ABSTRACT
This chapter deals with the regulation of places of worship and other symbols of worship usually connected with such places. It discusses the ability to acquire a place of worship is connected with the possibility of obtaining legal personality. Places of worship are clear symbols of religious communities and the protection of these places is included in the principle of the freedom of religion. There is a clear connection between places of worship and a religious community being recognized as a legal entity. While the histories of the relationship between the State and religion may differ between these countries, they have in common that new foreign religious groups have entered each country: in Bulgaria new Christian groups, in Italy and the Netherlands Islamic communities and Christian groups of foreign origin. In Bulgaria, in practice, the preferential treatment that the State and municipalities might provide regarding the building of houses of worship is not offered to Islamic communities and non-traditional religions.
