Breakdown of Die alte Kirche gilt als heiliger Ort.
alt
old
der Ort
the place, location
die Kirche
the church
gelten
to be valid / to apply
als
as (in the role of)
heilig
holy, sacred
Questions & Answers about Die alte Kirche gilt als heiliger Ort.
What does the phrase gilt als mean in this context?
While gelten usually means to be valid, the fixed phrase gelten als means to be regarded as or to be considered. It is a very common, elegant way to express this idea actively instead of using a passive construction like wird als heiliger Ort angesehen.
Why is heiliger Ort in the nominative case?
In the structure etwas gilt als etwas, the word als connects the description directly back to the subject. Since the subject (Die alte Kirche) is in the nominative case, the noun phrase following als must match it and also take the nominative case.
Why does the adjective heilig end in -er here?
The masculine noun Ort is in the nominative case. Because there is no article before it (a zero-article situation), the adjective must use the strong declension to show the gender and case. This gives us the -er ending. You might be used to seeing this ending in ein heiliger Ort, but the adjective keeps that strong ending even when it stands alone.
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