Goa, Goa While Chennai and the Tamil Nadu province boast India’s oldest Christian communities, it was in Goa that European Christianity made its first real major appearance in the Subcontinent. After the Portuguese established Goa as their primary commercial center in India, Catholic missionaries soon followed. By the time Francis Xavier arrived, Goa was already the … [Read more...]
BASILICA OF ST. FRANCIS
Assisi, Italy Francis of Assisi is one of those luminaries of the Catholic Church whose name, like Anthony and Benedict, is virtually synonymous with monasticism. The Order of Friars Minor (Franciscans), which he founded, grew to become one of the greatest medieval monastic orders. One of the most honored men of his day, he was canonized within two years of his death and a … [Read more...]
ST. DOMINIC’S BASILICA
Bologna, Italy Considering its relatively small size, the city of Bologna boasts a surprisingly large number of architecturally spectacular and historically important churches. Home to over a half-dozen basilicas, one of the largest numbers in any city outside of Rome itself, Bologna has been a major pilgrimage destination since the Middle Ages. For most of this period, … [Read more...]
ABBEY OF MONTE CASSINO
Monte Cassino, Italy Monte Cassino is considered by many to be the birthplace of monastacism in Western Europe. It was here in the 6th century that Benedict of Nursia founded the Benedictine Order, created the Benedictine Rule and established the first great monastery in Italy. Since its founding, the Abbey of Monte Cassino has grown into an immense affair, a masterpiece … [Read more...]
ST. AUGUSTINE’S BASILICA
Annaba, Algeria The shrines of Augustine of Hippo, one of the greatest theologians in the history of the Church, are the most revered Christian sites in North Africa. The city of Annaba in Algeria, formerly the Roman metropolis of Hippo Regus, is home to two holy places closely associated with the saint: the Basilica of Peace, where Augustine once served as the city’s … [Read more...]
DOWN CATHEDRAL
Downpatrick, Ireland The tradition of the missionary Patrick in Ireland represents one of the greatest relationships between any nation or people and their patron saint. Patrick is as beloved in Ireland as virtually any other saint is anywhere else in the world. His feast day is among the most celebrated in the world. After his monastic training, Patrick was primarily … [Read more...]
BASILICA OF ST. NICHOLAS
Bari, Italy Other than the fact that St. Nicholas’ body was moved here in the 11th century, Bari has virtually nothing to do with the great theologian. That said, the presence of the saint’s relics has prompted the city’s leaders to bequeath Bari with the nickname The City of Santa Claus, a claim challenged by St. Nicholas’ home cities of Patara and Myra in Turkey, not to … [Read more...]
ST. BASIL’S CATHEDRAL
Moscow, Russia The Cathedral of St. Basil the Blessed is one of the great churches of Eastern Orthodoxy and the defining architectural symbol of the city of Moscow. By some measures it has been hailed as one of the most spectacularly beautiful churches in Christendom and is certainly among the most recognizable. It is often thought to be part of the Kremlin, Moscow’s great … [Read more...]
TRINITY-ST. SERGIUS MONASTERY
Sergius Posad, Russia Between the 10th and the 15th centuries, the heartlands of the Orthodox Church gradually shifted northwards into Slavic Europe as the Byzantine Empire was lost piece by piece to Islam. The twin disasters of the Mongol invasions and later the Ottoman conquest of Constantinople unexpectedly left the Patriarch of Moscow as the preeminent figure in the … [Read more...]
RILA MONASTERY
Rila, Bulgaria Bulgaria and the Rila Monastery enjoy a special distinction in the Eastern Orthodox Church. Bulgaria was the first Slavic nation to convert to Chrisitanity, and was home to the first autocephalous Church that was in communion with Eastern Orthodoxy. John of Rila was Bulgaria’s first aescetic, and by extension the first true monk in Slavic Eastern Europe. … [Read more...]
