Art and the Church
ARC UK is an ecumenical organisation which provides free guided tours to visitors in European churches and cathedrals during the summer months. Our participants are volunteers aged between 18 and 30. In return for giving up three or four weeks of their summer, they learn to live and work as part of a community, appreciate other cultures and make the stones speak. www.encounterarc.org.uk (E)
Europe websites about churches
Websites about churches
PAN-EUROPEAN
Ars et fides. Ars et Fides is an international federation of associations of volunteer guides which, at present, numbers some forty groups in different European countries, serving tens of thousands of visitors every year in cathedrals and abbeys, pilgrimage sanctuaries and small village churches. This is an ecumenical organisation which provides free guided tours to visitors in European churches and cathedrals during the summer months. Its mission it is to inform contemporary visitors viewing historic Christian art and architecture about the Christian history, theology and biblical understanding linked to these monuments. There are 50 of these associations in seven European countries. www.arsetfides.eu (E, D, F, I, Sp, NL)
BELGIUM
ARC Netherlands/Belgium is an ecumenical organisation which provides free guided tours to visitors in European churches and cathedrals during the summer months. www.arcnederlandvlaanderen.eu (NL)
Open kerken. Information about church buildings in Belgium and links to comparable organizations and websites in the rest of Europe. www.openkerken.be (NL,E,F,D)
Religieus Erfgoed Vlaanderen. An online databank for the religious heritage of Flanders consisting of convents, abbeys and churches. Gives information and advice for the preservation of these. www.religieuserfgoed.be (NL)
TOPA. Practical information, photo’s and descriptions of the monumental churches of Antwerp. www.topa.be (NL,F,E,D,I,Sp)
DENMARK
Kirkefondet. Website with information about churches. www.vejkirker.dk (Da)
Kirker i Danmark. With links to many churches. http://danmarkskirker.natmus.dk (Da)
ENGLAND
Websites about churches:
www.visitchurches.org.uk/FeaturedMain.htm
www.friendsoffriendlesschurches.org.uk/
www.cathedralsplus.org.uk/index.php/front_l
www.churchestourismassociation.info
www.friendsoffriendlesschurches.org.uk/
www.cathedralsplus.org.uk/index.php/front_l
www.churchestourismassociation.info
www.suffolkchurches.co.uk/churchlists.htm
www.norfolkchurches.co.uk/mainpage.htm
www.norfolkopenchurches.com/
www.norfolkchurches.co.uk/mainpage.htm
www.norfolkopenchurches.com/
www.yorkshirevisitor.com/yorkshirechurches
Wrexham Open Churches Network
www.london-city-churches.org.uk/
www.derbyshirechurches.org.uk/
www.essexchurches.info/church
www.leicestershirechurches.co.uk
Wrexham Open Churches Network
www.london-city-churches.org.uk/
www.derbyshirechurches.org.uk/
www.essexchurches.info/church
www.leicestershirechurches.co.uk
ESTONIA
Teelistekirikud. www.teelistekirikud.ekn.ee/2012/en.php (Est, E, D, Fi, Ru, Sw, F)
FINLAND
Nettika. Website with information about churches. www.netikka.net/hans.bjorknas/yikire.htm (E, Fi, Sw)
Nordkirker. Info about churches in the arctic area of Norway, Sweden and Finland. www.nordkirker.net (No, Sw, Fi, E, D)
FRANCE
ARC France is an ecumenical organisation which provides free guided tours to visitors in European churches and cathedrals during the summer months. http://arcfrance.free.fr/pages/board_indexpag.html (F)
CASA. A Christian guild of volunteers welcomes visitors to religious sites in France every summer. Everyone who is prepared to share the aims of the organisation and is interested in the Christian tradition of such monuments is welcome to participate. www.guidecasa.com (F, E, D, NL)
Info about churches:
www.saintmartindetours.eu
catholique-coutances.cef.fr/patrimoine
www.tournugeois.fr/ot/fr/decouvrir-patrimoine
