Map of the World’s Holy Sites
Every marker is a real holy city or site, from Jerusalem to Mecca, Bodh Gaya to the Shaolin Temple. Tap a marker for the story, tap the legend to filter by tradition.
☜ Tap a marker and its story appears here.
Sites Shared by the Three Faiths
Christian Holy Sites
Islamic Holy Sites
Hindu Holy Sites
Buddhist Holy Sites
Chinese Native Faiths
The map spans from the Horn of Africa to East Asia; coastline data from Natural Earth. Holy-site coordinates use standard religious-history locations; the modern sovereignty of places such as Jerusalem is the subject of international dispute — this site offers historical-religious geography only and takes no political stance.
Places on this map
Jerusalem
David made it his capital and Solomon built the First Temple here; Jesus was tried, crucified, and, by tradition, rose here; in Islamic tradition, Muhammad’s "Night Journey and Ascension" begins at the al-Aqsa Mosque here. All three religions hold this city holy — the most immediate place to grasp the shared origins of the "Abrahamic religions."
Hebron (the Cave of Machpelah)
The Hebrew Bible records that Abraham bought land here to bury his wife Sarah, and that he, Isaac, Jacob and other patriarchs were later buried at the same "Cave of Machpelah" — a burial place of the patriarchs acknowledged by Judaism, Christianity, and Islam alike.
Ur
The Hebrew Bible records that Abraham’s family first dwelt in the city of Ur in Mesopotamia, and that God called him to leave his land and kindred for the promised land — the starting point of the Hebrew Bible’s "patriarchal migration" narrative.
Mount Sinai
Here Moses received the Ten Commandments, while his brother Aaron, under the people’s pressure below, cast a golden calf — the scene where the Hebrew Bible’s tension of "covenant and its breaking" is most concentrated.
Nazareth
The New Testament records that Jesus grew up in this small Galilean town — whence "Jesus of Nazareth" — and the "Annunciation," the angel’s good news to Mary, also traditionally happened here.
Bethlehem
The New Testament records that Jesus was born here, the manger scene one of the most common religious images in Western art; it is also the birthplace of King David.
Damascus
The New Testament records that Paul, once a persecutor of Christians, was struck down by a bright light on the road to Damascus and heard the voice of Jesus, and from then on turned wholly into one of Christianity’s most important missionaries.
Connected figures: Paul
Rome / Vatican
Church tradition records that Peter was finally martyred in Rome, and Catholicism accordingly sees it as the origin of the papal office; the theological works of Augustine and Aquinas also deeply shaped the Rome-centered Western church tradition.
Connected figures: Peter · Augustine · Thomas Aquinas
Wittenberg
Tradition records that Martin Luther posted his Ninety-Five Theses here, publicly questioning the theological basis of indulgences — the acknowledged starting point of the Reformation.
Connected figures: Martin Luther
Assisi
Francis was born here and founded the Franciscan Order here, advocating a life of poverty and humility in imitation of Jesus; it is now an important Catholic pilgrimage site.
Connected figures: Francis of Assisi
Mecca
The holiest city of Islam, where Muhammad received the first revelations; Islamic tradition holds that the Kaaba was built by Abraham and Ishmael, and the Zamzam spring is linked to the record of Hagar’s search for water.
Medina
Muhammad emigrated here to escape persecution in Mecca and founded the earliest Muslim community, and later died and was buried here; the lives of early community figures such as Aisha, Fatima, and Ali are closely bound to this place.
Karbala
In 680, Husayn led a small band here against the army of the Umayyad dynasty and, outnumbered, was martyred — the "Tragedy of Karbala," and the origin of Shia Islam’s most central commemoration, the Day of Ashura.
Kufa
Ali made Kufa his seat during his caliphate, and was at last struck down by a Kharijite assassin in its mosque.
Connected figures: Ali
Konya
The Persian Sufi poet Rumi settled here in his later years and founded the Mevlevi Order, and his tomb and the whirling-dance ceremony remain the most important religious-cultural symbols of the place.
Connected figures: Rumi
Crusades Battlefield
Saladin routed the main Crusader force at the Battle of Hattin and then retook Jerusalem after nearly ninety years of Crusader occupation, his magnanimous conduct winning cross-religious respect.
Connected figures: Saladin
Varanasi (Kashi)
In Hindu tradition Shiva’s most beloved holy city, pilgrims thronging the banks of the Ganges year-round, held the most fitting place to practice for liberation — even to die, in the hope of release from the cycle of rebirth.
Connected figures: Shiva
Ayodhya
The capital of the kingdom of Ayodhya in the Hindu epic Ramayana, birthplace and place of triumphant return of Vishnu’s avatar Rama, and the court where his wife Sita once lived.
Mathura
Hindu tradition holds that Vishnu’s avatar Krishna was born here, an important pilgrimage site for Hindu Vaishnavas.
Mount Kailash
Hindu tradition holds this mountain to be Shiva’s abode; it is also a sacred mountain revered by Buddhism, Bön, and Jainism alike — one of the rare holy mountains shared by many religions.
Lumbini
Buddhist tradition records that Prince Siddhartha was born here, one of the "four great holy sites" of Buddhism.
Connected figures: The Buddha
Bodh Gaya
Buddhist tradition records that Siddhartha sat beneath the bodhi tree here for forty-nine days and at last awakened to become a Buddha — the most central of Buddhism’s "four great holy sites," the Mahabodhi Temple thronged with worship to this day.
Connected figures: The Buddha
Sarnath (Deer Park)
After his awakening the Buddha first turned the Wheel of Dharma here for his five first disciples, preaching the "Four Noble Truths" — the starting point of the formal founding of the monastic order, where Ananda too followed the Buddha for years after.
Connected figures: The Buddha · Ananda
Kushinagar
Buddhist tradition records that the Buddha entered nirvana here between two sal trees, Ananda at his side in grief, who soon after presided over the first compilation of the scriptures.
Connected figures: The Buddha · Ananda
Shaolin Temple, Mount Song
Legend says that after Bodhidharma crossed the sea to China he sat facing a wall here for nine years and founded Chinese Chan, which through generations passed to the sixth patriarch Huineng, deeply shaping the practice of East Asian Buddhism.
Connected figures: Bodhidharma · Huineng
Hangu Pass
Legend says Laozi rode west to here and, at the keeper Yin Xi’s request, left the five-thousand-word Dao De Jing before departing, seen no more — the moment Daoist thought was set to writing and passed to later ages.
Connected figures: Laozi
Qufu
The birthplace and teaching ground of Confucius; the Temple, Mansion, and Cemetery of Confucius (the "Three Kong") remain the most important commemorative sites of Confucian culture.
Connected figures: Confucius
Mount Tai
The "foremost of the Five Great Mountains" in Chinese popular faith and Daoist tradition, where emperors through the ages held the grand feng-shan rites, and a representative region for the widespread worship of popular deities such as the God of Wealth and the Kitchen God.
Connected figures: The God of Wealth · The Kitchen God