Facts for Kids

Chapel is a word for a small place where people pray or take part in religious services. A chapel can be a tiny room inside a big church, or it can sit inside a building that is mainly used for something else, like a school, hospital, or ship. Because chapels are smaller, they often feel quiet and close, and sometimes only a few people meet there at a time.

A chapel does not always have its own priest or leader living there. Many chapels are looked after by a person called a chaplain, or by a priest who visits when services are needed.

Today chapels are found in many places that are not mainly for worship. Airports, universities, hospitals, prisons, and even some office buildings often have a small chapel or prayer room for visitors. Some of these are for people of many different faiths to use, and we call them interfaith or interdenominational chapels.

In the military and in some institutions a chaplain leads services and visits people who need help. Chapels are useful when a building’s main job is something else, because they give a quiet space for prayer and thought right where people are.

Bridge chapel was a kind of small chapel built on or beside a bridge long ago, so travelers could stop to pray. Castles often had their own castle chapel so people who lived there could worship close by. In Byzantine churches a small side room for prayers was called a *paracclesion* or *parakklesion*; it was a quiet space next to the main church.

In Mexico long ago people built a special open chapel called a *capilla abierta*. Another old type was the proprietary chapel, which belonged to a private person in a town. These different styles show how people made chapel spaces to fit the place and the people using them.

A chapel can be very small or wonderfully grand, and different places make them in different ways. In Italy the Sistine Chapel is famous for painted pictures on its ceiling that tell stories. In France, Sainte-Chapelle is known for tall, colorful windows that let light pour through like bright glass paintings. In England, King's College Chapel is big and often filled with choir music during services.

Some chapels sit in quiet, surprising spots. In the Swiss Alps a tiny stone chapel rings its bell for mountain visitors. At McMurdo Station in Antarctica, the Chapel of the Snows offers a warm meeting place for researchers. In Ireland and Israel, old chapels mark long histories and special holy places. These chapels show how people use art, music, and careful building to make places for thinking, remembering, or praying.

Some chapels are set up for a special person or purpose. A Lady chapel is a small area in a larger church often dedicated to Mary. A chapel of ease helps people in a far part of a parish come to services more easily. Chapels can be part of a church’s layout, at the end in a curved area called an apse, or in a side aisle.

Other named chapels include college chapels for students, hospital chapels for patients and families, cemetery or funeral chapels, school chapels, royal chapels for kings and queens, and wedding chapels. Each kind fits the needs of the people who use it.