catholique-lille.cef.fr/page/comments.php
www.ardennes.com/brochures/egliseacc06.pdf
chapelles.provence.free.fr/liens.htm
www.simonknott.co.uk/jurachurches/jurabaume1.htm
www.romanes.com/romanes_map.html
catholique-coutances.cef.fr/patrimoine
www.tournugeois.fr/ot/fr/decouvrir-patrimoine
catholique-lille.cef.fr/page/comments.php
www.ardennes.com/brochures/egliseacc06.pdf
chapelles.provence.free.fr/liens.htm
www.simonknott.co.uk/jurachurches/jurabaume1.htm
www.romanes.com/romanes_map.html
About the windows in Chartres cathedral:
GERMANY
ARC Germany is an ecumenical organisation which provides free guided tours to visitors in European churches and cathedrals during the summer months. www.arc-deutschland.org (D)
Info about churches:
www.offene-kirchen-bayern.de/
www.offene-kirchen.de/
www.kirchenlandkarte.de/
www.kirche-tourismus.de/
www.autobahnkirchen.de/
www.offene-kirchen.info/main/index.html
www.kirche-im-tourismus.de/
www.alte-kirchen.de/FrameOffeneKirchen.htm
www.offene-kirchen.de/
www.kirchenlandkarte.de/
www.kirche-tourismus.de/
www.autobahnkirchen.de/
www.offene-kirchen.info/main/index.html
www.kirche-im-tourismus.de/
www.alte-kirchen.de/FrameOffeneKirchen.htm
ITALY
ARC Italy is an ecumenical organisation which provides free guided tours to visitors in European churches and cathedrals during the summer months. http://xoomer.virgilio.it/arc_italia (It)
Ars et Fides Firenze. Ars et Fides is an international federation of associations of volunteer guides which, at present, numbers some forty groups in different European countries, serving tens of thousands of visitors every year in cathedrals and abbeys, pilgrimage sanctuaries and small village churches. This is an ecumenical organisation which provides free guided tours to visitors in European churches and cathedrals during the summer months. www.arsetfidesfirenze.it (It)
L'Associazione "Guarino Guarini" per l’Arte Cristiana, Torino. Promotes understanding of and studies the liturgical and theological content of Christian art, especially below the Alps. Linked to Ars et Fides. Organises lectures, guided tours of churches etc. www.associazioneguarini.org/index.php (It)
THE NETHERLANDS
ARC Netherlands/Belgium is an ecumenical organisation which provides free guided tours to visitors in European churches and cathedrals during the summer months. www.arcnederlandvlaanderen.eu (NL)
Instituut voor Christelijk Cultureel Erfgoed van de RU Groningen. Has an archive of ca. 3000 old and contemporary, Protestant and Catholic churches in the Netherlands. http://kerken.eldoc.ub.rug.nl (NL)
Websites about churches:
www.kerkenzo.nl (NL)
www.tsjerkepaad.nl (NL)
www.bedehuizen.nl (NL)
www.kerkenkijken.nl (NL)
www.sohk.nl/ (NL)
NORWAY
Kirkesøk. Church of Norway database of churches. Read about the 1623 Churches belonging to the Church of Norway, among them Norway’s most important cultural heritage sites. On the website you can also find information about which churches are open for visitors. www.kirkesok.no/eng (No, E)
Den Norske Kirke: Kirke – Kunst – Kultur. Pages on the website of the Norwegian (Lutheran) Church about church architecture, visual art, music and the cultural department.
Nordkirker. Info about churches in the arctic area of Norway, Sweden and Finland.
www.nordkirker.net (No, Sw, Fi, E, D)
Veikirker. Links to a lot of Norwegian churches. http://veikirker.kirken.no (No)
SCOTLAND
ARC UK is an ecumenical organisation which provides free guided tours to visitors in European churches and cathedrals during the summer months. Our participants are volunteers aged between 18 and 30. In return for giving up three or four weeks of their summer, they learn to live and work as part of a community, appreciate other cultures and make the stones speak. www.encounterarc.org.uk (E)
SWEDEN
Nordkirker. Info about churches in the arctic area of Norway, Sweden and Finland. www.nordkirker.net (No, Sw, Fi, E, D)