The real place
Geography, architecture, chronology and established historical uses.
Atlas of Spiritual Places
Places that connect
the earth and the meaning
Shrines, mountains, forests and cities: 125 places explored through their history, the traditions that inhabit them and the lived experience they inspire.
125documented places
6major regions
3distinct perspectives
The Orabel method
History, tradition and feeling don't say the same thing
Each entry separates documented knowledge, religious significance of the place and personal testimonies related to its atmosphere or "energy".
Traditions
The way in which the communities concerned understand and practice the place.
Experience
Light, silence, walking, altitude, memory and emotions are possible.
Caution
Energy stories are reported as beliefs or feelings, without any promise of care.
First stop
Three places close, three ways to enter the sacred
EuropeOrabel illustrationFrance · Alsace
Mount Sainte-Odile
Above the plain of Alsace, Mount Sainte-Odile brings together a Christian sanctuary, a tradition of pilgrimage, a vast panorama and the enigmatic pagan Wall.
ChristianityChristian mystic
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EuropeOrabel illustrationFrance · Normandy
Mont-Saint-Michel
Mont-Saint-Michel focuses on a rocky island a medieval abbey, a village and a tidal landscape whose transformations are rhythmic any approach to the place.
ChristianityChristian mystic
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EuropeOrabel illustrationFrance · Centre-Val de Loire
Cathedral of Chartres
Notre Dame de Chartres Cathedral is one of the great European Gothic ensembles, famous for its stained glass, sculpture and labyrinth of its nave.
ChristianityChristian mystic
Discover this place →Enriched Atlas
125 places around the world
Look for a country, region, monument or tradition. Each place returns to the corresponding Spiritualities and Encyclopedia entries.
125 places displayed
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EuropeOrabel illustrationFrance · Alsace
Mount Sainte-Odile
Above the plain of Alsace, Mount Sainte-Odile brings together a Christian sanctuary, a tradition of pilgrimage, a vast panorama and the enigmatic pagan Wall.
ChristianityChristian mystic
Discover this place →EuropeOrabel illustrationFrance · Normandy
Mont-Saint-Michel
Mont-Saint-Michel focuses on a rocky island a medieval abbey, a village and a tidal landscape whose transformations are rhythmic any approach to the place.
ChristianityChristian mystic
Discover this place →EuropeOrabel illustrationFrance · Centre-Val de Loire
Cathedral of Chartres
Notre Dame de Chartres Cathedral is one of the great European Gothic ensembles, famous for its stained glass, sculpture and labyrinth of its nave.
ChristianityChristian mystic
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EuropeOrabel illustrationFrance · Occitanie
Shrine of Lourdes
Lourdes developed around the Marian apparitions reported by Bernadette Soubirous in 1858 and today welcomes pilgrims from all over the world, including sick or disabled people.
Christianity
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EuropeOrabel illustrationSpain · Galicia
Santiago de Compostela
The Cathedral of Compostela is the emblematic term of the paths of Santiago, a European pilgrimage network associated with the tradition of the tomb of the Apostle James.
Christianity
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EuropeOrabel illustrationGreece · Thessaly
Meteors
At the Meteors, Orthodox monasteries occupy the top of spectacular sandstone pillars, in a landscape where physical isolation supported ascetic life.
Orthodox ChristianityHesychasm
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EuropeOrabel illustrationGreece · Chalcidic
Mount Athos
Mount Athos is an autonomous community of Orthodox monasteries established on a mountainous peninsula of the Aegean Sea, sometimes called "the Garden of the Mother of God".
Orthodox ChristianityHesychasm
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EuropeOrabel illustrationEngland · Wiltshire
Stonehenge
Stonehenge belongs to a vast prehistoric ritual and funeral landscape. Its erect stone architecture and solar alignments have generated modern archaeological research, fascination and spiritual reappropriation.
Celtic religionsNeopaganese
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EuropeOrabel illustrationIreland · County of Meath
Newgrange
Newgrange is a large neolithic monument of Brú na Bóinne, famous for the passage of light from sunrise to its room during the winter solstice.
Celtic religionsNeopaganese
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EuropeOrabel illustrationGreece · Phocide
Delphi
Delphi was one of the great shrines of the ancient Greek world. Pythia made the oracles of Apollo in a mountainous landscape considered the symbolic center of the world.
