Paper short abstract:

The Church building, with its material culture marked by individual/ family/ confraternal/ church communal memories, emotions and aesthetic decisions, is not homogenous to the individual. The Church thus marks an interesting transition between individual and common space.

Paper long abstract:

Theologically, the church building is a place where Heaven and Earth connect, where the important turning points of life become consecrated and socially legitimated, where the sacred dynamism of the year is marked at every feast and mass. For art historians, non-believers and tourists, the church is a memento of the bygone past, basically an interesting, mystical spectacle and historical-aesthetical factum. For local communities, 'Our Church' is the source of collective identity and pride. 'Our Church/Churches' represent the unbroken link with the ancestors, even for those who are not members of the church community but live in the same settlement.

The sacred space with its objects (pictures, statues, altars, candles,etc.) is not homogenous from the individual's point of view. There are significant points marked by the individual/ family/ confraternal/ church communal memories, emotions and aesthetic decisions.

These hardly-outlined, invisible proportions shape the individual's mental map. The religious self also tries to expropriate and shape the the space with visible signs, for example offerings, votive pictures and plates, hand-made altar-cloths, candles lit for intentions, or prayers books left on the bench. These points in the sacred space can also be reserved by profane objects (for example one's own cushion on the bench). This phenomenon is rooted in the need for "feeling at home", seeking intimacy. Ultimately, the Church becomes an interesting transition between individual and common space.