Holy Sites 401–450

The headquarters of one of the largest Buddhist organizations in the world, with a 36-meter seated Buddha.

Oscar Niemeyer's hyperboloid masterpiece — a modernist cathedral of light and space.

Salvador's most important church, where Catholic and Candomblé traditions merge.

The most opulent church in Brazil, with every surface covered in gold leaf.

Paraguay's most important pilgrimage site, dedicated to the Virgin of the Miracles of Caacupé.

A Jesuit church in Quito covered in seven tons of gold leaf, considered the most ornate church in the Americas.

A 10th-century lakeside monastery founded by Saint Naum of Ohrid.

A dazzling white marble mosque in Abu Dhabi, one of the world's largest and most opulent.

Ruins of an ancient Greek city sacred to the god Apollo.

The oldest church in Andorra, featuring a rare circular Romanesque bell tower.

A mysterious ruined city of artificial islands, often called 'the Venice of the Pacific.'

A Baroque cathedral in Dubrovnik's old town housing a treasury of sacred relics from the Republic of Ragusa.

A sacred site for both Hindus and Buddhists at 3,800 meters in the Himalayas.

The largest Hindu temple in Suriname, reflecting the country's significant Indian-heritage community.

The world's largest curtain of falling water, known as 'The Smoke That Thunders.'

A massive mountaintop fortress symbolizing Haitian freedom, where spiritual ceremonies honor the nation's ancestors.

A 14th-century church perched at 2,170 meters with Mount Kazbek towering behind it.

The 'Sistine Chapel of Mexico,' adorned with stunning folk baroque murals.

Lisbon's oldest church, built on the site of a mosque after the reconquest, housing the relics of St. Vincent.

An 18th-century Baroque cathedral in Old Havana, once believed to house Columbus's remains.

The wealthiest and most famous monastery in Cyprus, housing an icon attributed to St Luke.

The most splendid temple in Luang Prabang, a masterpiece of Lao Buddhist architecture.

The finest and best-preserved temple in Bagan, known as the 'Westminster Abbey of Burma.'

Burkina Faso's only UNESCO World Heritage Site, mysterious stone ruins linked to gold trade.

The site where 45 Christian converts were martyred in 1886, now Africa's largest Christian pilgrimage site.

A historic Portuguese colonial church overlooking the Atlantic in Luanda.

The coronation cathedral of the Kingdom of Hungary, where 11 kings and queens were crowned.

A historic Hindu temple in Georgetown serving Guyana's large Indian-heritage community.

The ruins of the first European settlement on the Pacific coast of the Americas, founded in 1519.

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 small church with rock beds said to have been carved by Saint Marinus himself.

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