Ancient Greek religionModern Hellenism
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AfricaOrabel illustrationEgypt · Giza
Giza Pyramids
The pyramids of Kheops, Khéphren and Mykerinos dominate a vast necropolis of the Ancient Egyptian Empire, designed around royalty, death and cosmic continuity.
Religion of Ancient Egypt
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AfricaOrabel illustrationEthiopia · Amhara
Churches of Lalibela
Eleven medieval churches carved from the rock form a still active pilgrimage to the Ethiopian Orthodox Church in Lalibela.
Ethiopian Orthodox ChristianityChristian mystic
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AfricaOrabel illustrationEgypt · Southern Sinai
Mount Sinai
Mount Sinai, identified by a long tradition at the place where Moses received the Law, is venerated in Jewish, Christian and Muslim memories. The monastery of St. Catherine is at its foot.
JudaismChristianity
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AfricaOrabel illustrationMali · Niger's inner delta
Great mosque in Djenné
The Great Mosque of Djenné is an emblem of the Sudanese-Sahelian architecture. Its regular maintenance mobilizes the community and links religious practice, know-how and urban life.
Islam
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AfricaOrabel illustrationNigeria · State of Osun
Holy wood of Osun-Osogbo
The sacred wood of Osun-Osogbo protects one of the last large areas of the sacred primary forest of Yoruba, associated with Osun, the divinity of fresh water, fertility and protection.
Spiritualities Yoruba
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AfricaOrabel illustrationZimbabwe · Masvingo
Greater Zimbabwe
Greater Zimbabwe was the centre of a powerful medieval African state, with dry stone enclosures and landscape still linked to the memory of the Shona peoples and Zimbabwe's national history.
Bantu traditions
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Middle EastOrabel illustrationJerusalem · Rising
Old City of Jerusalem
Jerusalem concentrates major places of Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Its spiritual strength is inseparable from a complex political, human and memorial history.
JudaismChristianity
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Middle EastOrabel illustrationSaudi Arabia · Hedjaz
Mecca
Mecca is home to the Kaaba, towards which Muslims turn for prayer, and is the destination of Hajj, one of the five pillars of Islam for those who can accomplish it.
IslamSufism
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Middle EastOrabel illustrationSaudi Arabia · Hedjaz
Medina
Medina is the city of Hegira and the first Muslim community. The Mosque of the Prophet, which houses its grave according to tradition, is one of the most venerated places of Islam.
IslamSufism
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Middle EastOrabel illustrationIsrael · Haifa
Báb Sanctuary and Haifa Gardens
On Mount Carmel, the sanctuary of Báb and its terraces constitute the visible spiritual centre of the Bahá í faith, whose world administrative center is also in Haifa.
Bahá'í faith
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Middle EastOrabel illustrationIraq · Iraqi Kurdistan
Lalish
Lalish is the main sanctuary of Yezidism and the place of the tomb of Sheikh Adi. The Yezidi of the whole world have a deep spiritual connection with this valley.
Yezidism
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Middle EastOrabel illustrationIran · Fars
Persepolis
Persepolis was a royal center of the Achenimian Empire. Its terraces, palaces and reliefs show a political vision of the world where many peoples appear in an orderly composition.
Zoroastrianism
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Middle EastOrabel illustrationIraq · Governorate of Karbala
Karbala
Karbala is at the heart of the Shiite memory of the martyrdom of l'imam Hussein, grandson of the prophet Muhammad, killed with his companions in 680.
Shi'a Islam
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Middle EastOrabel illustrationTurkey · South-East Anatolia
Göbekli Tepe
Göbekli Tepe gathers monumental stone enclosures built by hunter-gatherers communities at the beginning of Neolithic, with large T-pillars and a rich carved bestiary.
Naturalistic approaches (in perspective)
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AsiaOrabel illustrationIndia · Uttar Pradesh
Varanasi
Varanasi, or Kashi, is one of the most holy cities of Hinduism. Its ghats welcome ritual baths, prayers, cremations and pilgrimages in an intensely living urban space.
HinduismBhakti
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AsiaOrabel illustrationIndia · Bihar
Bodh-Gaya
Bodh-Gaya is the most important Buddhist pilgrimage site, associated with the awakening of Siddhartha Gautama under the tree of the Bodhi.
BuddhismTheravāda
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AsiaOrabel illustrationIndia · Punjab
Golden Temple d'Amritsar
Harmandir Sahib, commonly known as Temple d'Or, is the most emblematic sanctuary of Sikhism. It rises in the centre of a basin in Amritsar and welcomes daily prayer, singing and community meals.
