Gmünd, Austria, has a church in two pieces, with a road between them. The minister preaches from the pulpit in one half of the church, while the congregation sits in the other half to listen. The two parts are open to the air, so that each party can see the other. It’s called The Divided Church, for obvious reasons.
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There’s a story behind this church, although it’s not a case of the government building a road and the church refusing to move, as you might expect. The road was there first, and it had a little roadside shrine where travelers could pray for safe travel over the mountain -or for mercy as they were led to execution. In 1748, the shrine was expanded into a chapel, with an open side so that the pastor could preach to people who gathered outside on the road. Eventually, the pastor arranged to have a room built for congregants to sit in out of the weather just across the street. Read how the shrine grew into a chapel and then a unique church, and see more pictures, at Amusing Planet.
(Image credit: Johann Jaritz)
Source: neatorama