Parishioners come to temples, churches, cathedrals and pray there for the salvation of the soul, for healing, for happiness and light. But few people think about the difference between the concepts of "temple" and "church". If so, what is the difference? Is it only in the size and richness of the decoration?
The main difference between a temple and a church is that the temple serves people as a place where you can calmly pray, carry out all the necessary rituals, and atone for sins. There may be several altars with thrones in this room.
The altar is an altar located on a dais; its Orthodox model is fenced with iconostases. The throne is located on the altar, it is covered with an antimension, on top of which there is a cross. The Liturgy is held on such an altar, but a ritual can be performed on the same altar only once per day with a new priest.
There is only one such altar in the church. This is also the difference between a temple and a church: several liturgies per day can be held in a temple, but only one in a church.
Initially, the church was a place where people of the same faith united. They have religious conversations and pray. There the priest reads sermons, teaches parishioners to live in accordance with this faith. In such a room there must be an altar standing in the east.
In some other translations, the church is all representatives of some particular faith, a society of religious people. That is, the church is not only an architectural concept, but also a social and religious one.
The temple is even outwardly different from the church. A building with more than three domes is a temple, less a church. Temples look more majestic, their interior decoration tells about the history of the universe, domes are usually 3, 5, 7, 11, 12 or 13. In architectural terms, the temple displays a model of the universe, oriented to the cardinal points. They build it in the most frequently visited and familiar places to people. In the center of the city there is usually a cathedral - the main temple.
The number of domes also carries its own specific symbolism. Therefore, in some cases this is not a factor in the difference between a temple and a church (sometimes a temple has only one dome, and a church has as many as 13). The main division of these two concepts is in their purpose and in the number of altars.