Sikhism
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AsiaOrabel illustrationIndia · Uttarakhand
Rishikesh
Rishikesh is located on the Gange at the foot of the Himalayas. Holy town, a stage towards the great Himalayas pilgrimages and the international centre of yoga, it brings together ancient traditions and contemporary industry of wellbeing.
HinduismAdvaita Vedānta
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AsiaOrabel illustrationChina · Autonomous Region of Tibet
Mount Kailash
Mount Kailash is sacred to Hindus, Buddhists, Jain and Bön followers. Pilgrims carry out the circumambulation, or kora, in an environment of very high altitude.
HinduismVajrayāna Buddhism
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AsiaOrabel illustrationNepal · Terai
Lumbini
Lumbini is identified by the Buddhist tradition as the birthplace of Siddhartha Gautama. The pillar of Emperor Ashoka is a major historical landmark of the pilgrimage.
BuddhismTheravāda
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AsiaOrabel illustrationNepal · Kathmandu Valley
Swayambhunath
Swayambhunath dominates Kathmandu from a wooded hill. Its great stūpa, shrines and prayer mills form a complex place of devotion frequented by Buddhists and Hindus.
Vajrayāna BuddhismHinduism
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AsiaOrabel illustrationNepal · Kathmandu
Boudhanath
Boudhanath is one of the largest stūpas in Nepal and a major centre of Tibetan Buddhism, surrounded by monasteries, shops and a busy circular square.
Vajrayāna Buddhism
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AsiaOrabel illustrationChina · Lhasa, Tibet
Potala Palace
Potala dominates Lhasa from Marpo Ri hill. Former winter residence of Dalai Lamas, it gathers palaces, chapels, tombs and collections of Tibetan Buddhism.
Vajrayāna Buddhism
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AsiaOrabel illustrationIndia · Maharashtra
Caves of Ajanta
The caves of Ajanta form a Buddhist ensemble of prayer rooms and monasteries carved in a gorge, famous for its ancient paintings and sculptures.
BuddhismMahāyāna Buddhism
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AsiaOrabel illustrationIndia · Maharashtra
Caves in Ellora
Ellora gathers Buddhist, Hindu and Jain caves over several kilometres. Kailasanatha temple, excavated around a rock mass, is his most spectacular work.
HinduismBuddhism
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AsiaOrabel illustrationIndia · Gujarat
Temples of Palitana
Mount Shatrunjaya, near Palitana, is one of the most sacred pilgrimages of Jainism. Its summit gathers a very dense set of marble temples.
Jainism
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AsiaOrabel illustrationJapan · Mie Prefecture
Ise Jingū
Ise Jingū is home to many shrines, including Naikū dedicated to Amaterasu and Gekū in Toyuk. It occupies a central place in the Japanese shinto.
Shinto
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AsiaOrabel illustrationJapan · Honshū
Mount Fuji
Mount Fuji is both volcano, sacred mountain, pilgrimage site and major Japanese art motif. Its silhouette links Shinto, Buddhism and popular culture.
ShintoJapanese Buddhism
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AsiaOrabel illustrationJapan · Kyoto
Fushimi Inari Taisha
Fushimi Inari is the main shrine dedicated to Inari, a kami associated with rice, prosperity and human activities. Its torii paths travel Mount Inari.
Shinto
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AsiaOrabel illustrationChina · Hubei
Wudang Mountains
The Wudang Mountains house a vast set of Taoist temples associated with Zhenwu, meditation and, in modern culture, internal martial arts.
TaoismChinese People's Religion
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AsiaOrabel illustrationChina · Beijing
Temple of Heaven
The Temple of Heaven is a complex where Emperors Ming and Qing performed rites intended to maintain harmony between heaven, earth, sovereignty and agricultural cycles.
Chinese religionConfucianism
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AsiaOrabel illustrationCambodia · Siem Reap
Angkor Wat
Angkor Wat is the most famous monument of the ancient Khmer capital. Originally conceived as a Hindu temple dedicated to Vishnu, it is then integrated into Buddhist life.
HinduismBuddhism theravāda
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AsiaOrabel illustrationIndonesia · Central Java
Borobudur
Borobudur is a huge Buddhist monument of Java, organized in terraces adorned with reliefs and crowned with stūpas openwork facing volcanoes.
