Martin’s Hotels Group implemented an ambitious project to turn the former church into a hotel.
Skate Park
Llanera Municipality, Spain
An example of the synthesis of architecture from the beginning of the last century, modern art and youth subculture. The Church of St. Barbara, built by the Spanish architect Manuel del Busto in 1912, was abandoned after World War II. In 2015, the artist Okuda San Miguel painted the walls and vaults with psychedelic colorful frescoes. They have become the dominant design of the largest skate park in Asturias.
Waanders Bookstore In De Broeren
Zwolle, the Netherlands
BK Architecten has solved the task of adapting the historical building to modern functions in an unusual way. All structures were created without damaging the walls and vaults of the cathedral of the XV century, at any time the store can be dismantled without damage to the historical monument. The bookcases are located on three levels. They are connected by a staircase that runs parallel to the 11-meter cabinets. Moving along the bookshelves, customers climb the stairs to the very vault and can see its design and decor up close.
The Marenostrum supercomputer
Barcelona, Spain
The Torre Girona Chapel, built in the 1860s, is located on the territory of the Polytechnic University. In 2005, it housed the most powerful supercomputer in Spain, Marenostrum. It helps to uncover the secrets of divine creations, including the structure of the human genome and the laws of the universe. The computer is also responsible for weather forecasts.
Meeres Museum
Stralsund, Germany
The North German city of Stralsund is home to one of the most important maritime museums in the world. In 1951, the collection of the Stralsund Museum of Natural History moved to St. Catherine’s Monastery, which became the basis of the future German Oceanographic Museum. Within the walls of the former monastery, various organisms that fill the ocean are actively studied. In the choir of St. Catherine’s Church, visitors can explore the structure of a 15-meter skeleton of a humpback whale.
The Center for Social Assistance to residents
Halle, Belgium
An unusual combination of a classic facade made of historic brick and a modern glass extension in the form of a cube. The main part was built in 1901. The construction company WAW Architects converted the former orphanage into a social services office, preserving not only the chapel and attic rafters, but also the purpose of the building — to help those in need.
The Church Brew Works Brewery
Pittsburgh, USA
The brewery occupies the building of the Roman Catholic Church of St. John the Baptist, which belonged to the Diocese of Pittsburgh until the early 1990s. The owners of the brewery chose an advertising slogan for their company: “And on the eighth day … a man created beer.” In the former altar part there are tanks in which the brewing process takes place.
The tendency to equip pubs in former church premises has spread among the communities of a new movement called “Theology from the tap” (Theology-on-Tap). His supporters believe that drunkenness is considered a sin, and moderate consumption of low-alcohol drinks in the company of believers can help unite the community. The credo of the organizers of the movement: “We are not trying to encourage drinking. <...> We try to encourage open friendly meetings.”
Circomedia Circus School
Bristol, United Kingdom
The circus is no longer the usual set of numbers for clowns and animal tamers. The so-called physical theater is developing, the performances of which are based on serious drama. Since 2005, the former St. Paul’s Church, built at the end of the XVIII century, has been occupied by a modern circus school. At the end of the last century, the building fell into disrepair, but was restored by the Foundation for the Preservation of Churches. The spacious room with high vaults and excellent acoustics allows performances for the townspeople.
Coworking Entrepreneur Nörskyrkan
Stockholm, Sweden
It is not surprising that the “church of entrepreneurs” appeared in Stockholm, one of the most important economic centers of Scandinavia. The coworking is located in the building of the former Greek Orthodox Church. There is now a space for presentations in the altar part. Modern “parishioners” can use it at any time for work, events or meetings with like-minded people.
Limelight Marketplace Shopping Center
New York, USA
The Church of the Holy Communion was built in the middle of the XIX century. Due to financial difficulties, the building was given to the non-profit organization Odyssey House for the rehabilitation of drug addicts. But she handed over the premises to Peter Geishen, who opened The Limelight nightclub in it. He was popular, as it turned out, because of the drug trade. Since 2010, the building has housed a shopping center, which has retained the club’s name — Limelight Marketplace.
Student Theater The Quarry Theatre
Bedford, United Kingdom
In 2015, a theater appeared in the city, which became the Bedford School Performing Arts center and a center of attraction for all residents. The theater occupies the space of the former Moravian church, the caretaker’s house and the churchyard. The foyer of the theater stretches around the apse wall to the preserved altar. Carefully preserving the historical building, the architects managed to organize the space in such a way that the theater can accommodate up to three hundred spectators.
Museum of the Arctic and Antarctic
St. Petersburg, Russia
It is the world’s largest museum dedicated to exploring the poles of the planet. Its creation was due to the growing scientific interest in the study of the North Pole in the 1920s and 1930s. The museum was provided with the premises of the former Old Believers (co-religionists) St. Nicholas Church. This saved it from destruction during the struggle of the Soviet government against religion. Now the museum administration is defending the building, which the co-religionist community of St. Petersburg is trying to regain.
Yablonka Gallery (Galerie Jablonka)
Hürth, Germany
The parish Catholic Church of St. Ursula was built in the 1950s according to the design of Gottfried Boehm, a pioneer of modernist temple architecture and the first Pritzker Prize winner in Germany. Until 2006 it belonged to the Archdiocese of Cologne. The originality of the design attracted the art dealer Raphael Yablonka, who purchased the building and placed a gallery in it. Raphael and Teresa Yablonka attach great importance to the fact that the building is no longer a church. All the religious objects have been removed, including the altar platform and the gallery. Two or three exhibitions a year are held in the premises of the former church, which was renamed the “Boehm Chapel”.
The material was published in the magazine “Around the World” No. 7, September 2021, partially updated in April 2024
The author of the text:Nikolai Datskevich
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