Intrigued by the various promises made by members of the Jehovah’s Witnesses religion, who would frequently call at her home – something many of us are probably familiar with – Corinna Nicolaou decided to take a closer look at the church:

The Jehovah Witnesses have been coming to my door for more than two years acting like they have the answers, so I’m finally taking them up on the offer to come to their Kingdom Hall. It’s just down the street from my house. Inside, people are milling about. Maybe what they say is true and here are some of the multitudes whom Jesus has made rise from their graves. Their happy expressions and business-casual attire carry the whiff of inauthenticity. It’s like they’re trying too hard to seem alive. The atmosphere in the building can only be described as funereal: fake plants, floral carpet, mauve wainscoting. No windows, the only light emanates from fluorescent tubes. Décor best appreciated by the dead. I keep expecting someone to turn and have an eyeball dangling from a socket.

Selexyz Dominicanen, the bookshop built inside a 800 year old church in Maastricht, The Netherlands.

A little closer to the Sacré Coeur, Paris.

The Sacré Coeur, Paris.

The Sacré Coeur, another beautifully designed church in Paris.

A Chapel Converted Into a Modern Apartment.

I’ve seen one or two example of disused churches being converted in apartments here in Sydney, and it seems to be an idea that being tried out in a few other places as well.

The decline in church attendance over the last several decades has meant that countless churches across the Netherlands have lost their function. They are crumbling, are demolished, or are put to new uses.

I don’t know if I’d personally feel comfortable living in a converted church though, wouldn’t it feel a lot like living in, say, a monastery?