Mahāyāna BuddhismVajrayāna Buddhism
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AsiaOrabel illustrationMyanmar · Plaine de l'Irrawaddy
Bagan
Bagan gathers thousands of temples, stūpas and monasteries raised especially during the peak of the Pagan kingdom, when theravāda Buddhism affirms.
Buddhism theravāda
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The AmericasOrabel illustrationPeru · Cusco
Machu Picchu
Machu Picchu is an Inca 15th century settlement located between Andes and Upper Amazonia. Its royal, ritual and residential functions remain under study.
Andean Spiritualities
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The AmericasOrabel illustrationMexico · Mexico State
Teotihuacan
Teotihuacan was one of the largest cities in ancient America. Its pyramids, temples, residential ensembles and paintings show a complex urban and religious society.
Mexican traditions
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The AmericasOrabel illustrationMexico · Yucatán
Chichen Itzá
Chichén Itzá is a large Mayan centre in northern Yucatán, known for the pyramid of Kukulcán, the ball game, the temples and the sacred cenote.
Mayan traditions
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OceaniaOrabel illustrationAustralia · Northern Territory
Ulu-u
Ulu的u is a major sacred place for the Aungu, traditional owners of the park. Its forms, water points and itineraries are linked to the Tjukurpa, set of laws, stories and responsibilities.
Aboriginal Spiritualities of Australia
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OceaniaOrabel illustrationChile · Easter Island
Rapa Nui
Rapa Nui is famous for its moai, but the island is primarily the territory of a living Polynesian people. statues, ahu platforms and quarries form a landscape of ancestral memory.
Polynesian Spiritualities
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The AmericasOrabel illustrationUnited States · Arizona
Sedona
Sedona is known for its canyons and red sandstone formations, but also for a contemporary culture of retreats, alternative care and "energy vortex".
New spiritual movementsEco-spirituality
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EuropeOrabel illustrationFrance · Burgundy-Franche-Comté
Basilica and hill of Vézelay
Vézelay is a Romanesque basilica dedicated to Marie-Madeleine, an old monastery and a hill that remains a major departure to Compostela.
ChristianityChristian mystic
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EuropeOrabel illustrationFrance · Occitanie
Rocamadour
Rocamadour superposes village, shrines and fortifications in a cliff of the causse, around a medieval Marian pilgrimage and the tomb attributed to Saint Amadour.
ChristianityChristian mystic
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EuropeOrabel illustrationFrance · Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes
The Puy-en-Velay
Puy-en-Velay combines a Romanesque cathedral, a black Virgin, the chapel of Saint Michael d'Aiguilhe and the historic departure of Via Podiensis to Compostela.
Christianity
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EuropeOrabel illustrationFrance · Burgundy-Franche-Comté
Community of Taizé
Taizé is an ecumenical Christian community known for its international youth meetings, its repetitive prayer sung and its attention to reconciliation.
ChristianityChristian Contemplation
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EuropeOrabel illustrationFrance · Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur
Cave of the Holy Baume
The Sainte-Baume is a Provencal grotto-sanctuary that Catholic tradition combines with the retirement of Marie-Madeleine, in the heart of a massive and remarkable forest.
ChristianityChristian mystic
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EuropeOrabel illustrationFrance · United Kingdom
Megalithes de Carnac
Carnac's alignments, dolmens and tumulus belong to a vast monumental neolithic landscape built over several millennia around the Morbihan.
Contemporary neopaganismModern Druidism
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EuropeOrabel illustrationFrance · United Kingdom
Brocelian forest
Around Paipont, the name Broceliande links Breton forest landscapes, arthurian literature, cultural tourism and contemporary spirituality of nature.
Celtic religions — historical landmarksEco-spirituality
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EuropeOrabel illustrationGermany · North Rhine-Westphalia
Cathedral of Aachen
The Cathedral of Aachen developed around the Palatine Chapel of Charlemagne, a Carolingian masterpiece and coronation site for many sovereigns.
Christianity
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EuropeOrabel illustrationGermany · North Rhine-Westphalia
Cologne Cathedral
Cologne Cathedral is a major Gothic monument built to accommodate the reliquary attributed to the Magi and remains an active Catholic center.
Christianity
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EuropeOrabel illustrationGermany · Rhineland-Palatinate
Spire Cathedral
The Spire Cathedral is one of the largest preserved Romanesque buildings and houses the necropolis of several sovereigns of the Holy Empire.
