In honor the the Year of the Dragon, the Chengdu Temple Fair in China is displaying 43 dragon-themed lantern sets, some dating back centuries.

The Eumathios Philokales project, which focuses on Byzantine monuments, has announced that excavations at two churches have revealed earlier religious buildings dating to the 7th and 11th centuries.

The history and art of Great Britain can be traced by the paintings on its church walls. Now interested parties may not have to travel to review the country's glorious wallpaintings, but can study them online thanks to the efforts of the Churches Conservation Trust.

It has been a busy year for archaeologists in Sozopol on the Black Sea coast of Bulgaria, where recently the remains of a 13th century church and the eastern gate of the ancient city fortress were discovered.

A bronze bell from Derry, Ireland, in storage since the 1930s, may be the world's oldest existing church bell. The bell dates to 1411 and was probably made in France. Christian symbols on the bell lead researchers to believe it may have once belonged to a church or abbey.

The famous leaning tower of the Church of Our Dear Ladies on the Hill in Bad Frankenhausen, Germany is scheduled for demolition if funds to stabilize the tower cannot be raised. The tower leans 4.5 meters (15 feet) from the perpendicular, more than the leaning tower of Pisa. (photo)

"There are only two known crypts in Devon and Cornwall and the other one's a Saxon crypt," said archaeologist Stewart Brown about a Norman crypt excavated in summer 2011. Two intricately-carved columns from the crypt have been reburied for preservation purposes.

Scholars and preservationists at the historic site of Jamestown, Virginia, believe they have discovered the remains of one of the country's oldest Protestant churches, the site where Pocahontas was baptized and married.

Musicians and choir directors have long speculated on what music of the past would have sounded like. Now a new study by a student and a professor from New York University and the University of Cambridge may offer a sample from 16th century Venice.

Archaeologists are working on the excavation of the 11th century church at Banganarti, in the Sudan. Live Science has created a slideshow of some of the finds during the excavation, and provides a 3-D view of the church. (photos)

The 6th century Byzantine marvel, the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul, may be returning to its orgins as a place of worship by once again becoming a mosque. The former church is now a museum.

Peruvian and Spanish archaeologists recently used historical documents from an archive in Spain to help locate the site of Peru's oldest Roman Catholic church near Piura on the country's northern coast. The church was built in 1534.

A series of well-preserved medieval churches in central Sudan are giving researchers new information into the world of medieval pilgrimages and veneration. Inscriptions at one site show that pilgrims came from as far away as Catalonia.

Rome Reports has released a sort video on YouTube showcasing the newly renovated left Colonnade at St. Peter's Basilica in Rome.

A number of events in the modern world mark the anniversary of the invasion and sacking of Canterbury, England by Viking raiders in September 1011.

Drainage work at a hotel near Llanrwst, Wales has unearthed three 13th century walls believed to have belonged to the cloister of a Cistercian abbey.

The new Pilgrim's Way walking path in Wales was christened recently when 80 walkers began the 127-mile (204km), 12-day trek from Basingwerk Abbey in Holywell, Flintshire to Bardsey Island in Gwynedd. (slideshow)

Excavations of the 16th century Great Synagogue in Vilnius, Lithuania, have uncovered the site of the Aron Kodesh, or Holy Ark, along with "part of the original floor, and the top of one of the four pillars surrounding the bima."

In the 15th century, the Ottoman Turks brought an end to the Byzantine Empire. Among the last to fall were the small towns on the Black Sea, one of which, Sozopol, is the site of the recent discovery of a late Byzantine church.

In a moment straight out of an Indiana Jones film, a panel of officials opened the sealed vaults to the 16th century Sree Padmanabhaswamy temple in the southern Indian state of Kerala finding treasure worth billions of rupees.

The beautiful Cathedral of Monreale in Sicily was the inspiration for a reconstructed set of 12th century armor and military equipment by Patryk Nieczarowski. The armor is that of a Siculo-Norman miles. (photos).

A metal dectorist in Lancashire, England has unearthed a 500-year old pilgrim badge of St. Ursula. The badge came from her shrine in Cologne, Germany and is unique in Britain.

Over 5,000 stained glass windows from Welsh churches are now online. Images, descriptions, and other information are available for windows dating from the 14th century to the present day.

A rare unicorn idol from the 12th or 13th century was found in Udupi, India. While the animal appears horse-like overall, it is actually a chimera of several different types of animals. The idol may be associated with Naga Bermar, a local fertility god.

A new study of pottery fragments excavated during the 1950s and 1960s at Glastonbury Abbey shows that many historical periods were represented and that the abbey dates to a later period than previously believed.

Pisa, it seems, has a rival for world's "farthest leaning tower." A church in the small northern German town of Suurhusen, among others in Germany and Switzerland, now claims to have the most crooked building with an angle of 5.19 degrees. (photo)

Delighted by the royal wedding and dazzled by the venue? If so, you may want to visit the BBC's 360 degree virtual tour of Westminster Abbey.

Despite popular belief, Westminster Abbey has not been a popular site for British royal weddings. Only fifteen have taken place there since the 12th century.

A team of researchers from London's Kingston University may have located the site of as many as seven 10th century Anglo-Saxon kings including Athelstan and Ethelred the Unready. All Saints Church is located near Westminister Abbey.

Undoubtedly, one of the greatest places of worship in history is the Aya Sofya, also known as Hagia Sophia or “Church of the Holy Wisdom.” Located in İstanbul, the church is visited by over two million tourists a year. Terry Richardson of Today's Zaman offers a history. (photo)