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Friday, March 24, 2006
San Louis
What's the difference between a cathedral and a basilica? And why is the St. Louis cathedral in New Orleans and not St. Louis?
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3 comments:
A cathedral is the church of a bishop (it comes from a word meaning "seat"). A basilica, traditionally, was a church built by a king (from the Greek word basileus). Now I think it refers to a church built from donations (whether or not the donor was a king).
How many churches were built without donations?
In answer to Brandon's question: 27,841.
Actually, Brandon's invective criticism forces me to revise my earlier post. Basilicas are so called because of their style of architecture, a style which was used in the Greco-Roman world for public meeting halls and courts before Christianity. It doesn't have anything to do with the king donating the money.
Most cathedrals are also built in basilica style, which is basically a long middle aisle with columns along both sides.
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