Christianity
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EuropeOrabel illustrationGermany · Teutobourg Forest
Externsteine
The Externsteines are the sandstone pillars of the Teutobourg forest, marked by medieval arrangements and become an important place for contemporary neo-Pagan imaginations.
NeopaganeseMedieval Christianity
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EuropeOrabel illustrationGermany · Rhineland-Palatinate
Abbey of Maria Laach
Maria Laach is an active Benedictine abbey, known for its six tower Romanesque church, cloister-paradis and its surroundings on the banks of the Laacher See.
ChristianityChristian Contemplation
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EuropeOrabel illustrationVatican · Rome
Basilica of St Peter and Vatican
St Peter's Basilica stands in the heart of the Vatican, on the traditional place of the tomb of the Apostle Peter, and forms one of the main centres of Catholicism.
Catholic Christianity
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EuropeOrabel illustrationItaly · Umbria
Seat
Assise is associated with François and Claire, founders of religious traditions marked by simplicity, fraternity, care for the poor and a poetic relationship to creation.
ChristianityChristian mystic
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EuropeOrabel illustrationItaly · Lazio
Abbey of Mont Cassin
Founded by Benedict de Nursie around 529, the Mont Cassin is a central place in Benedictine history, rebuilt after numerous destructions including the bombing of 1944.
ChristianityChristian Contemplation
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EuropeOrabel illustrationItaly · March
Shrine of Lorette
Lorette houses the "Holy House", which the Catholic tradition links to Mary's house in Nazareth, encased in a large Renaissance basilica.
Catholic Christianity
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EuropeOrabel illustrationItaly · Piedmont
Sacra di San Michele
The Sacra di San Michele is a monumental monastic ensemble perched above the Suse valley, dedicated to the Michael archangel and associated with the alpine pilgrimage routes.
ChristianityChristian mystic
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EuropeOrabel illustrationItaly · Campania
Temples of Paestum
Paestum, the ancient Poseidonia, preserves three of the best preserved Greek temples: two associated with Hera and one traditionally attributed to Athena.
Ancient Greek religionRoman religion
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EuropeOrabel illustrationSpain · Catalonia
Montserrat Monastery
Montserrat combines a spectacular rock formation, a Benedictine monastery and the Black Virgin known as Moreneta, patron saint of Catalonia.
ChristianityChristian Contemplation
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EuropeOrabel illustrationSpain · Andalusia
Cordoba Cathedral Mosque
The Cathedral Mosque of Cordoba was the great mosque of the Umayyad capital of Andalus before being consecrated as a Catholic cathedral in the 13th century.
IslamChristianity
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EuropeOrabel illustrationSpain · Castilla-La Mancha
Toledo, city of the three cultures
Toledo retains an exceptional Christian, Jewish and Muslim heritage, often summed up by the expression "city of the three cultures", to be used with nuance.
JudaismIslam
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EuropeOrabel illustrationSpain · Castile and León
Ávila and its Theresian Places
Ávila is a medieval fortified town closely linked to Thérèse d的ávila, a Carmelite reformer and major figure of the Christian mystic of the sixteenth century.
ChristianityChristian mystic
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EuropeOrabel illustrationSpain · Andalusia
Sanctuary of El Rocío
El Rocío is a Marian shrine located near the marshes of Doñana, famous for a romería which brings together brotherhoods, families, horsemen and pilgrims.
Popular Christianity
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EuropeOrabel illustrationBelgium · Flemish Brabant
Basilica of Scherpenheuvel
Scherpenheuvel, Montaigu in French, is Belgium's main Marian pilgrimage and a rare example of a city organised around a central basilica.
Catholic Christianity
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EuropeOrabel illustrationBelgium · Walloon Brabant
Abbey of Villers-la-Ville
Villers-la-Ville preserves the vast ruins of a Cistercian abbey whose church, gardens and buildings allow to understand the organisation of a medieval community.
Medieval ChristianityChristian Contemplation
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EuropeOrabel illustrationBelgium · Flemish Brabant
Louvain's Beguinage
The Grand Béguinage de Louvain is a brick, alley and garden area once inhabited by beguines, pious women living in community without expressing the same wishes as nuns.
ChristianityChristian mystic
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EuropeOrabel illustrationNetherlands · Limburg
Basilica of Notre Dame de Maastricht
The Onze-Lieve-Vrouw Sterre der Zee Basilica is one of the great Romanesque buildings of Maastricht and houses a particularly venerated Marian statue.
