Holy Sites 401–450

A chapel within the UNESCO-listed Mir Castle complex, blending Gothic, Renaissance, and Baroque architecture.

The mosque where the direction of Islamic prayer was changed from Jerusalem to Mecca.

An ancient Greek colony dedicated to the god Apollo, once one of the most important cities on the Adriatic coast.

A 16th-century church in the highlands where Maya K'iche' rituals and Catholic worship coexist on the same steps.

A UNESCO fort guarding the ruins of an 18th-century pearling town with historic mosques.

A massive Inca fortress above Cusco with stones weighing over 100 tonnes fitted without mortar.

A Premonstratensian monastery above Prague renowned for its spectacular Baroque libraries.

The shrine of the Sufi saint who brought Islam to Sylhet, the most visited Sufi shrine in Bangladesh.

A dazzling mirrored mausoleum in Shiraz housing the tomb of two sons of the seventh Shia Imam.

Andorra's oldest church, a pre-Romanesque gem with a distinctive circular bell tower.

UNESCO World Heritage former colonial capital, the oldest European city in the tropics.

The holiest city of the Mouride brotherhood and site of West Africa's largest annual pilgrimage.

Called the 'Sistine Chapel of the East' for its extraordinary blue exterior frescoes.

A Greek Orthodox monastery clinging to a cliff face high above a forested valley in northeast Turkey.

A basilica enclosing the Holy House of the Virgin Mary, miraculously transported from Nazareth according to tradition.

One of the oldest synagogues in the Western Hemisphere, reflecting the Sephardic Jewish heritage of Barbados.

A monumental mosque built by Tamerlane in Samarkand, once the largest in Central Asia.

One of Afghanistan's oldest and grandest mosques, renowned for its intricate tilework.

The papal chapel famed for Michelangelo's ceiling and Last Judgment, where popes are elected.

A vast, unrestored jungle temple that may have been the prototype for Angkor Wat.

The tomb of the founder of Morocco's current ruling Alaouite dynasty at the edge of the Sahara.

A cave sanctuary in Asturias where the Reconquista began, housing the Virgin of Covadonga.

A vast oracle complex south of Lima, sacred for over 1,500 years to multiple civilizations.

A Romanesque basilica in Maastricht venerating a miraculous statue of Our Lady, Star of the Sea.

Active volcanoes and mountain gorilla habitat revered by local communities.

The cathedral of Malta's ancient walled capital, built on the site where St Paul is said to have converted the islanders.

Poland's holiest Catholic shrine, home to the miraculous Black Madonna icon.

The oldest monastery in Moscow and administrative headquarters of the Russian Orthodox Church.

A 1,200-year-old Buddhist temple in the heart of modern Seoul's Gangnam district.

The traditional tomb of the biblical prophet Ezekiel, sacred to Jews, Christians, and Muslims.

The largest church in Canada, built through the miracles of Brother André.

The largest medieval church in the Baltic states, home to a world-famous historic organ.

One of the largest Neo-Gothic cathedrals in the world, in the heart of South America's biggest city.

A UNESCO-listed valley of five fortified Ibadi Islamic towns in the Algerian Sahara.

A UNESCO-listed ancient Saharan trading city and center of Islamic learning.

Historic cocoa plantation estates with chapels and spiritual significance.

A major Shia mosque in Baghdad housing the tombs of the seventh and ninth Imams.

The 'Holy Island' of Northumbria where the Lindisfarne Gospels were created and Christianity flourished.

Bernini's iconic colonnade embracing the faithful before St. Peter's Basilica.

The second-largest pilgrimage site in France, dedicated to St. Thérèse of the Child Jesus.

A grand Taoist temple on the shores of Sun Moon Lake, dedicated to Confucius and the god of war.

A 17th-century Mughal mosque in Thatta renowned for its acoustics and tilework, built without pillars.

Argentina's national Marian shrine, drawing millions of pilgrims to venerate a tiny miraculous Virgin statue.

A church built atop one of the largest slave-trading fortresses, now a site of pilgrimage and remembrance.

A breathtaking Gothic Revival masterpiece with a spectacular polychrome interior.

One of the oldest Christian monasteries in the world, perched on Mount Maqlub in northern Iraq.

Thailand's most sacred temple, housing the revered Emerald Buddha within the Grand Palace.

A sacred group of 36 massive rock domes near Uluru, central to Anangu men's spiritual law.

A remote island monastery off the Kerry coast where monks lived in stone beehive huts for 600 years.

Pakistan's national mosque and one of the largest in the world, set against the Margalla Hills.