Normally churches are built on the surface but there are special cases when you gotta go deep underground to reach the altar. Cave churches are real and they are phenomenal! I would imagine the atmosphere in these places is nothing like your usual above-ground chapels. Did you know that some of the oldest churches and monasteries were actually built inside caves? There’s no better place to speak to your god than a hole in a huge rock or a side of the mountain. And that’s not me being sarcastic, I genuinely think that.
If you had a chance to visit some of these places, please, let us know what it was like! And meanwhile, here are 17 astonishingly beautiful churches, monasteries, chapels, and other religious structures built inside caves!
1) Mihalich Cave Church, Bulgaria
2) Callao Cave Chapel, Philippines
![Callao Cave Chapel, Philippines exterior | 17 Astonishingly Beautiful Cave Churches Around The World | Brain Berries](https://img-cdn.brainberries.co/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Callao-Cave-02.jpg)
![Callao Cave Chapel, Philippines | 17 Astonishingly Beautiful Cave Churches Around The World | Brain Berries](https://img-cdn.brainberries.co/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/callaocavechapel.jpg)
3) Troglodyte chapel at the bottom of the Gorges Galamus, France
![Troglodyte chapel at the bottom of the Gorges Galamus, France exterior | 17 Astonishingly Beautiful Cave Churches Around The World | Brain Berries](https://img-cdn.brainberries.co/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/galamus-gorges-03-2.jpg)
![Troglodyte chapel at the bottom of the Gorges Galamus, France | 17 Astonishingly Beautiful Cave Churches Around The World | Brain Berries](https://img-cdn.brainberries.co/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Troglodyte-chapel-at-the-bottom-of-the-Gorges-Galamus-France-03-22-791x1024.jpg)
4) Chapel Of the Blessed King, Wieliczka Salt Mine, Krakow, Poland
![Chapel Of the Blessed King, Wieliczka Salt Mine, Krakow, Poland exterior | 17 Astonishingly Beautiful Cave Churches Around The World | Brain Berries](https://img-cdn.brainberries.co/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Chapel-Of-the-Blessed-King-Wieliczka-Salt-Mine-Krakow-Poland-04-1-1024x689.jpg)
![Chapel Of the Blessed King, Wieliczka Salt Mine, Krakow, Poland | 17 Astonishingly Beautiful Cave Churches Around The World | Brain Berries](https://img-cdn.brainberries.co/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Chapel-Of-the-Blessed-King-Wieliczka-Salt-Mine-Krakow-Poland-04-2.jpg)
5) Temppeliaukio Church, Helsinki
![Temppeliaukio Church, Helsinki exterior | 17 Astonishingly Beautiful Cave Churches Around The World | Brain Berries](https://img-cdn.brainberries.co/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Temppeliaukio-Church-Helsinki-05-2.jpg)
![Temppeliaukio Church, Helsinki | 17 Astonishingly Beautiful Cave Churches Around The World | Brain Berries](https://img-cdn.brainberries.co/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Temppeliaukio-Church-Helsinki-05-11.jpg)
6) Jonas caves, Auvergne, France
![Jonas caves, Auvergne, France exterior | 17 Astonishingly Beautiful Cave Churches Around The World | Brain Berries](https://img-cdn.brainberries.co/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Jonas-caves-Auvergne-France-06-1-1024x691.jpg)
![Jonas caves, Auvergne, France | 17 Astonishingly Beautiful Cave Churches Around The World | Brain Berries](https://img-cdn.brainberries.co/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Jonas-caves-Auvergne-France-06-2.jpg)
7) Serbian Orthodox Church in Coober Pedy, Australia
![Serbian Orthodox Church in Coober Pedy, Australia exterior | 17 Astonishingly Beautiful Cave Churches Around The World | Brain Berries](https://img-cdn.brainberries.co/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Orthodox-Church-located-underground-Serbia-07-1.jpg)
![Serbian Orthodox Church in Coober Pedy, Australia | 17 Astonishingly Beautiful Cave Churches Around The World | Brain Berries](https://img-cdn.brainberries.co/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Orthodox-Church-located-underground-Serbia-07-2.jpg)
8) Troglodyte Sainte-Marie Madeleine Holy Cave, Sainte-Baume Mountain, Provence, France
9) The Cave Churches of Goreme, Turkey
![The Cave Churches of Goreme, Turkey exterior | 17 Astonishingly Beautiful Cave Churches Around The World | Brain Berries](https://img-cdn.brainberries.co/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/The-Cave-Churches-of-Goreme-Turkey-09-11.jpg)