Catholic Christianity
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EuropeOrabel illustrationNetherlands · Drenthe
Hunebedden by Drenthe
Hunebedden are megalithic collective graves built by funnel-skinning mud communities, mainly in Drenthe province.
Contemporary neopaganism
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EuropeOrabel illustrationNetherlands · Brabant-Septentrioral
Monastery of Sint Agatha
Sint Agatha is considered the oldest still inhabited monastery in the Netherlands and also hosts the Dutch Monastic Heritage Centre.
ChristianityContemplative life
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EuropeOrabel illustrationEngland · Kent
Canterbury Cathedral
Canterbury is the seat of the Archbishop of Canterbury and a major site of the Anglican Communion, famous for the murder of Thomas Becket in 1170.
Anglican Christianity
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EuropeOrabel illustrationEngland · Somerset
Glastonbury : Tor and Abbey
Glastonbury combines a prestigious former abbey, the Tor dominating somerset levels, traditions related to Joseph d'Arimathie and Arthur, and a very diverse contemporary spiritual culture.
ChristianityNeopaganese
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EuropeOrabel illustrationEngland · Northumberland
Lindisfarne, Holy Island
Lindisfarne is an island accessible at low tide, associated with Saints Aidan and Cuthbert, the Gospels of Lindisfarne and the history of Anglo-Saxon Christianity.
ChristianityChristian Contemplation
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EuropeOrabel illustrationEngland · Wiltshire
Avebury
Avebury is a neolithic ensemble comprising a huge circle of stones, avenues, the tumulus of West Kennet and the artificial hill of Silbury.
NeopaganeseModern Druidism
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EuropeOrabel illustrationEngland · London
Westminster Abbey
Westminster Abbey is a royal church where British coronations take place and where sovereigns, scientists, writers and public figures are resting.
Anglican Christianity
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EuropeOrabel illustrationPortugal · Santarém District
Sanctuary of Fátima
Fátima developed around the Marian apparitions declared in 1917 by Lúcia dos Santos and his cousins Francisco and Jacinta Marto.
Catholic Christianity
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EuropeOrabel illustrationSwitzerland · Canton of Schwytz
Abbey of Einsiedeln
Einsiedeln is a large Swiss Benedictine abbey born around the memory of the Meinrad hermit and known for her chapel of Grace and her black Virgin.
ChristianityChristian Contemplation
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The AmericasOrabel illustrationCanada · Quebec
Saint Joseph's Oratory of Mount Royal
L'Oratoire Saint-Joseph dominates Montreal and developed around the reputation of prayer and welcoming Brother André Bessette, canonized in 2010.
Catholic Christianity
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The AmericasOrabel illustrationCanada · Quebec
Sanctuary of Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupré
Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupré is one of the oldest and most important Catholic pilgrimages in North America, dedicated to Saint Anne, mother of Mary according to tradition.
Catholic Christianity
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The AmericasOrabel illustrationCanada · Quebec
Our Lady of the Cape Shrine
Notre-Dame-du-Cap, in Trois-Rivières, is a large Canadian Marian shrine developed around a small 18th-century church and 19th-century religious accounts.
Catholic Christianity
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The AmericasOrabel illustrationCanada · Alberta
Áísínai
Áísínai的pi is located in the heart of the traditional blackfoot territory and gathers an exceptional concentration of engravings and paintings in the Milk River valley.
Traditions blackfoot
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The AmericasOrabel illustrationCanada · Saskatchewan
Wanuskewin Heritage Park
Wanuskewin, near Saskatoon, has been protecting archaeological sites and a meeting landscape used by many Plains peoples for more than six millennia.
Spiritualities of the Plains Peoples
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The AmericasOrabel illustrationCanada · Haida Gwaii, British Columbia
SG
SG的ang Gwaay Llnagaay is a former Haida village in Gwaii Haanas, known for its remains of houses and monumental poles protected with the Haida Gwaii Watchmen.
Haida traditions
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The AmericasOrabel illustrationUnited States · New Mexico
Chaco Culture
Chaco Canyon preserves large houses, kivas, roads and landscape observations related to the ancestors of contemporary Pueblos peoples.
Pueblos traditions
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The AmericasOrabel illustrationUnited States · Illinois
Cahokia Mounds
Cahokia was the largest urban centre in the Mississippian world, with dozens of terres, squares, neighborhoods and networks connecting much of North America.
