Reading Crosses: Why Temples Are Round, Churches Bear the Cross, and Mosques Face Mecca

Across the world, religious buildings speak a silent language of form, orientation, and symbol. A Hindu temple rises as a cosmic mountain, its circular plan echoing the infinite. A Christian church is laid out in the shape of the cross, each arm pointing to cardinal directions. A mosque turns worshippers toward Mecca, its mihrab marking the qibla wall. Why these shapes? Why these orientations? In Reading Crosses, Thomas Ambrose Vale invites you on a respectful, richly illustrated journey th...