![The Cave Churches of Goreme, Turkey | 17 Astonishingly Beautiful Cave Churches Around The World | Brain Berries](https://img-cdn.brainberries.co/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/The-Cave-Churches-of-Goreme-Turkey-09-21.jpg)
10) Panagria Hrysospiliotissa, under the Temple of Dionyso, Greece
![Panagria Hrysospiliotissa, under the Temple of Dionyso, Greece exterior | 17 Astonishingly Beautiful Cave Churches Around The World | Brain Berries](https://img-cdn.brainberries.co/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Panagria-Hrysospiliotissa-08-1-1024x683.jpg)
![Panagria Hrysospiliotissa, under the Temple of Dionyso, Greece | 17 Astonishingly Beautiful Cave Churches Around The World | Brain Berries](https://img-cdn.brainberries.co/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Panagria-Hrysospiliotissa-08-2.jpg)
11) The Salt Cathedral of Zipaquirá, Zipaquirá, Colombia
![The Salt Cathedral of Zipaquirá, Zipaquirá, Colombia | 17 Astonishingly Beautiful Cave Churches Around The World | Brain Berries](https://img-cdn.brainberries.co/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/The-Salt-Cathedral-of-Zipaquir%C3%A1-Zipaquir%C3%A1-Colombia-09-2-1024x576.jpg)
12) Monastery of the Temptation, West Bank city of Jericho
![Monastery of the Temptation, West Bank city of Jericho exterior | 17 Astonishingly Beautiful Cave Churches Around The World | Brain Berries](https://img-cdn.brainberries.co/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Monastery-of-the-Temptation-West-Bank-city-of-Jericho-10-111-1024x683.jpg)
![Monastery of the Temptation, West Bank city of Jericho | 17 Astonishingly Beautiful Cave Churches Around The World | Brain Berries](https://img-cdn.brainberries.co/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Monastery-of-the-Temptation-West-Bank-city-of-Jericho-10-2-1024x683.jpg)
13) St Samaans Church, Mokattam village, Egypt
![St Samaans Church, Mokattam village, Egypt exterior | 17 Astonishingly Beautiful Cave Churches Around The World | Brain Berries](https://img-cdn.brainberries.co/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/St-Samaans-Church-Mokattam-village-Egypt-11-1.jpg)
![St Samaans Church, Mokattam village, Egypt | 17 Astonishingly Beautiful Cave Churches Around The World | Brain Berries](https://img-cdn.brainberries.co/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/St-Samaans-Church-Mokattam-village-Egypt-11-2.jpg)
14) Piedigrotta church, Pizzo, Italy
![Piedigrotta church, Pizzo, Italy exterior | 17 Astonishingly Beautiful Cave Churches Around The World | Brain Berries](https://img-cdn.brainberries.co/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Piedigrotta-church-Pizzo-Italy-14-1.jpg)
![Piedigrotta church, Pizzo, Italy | 17 Astonishingly Beautiful Cave Churches Around The World | Brain Berries](https://img-cdn.brainberries.co/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Piedigrotta-church-Pizzo-Italy-14-2-1024x463.jpg)
15) Cave Church of St. Peter, Hatay, Turkey
![Cave Church of St. Peter, Hatay, Turkey exterior | 17 Astonishingly Beautiful Cave Churches Around The World | Brain Berries](https://img-cdn.brainberries.co/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Cave-Church-of-St.-Peter-Hatay-Turkey-15-1-1024x576.jpg)
![Cave Church of St. Peter, Hatay, Turkey | 17 Astonishingly Beautiful Cave Churches Around The World | Brain Berries](https://img-cdn.brainberries.co/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Cave-Church-of-St.-Peter-Hatay-Turkey-15-2-1024x650.jpg)
16) Agioi Saranta, Protaras, Cyprus
![Agioi Saranta, Protaras, Cyprus exterior | 17 Astonishingly Beautiful Cave Churches Around The World | Brain Berries](https://img-cdn.brainberries.co/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Agioi-Saranta-Protaras-Cyprus-16-1.jpg)
![Agioi Saranta, Protaras, Cyprus | 17 Astonishingly Beautiful Cave Churches Around The World | Brain Berries](https://img-cdn.brainberries.co/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Agioi-Saranta-Protaras-Cyprus-16-2.jpg)
17) Cave Chapel at Modderpoort Prior, South Africa
![Cave Chapel at Modderpoort Prior, South Africa exterior | 17 Astonishingly Beautiful Cave Churches Around The World | Brain Berries](https://img-cdn.brainberries.co/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Cave-Chapel-at-Modderpoort-Prior-South-Africa-17-1.png)
![Cave Chapel at Modderpoort Prior, South Africa | 17 Astonishingly Beautiful Cave Churches Around The World | Brain Berries](https://img-cdn.brainberries.co/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Cave-Chapel-at-Modderpoort-Prior-South-Africa-17-2.jpg)