Indigenous traditions of Mississippi
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The AmericasOrabel illustrationUnited States · New Mexico
Taos Pueblo
Taos Pueblo is a living indigenous community known for its large adobe buildings, its territory and the continuity of cultural practices, some of which remain private.
Traditions pueblo de Taos
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The AmericasOrabel illustrationUnited States · Utah
Temple Square
Temple Square is the historic heart of the Church of Jesus Christ of Last Day Saints in Salt Lake City, around the temple, Tabernacle and institutional buildings.
Saints of the Last DaysTradition of Christianity
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The AmericasOrabel illustrationUnited States · California
San Juan Capistrano Mission
San Juan Capistrano preserves a Franciscan mission founded in the eighteenth century, gardens, the Serra chapel and the ruins of the Great Stone Church.
Catholic ChristianityAcjachemen Traditions
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The AmericasOrabel illustrationUnited States · California
Mount Shasta
Mount Shasta is a large volcano in northern California, important to many Aboriginal peoples and associated since the 19th century with many metaphysical currents and New Age.
Regional indigenous traditionsMetaphysical movements
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The AmericasOrabel illustrationMexico · Mexico
Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe
The shrine of Guadalupe, on the hill of Tepeyac, is one of the largest Catholic pilgrimages in the world and houses the image associated with the apparitions reported to Juan Diego in 1531.
Catholic Christianity
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The AmericasOrabel illustrationMexico · Chiapas
Palenque
Palenque is a classic Maya city famous for its refined architecture, dynastic inscriptions, the tomb of K的inich Janaab的 Pakal and its forest environment.
Mayan traditions
Discover this place →EuropeOrabel illustrationPoland · Częstochowa
Jasna Góra
The Pauline monastery of Jasna Góra houses the icon of Our Lady of Częstochowa, known as the Black Madonna, and is one of Poland’s main Catholic pilgrimage centres.
Catholic Christianity
Discover this place →EuropeOrabel illustrationBulgaria · Rila Mountains
Rila Monastery
Founded around the memory of Saint John of Rila, the monastery is a major centre of Bulgarian Orthodoxy and an outstanding ensemble of architecture, frescoes and monastic life.
Orthodox ChristianityHesychasm
Discover this place →EuropeOrabel illustrationUkraine · Kyiv
Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra
The Lavra combines churches, bell towers, museums and cave networks where monks lived and were buried. It remains central to Orthodoxy and Ukrainian heritage.
Orthodox ChristianityHesychasm
Discover this place →EuropeOrabel illustrationMontenegro · Danilovgrad
Ostrog Monastery
Ostrog Monastery, associated with Saint Basil of Ostrog, is built into a rock face and attracts Orthodox pilgrims as well as visitors of other backgrounds.
Orthodox Christianity
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Studenica Monastery
Founded by Stefan Nemanja, Studenica brings together marble churches and major wall paintings and remains central to Serbian Orthodox history.
Orthodox ChristianityHesychasm
Discover this place →EuropeOrabel illustrationLithuania · Šiauliai
Hill of Crosses
Near Šiauliai, a hill carries a constantly renewed accumulation of crosses, rosaries and votive offerings linking popular Catholicism, grief, hope and memories of repression.
Catholic Christianity
Discover this place →EuropeOrabel illustrationRomania · Maramureș
Wooden Churches of Maramureș
The wooden churches of Maramureș form a dispersed heritage in northern Romania. Eight UNESCO components illustrate local architectural and liturgical traditions.
Orthodox and Greek-Catholic Christianity
Discover this place →EuropeOrabel illustrationGeorgia · Mtskheta-Mtianeti
Historical Monuments of Mtskheta
Mtskheta includes Svetitskhoveli Cathedral and Jvari Monastery and holds a foundational place in Georgia’s Christian and cultural history.
Georgian Orthodox Christianity
Discover this place →AfricaOrabel illustrationUganda · Kampala
Tombs of Buganda Kings at Kasubi
Kasubi is a former palace transformed into the burial place of four kabaka, kings of Buganda. It remains an active spiritual centre for the Baganda.
Baganda traditions
Discover this place →AfricaOrabel illustrationKenya · Kenyan coast
Sacred Mijikenda Kaya Forests
The kayas are former fortified villages and surrounding forests spread along roughly 200 kilometres of coast. Elders maintain several as sacred places.
