Chapter 6 Key Issue 3

1
Chapter 6 Key Issue 3

• Why Do Religions Organize Space in Distinctive
  Patterns?

2
Places of Worship

• Religion impacts the landscape in a variety of
  ways. Christian churches were originally modeled
  after Roman basilicas.
• Mosques are the most important religious
  buildings in the Islamic world, and they also
  serve as places for the community to gather.
• Most Hindus worship at home, although Hindu
  temples serve as shrines to one or more of their
  gods.
• The pagoda is the most visible religious
  architecture of the Buddhist and Shintoist
  landscape, and contains the relics of Buddhism.

3
Sacred Space

• Burial practices of different religions are also
  visible on the landscape. Christians, Muslims,
  and Jews usually bury their dead in cemeteries.
• Place names or toponyms also show the impact of
  religion on the landscape. For example, many
  Roman Catholic places are named for saints.
• Cremation has replaced burial as a means of
  disposing of the dead in many parts of the world
  because of the pressure on agricultural land.
• This is particularly true in China and western
  Europe. Cremation is also used in the Hindu
  world, although it is putting an increasing
  strain in Indias wood supplies.

4
Administration of Space

• The Roman Catholic Church is a good example of a
  hierarchical religion, with its well-defined
  geographical structure and division of territory
  into local administrative units.
• Archbishops report to the Pope and each heads a
  province. Bishops report to archbishops and
  administer a diocese. The headquarters of a
  bishop is called a see and is usually the
  largest city in the diocese.
• Islam and some Protestant denominations are good
  examples of autonomous religions because they are
  relatively self-sufficient, with little
  interaction between communities within the
  religion.