Christiansfeld, Denmark

CHRISTIANSFELD (Denmark)

This town of 3,008 souls in Southern Denmark was founded by the Moravian Church in 1773 and named for Danish King Christian VII, who supported the town's construction. Its one- or two-story homogeneous buildings surround a central Church Square bordered by two parallel streets; it is the best-preserved example of the Church's town-planning and architecture.

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Saint Sophia Cathedral, Kyiv, Ukraine

SAINT SOPHIA CATHEDRAL (Kyiv, Ukraine)

Begun in the early 11th century, Saint Sophia Cathedral in Kyiv is one of the city's best known landmarks, built to rival that other Saint Sophia in Constantinople. The cathedral complex includes a bell tower and monastery buildings. Nearby is the 1051 Kiev Monastery of the Caves (Pechersk Lavka), which includes numerous churches as well as cave systems and fortified stone walls.

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Novodevichy Convent, Moscow, Russia

NOVODEVICHY CONVENT, MOSCOW, RUSSIA

Novodevichy Convent, perhaps the best-known in Moscow, was built in the 16th-17th centuries and remains largely intact. Part of a chain of monastic assemblages used for the defense of the city, it was closely linked to the Moscow Kremlin and used by women of the Tsar's family and the aristocracy. It houses rich interiors with an important collection of paintings and artifacts.

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Hieronymites' Monastery and Tower of Belém, Portugal

HIERONYMITES' MONASTERY AND TOWER OF BELEM (Portugal)

Construction of the Hieronymites' Monastery began in 1502 at the entrance to Lisbon Harbor, on the site of the former Church of Santa Maria de Belém, where monks provided assistance to seafarers. The nearby Tower of Belém, finished in 1519, was built to commemorate Vasco da Gama's 1497-1499 expedition to India, the first sea route to link Europe and Asia.

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The Papal Palace, Avignon, France

THE PAPAL PALACE, AVIGNON (France)

From 1309 to 1376, the Pope lived not in the Vatican but in Avignon, France. The seven popes who reigned there were all French, and beholden to the French crown. They lived in this, one of the largest medieval Gothic buildings in Europe. Two further "antipopes"--leaders of a schismatic church after the legitimate papacy returned to Rome--also lived at Avignon.

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León Cathedral, Nicaragua

LEON CATHEDRAL (León, Nicaragua)

Properly "The Cathedral of the Assumption of Mary," this significant historic landmark in León, Nicaragua, was built between 1747 and 1814 and consecrated in 1860. It is the largest Catholic cathedral in Central America; the crypts below hold the remains of 27 people, including, in addition to clergy, three poets, a musician, seven "notables," and a slave.

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Popocatepetl Monasteries

POPOCATEPETL MONASTERIES (central Mexico)

Fifteen colonial monasteries in the central Mexican states of Morelos, Puebla, and Tlaxcala are located on slopes south and east of the Popocatépetl volcano. Built in the 16th-century by Augustinians, Franciscans, and Dominicans to evangelize the area, almost all feature a very large atrium--actually a chapel for outdoor services for the natives--in front of the church.

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Salzburg

SALZBURG (Austria)

Home to Mozart, industries in this 4th-largest Austrian city included salt extraction: the name means "Salt Castle." It's home to the 11th-century Hohensalzburg, one of medieval Europe's largest fortresses; numerous monasteries and Baroque churches attest to its role in the Counter-Reformation. The historic city center is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

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Chartres Cathedral

CHARTRES CATHEDRAL (Chartres, France)

This 13th-century cathedral, a high point of French Gothic art, is 50 miles southwest of Paris. Its stained glass windows (their size made possible by the flying buttresses that support the walls) and most of the architecture (the mismatched towers, the three riotously-sculpted great facades) are unchanged. Tourists come for the sights; pilgrims for the relics.

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Christ the Redeemer

CHRIST THE REDEEMER (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil)

This Art Deco statue overlooks the harbor and city of Rio de Janeiro, and is said to be the fourth largest statue of Jesus Christ in the world. It was built 1922-1931 and stands 98 feet high on a 26-foot pedestal atop a 2,300-foot peak; its arms stretch 292 feet wide--nearly one American football field, goal to goal.

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La Sagrada Familia

LA SAGRADA FAMILIA (Barcelona, Spain)

Construction began on the still-unfinished Basilica of the Sacred Family under another architect in Barcelona in 1882, but the Catalan architect Antoni Gaudi (1852-1926) took over the next year. It was only a quarter complete at his death; he is buried in its crypt. Building proceeded in fits and starts, and though consecrated in 2010, completion is not expected until after 2026.

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(Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons; CTTO)

The Monastery of Geghard

THE MONASTERY OF GEGHARD (Armenia)

Surrounded by towering cliffs, this medieval Armenian monastery's name means "spear," as it claims to hold the spear which pierced Christ's side at the Crucifixion, brought here by the Apostle Jude. Armenia's Gregorian Church is the world's oldest national church, named for St. Gregory the Illuminator, who is said to have founded Geghard at a spring inside a cave.

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El Camino de Santiago

EL CAMINO DE SANTIAGO (Compostela, Spain)

One of the "Big Three" Catholic pilgrimages (alongside Jerusalem and Rome), this 500-mile network of paths from the French border in the Pyrenees to the supposed burial place of St. James the Apostle at Compostela has been traveled for over 1,000 years. Today the 200,000+ trekkers annually include not only the religious, but also hikers and cyclists.

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The Old City of Jerusalem

THE OLD CITY OF JERUSALEM (Jerusalem, Israel)

A third of a mile square, core of the modern city and a hotbed of religious activity for millennia, at least since the days when it was called "The City of David" (yes, THAT David). Home to Temple Mount and Western Wall (Jews), Church of the Holy Sepulchre (Christians), and Dome of the Rock and al-Aqsa Mosque (Muslims).

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The Rock-Hewn Churches

THE ROCK-HEWN CHURCHES (Ethiopia)

In the heart of Ethiopia, medieval Christian King Lalibela ordered the carving of 11 monolithic churches, hewn out of the living rock as pilgrimage sites in a "New Jerusalem" after access to the Holy Land was cut off by the Muslim conquests. To add to their magnificence, the interiors of some are decorated with painted murals.

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(Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons; CTTO)