The World's Most Spiritual Places
A the top of the Monte do Gozo “Hill of Joy” two statues of pilgrim-monks wave their arms to greet the first site of their goal, the cathedral of Santiago de Compostela. This is the very last hill on the Camino Frances (French Road), along which, for more than 1,000 years, pilgrims in their millions have come, from all over Europe and beyond.
Santiago de Compostela is Christianity’s third most important pilgrimage destination, after Jerusalem and Rome, reaching the height of its fame and popularity in the early Middle Ages.
Santiago de Compostela
Santiago de Compostela is Christianity’s third most important pilgrimage destination, after Jerusalem and Rome, reaching the height of its fame and popularity in the early Middle Ages.
Mount Athos
The best-known fact about Mount Athos is that women are not allowed. With rare exceptions, they have not allowed for more than 1,000 years. The population of some 2,000 Eastern Orthodox monks and their lay assistants are all male, and all over the age of 18. Mount Athos is really a peninsula 50km long.
Dotted all around the coast, and sprinkled here and there inland, are 20 large Orthodox monasteries. The monks – who now come from all over the world – lead austere lives of prayer and work.
Dotted all around the coast, and sprinkled here and there inland, are 20 large Orthodox monasteries. The monks – who now come from all over the world – lead austere lives of prayer and work.
Potala Palace
In Lhasa (‘Place of the Gods’), the capital of Tibet, China, the most resolute pilgrims make painfully slow progress towards the Potala Palace: three and a half paces forward, raise hands to the heavens, bend, lie flat on the ground in prostration, rise, repeat. Around the base of the palace they will encounter another pilgrimage route, called the Kora, travelled by hundreds of people every day as they make their way clockwise around a path punctuated with sacred images.
Parthenon
Although created some 2,500 years ago and shattered by neglect, war and pillaging, the Parthenon still ranks as one of the world’s most majestic buildings, and a model of perfection in architectural design. The Acropolis, the rocky plinth beneath, was a sacred precinct, strongly attached to the legends of the founding of Athens. Here Athena had defeated the sea god Poseidon in her bid to become the main patron of the city.
Angkor Wat
So significant and iconic is Angkor Wat to the Cambodian people that their national flag features a silhouette outline of the place. It is the largest spiritual complex on earth. It is also the best preserved architectural site of the Khmer Empire (AD 802-1431). In its heyday, the Khmer Empire controlled most of mainland South-East Asia, covering not just modern Cambodia, but most of Thailand and Laos.
Machu Picchu
Its extraordinary remoteness preserved this Inca town from discovery for 400 years. Built by Incas in around 1450, it thrived for 80 years, supporting a population of about 1,000. The Incas left no written records. All that can be deduced about Machu Picchu is what can be read from archaeological remains.
