If you've been to the UK in recent years, chances are you might have stumbled across a church that had been turned into a pub or a home, and thought to yourself "Oh, how quaint!" And indeed, across the country, an estimated 1,000 churches have been converted into everything from restaurants and bars to gyms and supermarkets, to prevent unused churches from falling into disrepair and to make use of these large empty spaces.
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The UK isn’t alone; thousands of churches worldwide are being converted into pizzerias, breweries, skate parks and even nightclubs.
While these initiatives are both criticized and supported by local residents and church groups, owners say they're a way of protecting and occupying buildings that would otherwise get torn down or stand empty. Join us on a trip around the world to explore these sacred spaces-turned businesses.
Divine dining
By far the most popular use for a church conversion is as a restaurant, cafe or bar.
Michelin-starred restaurant The Jane in Antwerp, Belgium for example, is set in the chapel of a former military hospital and was redesigned in 2014 by architect Piet Boon. The unique transformation of the chapel into a high end, contemporary restaurant has been described as “fine dining meets rock ‘n roll.” The restoration was designed specifically with materials that “age beautifully,” and importance was placed on preserving original features of the chapel.
Over in the U.S., St .John the Baptist Church in Pittsburgh was converted from holy to hip in 1996 with the opening of a brewery in the 1902 building, three years after the church was deconsecrated and abandoned. Church Brew Works took care to renovate and restore the original building, including by reusing existing fixtures and copying old images. But the bar's centerpiece is the positioning of the brew house on the apse. When the church was first desanctified and sold, Roman Catholics in the diocese voiced their opposition, which led to restrictions being introduced in the area to stop other churches from becoming bars and clubs.
And if that isn’t enough places to eat and drink, old churches are being used as farms too.
But Church Brew Works is by far from the only church brewery conversion in the U.S.; from 2011 to 2017, at least 10 breweries opened in old churches across the country; When he tried to open a brewery in a 1923 Presbyterian church, Ira Gerhart faced challenges from residents and a minister at a Baptist church a block away, who complained about alcohol being served in the former place of worship. “I get it, you know, just the idea of putting a bar in God's house,” Gerhart said. “If we didn't choose to do this, most likely, it'd fall down or get torn down.”
And if that isn’t enough places to eat and drink, old churches are being used as farms too. Martray Chapel, in Nantes, western France, has been the home of Le Champignon Urbain since 2020, when Nantes City Hall ran a competition to find someone to save the 19th-century abandoned chapel. The company grows shiitake mushrooms in the redesigned chapel, which are then used by local restaurants and sold at farmers’ markets.
Reverent retail
In Bournemouth in the UK, you can do your weekly grocery shop in a church, after the supermarket chain Tesco bought a former Methodist church. Tesco decided to keep the original stained glass windows depicting biblical figures, and the exterior of the church has remained largely the same. A spokeswoman for the church said that money from the sale of the church went back into the local church community, and added that: “Some people have suggested we should be angered by it but there are far worse things happening that we are worried about.”
A former Dominican church in Maastricht in the Netherlands is home to an award winning bookshop. The redesign of the 13th-century church restored the building to its former glory and allowed the space to be used and appreciated. Shoppers can enjoy a coffee in the bookshop’s cafe while appreciating the 14th century frescoes.
Heavenly activities
Ever fancied swimming by a stained glass window? A converted chapel in London that hosts a 25m pool instead of pews could answer your prayers. The chapel opened in 1893 and belonged to Claybury Hospital for psychiatric patients, before becoming a health club in 2000. The health club also boasts a gym, a steam room and even a sauna housed in the old confessional box, meaning that you can sweat out your sins instead of sharing them. In a similar vein, in Sweden people are swapping Jesus for yoga as churches host conversions to yoga and sports studios.
In Paris, a 19th-century chapel is now used as a climbing wall and coworking space.
If yoga and swimming seems just a bit dull to you, you can also skateboard, trampoline and rock climb in churches — in Oviedo, Spain, the desecrated Church of Santa Barbara was transformed into a paradise for skateboarders by businessman Ernesto Fernández and artists Okuda San Miguel, thanks to a successful crowdfunding campaign. In Paris, a 19th-century chapel is now used as a climbing wall and coworking space. And in The Hague, the trampoline park Planet Jump means that visitors can presumably jump nearer to thee, my Lord...
Church nightlife
Gattopardo, in Milan, is situated in an old church that was abandoned in the 1970s, before coming back to life in 2001 as an exclusive nightclub. In Glasgow, Scotland, a nightclub and entertainment venue is housed in the former Kelvinside Parish Church, which fell into disrepair in 1978 before being converted into Òran Mór in 2004. Murals and other features were added during the conversion to return it to its former glory.
Sacred stays
Far from trampolines and nightclubs, one can reconnect with a church's traditional peace and quiet, and even find a bed for the night: There’s more than a handful of Airbnbs available worldwide where you can sleep under a vaulted ceiling. The bones of a church make for a stunning home, and luxury flat conversions have multiplied, with more and more deconsecrated churches being turned into houses and hotels. Amen to that!