Mijikenda traditions
Discover this place →AfricaOrabel illustrationBotswana · North-West District
Tsodilo
Tsodilo contains thousands of rock paintings, shelters and traces of occupation. The hills retain living meanings for San and Hambukushu communities.
San spiritualitiesHambukushu traditions
Discover this place →AfricaOrabel illustrationZimbabwe · Matabeleland South
Matobo Hills
Matobo combines granite formations, rock paintings and ritual sites. It has a long San history and remains associated with religious practices around Mwari and ancestors.
San heritageLocal traditions associated with Mwari
Discover this place →AfricaOrabel illustrationSouth Africa · Limpopo
Lake Fundudzi and Thathe Vondo Forest
In the Soutpansberg, Lake Fundudzi and Thathe Vondo Forest are associated with sacred narratives, authorities and practices. They are a cultural as well as a natural landscape.
Venda traditions
Discover this place →AfricaOrabel illustrationSenegal · Diourbel
Great Mosque of Touba
The Great Mosque structures the holy city of the Mouridiyya, the Sufi order founded by Sheikh Ahmadou Bamba. His tomb and the Grand Magal draw vast crowds.
IslamMouride Sufism
Discover this place →AfricaOrabel illustrationTogo and Benin · Atacora
Koutammakou, the Land of the Batammariba
Koutammakou is a transboundary Batammariba landscape known for earthen sikien tower houses and the integration of architecture, farming and sacred space.
Batammariba traditions
Discover this place →AfricaOrabel illustrationBenin · Zou
Royal Palaces of Abomey
The Abomey palaces formed the centre of the Danxomè kingdom. Courtyards, reliefs, temples, tombs and collections carry a complex political and religious history.
Vodun and Fon traditions
Discover this place →The AmericasOrabel illustrationColombia · Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta
Teyuna — Ciudad Perdida
Teyuna contains terraces, stairs and paths built by ancestors of Sierra Nevada peoples. The archaeological park lies within an inhabited and sacred landscape.
Kogui, Arhuaco, Wiwa and Kankuamo traditions
Discover this place →The AmericasOrabel illustrationColombia · Nariño
Las Lajas Sanctuary
Near Ipiales, Las Lajas rises in a gorge around a venerated Marian image on the rock. It is a pilgrimage destination for Colombia and Ecuador.
Catholic Christianity
Discover this place →The AmericasOrabel illustrationEcuador · Pichincha
Our Lady of El Quinche Shrine
El Quinche is one of Ecuador’s major Catholic shrines. Its statue and annual pilgrimage gather worshippers from Quito and the surrounding Andes.
Catholic Christianity
Discover this place →The AmericasOrabel illustrationPeru · Cusco, Sinakara Valley
Sanctuary of the Lord of Qoyllur Rit’i
Qoyllur Rit’i gathers pilgrim nations, dance brotherhoods and ritual authorities in the Sinakara Valley, joining devotion to Christ, mountain and Andean calendars.
Andean spiritualitiesCatholic Christianity
Discover this place →The AmericasOrabel illustrationBolivia · La Paz Department
Tiwanaku
Near Lake Titicaca, Tiwanaku was the centre of a powerful political and religious system. Temples, monoliths and pyramids testify to an Andean civilisation distinct from the Inca.
Andean spiritualities
Discover this place →The AmericasOrabel illustrationBrazil · São Paulo State
National Shrine of Aparecida
The shrine keeps the small image of Our Lady of Aparecida associated with fishermen of the Paraíba Valley and welcomes pilgrims from across Brazil.
Catholic Christianity
Discover this place →The AmericasOrabel illustrationBrazil · Salvador, Bahia
Casa Branca do Engenho Velho Terreiro
Also known as Ilê Axé Iyá Nassô Oká, Casa Branca is among Salvador’s oldest active Candomblé houses and a landmark of Afro-Brazilian heritage recognition.
Candomblé
Discover this place →The AmericasOrabel illustrationChile · Chiloé Archipelago
Churches of Chiloé
Sixteen UNESCO-listed wooden churches embody Chiloé’s religious and building traditions. Castro marks this dispersed heritage on the map.
Chilote Catholic Christianity
Discover this place →The AmericasOrabel illustrationArgentina · Jujuy
Quebrada de Humahuaca
The Quebrada follows the Río Grande between highlands and plains. Ancient routes, villages, archaeological sites, chapels and festivals record long exchange.
Andean spiritualitiesLocal Christianity
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