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Howard Kramer's, The Complete Pilgrim, Religious Travel Site

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NATIONAL LIBRARY

August 14, 2014 By Howard Kramer Leave a Comment

NATIONAL LIBRARY

St. Petersburg, Russia Tucked away in the massive collection of the National Library of Russia in St. Petersburg is an unassuming book of priceless importance to the Jewish community: the Leningrad Codex, the oldest complete copy of the Hebrew Bible in the world.  The Leningrad Codex, which achieved its status after portions of the Aleppo Codex were lost in the mid-20th … [Read more...]

PAWIAK MUSEUM

August 13, 2014 By Howard Kramer Leave a Comment

PAWIAK MUSEUM

Warsaw, Poland By the beginning of the 20th century, the idea of confinement to a ghetto as a way of life for Jews had been all but abolished.  However, the concept was reintroduced and took on a whole new meaning under the Nazi regime of Adolf Hitler.  In the Third Reich, the ghettos of Europe went from being thriving Jewish neighborhoods to virtual prisons from which Jews … [Read more...]

ANNE FRANK HOUSE

August 13, 2014 By Howard Kramer Leave a Comment

ANNE FRANK HOUSE

Amsterdam, The Netherlands The somewhat misnamed Anne Frank House is actually a former office-warehouse building where the famous young Jewish girl lived in hiding with her family for two years.  She chronicled her experience in one of history’s most famous diaries.  Though there were many places throughout Nazi-occupied Europe where compassionate and courageous people … [Read more...]

SHOLEM ALEICHEM HOMETOWN & MUSEUM

August 13, 2014 By Howard Kramer 2 Comments

SHOLEM ALEICHEM HOMETOWN & MUSEUM

Pereiaslav-Khmelnytskyi, Ukraine From Baruch Spinoza to Moses Mendelssohn and beyond, the Jewish Enlightenment in Europe produced countless writers and academics who explored and expounded on the religious ideas and philosophies of the day.  However, it wasn’t until the late 19th century when the literary titan Sholem Aleichem effectively introduced humor and cultural … [Read more...]

ROTHSCHILD PALACE & JEWISH MUSEUM

August 13, 2014 By Howard Kramer Leave a Comment

ROTHSCHILD PALACE & JEWISH MUSEUM

Frankfurt, Germany For more than two centuries, the name Rothschild has conjured up visions of fabulous wealth and international prestige.  The Rothschilds, an immensely influential dynasty of Jewish bankers and financiers, was for a time one of the wealthiest familes in the world.  With their ancestral home in Frankfurt, Germany, the Rothschilds later expanded into England, … [Read more...]

KAHAL ZUR ISRAEL SYNAGOGUE MUSEUM

August 13, 2014 By Howard Kramer Leave a Comment

KAHAL ZUR ISRAEL SYNAGOGUE MUSEUM

Recife, Brazil Brazil was home to both the first clandestine Jewish communites and the first openly Jewish communities in the New World.  The former arrived as refugees from Portugal at the beginning of the 16th century, the latter as colonists from the Netherlands at the beginning of the 17th century.  Brazil was the mother colony of Judaism in the Americas, and it was from … [Read more...]

ODESSA MUSEUM OF JEWISH HERITAGE

August 13, 2014 By Howard Kramer Leave a Comment

ODESSA MUSEUM OF JEWISH HERITAGE

Odessa, Ukraine The Jewish people have suffered the persecutions of their neighbors ever since the beginning of the great Diaspora.  However, it wasn’t until the 19th century in Russia when organized anti-Semitic activity was raised to a new level in the form of the Pogrom.  Russia, whose expansive territories not only had one of the largest Jewish populations in the world … [Read more...]

JEWISH MUSEUM OF THESSALONIKA

August 13, 2014 By Howard Kramer Leave a Comment

JEWISH MUSEUM OF THESSALONIKA

Thessalonika, Greece The Jewish community of Thessalonika is one of the oldest Jewish communities in continual existence in Europe, and for a while was the largest.  Established perhaps as early as the 2nd century BC, it is still in existence to this day.  The Ets Chaim Synagogue of Thessalonika, which was founded in the 1st century AD and survived for nearly two millennia, … [Read more...]

JEWISH MUSEUM OF ISTANBUL

August 13, 2014 By Howard Kramer 1 Comment

JEWISH MUSEUM OF ISTANBUL

Istanbul, Turkey The Jewish community of Istanbul is the largest in the Middle East outside of Israel.  Although Turkey’s Jewish population has dwindled from half a million to less than twenty thousand in the past century, it is still the most important and influential Jewish community in a Muslim-majority state.  There are many synagogues still active in Turkey, including … [Read more...]

KAIFENG MUSEUM

August 13, 2014 By Howard Kramer Leave a Comment

KAIFENG MUSEUM

Kaifeng, China One of the most remote and mysterious Jewish communities in the world has always been that of Kaifeng, China.  Dating at least as far back as the 10th century AD, and possibly much farther, both the origins and subsequent history of the Jews of Kaifeng have been all but forgotten.  However, these little-known Jews left behind an interesting legacy in the form … [Read more...]

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THE COMPLETE AMERICAN PILGRIM – NOW AVAILABLE ON AMAZON

THE COMPLETE PILGRIM

Welcome to The Complete Pilgrim(TM)! This site, created by Howard Kramer, is a combination travel blog and online guide to the world's greatest sites of religious interest (with some historic and recreational places thrown in for good measure). All written content has been originally researched and produced and is provided free for public research and enjoyment. Thank you for visiting!

Site of the Week

WITTENBERG CASTLE CHURCH

WITTENBERG CASTLE CHURCH

Wittenberg, Germany The … [Read More...]

Friends of TCP Spotlight

5 PLACES TO VISIT IN HISTORIC PHILADELPHIA – MUSLIM TRAVEL ROCKS

5 PLACES TO VISIT IN HISTORIC PHILADELPHIA – MUSLIM TRAVEL ROCKS

by Glory Ali The City of Brotherly Love offers tons to see and do and get this, it’s FREE. That’s right you heard it right it’s FREE. Click here for complete article  

MOVING THE U.S. EMBASSY TO JERUSALEM – FAITH IN FAITHS

MOVING THE U.S. EMBASSY TO JERUSALEM – FAITH IN FAITHS

by Mary Neuhauser President Trump recently announced his intentions to move the United States Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, thereby recognizing Jerusalem as the official capital of Israel. The purpose of this article is to give you a brief overview of what this decision means and why it matters. Click here for […]

Photo of the Week

BASILICA OF ST. DENIS

Last month, I visited one of the most fascinating churches I have ever been to, the almost completely ignored Basilica of St. Denis in the northern suburbs of Paris.  Almost every French monarch is buried here, and almost nobody goes here.  Here are some pics I took:

Basilica of St. Denis

Tomb of Clovis

Tomb of Clovis

Tombs of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette

Tombs of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette

Tomb of Louis XIV The Sun King

Tomb of Louis XIV The Sun King

Royal Tombs

Royal Tombs

The Crypt

The Crypt

 

 

 

 

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Contact Us

Have a comment, a great photo or a religious site you'd like to nominate for the weekly spotlight? We would love to hear from you. Email us at hkramer@thecompletepilgrim.com.

About the Author

Howard Kramer is the creator and author of The Complete Pilgrim. He first took an interest in religious sites in his early twenties when traveling through Italy after college. In the two decades since he has traveled to more than two dozen countries and almost every state, visiting and photographing hundreds of the world’s greatest churches, synagogues and other places of religious interest. Howard has been writing about religious sites for the better part of the last decade, and The Complete Pilgrim is the culmination of years of his work and passion.

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